Camera Icon Missing. Search says Volume is missing.

Question

Luckily, I've been problem free for quite a while, so hope I'm in the right discussion group. (Please re-direct me if I'm not.)
My Minolta Dimage XI Camera (now owned by Sony) requires ejecting of the camera icon before shutting the camera. My iMac was working fine yesterday, but must have had too much going on simultaneously, because it froze and I had it restart in the middle of a photo project. Lost all the unsaved images, but was able to recapture them;actually opened automatically when I went to 'Open File.") But when I tried to turn off the camera in order to retake some shots in another room, the camera icon was missing. Manual says turning it off without ejecting can damage the camera, but sometimes a girl's gotta' do what she's gotta' do, and in the past I've ignored that instruction and been lucky. But also know I need to correct the problem.
After spending 2 hours online unsuccessfully with a Minolta rep in Manilla, he finally advised me to contact Apple with the following info: (1) I'm able to acccess existing photos in the camera via Photoshop, so connection between camera and iMac is OK and computer recognizes the photos. (2) Search for "Minolta" led to what looked like the icon, but clicking on it reported that it was an alias and "volume" as missing. (3) Have already manually searched every folder but there's no sign of the either the volume or the icon. (4) With help of Minolta technician tried to reset the camera settings, but they were OK and did not need resetting.(5) Reinitializing did to restore preferences did not help either.
The only thing I have not tried yet (because most of the day was spent looking for the icon) was Disk First Aid. If there's any chance it can restore a missing "volume" I will try it. Any other suggestions or advice will be much appreciated. I'd hate to lose the camera or destroy all the photos on it if I can avoid it. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Answer 1

You may have to go through the process of re-installing
the camera's software into the computer and hope the
files you have moved, or ones that have gone missing,
will return and work later on if the camera software gets
a fresh install into the system.
You have to "unmount" the equivalent of a disk from the
computer's desktop, prior to unplugging the physical item;
or there could be file damages to the data within it. By not
doing so, the files have been damaged. You can unmount
a disk icon or memory card icon by Eject, or drag/drop/Trash.
Same thing if you have an external hard disk drive attached.
{One of my cameras is a Nikon DSLR and I can remove
the card if desired and use a card reader, but usually I
don't do that; and instead just turn on the camera. The
other camera I have is a Panasonic Lumix (early FZ-1)
& while I also have a card reader for that, I don't use it.
Since the batteries (three per camera) need cycling and
recharging at some point anyway, I seldom use a reader.}
Usually, if the computer is accidentally turned off and a
peripheral item such as a camera or external hard disk
drive is left attached but not unmounted, the process of
just turning back on the computer (and do NOT unplug
the peripheral item) will let the Mac find that item again
and it will work correctly, when the Mac reboots. And a
sleeping Mac should not matter, just do not unplug the
camera connections while it is asleep; it should be seen
again normally when the computer awakens.
Some cameras with a +wireless connection+ to a computer
would lose the connection when either the camera or
computer were turned off without un-mounting the icon
or the representative file of the camera from the desktop.
Using Eject, or drag/drop icon on to Trash, is the path.
You may not have to un-install the existing camera software
from the computer in order to re-install the same items again;
in some cases, since the OS X may have a few of the same
series drivers already installed, (plug n play works fine for me)
you'd only defeat the existing compatibility if one removed that.
I'm not sure how you could restore the camera's representative
icon, but if the software in the camera were damaged where it
is stored (not in the camera memory card you could remove)
the item may be stored in the camera's Firmware. It may be
possible to restore the camera's firmware, if that is the case.
This is an item the manufacturer or their representative may be
able to answer questions about: If the missing icon is something
that could be due to damaged firmware, or not. And if so, how to
restore it. Even a good camera shop (repair shop) may have a
few answers, especially if they happen to also use Mac computers.
Anyway, the link to get a free image restore utility is still a good
thing. Even if you don't need it to resolve this issue, today. It is
also capable of restoring some other data files, btw.
The damaged file in software could be in the installed camera
drivers in the computer, and there may also be some damage
or corrupted files in the camera itself. Whether or not those are
in the camera's memory card or on some ROM chip inside the
camera (such as Firmware would likely be) is another matter.
If you have a CD for the camera and it has Mac OS X driver
software for the camera on it, you could try re-installing it.
Or, you could look to the manufacturer's web site for newer
camera driver software and download that; then install it.
Be sure it does not supersede your Mac's OS requirement.
A 'most new driver' would be for Leopard or Snow Leopard;
and your old Tiger probably would be unhappy with that.
Good luck & happy computing!