I have a Mac Pro 1st gen and I recently added three new hard drives. Bays 2 and 3 work fine...bay 4 does not show up in disk utility or system profiler. I moved the hard drive to bay 3 and it worked fine. I formatted the disk and moved it back to bay 4. Again, the drive cannot be found. Called Apple Support and they had me reset the pram and reset the system management. Still can't find it. Does the logic board handle the drives separately or as one? Could this be a cable problem or more likely a defective logic board? I would hate to spend $600-$800 dollars for a logic board just to get a $100 drive to be seen. I'm looking for suggestions as to what to do. The nearest apple computer repair is 2 hours away and they want $85 just to look at it. HELP !!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac Pro hard drive problem in fourth bay
- Thread starter dog590
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Figured it out
If anyone else is having this problem, here is something you can try. Remove the first two hard drives from the bays. Remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly. This will expose the hdd connections to the logic board (next to sata extension plugs). Check to see if they are pushed in all of the way. Mine was slightly loose on one corner of the plug. I pushed the connections down tightly onto the board and reassembled. Fired it up and the drive appeared. Works like a charm. Sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to have a repair person diagnose it. Took me about 20-25 minutes to fix myself.
If anyone else is having this problem, here is something you can try. Remove the first two hard drives from the bays. Remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly. This will expose the hdd connections to the logic board (next to sata extension plugs). Check to see if they are pushed in all of the way. Mine was slightly loose on one corner of the plug. I pushed the connections down tightly onto the board and reassembled. Fired it up and the drive appeared. Works like a charm. Sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to have a repair person diagnose it. Took me about 20-25 minutes to fix myself.
Do you have a card in PCI slot 4? If you do, it may be that the PCI card is interfering with the HD being able to slide all the way into bay 4.
If anyone else is having this problem, here is something you can try. Remove the first two hard drives from the bays. Remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly. This will expose the hdd connections to the logic board (next to sata extension plugs). Check to see if they are pushed in all of the way. Mine was slightly loose on one corner of the plug. I pushed the connections down tightly onto the board and reassembled. Fired it up and the drive appeared. Works like a charm. Sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to have a repair person diagnose it. Took me about 20-25 minutes to fix myself.
For the record, I had drive bay 4 in my Mac Pro 1,1 out for some time; I'd been thinking it was the motherboard.
Then, when bay 3 went out after a move, I felt like it had to be something loose.
Sure enough, I did like this guy said, and the SATA cable (position B-1/C-1 on the cable matrix chart in the service manual) was loose on one corner. Pushed it in, it gave a little "click", and now I have all 4 bays back.
Woo hoo! Thanks, man.
I've been having the same problem.
I'd like to give this a try. Do you know where to find instructions on removing the fan and heatsink?
Thanks
Download the service manual. I've always been able to find them free on teh internets.
I have pdfs for Mac Pros 2006, 2007, and 2008.
This fix worked for me
This was exactly the problem that I was having, and this fix worked. The real problem was getting to the cable connection. I used this guide that explains how to remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2064/7
If anyone else is having this problem, here is something you can try. Remove the first two hard drives from the bays. Remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly. This will expose the hdd connections to the logic board (next to sata extension plugs). Check to see if they are pushed in all of the way. Mine was slightly loose on one corner of the plug. I pushed the connections down tightly onto the board and reassembled. Fired it up and the drive appeared. Works like a charm. Sure beats paying hundreds of dollars to have a repair person diagnose it. Took me about 20-25 minutes to fix myself.
This was exactly the problem that I was having, and this fix worked. The real problem was getting to the cable connection. I used this guide that explains how to remove the heatsink cover and fan assembly.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2064/7
Worked for me too
Big thanks to dog590. First hard drive 4 on my MacPro disappeared, followed soon afterwards by drive 3. Found this suggested fix and bingo! 25 minutes later everything restored and working fine. Saved half a day carting the thing off to the repair shop and a shedload of cash too!
Thanks also to Ensa for the post about the guide to getting into the hard drive cables. All I needed to know.
PS unlike other posts there was no click from my connectors - but just giving them a wiggle and a gentle push into the motherboard obviously did the trick.
Big thanks to dog590. First hard drive 4 on my MacPro disappeared, followed soon afterwards by drive 3. Found this suggested fix and bingo! 25 minutes later everything restored and working fine. Saved half a day carting the thing off to the repair shop and a shedload of cash too!
Thanks also to Ensa for the post about the guide to getting into the hard drive cables. All I needed to know.
PS unlike other posts there was no click from my connectors - but just giving them a wiggle and a gentle push into the motherboard obviously did the trick.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.