Helping those that deserve

Mijn probleem

This MacBook was owned by a young college lass, that began getting the "?" on boot. The MBP was no longer covered under warranty, so I was asked for assistance to keep costs down. How can I go wrong when iFixIt is available?

Mijn oplossing

Being that I don't do a lot of repairs on MBPs and not knowing the common issues that arise. I initially ordered a replacement HDD, once that was received, I proceeded to install it and perform a system recovery over the net. The new HDD could not be seen by the system, so I attached the old HDD to the MBP using the external drive caddy (which was included in the HDD kit I ordered). With the old HDD connected externally via USB, the MBP was able to boot from it. So, now seeing that the HDD was working properly, I started looking for what else could cause this issue, and returned the HDD kit, minus the caddy and mini tool kit, which I kept since they were useful. I received a refund minus the cost of the caddy and tool kit.

I ended up on the iFixIt support forums and settled on ordering a HDD cable. Unfortunately, the only one available at the time was the one with no HD bracket. So, I had to fiddle with getting the very small cable attached to the bracket via a ZIF connection. I followed the guide when needed and routed the cable, bending it where necessary and reassembled the MBP. I then booted the system successfully and then returned the MBP to the young lass.

Mijn advies

When trying to decide between the HDD and the cable, if you have an external drive caddy, connect the HDD to the MBP using it. This could rule out the HDD. Check the forums to see what problems others are experiencing.