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Mid 2012 model, A1278 / 2.5 GHz i5 or 2.9 GHz i7 processor.

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Using external drive housing

Internal HDD placed in housing and connected to lap top but not recognized - blue flashing light. Went into recovery mode and the light started as white - both flashing and steady and then turned to blue flashing - still not recognized on laptop by recovery disk utility; stopped SSD from being seen until the HDD was disconnected. Help requested in understanding the lights and then what to do about it.

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Let’s backup here, what is your goal? Are you trying to restore the data from the HDD to the SSD?

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Goal is to reset the drive. Data already restored from another external HDD. Is there a document which shows what the lights mean?

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@carlcloake4408 - Each case vendor does their own thing. The manual for the unit should explain what the different colors and states represent.

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This means the drive status is constantly busy, DIY recovery is NOT possible, ask a data recovery pro.

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What is "this" - white steady, white flashing, blue flashing...? Is there a document which lists possible meanings for the lights?

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To reset the drive I’m assuming cleaning off the data and prep it to be reused.

First step is to create if you haven’t already a bootable macOS drive with the desired OS version (supported by the system) Mojave macOS 14.x reference this doc on how to get the needed OS installer file How to download and install macOS then using a 32GB USB thumb drive copy the file to it (make sure to format the drive with GUID and a journaled file system). The next step is converting the file into a bootable state, follow this guide Create a bootable installer for macOS.

Now with this tool you can boot up your system with its new drive f it’s not setup yet. If your external drive is what you want to clean off just run the format option making sure you select the correct drive. Within the format options is a security wipe which you might want to use.

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All the details you provided were on the iFixit guides. I have already transferred OS onto the internal SSD using a backup made on anther HDD. I was hoping to reuse the HDD taken from the laptop as an extra external drive using the enclosure from the upgrade kit.

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@carlcloake - What does Disk Utility tell you does it not see the drive at all? It might be your case or its cable has a problem.


Are you using a Thunderbolt or USB external case to house the drive?

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