Resolved 2008 MBP not charging - Transfer SSD?

[*nix]

Hi all. My 2008 MBP with a patched version of Catalina isn’t turning on. I suspect it’s the battery which isn’t charging. A friend of mine has a 2012 MBP. Rather than me buy a new battery for my dead MBP which would be a temporary measure as I’m buying a new machine, would my SSD boot fine in the working MBP? I only need to get the data off my SSD.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

It should.

 

[Fishrrman]

You could try putting your SSD into the 2012 MBP, and see if it will boot and run that way.
It might.
If it does, put the back cover on and just keep using it.

IF there are problems, take the SSD out, and get an enclosure for it, like this:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free Clear External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Supports UASP SATA III] (EC-OCUB)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free Clear External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Supports UASP SATA III] (EC-OCUB)

www.amazon.com

Now it's easy to connect and access from another Mac.

Something else to be aware of:
The 2012 unibody MacBook Pro's are notorious for having failures of the thin ribbon cable that connects the drive to the motherboard. Typical symptoms are very slow drive access or a refusal to boot and run properly (due to broken connections and interruption of communication between the drive and the motherboard).
Don't despair, the replacement part is cheap and easy to install.
Go to ifixit.com to see what's involved and get the part number.
You can either order it from them or from elsewhere online.
This may or may NOT affect you.
Again, just something to be aware of.

 

[winxmac]

I have not tried this but see if this helps...

How to Boot MacBook Pro Without a Battery (Older Models 2006 – 2011)

 

[*nix]

I have not tried this but see if this helps...

How to Boot MacBook Pro Without a Battery (Older Models 2006 – 2011)

This saved my a*s. Thank you. It didn’t work first time - took lots of attempts. I had the same issue when the battery worked - had to hold down the power button with the battery removed and then try turning on the machine with the battery installed, which never worked first time.

Machine is booting up now. Backing up my files straight away.

Thank you to everyone who replied. Much appreciated.