SSD won't show up in Disk Utility when connected via SATA, even though it is formatted correctly

[ravenvalley]

Hi! So my SSD (mid-2012 MBP) crashed a couple days ago. I was running Bootcamp, and it looks like it was the Windows partition that crashed, because I had to connect the drive to a Windows machine to delete and format it. Anyway, i put the drive in an USB enclosure, connected it to my Mac (booted from an external hard drive) and formated the hard drive with MacOS Extended and GUID partition table. I even installed Sierra on it and recovered the latest Time Machine backup i had. Happy days!

But wait - when I put the SSD into my Mac (via SATA), it won't show up in Disk Utility. I could boot it via USB, but it wont be recognized via SATA. I tried an old HDD via the SATA cable, and it came up in Disk Utility straight away.. So it looks like the cable is all good! I don't know what to do next..

 

[keysofanxiety]

13" I assume.

Almost certainly the HDD cable. They're very, very unreliable on that model. Apple have a free silent repair program for it, so pop into an Apple Store/AASP and they'll replace the HDD cable for free. That should resolve the problem.

 

[ravenvalley]

13" I assume.

Almost certainly the HDD cable. They're very, very unreliable on that model. Apple have a free silent repair program for it, so pop into an Apple Store/AASP and they'll replace the HDD cable for free. That should resolve the problem.

13", yes! Okay, I'll try that! Isn't weird that it was working with a HDD and not with the SSD? Also, the SSD is not the drive that came with the Mac, will they still replace it then?

 

[keysofanxiety]

13", yes! Okay, I'll try that! Isn't weird that it was working with a HDD and not with the SSD? Also, the SSD is not the drive that came with the Mac, will they still replace it then?

Cable is very intermittent; it does work then doesn't work, so pay it no mind that the HDD worked. SSD worked externally through USB so it's 100% not the SSD.

HDD & RAM is user upgradeable on your model so they'll still replace the cable.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Pay close attention to what keys wrote in post 2 above.
A failing SATA cable may work with an HDD, but not with an SSD.

Do you have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store relatively close? If so, do this:
a. put the SSD back into the MBPro for now.
c. make an appointment with the Genius bar
d. take it in and have them check it.

They may replace the cable and give it a look-over free of charge.

 

[ravenvalley]

OP:

Pay close attention to what keys wrote in post 2 above.
A failing SATA cable may work with an HDD, but not with an SSD.

Do you have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store relatively close? If so, do this:
a. put the SSD back into the MBPro for now.
c. make an appointment with the Genius bar
d. take it in and have them check it.

They may replace the cable and give it a look-over free of charge.

I don't have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store nearby, as there are quite few of them here in Norway (I'm guessing the silent repair program is worldwide, yes?). Anyway, there are two certified resellers doing certified repairs as well, I am planning on giving it to them.

Follow-up question: I replaced the optical drive for a HDD caddy three-four years ago. Would it be smart to re-install the optical drive, or don't they mind it?

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I don't have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store nearby, as there are quite few of them here in Norway (I'm guessing the silent repair program is worldwide, yes?). Anyway, there are two certified resellers doing certified repairs as well, I am planning on giving it to them.

Follow-up question: I replaced the optical drive for a HDD caddy three-four years ago. Would it be smart to re-install the optical drive, or don't they mind it?

They should have no problem with the ODD / HDD replacement. They should just replace the standard HDD cable with a better shielded, SATA 6 GBit/s cable.