Anyone done a MacBook Pro disk swap?

[jbsegal]

I'm becoming more and more convinced that I have a failing disk in my 3.5yo MBP.
I know that opening the thing up involves a spudger and many small plastic tabs between the top and the main body of the beast.

Anyone local to me done this before and want to provide some moral support as I do it?

(Why I believe something is failing...
SMART tests are NOT coming up with errors, but various things cause a fair number of
3/20/10 2:09:39 PM kernel disk0s2: I/O error.
to be logged.
I've not gotten a good Time Machine backup in quite a while. I'm getting:
3/20/10 1:59:42 PM com.apple.backupd[20269] Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Path/to/file to (null)
(-36 is IO err) and then it fails out after a heap of them.

{sigh}

Comments

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

Can you clone your HD to an external?

[ariesd.livejournal.com]

This is something I would pay to have done.

[avram]

I swapped out the hard drive on my laptop last summer, and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd feared it would be. Mine's a G4 PowerBook. My impression is that more recent models are easier to get at the innards of.

I even disregarded the directions on a couple of issues. 1. Instead of going out of my way to acquire the hard-to-get dental-pick-like tool the instructions recommend using to get the front of the case open, I improvised something out of an unbent paper clip. 2. Instead of detaching the fragile orange keyboard cable, I left it attached and worked around it, using a strip of duct tape to hold the top of the case open by linking it to the screen.

It went fine, except for having to run out mid-process to buy a better screwdriver.

Sadly, I'm too far away to coach you over your shoulder, but I can say: If you've got experience doing hardware repairs, this should not be difficult.

[avram]

Oh, and download and print out a repair guide. iFixIt.com offers a bunch; if you don't find your model there, try Google. I used the guide that came with my replacement drive. Do this now, so you'll have a better idea of what's involved in doing the swap.

And run the "About This Mac" command under the Apple menu, and write down the information that identifies your model. This way, if your drive suddenly goes unbootable, you've still got that info handy.

[trysha.livejournal.com]

I did this, and it wasn't so bad. Not as bad as a macbook normal.. that was a nightmare.

I didn't remember any strange plastic tabs under the case lid.

See the fixit link above, I found something similar online.

Just be sure to have a big clean table to lay the parts out on, and safe places to put the screws, you should be fine.

[goddessfarmer.livejournal.com]

if you would rather pay to have it done The Computer Loft in Allston has very good service for reasonable prices.

[nacht_musik]

Logging I/O errors is a fairly clear sign that it's (perhaps rapidly) on its way out.

I can't find my spudger, but I successfully used a corn-plastic knife for the same purpose a month or two ago, on my 2.5yo MBP. There were some extremely useful and encouraging video directions somewhere on the web which I followed. I'm home until 6:30ish if you want to drop by...

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

After looking at the ifixit repair guides for the early MacBook Pros, it does not look too daunting. I was, however, a bit surprised that I couldn't see one of their screw guide sheets for the task. But it's easy to make your own, at least. Just go through the guide, write down the step number, the quantity of each type of screw, and make an oval to contain them. I prefer to put down double-sided scotch tape so that the screws don't go flying around when someone looking over your shoulder sneezes.

But, while there are a lot of screws to remove, the procedure is pretty straightforward, and the top case removal at least doesn't require you to take the screen off as well.

[c1.livejournal.com]

I used small yogurt cups when I did mine. The guide I used specified how many of which size screws came out of where at each step, so all I needed to do was fill one cup with all the screws that came out from each step, and I was golden.

[avram]

I used an ice cube tray. I put the screw in the tray in step order, and then just reversed the order when I was reassembling.

[c1.livejournal.com]

I cracked the case on my iBook G4 with a Swiss Army knife and a set of micro Torx screwdrivers. Teh Intartubez will show you the way, just as it did for me. Hooked the hard drive out and let it sit. I don't know if it was better able to be read outside the computer for reasons of more effective heat dissipation, but a day with Data Rescue 3 recovered everything I needed from the drive and stuck it all on another drive for me. Easy as pie.
This was after the Apple Genius worked on it with their software tools for two days straight. (Actually cracking the case would have set the meter running, so I opted for frugality. That being said, the tech made it clear, without saying it in as many words, that the mother ship wouldn't try all that hard if I did indeed send it back.)

I don't need the portability anymore, so on this, YMMV, but I have an external firewire as its new brains-- it's now something between Frankenstein and a zombie. (The spot where the drive was is now empty.)
Mmmm... brains...

If you do decide to stick in a new drive, solid state drives are now getting big enough at an attractive enough price point to make them worth looking at as an option.

[foms.livejournal.com]

I had to look up the word spudger. Now, I'm curious about etymology.

[c1.livejournal.com]

My bet is some engineering lab. It's pretty onomatopoetic in use many times.

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

I replaced the hard drive on my 2-year-old MacBook Pro last month, using the terrific instruction sheets from MacFixit. I have an external SATA case that I used for copying the contents of the old disk to the new one, too.

If you're planning on doing the swap, say, tomorrow night, I can look over your shoulder and count screws.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

have backup? a good thing to make soon...

got a camera? taking pictures as you go is good for us, and good for you later... esp good with complex repairs.

should be fairly straight forward, as said above. i've done it for a few system now.

get quality tools if you don't have them, it can make a difference.

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[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I'll just mention that older MBPs are among the machines I will not work on. (The new (unobody) MBPs, on the other hand, are easy.) And I'll second the recommendation for the Computer Loft in Allston. They won't rip you off; they'll do good work, and they'll back their work.