Replaced RAM (maxed) and HD (WD Caviar Black 500) on 2006 Macbook. Starts up with question mark. Put in Leopard startup disk, boots, I went to Disk utility, HD doesn't show up. Went back to OWC video:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbook_13/(hadn't looked at it since my friend bought the upgrade a while back, this is all for someone else. Be smart and quit doing favors. It gets expensive.) I'd put drive correctly in the bracket but put that assembly upside down into the computer (the drive slips into a lengthwise tunnel.) Somehow in went in far enough to close it up without a problem???
(You can't get any view of the connection because it's at the far end of the tunnel. I fixed it and now I press the startup button, ABSOLUTELY nothing happens. (The Leopard disk is inside.)
The battery is at 20% so I plugged it in, pulled the battery and plugged it in, zapped the pram, reseated the ram chips, zapped the pram again. pulled the battery and the power supply and held down the start button for about 10 secs. Nothing.
So I pulled the drive part way out and back, did all the above again, nothing.
So I pulled the drive completely. This time the rubber bumper strips glued to the inside sides came loose, one even fell off and I took them out along with all the bits of rubbery glue with long tweezers. None of the glue appeared to be at the end of the tunnel near the connectors. Should I wipe them with what, alcohol, just to make sure? could I jump the pin receptors and ruin the assembly? It's almost impossible to see.
Anyway, I screwed the bumper strips to the sides if the HD bracket. They were the length of the bracket. There were dents in them where the bracket screws were, but if you flipped them, there were holes that matched the screw locations, the screws were long enough, apparently this problem had happened during drive updates before. Carefully and slowly, Pushing the rubber along, I slid the drive back in and it went in further this time. Put it all back together. No startup. Nothing.
Did all of the above again. Person I was helping had to go, I didn't want to take it home and spend more time on it because my head was exploding, but did call OWC when I got home. I could't stand thinking I'd blown the logic board and at the very least would have to pay for the drive. RATS! They said the drive was dead and he would swap it out. He was so certain.
Is he right?
