Broken Hard Disk ?

viboy

Hi all,
Yesterday during a handbrake encode OS X froze - upon a forced reboot a flashing question mark appeared on the screen and OS X did not boot.

Booted from the Snow leopard DVD - disk utility did not list my hard drive.

Followed the instuctions from : http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440 and still no joy - At this stage I reckon the hard disk is utterly knackered - unless anyone else has a suggestion?

That's a bit of a pain but I can live with it as I was planning on swapping the hard disk at some point.

I am correct in assuming that any 2.5" SATA drive will work okay in this machine

The specs are :
2.1 ghz Core2Duo
2 gigs of Ram
160 gig hard drive
running snow leopard

At the moment I'm thinking of a

Western Digital Scorpio 500GB (http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=378960) - any thoughts ?

john__long

I went for a 320GB Scorpio Blue when my HD died.

There's some such fact about 320GB been a better size. Something to do with the platters. Can't remember the exact details though!

That 500GB drive will work fine in your machine. There's a handy site/program called Mactracker for tracking the spec of previous and current Mac models.

Diarmuid

That 500Gig looks like a great price! Cheaper than the 400gig same manufacturer. Replaced my gf mac drive with a 320gig one. That was a while back and the best price point at the time. 500gigs looks like where it is at the moment.

viboy

Thanks lads - that drive will definitely fit the mac book? Any decent guides to replacing the hard disk ?

Ham'nd'egger

viboy wrote: »

Thanks lads - that drive will definitely fit the mac book? Any decent guides to replacing the hard disk ?

www.ifixit.com should be yer only man:)

Jev/N

If you're forking out for the 500GB, get a 7,200 RPM:

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MME2752354

Diarmuid

viboy wrote: »

Thanks lads - that drive will definitely fit the mac book? Any decent guides to replacing the hard disk ?

It's one of the easiest upgrades you'll ever do

Jev/N wrote: »

If you're forking out for the 500GB, get a 7,200 RPM:

Not sure I'd agree. You are going to have more heat generated but more importantly more noise from the 7200 and will the gains be worth it? IMHO I don't think so.
Discussions here

viboy

Excellent lads - thanks for all the help

viboy

Right lads - story is installed the disk (i think) - booted from the snow leopard install dvd - entered disk utility. The new disk was not recognized. Am I missing something or is it time to give to the professionals ?

Thanks,
Sean

john__long

Naturally. You'll have to format it. Boot to DVD -> Utilities menu -> Disk Utility -> Select your new drive -> Partition -> 1 partition -> Enter name -> Click options -> Select type of GUID Partition table -> Apply -> Exit Disk Utility.

Then exit the Disk Utility and attempt installation again, customizing install options where appropriate.

viboy

Hi John,
Problem is Disk Utility only shows the install dvd in the list of the left. Is there a debug option I can enable during boot to see what's happening ?
Thanks,
Sean

john__long

Oh! You could enable a verbose boot but I doubt that'd assist. Hold  and v at startup for verbose boot mode. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492

Recheck the connectors to the HD. Make sure they're ok. You have an enclosure you can test the drive in?

viboy

Thanks John,
Don't have an enclosure handy - will recheck the connectors when I get a chance

patchrick

viboy wrote: »

Right lads - story is installed the disk (i think) - booted from the snow leopard install dvd - entered disk utility. The new disk was not recognized. Am I missing something or is it time to give to the professionals ?

Thanks,
Sean

Maybe not yet. A common problem with replacing hard disks on macbooks is that people put the disk in the wrong way up. Try turning the disk the other way up and connect it back in. It should seat back in securely. DO NOT force it!!
Failing that if you ae are near the north side of Dublin drop into us with the new hard drive (http://teleport.ie) and we'll plug it into one of our enclosures and test it for you for free.

Patrick