Firewire Disk Problem

I have a large (500GB) hard drive that has failed. (Probably cause I packed it in luggage due to strict flight security regulations a couple of weeks ago.
I have 2 questions:
1. The drive wont mount. Is there any software worth buying to try to recover it?
2. Can I get opinions on disk drive enclosures for large drives. I'm afraid that many of them wont take drives larger than 320-400GB.
Many thanks
David

I had good luck with a new Maxtor 250 gb 7200 rpm ultra ata/133 with 16 mb cache 80 bux Cnd. and put into a Firewire 800/Usb 2.0 Encloser PHR-100ACB,after using Disk utility format ,I had problem with directory -I used disk utility with the usb cable it mounted -used fix disk repair setting.then I could use the firedrive 800 cable -It works super .
Hope this helps. Disk utility in the Utilities folder - everytime I download anything -Updates,programs etc... I check repair permissions- It fixes many rwrw error settings hi.
Pizmo g3 upgraded to G4 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

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Spotlight & firewire disk problem

I attached two firewire drives, with two partitions each, to my iBook last night and the computer slowed down. I checked Activity Monitor and found mds, Spotlight's indexer, taking a lot of cycles. So, I went into System Preferences and used the Privacy tab under Spotlight to ignore all four of the firewire partitions. However, mds continued to take a lot of cyles, for hours later.
Without the firewire drives, mds is not a bother, so I'm pretty sure it's related to them.
Puzzled...
- Liz
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hi, Liz.
Spotlight will automatically index FireWire or USB 2.0 volumes when mounted. A more effective and immediate method for stopping indexing on such volumes than using Privacy can be found by reviewing the "Disabling Spotlight indexing while indexing is in progress" section of my "Stop Spotlight Indexing" FAQ.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

How do I resolve LOCKED DISKS problem ? NO ACCESS ANYMORE !

Hello everybody,
I've looked carefully where to post this topic,
and I hope it's the right place here
(I have already been warned not to post the same questions in different places).
I have actually 2 internal volumes locked, 2 external Firewire volumes locked and 2 USB external volumes locked. I'm talking about *5,7 To* with *NO ACCESS* anymore.
It happened suddenly, and I was working on Snow Leopard 10.6.3 internal drive. This volume is the *only one* that has NOT been locked, but I lost a lot of applications, documents and so on on it.
Each of the locked volumes I am talking about shows,
in *Sharing & Permissions* (Get Info window),
the same Privileges :
— everyone : Custom
— admin : Custom
— olcha (Me) : Custom
— staff : Custom
— everyone (again) : Custom
You'll notice that "System" is not there (should be there with R+W),
and "admin" should have also R+W privilege.
I don't know why "staff" is here (perhaps, one day, somebody will explain to me the difference between : wheel, staff and admin).
I also don't know why "everyone" is there two times.
If I unlock the padlock (bottom right) with my password, I can only
check or uncheck the "Ignore ownership on this volume" square (bottom left).
Doing this (apparently) offers *no interest at all* to solve the problem
(and what does this function produce, when activated or not ?).
I can't *absolutely not* :
• Change *any privilege* of any of the 5 items ;
• Remove (with "-") any of these items ;
• Add a line (for example "System" or "wheel", why not ?)
but nothing new is shown after "+" making.
• The wheel (on the right of "+" and "-") shows only "revert changes" in grey.
I phoned immediately last thursday Apple Assistance,
and I am in contact with a Level 2 Apple Adviser who gave me his e-mail.
I sent him two messages, but he replied me that perhaps MONDAY
he could find the time to call me.
Now, first, please tell me if you have any idea or solution !
Thank you very much in advance.
Secondly, I have reflected on the solving,
and would like to know what you think about what follows :
You know that, in Disk Utility, you can erase a disk or partition.
If, in "Security Options…", I choose "Don't Erase Data", and then "Erase…" :
1) Sharing and Permissions will be changed and become (reset to) correct ;
2) It's said, in "Security Options…",
that "many commonly available disk recovery applications can restore that data".
I would be very glad that you indicate me :
1) the best application to use for that recovery ;
2) I already own "Drive Genius 3.0", "Data Rescue 3.0.2" and
(I think it's the best after a try on an internal 30 Go partition)
"Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery".
Thank you in advance for your answers and advices,
With my kind regards
Olivier Herrbach
[email protected]
PS : Dear Forum Webmaster,
I would like to know :
1) if I posted this topic in the right place ;
2) if you allow me to post it elsewhere (and in this case, where ?) ;
3) is it possible to paste images in messages,
and, if yes, which format is needed (TIFF, png, jpeg …)
Thank you very much
Olivier Herrbach

Dear ChazBowie,
Here is the solution I've found for *LOCKED DISKS* problem.
I'll respond the shorter I can, avoiding for the moment to talk about the complicated solutions
that Apple gave to me, which involved volume by volume (only one each time) intervention, and were working by, each time, entering one line, password, then another line in Terminal. I will communicate these instructions later, but they do not need to be publicated here with urgence.
I found two little free softwares that can modify *ALL Privileges* in Sharing and Permissions, *on ANYTHING*. You will have to be careful using them, as they even allow to act as "Root" administrator.
I'd also like everyone to *donate anything* to these helpful developers, and I'd be very pleased to have *your feedback and results*.
••• 1) — *BatChmod 1.6.2* (162), written by a compatriot, Renaud Boisjoly.
E-mail (if you have doubts or questions) : [email protected]
Free software downloading site : *http://www.macchampion.com/arbysoft*
(excuse me, but I don't know how to make a link here).
••• 2) — *FileXaminer 2.7*, recommended by Renaud himself.
Dear ChazBowie,
Here is the solution I've found for *LOCKED DISKS* problem.
I'll respond the shorter I can, avoiding for the moment to talk about the complicated solutions
that Apple gave to me, which involved volume by volume (only one each time) intervention, and were working by, each time, entering one line, password, then another line in Terminal. I will communicate these instructions later, but they do not need to be publicated here with urgence.
I found two little free softwares that can modify *ALL Privileges* in Sharing and Permissions, *on ANYTHING*. You will have to be careful using them, as they even allow to act as "Root" administrator.
I'd also like everyone to *donate anything* to these helpful developers, and I'd be very pleased to have *your feedback and results*.
••• 1) — *BatChmod 1.6.2* (162), written by a compatriot, Renaud Boisjoly.
E-mail (if you have doubts or questions) : [email protected]
Free software downloading site : Gideon Softworks : *http://www.gideonsoftworks.com/*
I won't copy here the texts that are on both sites, but it's very instructive.
Remember that the applications don't only work on files and folders,
*but also on disks attributes*.
You'll also have some work to do (I don't remember, perhaps not), by going in the Get Info windows
and changing privileges to the correct ones, that means you must know
(I'm not sure, verify please) what privileges are to be set for a volume
(YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THEM, AND CHANGES YOU MAKE WON'T BE RESET TO "CUSTOM").
Does anybody know something about the "Ignore ownership on this volume" checkbox ?
*I always uncheck it*.
I would also like very much to know the differences between the two-headed iconed groups :
"staff", "wheel" and "admin", and IN THE END know *WHERE are the rules* you have to observe
when doing changes in privileges (for example, I don't want to give my password to copy something in Users folder, nor "MyName" folder. I've changed that without, I hope, having created any dysfunction).
Please tell me if you know anything about these 2 subjects above.
I'm very glad if my informations have been useful/helpful.
With my kind regards,
Olivier Herrbach

How to boot always from a firewire disk?

Hello,
I hope someone can help me on this.
My HD is almost dead and it's making a lot of noise. I have managed to create a boot disk
on an external disk connected through Firewire.
What shall I do now to have the HD definetly unmounted and have the boot always from the firewire disk?
Thanks in advance
Tom

I've had a similar problem with an external drive that was USB powered.
In my case, the system was looking for a boot device before the drive was ready.
I had a friend that was good with OpenFirmware add a delay before booting to give the drive time to become ready. Added 5 seconds to the boot process, but it works!
Like cldjr said, hold the Option key (⌘) when powering up, if the drive shows up there, I'd guess it's the problem I described...
Anyone good with OpenFirmware??

Firewire disk does'nt boot when updating it from 10.5 to 10.5.1

I installed Leopard for security reasons on an external firewire disk, all went fine with the installation,but when I try to update it to 10.5.1 the disk never boots again ... any solution ????

Encountered the same problem. No solution yet.

External FireWire Disk will not boot

Hi Forum,
after some installations (OS 10.4.9, latest security update and Qucktime 7.1.6 I canot boot from my external disk (Lacie) connected to FireWire 800 port. The Apple shows up but then nothing more happens. Does anyone have a hint?
Thanks
Oliver

Add me to the list also. I had an external firewire disk as a RAID mirror for my boot disk. After a system crash (and some problem with my internal disk) I couldn't boot from the firewire stripe. This used to work.
I've tried creating a single-disk "degraded RAID pair" on the external disk and cloning the internal disk to it (using Disk Utility "Restore"). The cloning works fine but I can't boot from the copy. This is how I originally set up the RAID pair (clone, boot from clone, add internal disk to RAID group). This used to work. I bought a new firewire disk and it has exactly the same problems.
My original firewire disk was an Acomdata E5. My new firewire disk is a Coolmax Gemini CD-311 enclosure with a Hitachi 250GB deskstar inside.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Firewire audio problems with OS X 10.5.6

Hello,
I’m experiencing audio problems with Firewire 400 on my Macbook running Mac OSX 10.5.6.
I’ve got a 2.4Ghz IntelCore 2 Duo with 4 GB RAM and 59 GB available on the internal HD.
It’s hooked up to a brand new Mackie D.4 mixer with 2 Firewire outputs. The problems occur on both Firewire outputs.
I’ve installed automatically from the software update (which I will never do again) to 10.5.6. I never tried the D.4 with 10.5.5 so I can’t tell if the problems occur there also.
The main problem is that after a couple of minutes of recording the sound starts to break up and get really distorted. After a while the sound comes back again.
The second problem is that Soundtrack Pro or Audacity don’t get any audio input from the D.4, although audio input is clearly visible in System Preferences – Sound.
The only sound program that works with all 14 Firewire channels is Ableton, but also in Ableton the distortion occurs.
An example of the distortion can be checked here:
http://media.kaalslag.com/firewire-distortion-problem-mackieD4+Macbook.mp3
I’ve roamed several forums and sites to solve the problem and I tried these solutions:
I updated again to 10.5.6. with the full combo download from the Apple site. Restarted. Problem still there.
I shut Airport off, because lots of sites mentioned problems with Airport conflicting with audio/firewire. Didn’t work.
I did the work around with shutting the Macbook off, disconnecting the D.4, restarting the Macbook, opening Audio/Midi Setup, connecting the D.4 again, toggling the format frequencies a couple of times. Again, no use.
Right now I’m using my “old” Macbook again to record from vinyl. This one is still running on OSX 10.4.11. No problems so far.
I’ve had the distortion problems occuring before with an USB interface. Hoped that the Mackie Firewire would solve the problem, but it seems now that there’s a serious audio Firewire problem which is still not solved in OSX 10.5.
Any help, tips and/or a work around would be much appreciated. Thanks!

You could try using another computer in Target Disk mode (as an "external HD"), or you can connect the firewire cable and disconnect all other network cables (turning off airport). Then on each computer go to the "Network" system preferences and select "Built-in Firewire" from the list of ports and choose "Manually" from the drop-down menu next to "Configure". Enter the following IP addresses and subnet masks, apply the changes.
_Computer 1_
IP Address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
_Computer 2_
IP Address: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
After those ip addresses are entered and you've clicked "Apply", ensure that for both computers you have file sharing enabled (done in the "Sharing" system preferences), and then check the Finder sidebar to see if the computers can see each other (their names should appear under "Shared" in the sidebar--if not, try restarting).
If the computers dont appear (even after restarting), using the "Connect To" option that's available in the Finder's "Go" menu. In there, to connect to another computer enter it's IP address as follows:
afp://IP_ADDRESS
If you're on the computer with the ip address of 192.168.1.1, you would enter 192.168.1.2 as "IP_ADDRESS". The "afp" is the protocol (just like "http" for web), and stands for "Apple Filing Protocol"...Apple's file sharing protocol.

FireWire Disk on RH9

I've found that I have to go through a very precise sequence in order to mount my shared FireWire Hard drive on 3 Red Hat 9.0 nodes (2.4.20-13.9 kernels). Does anyone else have this much difficulty, or can shed some light on my problem? (The node order probably isn't important, it's just the sequence I tested with)
1. Boot node 2, and login.
2. issue the rescan-scsi-bus.sh (drive found)
3. Boot node 3, and login.
4. issue the rescan-scsi-bus.sh (does not find the drive)
5. Boot node 1, and login.
6. issue the rescan-scsi-bus.sh (does not find the drive)
7. On all 3 nodes, issue modprobe -r sbp2
8. On all 3 nodes, issue modprobe sbp2
9. On all 3 nodes, issue rescan-scsi-bus.sh
If I try too much simultaneous disk activity (ex. copying files), it tends to generate errors and abort.

> The default behavior for Firewire disks is that they aren't mounted until a user logs in at the console and are unmounted if no console users are logged in
What makes you say that?
I have several machines with external FireWire drives. Every drive mounts automatically at boot time with no users logged in. I can't think of a single case where this works the way you describe it.

Can't open external Firewire disk after upgrade to Leopard

I recently upgraded a PowerBook G4 from 10.4.11(?) to 10.5.5. Now I cannot open its external disk, a LaCie 400 GB Firewire disk, model number 300925, like this: http://www.amazon.com/Lacie-400GB-7200Rpm-Firewire-300925/dp/B00066989Mreport
The disk's icon appears on the desktop after it is plugged in. After double clicking to open it, the pinwheel cursor spins for a while, then Finder appears to restart, redrawing the desktop. When I have the Activity Monitor open during this, I see a process called ReportCrash run for a while before the Finder reset.
Does anyone recognize this symptom? Is there a way to see what is being reported by ReportCrash?

The Genius was skeptical that this was a problem between Leopard and a given disk. Indeed his first test was to boot my laptop from a clean install of Leopard on his own external FireWire drive. Running this way I had no problem opening my external disk from my laptop, running his fresh copy of OSX 10.5.something.
His theory was that something leftover in my configuration files (in /Library/Preferences) from a previous OS was causing the Finder crash while opening a FireWire disk under Leopard. (Since this machine is four years old, there has been a lot of opportunities for kruft to collect.) His suggestion was do a backup (complicated by the fact that I can't open my backup disk, d'oh!) then to do a clean install of Leopard, and then copy back my user folder.
I wish there was a smaller hammer I could use, like setting aside some magic .plist file... Any hints?

Air Disk Problems: either miniStack v2.5 or Western Digital's 1.0TB Green?

Anyone still having Air Disk problems with either the miniStack 2.5 or the WD10EADS?
Using it as a Air Disk/hub with AEBSn (firmware 7.4.2) connecting to MBP1.83 running 10.4.10. It worked fine in this configuration for almost 2 months. The drive does not appear in finder or disk utility even when connected directly through USB or Firewire, so I'm sending the ministack back to OWC. I was just checking here to make sure that it wasn't something on Apple's end before I head to the local UPS store.

Sorry, I'm using 10.4.11

Frustrating, Subtle Disk Problem

I had a mild system crash involving doing a power-switch restart. Since then, I've been having some disk problems, as follows:
1) Disk Utility hangs whenever I launch it, "Gathering disk information" but never getting beyond that.
2) Spotlight doesn't work.
3) The computer hangs completely if I try to perform Shut Down or Restart. The funny little spinning-wheel figure (that you usually see at the gray screen at startup) is on the screen and it stops cold there. Only a power-switch shutdown will work.
Other than that, the computer is working normally -- the hard disk seems to be working, except for this utterly bizarre trouble.
Now: here's what's REALLY worrisome. Disk Utility has the same problem if I restart from the Install CD, or my FireWire drive. It hangs while trying to "gather information".
I even thought to try an Archive & Install, but the Installer can't bring the disks up to install them -- the three disks on my system (two internal, one external) are grayed out and the installer hangs at that point.
I thought to try the Combo 1.4.3 updater -- but it hangs right at the point at which it might actually start the installation (i.e., after the "Agree" button to the license and the selecting of the disk to update.
There's something sadly wrong here on this disk -- or combination of disks -- that I can't seem to figure out. Has anybody experienced this? Any ideas? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Scott Foglesong

Before you do anything so drastic as reformatting, you have some other options -- especially considering that if your hard drive is physically damamged, not even a reinstall will help (but it doesn't sound like this is the case - does the drive make any unusual sounds? like clicking?)
The first thing I would try (and the first thing I do EVERY time my computer crashes) is run diskwarrior. It is not a free application, but it can fix many many problems that Disk Utility cannot, and has been well worth the cost of the application for the many many times it has fixed my drive. The way it works is to scan the drive for all files and folders, and then compares it to the Directory file on the drive (which tells the drive where all the contents are). It then builds a new, optimized directory file, which you can replace on the drive if there are any problems.
After running diskwarrior, you should run disk utility and repair permissions.
If this doesn't work, you could try techtool, or it may be time to reinstall.
Personally, I've had enough drives fail on me, and done enough OS re-installs to have started the habit of using Diskwarrior after every system crash, and also every 3 weeks or so. I also run it at the first sign of weirdness. This may be overkill, but since I've started doing this, I haven't had any major hard drive problems...
So good luck.
ScottieB

Recent Update Wipesout Ability to transfer between firewire disks

AAArgh
Another update- another day lost fixing the "fixes"
I have a G5 dual 1G. Immediately after the update I cannot write from any Firewire drives to the internal drives. Either getting FW drive must be reformatted immediately " or Data cannot be written Error code-36. I used Disk Warrior and Disk Utilities and drives seem to be fine. Any idea what code means?
THanks

Hi Enio Cordoba;
I certainly hope you have everything backed up because it sounds to me like you are have disk problems which have nothing with any update.
I have applied all the updates to my Macs and I am not experiencing anything even remotely like that on my disk.
Allan

IMac Dropping Firewire Disks & USB Flash Drive

I have a 3TB 800mb WD Firewire Disk daisy chained to a 1TB 800mb WD Firewire Disk on my iMac along with a 3.95GB USB Flash Drive.
All my stuff is kept on these disks so the iMac runs light.
After awakening from sleep, I often find that one of the Firewire Disks or the USB Flash Drive has gone AWOL and it's a real pain to get the Firewire Disk working again. The USB Flash Drive requiring to be plugged in again.
Removing the Firewire Disks power lead sometimes fixes it, sometimes an iMac restart does the trick.
The problem with restarting the IMac is the length of time it takes in restarting. The USB drive's default appears to be to go AWOL every time the iMac restarts.
Does anyone know of a fix to cure this issue of Disks going AWOL and the abnormal time it takes to restart the iMac?
Regards to all,
iPentax
2.93 GHz Intel Core i7 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Memory OS X 10.8.2

Hi Mike,
Tried all that, doesn't solve the issue.
Incidentally, I have Arcana Startuo Sound installed, this mutes the AWFULL Apple Diagnostic Startup Sound that some Apple Idiot devised.
Surely an on-screen message after startup, warning that something is amiss would be the sensible alternative?
Apple have more than their fair share of the number of idiots they employ, witness the Wireless Keyboard, a Keyboard without Page up/down keys and Calculator keys? I admit the Wireless Keyboard does comes in useful for iPad!
The problem with resetting the Pram is that it trashes Arcana, then I have to Restore OS X or reformat and install Snow Leopard>Mountain Lion etc.
Arcana isn't available for Mountain Lion, my Arcana copy only works with Mountain Lion through a legacy process.
Regards,
iPentax

G3 Blue/White will not enter firewire disk mode

I have just purchased a G5 IMAC (the 20inch model) and want to transfer settings from the OS 10.3.9 operating program on the G3 to the G5 which has Tiger, OS 1.4 on it. The G5 will automatically move data to the right applications in 10.4 if the G3 would start up in the Firewire Disk Mode via the firewire connection between the two machines. Unfortunately, all it does on restart when holding the "T" key down is start up in the the panther (10.3.9) mode. Does anyone know how I can fix this problem. The G3 also has OS 9.2.2 installed on it. The G3 has two firewire ports, each one has version 2.8.6 on the firewire extemsions.
G3 PowerMAC, Blue & White Mac OS 9.2.x and a spanking new G5 IMAC (20 inch)

Hi C3, and welcome to the discussions.
Unfortunately, the blue & white G3 does not support target mode (see here).
You'll have to transfer your settings the old fashioned way.
Andrew
Dual 2.0 GHz G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Firewire drive problems since 10.5.6

Ever since the 10.5.6 update my iMac locks up. Often the Firewire drive will not connect. I have tried reinstalling the complete 10.5.6 Combo Update. I tried a PRAM reset. All to no avail. The problem with restarts and lockups go away if the drive is not plugged in. The problem comes back if the drive is plugged in even if it is off. Help, my Mac is acting like a M$ machine!

i’m having the same problems with my firewire devices. I’m using time machine with a external disc using firewire and my data is on a firewire disk. Sometimes (not always!!) these disks do not mount. When i plug in with usb2 it works fine! What the f@#&* is wrong!!

Firewire Disk Problem

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