2011 MBP SSD issues during formatting
2011 MBP SSD issues during formatting
Installed a new SSD into your girlfriend's MBP, but it was clearly showing signs of an old hard drive failing. When trying to format it as GUID, the process stopped right away with an error message. The Disk utilities in Internet Recovery list the SSD and show its specs, but it won’t let you wipe it. What’s happening?
I’ve started to feel a growing doubt from Ifixit that the ribbon cable is once more the issue, marking this as the second failure in a year. If this turns out true, I’m giving the Macbook in for disposal and will pass it on to someone who can offer an i5 Lenovo Thinkpad for £150, with the cable already available for £100.
The drive is in perfect condition, completely new and unused in any other system. I can use the terminal to configure it as an HFS partition, and everything functions correctly. However, disk utility and MacOS setup aren't recognizing it. It's frustrating—this is unusual on Windows.
Another person faced the same problem when attempting to convert an HDD to an SSD on their friend's MBP. They had to fix access permissions using Disk Utility on the existing HDD for the laptop to detect the SSD (which was connected via USB). It’s unclear if this solution applies to your situation.
It keeps happening the same mistakes after the installer crashed. The cable looks completely useless again, more than a year after the previous one was installed by an Apple expert. Once the laptop is done, I’m planning to dismantle it piece by piece and won’t bother spending money on iFixit for a basic SATA cable.