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(ASK) How to detect Apple's HDD?

E

erwind

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2008
25
0
So... i finally finished upgrading my iMac Aluminium HDD from 320GB to 750GB.

The problem is...

The original HDD from iMac (Western Digital Caviar 320GB SATA) cannot be detected anywhere! i tried to use an external case and an "USB to SATA adapter cable" then connect it to my iMac using USB port. Nothing... no external HDD detected on my Leopard.

So i tried another way. i plug it inside a Windows CPU, using internal SATA data cable. Wanting to detect it and then format it, so i can use it. But still, nothing detected. Even the BIOS menu from my CPU can't detect this HDD...

Anyone can give any suggestion about this problem?
Because i'm pretty sure, the HDD itself is in good condition (not broken).

Thanks!
 
After I installed a new 320g HD and I put my 160g from my MacBook in an enclosure. It did not work the first few times I tried to plug it in by USB. The drive was spinning and the enclosure had power.

It finally worked, I'm not sure what I did.
 
rolex54 said:
does the drive spin up?
are you sure that it is correctly inserted into the SATA cable?
Click to expand...

yes it is. and the cable also plug correctly.
is this related to MacOS formatted drive problem? can we use HDD in MacOS format as an external HDD using USB?

i really dont know what to do now.
 
clyde2801 said:
Sorry to go off topic, but how hard was it to replace the hard drive on the iMac?
Click to expand...

clyde2801 said:
Sorry to go off topic, but how hard was it to replace the hard drive on the iMac?
Click to expand...

i dont wanna risk anything, so i brought my iMac to the apple store where i got it. they changed it for me, took a day. i get to peek a little. they use so many equipment. including somekind glass-sucker made from rubber, to remove the iMac glass...

back to topic...

HDD is finally detected, using another PC. but it didnt show up on Windows. it can only be seen using Partition Magic, and noted as: "GPT Protection Drive"
when i tried to re-format it, the format failed. Said, parameter failure...

the HDD itself seems ok. up and running like usual, no strange sound or anything. and it works 100% fine just before being replace by 750GB in my iMac.


i wonder, is Apple somehow, protected the WD HDD they used in their iMac (and other product) and restrict it being used with other than Apple product? because on top of the HDD, there's an Apple logo on it, below the Western Digital logo.

:(
 
I suggest you put the HD into an enclosure and plug it into your imac, them from disk utility format it in "fat-32", once this is done the HD will work in the windows machine. Enclosures only cost like £10 so it shouldn't be that difficult and now it can also be used as a external HD. If the imac does not detect the drive, you may need a powered enclosure as the Hd may not be receiving enough power. Good luck.
 
fpar said:
I suggest you put the HD into an enclosure and plug it into your imac, them from disk utility format it in "fat-32", once this is done the HD will work in the windows machine. Enclosures only cost like £10 so it shouldn't be that difficult and now it can also be used as a external HD. If the imac does not detect the drive, you may need a powered enclosure as the Hd may not be receiving enough power. Good luck.
Click to expand...

err... i kinda did that already. using external case with a power adapter.
in the macos x, it didnt show up. and after a couple minutes, showed a message that device connection is error (something sounds like that).
 
still cant find solution until now...
tomorrow, maybe i'll find a way to force a low level format to the HDD trough BIOS or MS-DOS program. :mad:
 
erwind said:
yes it is. and the cable also plug correctly.
is this related to MacOS formatted drive problem? can we use HDD in MacOS format as an external HDD using USB?
Click to expand...

Windows Explorer will not display a HDD formatted for OS X. However, it should appear in Drive Manager under Computer Management (with no drive letter attached and as an "unknown" or "unformatted" drive/partition). So if you are comfortable with losing all your data, you should be able to create a partition and then format it using Drive Manager.

When you say "USB to SATA adapter", are you using an actual physical HDD enclosure that supports SATA or are you using one of those small hubs with USB ports that you can plug a SATA drive into?
 
CWallace said:
Windows Explorer will not display a HDD formatted for OS X. However, it should appear in Drive Manager under Computer Management (with no drive letter attached and as an "unknown" or "unformatted" drive/partition). So if you are comfortable with losing all your data, you should be able to create a partition and then format it using Drive Manager.

When you say "USB to SATA adapter", are you using an actual physical HDD enclosure that supports SATA or are you using one of those small hubs with USB ports that you can plug a SATA drive into?
Click to expand...

I'm having a similar problem (using a USB to IDE/SATA adapter), and when I tried accessing the drive through Computer Management, it showed up, but I was unable to do anything with it. The drive isn't even showing up at all in 10.5. Any suggestions? I'd like to format it in FAT32 so I can use it between OSX and Windows.
 
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