Help with first Macbook drive replacement

[SilverLeaf]

Ok, this is my first venture into Appleland. I have an aluminium unibody Macbook Pro A1286 in for a hard drive replacement. The current hard drive is completely dead. Fortunately, my customer doesn't need any data from the drive. I do have a couple of basic questions though:

* Am I correct in assuming that I can throw any 2.5" laptop drive (say WD Scorpio Black) into this thing?

* Customer does not have any backup or install media for OSX. So what would be the process for obtaining the O/S to install on the new drive? I had hoped to be able to clone, but like I said, the old drive is non-functional.

 

[14049752]

1. Yes

2. Install the drive, start it up, hold option. Connect to a network and do internet recovery.

 

[altrenda]

1. Yes

2. Install the drive, start it up, hold option. Connect to a network and do internet recovery.

The A1286 covers a lot of ground, starting in 2008. I believe Network Recovery does not work on earlier models unless Lion or Mountain Lion was installed.

If it ran Snow Leopard or earlier then you need the proper install disk.

 

[thebige]

Those shipped with toshiba drives. Use any sata drive you choose and snow leopard was factory OS model.

 

[smashedbotatos]

1. Any laptop drive will do.

2. Either use factory restore disks that came with the laptop or a retail version of what the laptop was shipped with.

Lastly you can try Internet recovery, but it depends on manufacture date and what version of OSX was shipped with the laptop.

In closing figure out what version of OSX it was shipped with. Then choose your recovery path. Internet or DVD.

 

[altrenda]

Here is a good resource for Mac Specs
Everymac.com

The A1286 is a general model number and was first shipped in 2008 with 10.5.5 and at least to mid 2012 with 10.7.3.

You need a little more information to nail down exactly what it is.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Great information everyone, thanks! Going from memory (I'm not in the shop right now), i believe it is this unit, which came with Leopard 10.5.7.
As I mentioned, I don't have any discs, and the old drive in non-functional. What options does that leave me with to get an O/S back on this unit?

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Great information everyone, thanks! Going from memory (I'm not in the shop right now), i believe it is this unit, which came with Leopard 10.5.7.
As I mentioned, I don't have any discs, and the old drive in non-functional. What options does that leave me with to get an O/S back on this unit?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

I'd also like to add you can use any 2.5 inch SATA HDD with the following disclaimer. Make sure it is a 9.5mm height and not one of those bastardized 12mm drives.

 

[SilverLeaf]

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

I'd also like to add you can use any 2.5 inch SATA HDD with the following disclaimer. Make sure it is a 9.5mm height and not one of those bastardized 12mm drives.

Thanks. Drive has been replaced and the 10.6.3 DVD is on the way.

 

[NYJimbo]

Is there a recommended collection of Apple O/S disks to keep for working on Macs ? In the PC world we have a slew of them just to service our customers, does this also hold true in the Apple world ? I am talking machines made since 2005 or so, but any guidance is appreciated.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Is there a recommended collection of Apple O/S disks to keep for working on Macs ? In the PC world we have a slew of them just to service our customers, does this also hold true in the Apple world ? I am talking machines made since 2005 or so, but any guidance is appreciated.

Granted, I may be completely wrong here, but from what I learned today whilst researching my problem is this:

Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) are available only as a download upgrade from a machine currently running at least Snow Leopard (10.6.8). Apparently, this is the reason Apple still makes this (Snow Leopard) available on DVD, so anyone still running 10.5 or earlier can upgrade. So, I would imagine that a Snow Leopard DVD would definitely be one to have in your collection. Other than that, I really don't know.

Someone more knowledgeable please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[ac1]

Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) are available only as a download upgrade from a machine currently running at least Snow Leopard (10.6.8). Apparently, this is the reason Apple still makes this (Snow Leopard) available on DVD, so anyone still running 10.5 or earlier can upgrade. So, I would imagine that a Snow Leopard DVD would definitely be one to have in your collection. Other than that, I really don't know.

True. But its a good idea sometimes to have the Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) copies as well. Although they are only available for download, its handy to make a DVD with a bootable copy of it. That can be easily created using another working Mac, with an optical drive.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Is there a recommended collection of Apple O/S disks to keep for working on Macs ? In the PC world we have a slew of them just to service our customers, does this also hold true in the Apple world ? I am talking machines made since 2005 or so, but any guidance is appreciated.

True. But its a good idea sometimes to have the Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) copies as well. Although they are only available for download, its handy to make a DVD with a bootable copy of it. That can be easily created using another working Mac, with an optical drive.

I don't even bother with DVDs. All my OS installers are loaded on flash drives or partitioned external HDs. I can't even stand waiting for a DVD OS install anymore. But best thing to do is buy at least one 10.6.3 retail installer while Apple is still making them available. The 10.6.3 installed and updated to 10.6.8 making the app store app available will be the key for purchasing the 10.7 and 10.8 versions. Then from the 10.7 and 10.8 downloads it's a simple process of taking the ESD from each and creating a bootable usb/external HD installer.

 

[SilverLeaf]

OK, this has just gotten a little more complicated. The new drive is not being recognized by the MacBook (neither by the Disk Utility on the Snow Leopard DVD nor when I boot the Macbook via Parted Magic). The new drive shows up fine when connected to my test bench computer.

My non-Mac hardware experience tells me that either the ribbon cable is bad, or the controller on the logic board has died. I suppose the next course of action would be to find a replacement cable, unless there is some other common point of failure I'm missing?

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

OK, this has just gotten a little more complicated. The new drive is not being recognized by the MacBook (neither by the Disk Utility on the Snow Leopard DVD nor when I boot the Macbook via Parted Magic). The new drive shows up fine when connected to my test bench computer.

My non-Mac hardware experience tells me that either the ribbon cable is bad, or the controller on the logic board has died. I suppose the next course of action would be to find a replacement cable, unless there is some other common point of failure I'm missing?

Yes, probably the ribbon cable. I see plenty unibody macbook pros where the ribbon cable goes bad. You've got it easy if the drive is not even recognized. Matter of fact I have one on the bench right now where I'm suspecting the cable is helping to hose out the directory structure. I could fix the file system and I suspect it will come back again in a few weeks.

 

[ac1]

I agree with Anonymous Mac Tech.
I have seen numerous issues with the hard drive ribbon cable.
Try connecting it externally via a USB port, to double check.