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Hello guys, I have a problem. my mac visualized a folder with a question mark. on “Disk Utility”, my mac did not recognize the hard disk. I replaced the hard drive and now my mac displays the disk but I can not format, partition and install the operating system. I tried to replace the “Flat Cable Connection A1278 Hard Disk.” but the problem remained. what happened? The 2 hard drives work perfectly when connected to the USB port as external disks. I also installed the operating system and work. I connected the 2 hard drives on another mac with sata and work. The possibilities are 2. 1 The new flat cable I used, does not work well. 2 logic board. (Even if the system works with usb hard drives)
Perhaps you’re missing MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 ? When the “Mid-2009” MacBook Pro models first were released, systems configured with a hard drive only had 1.5 Gb/s SATA if you missed this update try installing it. If you are trying to use a SATA II (6GB/s drive) without the update that could be the issue. The cable would be next logical thing to check and cheap to replace. If this answer is acceptable please remember to return and mark it.
Old post I know, but I felt a need to chip in. The much touted idea that if HDD’s are working in a external enclosure then the logic board is ok is wrong. The functions of the logic board are composed individually. Just because the USB section is operating 100% doesn’t mean that the working of the SATA drive will be functional. At the very least it could be that the logic board connection to the SATA cable is broken. Similarly it may be that the voltage required to detect the SATA drives is shorted or any myriad of other problems.
How to reinstall operating system
