Chosen Solution
Hi, A while ago, my HD stopped working and I had to use an external HD. Couple of days ago I ordered 240GB SSD, and 2x4GB RAM, which all arrived today. I’ve successfully installed RAM and the drive, but the SSD does not show up in Disk Utility when I boot MBP in online recovery mode. About two months ago I’ve spilled some pepsi on my MBP, but everything’s working fine. When I was installing my new SSD, I’ve noticed that there’s a bit (stain) of dry sticky Pepsi on the HD’s SATA cable. Could this be the case for my problem and should I just get a new replacement cable? MBP 13" Mid-2012 Thanks
Well to start off, I would take the time to clean up all of the sticky soda remains as over time it will cause problems. As to the HD SATA cable, I would not bother cleaning it as you likely need to replace it any ways! A very common issue in the Unibody series is the upper case aluminum abrades the cable causing it to fail. So as a matter of course I always replace it when I have drive issues like what you are describing here. Here’s the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Cable Replacement and here is the needed part: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable. I should point out I also apply a strip of electricians tape where the cable rests against on the upper case to help prevent it rubbing. Also be gentle with the folds as the wires in the ribbon are fragile over bending also can cause issues. After you’ve put the new cable in you should be all set to run Disk Utilities to prep the drive and then install a fresh copy of OS. If you are still having problems then some of your soda may have damaged the logic board. I would recommend fully removing it as the other side likely is sticky and may have some corrosion.
