Macbook meltdown! HALP!

POWERRR!!

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Messages
594
Location
Cambridge, MA
Alright. My sister tripped over her Macbook's power cord causing the computer to crash from the table top to the floor. (Magsafe FAIL!) The computer was still bootable, but she now couldn't access certain files (looks like damaged sectors to me, Sudden Motion Sensor FAIL!).

Despite that, the computer was still more or less usable for about a week until it finally decided to stop working altogether. It is now unbootable! I tried booting from the recovery CD to see if I could do a repair with Disk Utility, but the hard drive does not even appear in Disk Utilities' list of detected drives. What should I do now?

This is actually the second time that this had happened. The computer wasn't even dropped then, the hard drive just mysteriously quit one day. I was able to repair it by simply installing a new hard drive. The hard drive that is broken now is the one that I had put in just a few months ago.
 
There are a few things you can do. Use it as a paper weight, or even a door stopper.
 
Alright. My sister tripped over her Macbook's power cord causing the computer to crash from the table top to the floor. (Magsafe FAIL!) The computer was still bootable, but she now couldn't access certain files (looks like damaged sectors to me, Sudden Motion Sensor FAIL!).

Despite that, the computer was still more or less usable for about a week until it finally decided to stop working altogether. It is now unbootable! I tried booting from the recovery CD to see if I could do a repair with Disk Utility, but the hard drive does not even appear in Disk Utilities' list of detected drives. What should I do now?

Well, I assume you backed up all data the instant you knew there was a HDD problem but it still worked? Buy a new HDD and throw on the backed up data.
 
Well, I assume you backed up all data the instant you knew there was a HDD problem but it still worked? Buy a new HDD and throw on the backed up data.

Yeah, I was able to back up some of the data, at least the ones that were still accessible. I suggested the new hard drive idea to my sister, but she said she has now given up on her computer, and would rather get a PC instead (lulz).

The Macbook is going straight to eBay (either for parts or as-is) as soon as I am able to restore the OS to working order. I've just ordered a hard drive enclosure . My plan is to reformat the laptop hard drive from my PC, stick it back in the Macbook, and reinstall OSX from there.
 
Just for the record, when you swapped out the hard drive is probably when the SMS got disabled. A lot of retail boxed laptop drives simply don't park fast enough or may not even have power-on park capabilities.
 
I will take it. I will fix it. :shifty:
 
If the magsafe was wrapped around another cord, say a USB mouse or sommat, that could have pulled it off without the connector snapping away. Had it happen to me, but the only thing that was damaged was my pride. Thankfully.
 
Top