Macbook Pro would not recognize HD

Mein Problem

MBP randomly crashed one day and then would not boot up past "folder with a question mark" icon. Bought a new HD from newegg and replaced the old one, but the %#*@ thing still would not work - Disc utility showed no hard drives present (over SATA at least). BOTH hard drives booted/recognized fine when I used an external usb enclosure.

Meine Reparatur

Finally figured out that it may be the hard drive + IR cable itself. Bought one from ifixit (pretty cheap), it arrived practically overnight. Removal of old cable and installation of new one took about 20 minutes. Problem went away IMMEDIATELY. hell yes.

Mein Rat

don't ever pay to have apple fix your mpb if it's out of warranty.