Fidgity Hard Drive (2STF/1/4)

A couple weeks ago I moved my iMac G5 to a new location. A week ago I started hearing some extra hard drive spinning that would stall the computer for a few seconds. Not a big deal so I figured I was overworking it and kept going.
It has gotten worse in that now the system will sometimes crash/freeze after spinning. I ran the Apple Hardware Test on it and found Error Code: 2STF/1/4:S-ATA BUS 0 - Master. Looking around the discussions it looks like other people experienced this error after their hard drives quit. I'm concerned that this is the direction mine is heading. What can/should I do to preserve data at this point and/or prolong the hard drive life? Is it really toast?
Thanks for any advice.

Welcome to discussions - If you don't have a firewire external drive, go and het one, then use SuperDuper! to clone/back up your data. If you can't get an external, at least burn your home folder to a dvd.
Have you tried booting from your install disc and running Disk Utility, then verify/repair hard drive? Try that and see if it helps.

Similar Messages

Hard Drive issues: Error 2stf/8/3 ata-100 ata-6 - master

I been having some problems with my powerbook, very difficult install of Tiger, running slow, applications take a long time to open. I found my original apple cds and ran the hardware test. I ran an Extended test and got this error:
2stf/8/3 ata-100 ata-6 - master
I then ran the quick test and everything passed including the Mass Storage. I'm hoping it's not a failing hard drive, S.M.A.R.T says verified. Could this be a sign of the "bad blocks" and I should try a complete erase and install? If so what is the best way to do so, so I do it correctly. By the way, my computer still boots up and seems to be running decently although slower than before, should I just leave it be? Thanks for all your help.

I contacted Apple and they're sending me a new unit instead of swapping out the drive. I'm glad they're doing that, because frankly, I think this PB is a lemon and I don't want to deal with it anymore. They considered it DOA, given I used it for less than 6 hours before it died.
Whats strange is that this one came with Panther installed, but had Tiger system disks with it. It was supposed to have Tiger installed. I wiped the drive on Friday and installed Tiger from scratch (had some difficulties installing Tiger), then I went ahead and installed my programs and worked for a few ours on my work on the PB.
Today, I tried attaching the PB as a target drive to my desktop system (just to try and recover the files I worked on Friday), but it wouldn't recognize it or mount it on the desktop. I also bought and downloaded Disk Warrior to see if it could see it--no luck.
Then, later today, I turned on my external hard drive thats hooked up to my desktop system and it WASN'T MOUNTING on the desktop. It was fine this morning. Something happened when I used the PB as a target drive--so, I ran Disk Warrior on the external drive and it mounted a "copy" of the drive, and now I'm backing up those files even as I type...
Needless to say, its been an extremely stressful day. And to top it all off, it takes about 1.5 hours per DVD to burn (its an older DVD burner) and there are 7 DVDs worth of data back up...thanksfully, Disk Warrior was able to mont thr data so I COULD back up the files.
So, if this new system comes with Panther installed, I'm leaving it as is--I'm not going the Tiger route yet.
In a way, I'm glad this happened with the new PB where I only lost a few hours of work, instead of my trying to redo my desktop system with Tiger (which I purchased, but hadn't gotten around to doing) and potantiall losing a lot more than that...
Moral of the story, purchase a .MAC membership, download "Backup" and use it REGULARLY.
I'll keep you posted as to how everything goes.

Mass Storage -Hard Drive -Error 2STF/8/3:ATA-100ata-6-Master

I ran a hardware test and got the following error message on the Mass Storage (hard drive) device, what does it mean? Is the hard drive toast? Is there a way to fix this?
***error**
2STF/8/3:ATA-100ata-6-Master
***error***

That error indicates the hard drive is failing or has failed. It could be that the drive itself is at fault, or that it is not correctly connected, or that the ATA controller on the logic board is faulty. There are also indications that in some instances, that fault code can be generated by a problem with the optical drive which prevents the system correctly addressing the hard drive.
Of those, the only truly serious possibility is the ATA controller, since it would require replacement of the logic board, which is really not an economic repair.
In this situation, and assuming the system in not under warranty (clearly if it is, take it in for service) then I would remove the top, check the drive tray is correctly mounted, and remove the optical drive to see if the hard drive then functions. If not, then swap in another hard drive then try and set the new drive up. If it continues to fail with this error, it would then point to the logic board.

HT203176 Does the error code "2STF/8/3.ATA-100ata-6-Master" means I have to replace my hard drive?

Does the error code "2STF/8/3.ATA-100ata-6-Master" means I have to replace my hard drive?

It is either a failing/failed hard drive, or a problem with the controller, which means logic board. If you Macbook is old enough to be running Tiger (which is what this forum covers) then the answer to your question is no, you need a new Mac!

Does the error code "2STF/8/3.ATA-100ata-6-Master" means I have to replace my hard drive?

Does the error code "2STF/8/3.ATA-100ata-6-Master" means I have to replace my hard drive?

Could be either the hard drive or the logic board.

Do I need a new hard drive & can I use Leopard?

I have a PowerBook G4 17" 1.5Ghz with OS X 10.3.9 on the original 80GB hard drive, I've been getting a lot of problems with the computer acting very slowly and getting 'hung up' with the color wheel spinning endlessly, during which nothing responds, I can't force quit, the only thing I can do is force a shut by holding down the power key. Sometimes it takes a long time to start up. I've tried re-installing the OS but still the same problems. I ran the Apple Hardware Test which gave this error code "2STF/4/3:ATA-100 ata-6-MASTER".
Does this all mean that my hard drive is going down and I need a new one?
Can I use any size hard drive e.g. a 250GB one?
Also - If I put a new hard drive in can I then install Leopard?
All info received with many thanks.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
That code means there are problems with your hard drive. If you look at Disk utility (on your hard disk in applications/utilities) you may see that the S.M.A.R.T. status shows a problem. Or if you have SMARTreporter installed, it may not be green.
You can certainly use up to a 160GB hard drive. There was a discussion recently suggesting a BIOS (basic input output services) limit to 160GB ... I don't know if that's real or not.
If you do replace your hard drive, you might consider the slight price premium for a 7200rpm drive. You'll appreciate the extra snapiness in response time. And yes, you can install Leopard on it. After installing the new hard drive, boot from the DVD drive and use disk utility to format the hard drive in mac os extended (journaled) format. Then you can install Leopard.

My iMac G5's Hard Drive Has Most Likely Failed

So my hard drive has been having problems since November 2005, but the computer has been barely holding out, until now. The computers just dead. I got this message from
It happened at the most random time. Yesterday morning, I turned on my computer and opened Safari. Everything went just fine, and about 3/4 way through loading the apple startpage, the entire computer froze up.
I tried disk utility but it froze while verifying and repairing disk permissions (about 1/8 started and it froze) and when I did verify disk, it came up with a popup window stating:
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
And then in the Disk Utility information window where it says the status that its at (Checking....) it said this:
Checking HFS Plus Volume
Checking Extents Overflow File
Checking Catalog File
Invalid Sibling Link
Volume Check Failed
The underlying task reported failure on exit.
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Then I ran fsck in single-user mode, and i got this:
#fsck -fy
disk0s3: I/O timeout
(4, 7808)
I'm not sure what the coordinates mean. I'm thinking they might be the coordinates to a bad sector that may be screwing EVERYTHING up because the computer failed to recognize the bad sector, and close it off of any further use.
After that I ran diskutility in single-user mode thinking maybe the GUI version was corrupted... but I let the diskutil verifyPermissions /dev/disk0s3 run for an hour and nothing showed up on the screen so i just decided to stop, shut down, and go to bed.
So now i've figured, my iMac has given me enough trouble as it is. ive had so many problems with it... ever since november 2005 (5 months into owning it) it has had the following hard drive error code show up in extended test for the Apple Hardware Test ever since... and about 1 hour ago, i retested it, and sure enough this came up:
**ERROR*CODE***ERROR*CODE**
2STF/8/3: S-ATA Bus O-Master
**ERROR*CODE***ERROR*CODE**
I'm really not happy with mac right now. I think their 1 year warranty is useless and they pretty much leave you screwed if you dont buy their applecare protection plan.
I have a windows 98 (upgraded from 95) that i bought way back in 1997, and its still functional... with the same hard drive... same everything... and it works just fine... except for the memory is small because back then 128 GB was the biggest it got) :P
so a 5 GB hard drive going on its 10th working years, and this 150 GB hard drive failed after 14 months... all i've gotta say is: Apple, thats pretty pathetic... especially after you mock PC in their commercials for "breaking down". Ive actually had less problems with all of my 3 PCs combined then I've had with this **** iMac.
So now heres what i'm trying to figure out. i'm wondering, what kind of hard drive i shuold buy to replace it... i tried the DIY hardware replacement ordering page but it says that the apple website couldnt find it (http://www.apple.com/support/imac/g5/diy/).
I wasnt planning on buying from the apple DIY anyway, but I wanted to see if it would specify a type of hard drive. Where is the popular website to go to buy these things, and how expensive will it be for me to replace it with a hard drive about as big as my current one).
Or should I not throw my hard drive away yet, and invest hope in it somehow. I heard DiskWarrior could do the trick, but I dont want to have to spend $80 on a piece of software that might not even work out right. And all the free ones you have to download to your mac... but too bad for me, my mac wont even start up... (well it does but when it gets to the desktop, its pretty much unfunctional... just a moving mouse that wont do anything).
Is there some renouned website (as crucial.com is for memory) among these forums that you might suggest?
I'm open and desperate for any input i can get. The sooner the better
Thanks in advance
-Mark

Hey look, its my friend Charlie from my Disk Permissions Error -36 post.
Here's our thread from last time. Alot of the stuff there still pertains: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=620422&tstart=0
It turns out the reformat I did only worked for a little while. Then last friday, my kernel was corrupted, and so i did "Erase All" but skipped the "Zero All Data" figuring that it wouldnt be necessary since I wasnt discarding my drive, so there wasnt anything to secure from anyone recovering private data. It worked for 4 days after that, and now I'm here again. With problems.
Do you remember getting disk I/O errors on disk0s3?
If you remember way back then, I had gotten this error when I did diskutil list in Terminal:
Aug 30 21:42:08 mark-imac-g5 kernel[0]: disk0s3: I/O error.
/dev/disk0
#: type name size identifier
0: Applepartitionscheme *149.1 GB disk0
1: Applepartitionmap 31.5 KB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 148.9 GB disk0s3
I'm running DiskWarrior right now (borrowed it from a friend... didnt feel up to paying the $80 & have it potentially not work) and its stuck at this message:
Rebuilding Directory Data
[ |||||||||||Solid Progress Bar||||||||||| ]
Step 5: Locating Directory Data
[\\\\\\\Barbershop-like Progress Bar\\\\\\\]
Speed inhibited by disk malfunction (Skip) (Cancel)
Its been stuck there for about an hour, and I'm assuming its not going to work as you suggested it wouldn't
It's too late to do any good now, but if you ever run the
hardware test and get an error code, you should have Apple
look at it. If you were getting that error code 5 months
after the computer was new, a replacement drive would have
been covered under your warranty.
I wish I had actually done so. I was a mac-noob back then so I had no idea what anything was, and I was still getting used to the actual working-with-a-mac thing (ive been a Windows user for most of my life except for working/helping teachers with their macs at school... i was always the computer-person in school... it was pretty awesome :P)
I have to disagree with the other posters. I don't think >DiskWarrior is going to help you. Data Rescue II might help >you to get some files off your hard drive if you have files >on there that aren't backed up. But my experience was that >when I got the error in the hardware test, DiskWarrior >didn't work.
Right now I have everything backed up that I need, so it's not like i'm using DiskWarrior to get my data back. I just want a program to be able to tell the hard drive that these certain sectors that are acting up and causing the hard drive to fail are ruined and to not use them anymore. If its not just 1 sector, but the entire hard drive that is failed, I'm not even gonna bother salvaging it (even though i'm sure if it was completely failed there would be no way of getting it back that deep into failure).
I read at this website about someone else who had a similar problem to mine (http://www.desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/archive/index.php/t-901.htmldiskwarrior+speed+inhibited+by+diskmalfunction&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2):
ElyseC - 07-14-2005, 11:52 PM
And now the latest reply from Marc the support tech:
There have been a handful who have seen success after four
or five days with the "speed inhibited by disk
malfunction" message. There have also been a few
up to a week. From there, admittedly, the state
of the drive has to be pretty damaged for DiskWarrior to
run so long, although the speed DiskWarrior can work is
also related to the speed of the processor, so four days
for a G3 is different than four days for a G5.
She later posted this:
,..for a variety of reasons I ended up letting DW chug away on my drive for a few days shy of an entire month.
*UPDATE MID WRITING THE POST*
Disk warrior finally unfroze! It's now Comparing Directories (recording any file or folder differences).
I'll post more when it's all done
Or if i have trouble mid-way

Kernel panic/hard drive crash

Preface: I am attempting to recover about a weeks worth of slaving on my masters thesis, that I thought I had backed up but in deed did not.
My computer had a kernel panic while I was using ms word, and the hard disk appears to be the issue. I cannot boot into safe mode, nor use the Disk Utility repair functionality when booting from the os cd (causes a kernel panic).
The Apple Hardware Test gives me inconsistent results. When it there is an error it is:
2STF/4/3:ASA-100 ata-6 - Master.
Other times it comes back that there is no hardware issue.
I am now trying to get data off of the disk using Disk Utility from another mac. I can see the drive, but repair/verify options are grayed. I am attempting to create a DMG, and am either hung up or it is going very slowly. I see a horizontal blue and white barber shop pole. You know the type that give the illusion of perpetual movement, though nothing really changes?
my log reads:
2007-11-25 21:23:06 -0500: Creating Image “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”
My finder is not responding. I am ignoring that, hoping the drive will do something as it goes on 40 minutes, and so I can't look to see if there is even such a file on my computer.
Before this I tried to use Disk Utility 2 and had a similar problem, only earlier in the process. It spent about 40 minutes just trying to bring up my drives. Never an error message or crash, just no indication to the user that this waiting is fruitful. Also just opening the hard drive on the other mac, means it will not be able to shut down normally. Even after disconnecting it a manual reset is required. It seems the hard drive spawns infinite loops.
What is my best bet? Which program(or any other?) is more likely to yield results, given I am supposed to turn it over tomorrow to be repaired by data unfriendly technicians? Please give me any tips that may be relevant.
Thanks in advance.
Edit: An Advance!
2007-11-25 21:23:06 -0500: Creating Image “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”
2007-11-25 22:14:21 -0500: Reading whole disk (unknown partition : 0)…
Another edit:
2007-11-25 21:23:06 -0500: Creating Image “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”
2007-11-25 22:14:21 -0500: Reading whole disk (unknown partition : 0)…
2007-11-25 22:25:43 -0500: Unable to create “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”. (Input/output error)
What program would be best to buy if this is recoverable? I saw Disk Warrior and Techtool recommended. I seem to have some access without kernel panics from the second mac, so I am cautiously optimistic. I am now trying a very long verify process, after which I will try to repair the drive. These options where grayed out as of my earlier post. Finder is still frozen.
Message was edited by: detibook
complete log: (note the blank space in lieu of an error message )
2007-11-25 21:23:06 -0500: Creating Image “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”
2007-11-25 22:14:21 -0500: Reading whole disk (unknown partition : 0)…
2007-11-25 22:25:43 -0500: Unable to create “AAPL FireWire Target Media.dmg”. (Input/output error)
2007-11-25 22:32:34 -0500: Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Starting verification tool: 2007-11-25 22:32:34 -0500
2007-11-25 22:33:04 -0500:
2007-11-25 22:46:22 -0500: Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.2007-11-25 22:46:22 -0500:
2007-11-25 22:46:22 -0500: Disk Utility stopped verifying “Macintosh HD” because the following error was encountered:
Filesystem verify or repair failed.
2007-11-25 22:46:22 -0500:
Message was edited by: detibook
Message was edited by: detibook
Message was edited by: detibook

Bump.
Data Rescue II has been going all night with no progress on the status bar. There are an assortment of errors at the bottom of the page (14 100022 14 10022 14 100022 14 10005 274 332 14 10005 14 10005 274 332).
This isn't even the recovery process, just brining up the drive.
The drive (target disk mode) eventually - surprise, surprise - popped up in finder. Still I cannot see the data on the drive.
Any thoughts? Is it worth waiting(going on 9 hours just bringing up the drive)? Is it worth trying another program, like Disk Warrior. Is the new version better than the old, other than that it is intel compatible? Or should I just move on. Will Apple give me the old drive so I can through it in a case and work on it further?
Am I missing something?
null

Hard drive failed? Options?

Out of warranty iBook G4. Lots of problems with this puppy. Latest is failure on startup -- flashing ? folder icon. Appears hard drive is not there. Sounds of sick frog/cricket from drive. Apple Hardware Test says:
Mass storage: Error detected
ERROR CODE 2STF/1/4: ERROR CODE
So I guess the choice is taking it to the Apple store 50 miles away to get a new hard drive. Any ballpark estimate of the repair cost?
Is there an alternative of replacing the disk myself (I've replaced drives in my Toshiba laptop and desktop before)? Any links to instructions would be appreciated. Thanks.
G4 iBook/G4 dual/iMac G3 Mac OS X (10.3.5)

Hi Dave,
Have you tried reinstalling your system software? Do you get any messages like ATA or anything next to that error? I don't know how much it will cost; only a Apple Certified Technician can tell you. I have seen people who's iBooks are 4 years old with no warranty get something replaced for free (except labor charge). The other thing is that, this may not even be a hard drive issue; it may be "covering" up a bigger problem.
If you don't want to bring it to your local Apple Store, you can find a guide on replacing your hard drive at iFixit.com; previously known as PBFixit. You can purchase drives, tools, etc from iFixit as well.
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

IBook hard drive errors

My brother's iBook G4 12" started freezing randomly, and when I tried to run disk utility it would give me lots and lots of errors. Apple Hardware Test spit some errors which I don't remember (unfortunately), and then the hard drive stopped showing up at all.
I bought a new 80G disk, and after swapping them, got about 90% into the Tiger install when it locked up completely. After forcing a reboot, the hard drive isn't recognized once again. Apple Hardware Test is giving "2STF/4/3: ATA- 100 ATA- 6 - Master".
Does this point more towards the ATA controller dying or did I somehow just get a lemon drive?
I have an external enclosure but it's either broken or a piece of junk, because -every- drive I've ever used in it has acted funny. It'll lock up the computer trying to read files and whatnot. I wouldn't trust it to give me an accurate result.
If anyone has any tips I'd appreciate it, as my brother needs his computer pretty bad and I don't really know where to go from here.
thanks,
Isaac

That's what I'm leaning towards. I'm going to have both drives tested by a friend and I'm also going to drop the $19.95 to replace the drive cable. If it still tests bad then I guess I have to replace the logic board.
Is it possible to replace the logic board with one with a 1.33GHz processor (it's an 800MHz iBook)?
Thanks,
Isaac

Same Old Hard Drive Failure... with a twist

After the odd failure of my formerly reliable and beloved 17" Powerbook G4 I did some investigation.
(capitalized words are just to help make the key words stick out)
I did the standard list of trouble shooting with the system DVDs. REPAIR PERMISSIONS: Successful. REPAIR DISK: Failed. INVALID NODE STRUCTURES were found and after it tried to REBUILD CATALOG B-TREE there was and ERROR: THE UNDERLYING TASK REPORTED FAILURE ON EXIT.
So i ran the EXTENDED HARDWARE TEST.
I got an error in the mass storage: 2STF/8/3:ATA-100 ata-6-master
After several attempts to turn my computer on the furthest I could get was the login screen. Once I typed in my password, the computer would load for a long time then bring me to a DARWIN login screen. I don't know Unix commands so I didn't know what to do. Eventually I got back to the more friendly Aqua Login. This kind of thing happened many times with no sucessful login to my desktop (although Darwin login worked but I don't know how to use it.)
I looked on several online discussions and found that I was not entirely alone with this error. Everyone seems to have similar symptoms and a similar troubleshooting method, etc.
That said, here are the two reasons why I thought my case was worthy to post:
1. Every discussion about this error I have read so far has had the same symptoms (erratic behavior, super slow running simple tasks, unexplained crashing of simple applications, slow boot and login times, etc) the only difference is, their symptoms crept in slowly over a couple months. In my case I was using the computer on and off for about 5 hours. The first 3 or 4 hours of using it were absolutely unremarkable. The system worked just as fine as it always did. Then, in the last hour, after no major changes from the other 4 hours (no downloads, installations, moving, power adapter was in the whole time with no storms, etc.), the strange symptoms began to occur. I checked the processes and everything seemed to be running fine according to the ACTIVITY MONITOR but the system was clearly bogged down somehow. I decided to do the usual fix and simply RESTART. After that I was never able to login and currently if I turn the power on, the gray screen with the apple comes up and the loading circle (not the rainbow of death one, but the line one) appears but it just spins for a while then shuts off. IN SHORT: the difference is my computer's symptoms appeared and took over in a matter of an hour or two rather than months like many other peoples'
2. I am a silly boy and I've never done any real back up. If my hard drive has truly bitten the dust, what is the likelihood that I've lost everything?
Excuse my wordiness, brevity was never my talent.
〜さむさむ (samusamu)
17" Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

You have two problems.
One is that your file directories are seriously damaged. This is clear from the notations in Disk Utility.
The other is that your HD is about to fail. This is clear from the AHT error code: 2STF/8/3:ATA-100 ata-6-master.
If it wasn't for the message in AHT, I might suggest that you try running DiskWarrior on your internal drive to see if it can fix the damaged directories. It may not hurt to try that anyway.
Either way, I would suggest that if you have access to another FireWire equipped Mac, you boot your PB into target disk mode and attempt to retrieve your personal data (docs, pictures, music, etc.) as soon as possible.
If you are unable to boot the machine into target disk mode, you might want to try using Data Rescue II from Prosoft. This app is quite good, but it will need to be installed on another machine or bootable volume on an external drive.
Should Data Rescue not work, you'll have to go to a third-party to help you with data recovery.
Last, if you don't have a warranty or an APP, it's time to start shopping for a new HD.
Good luck.

Startup/Hard Drive Failure on iBook G4

My iBook G4, bought about two and a half years ago, recently developed a very serious problem. Occasionally, on startup, I get a blank screen, then a flashing folder icon with a question mark/Mac OS icon. This happens erratically. Sometimes the computer starts up just fine.
The first few times it happened, I did an Apple Hardware test, and got the following error code under the 'mass storage' heading.
2STF/2/3: ATA - 100 ata - 6 - Master
I rang Apple, even though the iBook is out of its 2 year warranty (by a couple of months naturally). They suggested it was a hard drive fault.
Foolishly trusting them more than I should have, I went out and bought a new hard drive (with identical spec) and replaced it myself. During the repair I noticed one of the screw fixings (a little metal loop) on the bottom shield had sheared off, but thought nothing of it (I find it hard to believe this has any relevance).
I replaced the drive, reinstalled everything, including all the old files, and the computer worked fine... for about three days.
The computer started to hang for a few minutes every so often when asked to do simple tasks (open an application, save a document, etc.) and we'd get stuck with the colour wheel. (I've read a few examples of this phenomenon on discussion forums, which is worrying). The applications didn't crash, they just worked very slowly, and it wasn't confined to any particular app.
Eventually we started getting the same erratic startup error. Hardware test reports no errors, as does Techtool Deluxe (even when I run every single test, including a surface scan). I opened up the iBook again to check all the cables and screws, but everything looks perfectly intact to me.
Has anyone encountered anything like this before? I am utterly stumped, and not nearly wealthy enough to have Apple fix it (especially if it's something as serious and costly as a logic board problem or something). I heard a rumour there is such a thing as a 'memory distribution' problem that might cause these symptoms, but google doesn't turn up anything under that description.
Please help! My Mac is dying!

When you installed the new HD, did you also reinstall
the OS, or did you transfer your existing information
to the new drive?
I reinstalled the OS and used Migration Assistant to bring back everything else. I guess I could try doing this differently, in case its some corrupt library date that's causing all the problems. I'll try that and post again in a few days.
Strange Disk Utility does not recognize your HD.
Does it only show your DVD in the left panel?
Yes. When I startup from the OSX DVD, there is only the DVD and a 'network startup' option, but no hard drive at all.
Go back to "safe mode". Once there, select System
Preferences>Start-Up Disk. Does your HD appear?
Yes it does.
Have a look at
this Apple article regarding start-up
problems.
Here too.
Thanks for these, but I think I've already tried all the relevant things, thanks to your advice.
Outside of repairing your HD via Disk Utility, or
replacing equipment (eg logic board) either Disk
Warrior or a
reinstall of the OS would be your
options.
Well, I probably can't afford either option, but we'll see how desperate I get. Thanks for your time.

Internal hard drive/repair: SMART status; Disk Utility, Tech Tool & More

machine: 12" PowerBook 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 (Aluminium) with 80GB internal HD
internal hard drive (original): Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series HTS541080G9AT00
hard drive firmware: MB4AA5AJ
ATA version: 6
ATA standard: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 3a
I have monitored the SMART status etc. of my internal drive with smartmontools for some time. Occasionally, I would see an error or a failed self-test but later testing always succeeded and things did not seem to be problematic.
At the beginning of this week, I started to see a lot of failed self-tests (though some still passed), a rising number of bad ("pending") sectors and reallocation attempts (though no reallocated sectors) and various other errors. The computer seemed to have trouble reading from the disk at times and Carbon Copy Cloner reported two I/O errors when cloning (a later clone succeeded). fsck showed errors although running fsck -fy repeatedly seemed to resolve them.
The Apple hardware tests initially reported an error (2STF/8/3:ATA-100 ata-6-Master) but I hadn't realised I should disconnect peripherals before running it so I did that and repeated the test which found no issues. I ran the extended test a total of three times with no errors.
As I continued to have problems, I booted from my clone and had Disk Utility wipe the drive by writing zeros to it. (I thought trying to get it to write everywhere would either finish the drive off or force it to reallocate the bad blocks. As I understand it, in normal use, the drive won't reallocate the blocks unless it can recover the data in the hopes of reading it at a later time.)
I then continued monitoring the disk using smartmontools. At this point, short self-tests succeed but extended self-tests "disappear". They don't fail, they simply vanish. They begin and smartctl shows the test in progress but then no error or result is logged - it is as if the test was never run. The first time I did this, I got an error saying the SMART attributes could not be read but subsequent tests do not trigger even an error. Short self-tests continue to pass.
There are now (according to SMART) zero bad ("pending") sectors but zero reallocated sectors, which seems odd. The raw read error rate fluctuates (zero one minute, many thousands a while later) although I am not sure it did not do this before.
Disk Utility claims the disk does not support SMART status even though smartctl clearly shows it does. Disk Utility claims the volume is "OK".
I ran Tech Tool Deluxe 3.04 from CD and 3.1.1 from my clone. In both cases, I ran all available tests on the drive. No problems were found.
I am seeing some problems even while booted from my clone - yesterday, the system froze completely and I had to force a shut-down by switching off the power (fsck then found a minor error but repaired it). Just before this happened, I was unable to mount a disk image and was trying to rectify the situation when the system froze. It is possible that the errors fsck corrected were implicated in the freeze, rather than caused by it, since Disk Utility found and repaired similar errors for the other two clones I have (on different partitions of my external drive - yes, I know this is sub-optimal).
Here is some current output from smartmontools:
---output: smartctl -q noserial -a disk0---
smartctl version 5.38 [powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series
Device Model: Hitachi HTS541080G9AT00
Firmware Version: MB4AA5AJ
User Capacity: 80,026,361,856 bytes
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 6
ATA Standard is: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 3a
Local Time is: Sat Jul 3 20:28:52 2010 BST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 645) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 55) minutes.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 RawRead_ErrorRate 0x000b 100 100 062 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail Offline - 0
3 SpinUpTime 0x0007 142 142 033 Pre-fail Always - 2
4 StartStopCount 0x0012 097 097 000 Old_age Always - 5793
5 ReallocatedSectorCt 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 SeekErrorRate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 SeekTimePerformance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 PowerOnHours 0x0012 039 039 000 Old_age Always - 26720
10 SpinRetryCount 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 PowerCycleCount 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 4168
191 G-SenseErrorRate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
192 Power-OffRetractCount 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 201877487644
193 LoadCycleCount 0x0012 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 2209599
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 141 141 000 Old_age Always - 39 (Lifetime Min/Max 16/46)
196 ReallocatedEventCount 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 194
197 CurrentPendingSector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMACRC_ErrorCount 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 2138 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
PoweredUpTime is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.
Error 2138 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26716 hours (1113 days + 4 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
10 51 00 09 4f c2 a0 Error: IDNF
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
b0 d6 01 09 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.500 SMART WRITE LOG
b0 d5 01 09 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.300 SMART READ LOG
b0 d1 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART READ ATTRIBUTE THRESHOLDS [OBS-4]
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART READ DATA
b0 da 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART RETURN STATUS
Error 2137 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 28 18 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 40 sectors at LBA = 0x04989518 = 77108504
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:37.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:30.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
Error 2136 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 21 1f 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 33 sectors at LBA = 0x0498951f = 77108511
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:30.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
Error 2135 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 22 1e 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 34 sectors at LBA = 0x0498951e = 77108510
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:13.500 READ DMA EXT
Error 2134 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 28 18 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 40 sectors at LBA = 0x04989518 = 77108504
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:13.500 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 92 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:12.100 READ DMA EXT
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBAof_firsterror
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 4 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 5 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26716 -
# 6 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26715 -
# 7 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26714 -
# 8 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26697 -
# 9 Extended offline Completed: read failure 10% 26692 75071682
#10 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26687 -
#11 Extended offline Completed: read failure 10% 26676 77108511
#12 Short offline Completed: read failure 40% 26663 296917
#13 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26657 -
#14 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26646 296918
#15 Short offline Completed: read failure 70% 26645 296905
#16 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26644 296910
#17 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26644 296910
#18 Short offline Completed: read failure 40% 26643 296916
#19 Short offline Completed: read failure 20% 26643 296909
#20 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 26620 -
#21 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26618 -
Warning! SMART Selective Self-Test Log Structure error: invalid SMART checksum.
SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENTTESTSTATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
---end output---
Self-tests 1-8 were all run after I erased the disk. The others were run before I did so. Not listed are the extended self-tests I've started since erasing which, as I say, have simply disappeared.
The checksum error regarding the log is normal for this disk. At least, I've got that error ever since I started using smartmontools for monitoring so I assume it is normal. (I installed this version of the software in about April 2008 and have used it since.) Also, starting offline testing has never succeeded on this disk (I think I checked into this at the time but can't quite remember - this is not new, anyway).
Questions
how should I interpret all this? (Why does Disk Utility say SMART is not supported while smartctl clearly shows it is at the same time? Why do the extended tests simply vanish? Is the drive definitely dying?) I do not want to replace the disk unless I absolutely have to because I understand that replacing disks in 12" PBs is no small matter and cost is an issue. I do not want to replace the machine unless I have to because cost is an issue and, also, I really like this computer and have no idea what I would want in its place, even if expense were no obstacle.
if it isn't clear whether the drive is dying or not, is there some further strategy I can use to establish this?
if the drive is dying, is a machine of this age worth repairing and, if it is, under what circumstances is it worth doing so? For example, it might be worth doing if you can do the job yourself, but that might be quite impractical for non-expert (not to mention, inexpert) users.
if there is a hardware problem (which I obviously think is very, very probable at this point), is it definitely a dying hard drive? (I've seen people write ominous things about disk controllers etc. which I gather are more serious - or less repairable - than a "mere" dying disk.)
what questions should I be asking you and what are the answers to those questions?!
Many thanks for your patience in reading this far.
- cfr

The 12" PB internals are a bit more complex, for PB's. If you don't want to replace the hard drive yourself or pay someone to install it, you could always get an external firewire hard drive, and use it to boot from and for general usage. Would have to be firewire, since the PB won't book from a USB device. One example of what you could get is a 160GB external hard drive: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MS4U5160GB8/ . All the choices with that case are listed here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
Have you called any Apple Authorized Service Providers to see what they would charge to install a drive for you? Whether you bought it or they supplied it? You can find a local one in the US at http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/

Worth replacing a hard drive on a 3 year old computer?

I'm using a Powerbook G4 12" with 1.33 GHZ and the original hardware, purchased it back in Fall '03. The past couple of days, it has started to act up - about 60% of the time, it wouldn't even turn on properly, failing to even reach the Apple startup screen. If I did succeed in reaching my desktop, applications would take forever to open or simple stall. Anyhow, I ran disk utility off the install disk and found a minor problem in the volume bitmap, which was promptly fixed. The stalling persisted. So I ran Apple Hardware Test and was given the 2STF/8/3: ata-100 ata-6 mass storage error code. I don't know what that means exactly but gauging from some of the other posts, it looks to be predicting the imminent failure of my hard drive. I'm going to try and take it into the Genius Bar tomorrow but am not hoping for much.
At any rate, the crux of my question is this: if it is my hard drive preparing itself for the great beyond, is it worth buying a replacement hard drive for my 3-year old computer? Or should I just buy a new cheap Macbook? I'm on a student budget at the moment, so I'm trying to figure out which makes the most long-term sense. Last thing I want to do is fork out for a new hard drive only to have something else breakdown. I haven't upgraded my current computer much - I added an airport card and just bought a new battery but that's it.
Any thoughts? Apologies for the long-winded post.
Powerbook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Powerbook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Welcome to Apple Discussions, robtas and johndavi.
From the description it seems most likely that the internal hard drive is failing. Judging by your model of PowerBook, I would not be surprised if the drive is a Toshiba. If so, then you may also hear unusual noises from the drive.
The normal thing to do is backup/retrieve your data (if necessary or feasible) and then replace the drive. A hard drive replacement is not necessarily that expensive. Potentially you might be able to source a suitable drive online from $60 upwards and have that fitted for, maybe, $50. If you are comfortable working with a computer's innards then online structions are available here.
As for whether you should just buy a MacBook... personally I think, for now, you should just replace the drive unless you have other urgent needs that a MacBook can serve. The MBs may also have teething problems that need sorting out. Replacing the drive will be far cheaper than buying a MB.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

EMac hard drive dead?

My eMac was running slow ... reeeeeeeally slow. Spent ages pondering every mouse click. Just opening folders was agony. I tried the usual round of fixes, some of which helped a little, but after a few hours' use, things would slow down again. Permissions repair got hung up 1/3 of the way through every time. Decided to try Disk Utility from the install disk; it reported an error (2STF/8/3: MAC-10 ata-4 - Master); research suggested that meant hard drive trouble. I tried reinstalling system software and now my Mac can ONLY restart from the Tiger disk --- it can't even mount the hard drive.
Four questions:
1. Does this mean what it looks like --- that the hard drive is dead?
2. Is there any way to access the hard drive at this point?
3. If the drive is dead, is it better to replace the internal drive or just get an external?
4. Any recommendations as to brands/spex on replacement drive?
Thanks in advance.

Drives do die! I gather you don't have an external drive nor another Mac. Hope you don't have any important files to recover either.
I had my iBook drive die a couple of years ago while visiting in Namibia on Christmas eve. It hadn't died completely. The local Apple dealer happened to be in his shop on the 26th. We were able to copy most things onto his computer and I bought an external drive and an OX 10.4 DVD. I set up the external drive with a new system and copied all my files to it. It took over 2 months before Apple were able to supply the correct parts but I was able to continue using the Mac during the wait. The iBook was still within the Applecare warranty period so there was no cost to me for the repairs. This procedure will work provided other components in the eMac are in good order.
Access to the drive depends on how dead it really is. If the drive is not dead you should be able to reformat it from the Instal disc. If this fails then repair is an option.
You will need to check whether any other parts need replacing. With my iBook one of the hardware control modules had to be replaced too. Once you know likely cost you should consider whether a new Mac is a more practical option - if you can afford one. You will get a better machine with better specifications for an effective price of new less repair costs.
In terms of recommendations - an external Firewire drive with more than enough capacity for your needs. The advantage of this is that you can use it with any new computer you choose to buy later.

Fidgity Hard Drive (2STF/1/4)

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