G5 tower now boots, but one of the internal hard drives won't mount!

For those of you who saw my previous thread, my G5 tower would turn on and play the startup chime, then sit there until the fans ramped up. It seems that the problem was the Belkin PCI card. I removed it, and the machine started up with no problems.
Now, however, one of my internal hard drives (not the primary one) won't mount. Various programs can't even tell it's there. I'm completely lost as to how to solve this problem. My first thought was to try to swap it into an external case to see if it would mount that way. Thoughts?

One, possible two posts should read ground. Test for continuity against the metal case. Another should read 5V+DC. I think the four prong are: ground, ground, illumination then power. The connectors are gold plated and should not corrode, however, they are no match against fine particles of dust. You can carefully unplug both sides of the drive connections and vacuum. Usually, to unplug and re-plug is enough to get it to work again. When there no power coming off the logic board, you can find a Y-splitter and power off the other drive.

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Why won't my Intel iMac boot up, either from the internal hard drive or the DVD drive? It just displays a light grey screen, without any other icons, etc. The fact that it won't boot from the original system DVD is what baffles me the most. Any ideas?

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If the C key for Install Disc or R Command for OS X Recovery startup commands are not working, try holding the Option key for the Startup Manager.
see > Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
If that does not work and you using a wireless keyboard, it may have become unpaired and you need to dig up a USB keyboard to invoke the startup commands.
For more on gray screen, see > Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup

How to move an iTunes library from the internal hard drive to another bootable disk.

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         Then I went to work to transfer my iTunes library, which the media files were optioned to store on the USB drive. Intending to transfer both the music and video files, and the megadata ( playlists, ratings, playcounts ) I found the media files and the iTunes library file and the .xml document in my iTunes folder from INT. I made a new folder in the USB drive, and copied the contents from the old iTunes folder to that new folder. I re-started in LACIE, and found my empty iTunes folder. I copied over to the new iTunes folder, then opened iTunes. My eyes saw the music library to the same number of items, with the playlists etc showing.
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Solved the issue without using the trash . I tried to consolidate the library in LACIE, then clicked on any exclamation-mark song and tried to locate the file. Repeating those steps 3 or 4 times cleared it up. That was confirmed when I synced the entire library on a iPod Classic, and showed up no problems after syncing the Nano.
     What went wrong was perhaps to fail to consolidate the library at first .

One of the partitioned hard drive failed

Hi,
One of the partitioned hard drive has crashed/damaged in my MacBook Pro. And it happened to be main OS X installed drive. But fortunately I have backup in my Time Capsule. So, I am not that much worried about my datas.
However, now I am wondering is it possible to use that portion of the hard drive again? By erasing the partition and re-partition it? Since other partition is working fine. So, any one who has better idea about hard drive, any advice/solution would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Dikesh

dieskshjoshi,
that depends upon the nature of the crash/damage to your hard drive.
If it was a physical crash, then the problem could be either on the disk itself or on the disk heads. If the disk was damaged, then you should not use that portion of the disk again, unless you’re not concerned about subsequent loss in that portion of the disk. If the disk heads were damaged, then it will only be a matter of time before your other partitions will be damaged, and you should replace the hard drive with another one.
If it was a “virtual” crash, such as a filesystem becoming corrupted, then you could erase that partition, reformat it, and restore its contents from your backup.

I connected my external hard drive to my new imac to put all of the information from my macbook onto it. i have been working on the macbook now and want to reconnect the external hard drive so my imac is updated with the work. How is that done?

I connected my external hard drive to my new imac to put all of the information from my macbook onto it. I have been working on the macbook now and want to reconnect the external hard drive so my imac is updated with the work. How is that done? or is it possible?

As I said, I don't use Time Machine, so it'd be best to wait for an "expert" answer, but, with my very limited knowledge, I'd say: probably not - so, for now, I'd suggest you read up on Time Machine:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Home.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&src=support_site.home.search&local e=en_US&q=time%20machine
And, you might be attracting more knowledgeable answers if you were to post this question in the Time Machine Forum (part of the Snow Leopard forums).

My iMac can no longer find one of the external hard drive

My iMac can no longer find one of the external hard drive. It was finding it once in awhile and during one of those times I ran Disk Utility and all was OK. Any ideas?

Well duh. I restarted the router and then it was able to find the printer. There you go. Thanks.

I want to install Yosemite onto an external hard drive, and keep Snow Leopard installed on the internal hard drive. I want to be able to boot from either system, depending upon circumstance (at least until Yosemite is stable). Is this possible?

iMac, Model Identifier iMac12,1 with 121.5" screen, 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory, 1 TB internal hard drive, running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 from internal drive.
I want to install Yosemite onto a 1 TB external hard drive (OWC) , and keep Snow Leopard installed on the internal hard drive. I want to be able to boot from either system, depending upon circumstance (at least until Yosemite is stable). Is this possible?

It is possible. I'll let you read some articles that cover the setup:
Starting from an external USB storage device (Intel-based Macs) - Apple Support
or
http://osxdaily.com/2013/06/22/boot-mac-external-drive/

I have moved my iPhoto to an external hard drive. so now I have to have the external hard drive connected to my laptop to view the photos. Now when I want to import photos into iPhoto from my media card, I don't have room to connect both devices.

I have moved my iPhoto to an external hard drive. so now I have to have the external hard drive connected to my laptop to view the photos. Now when I want to import photos into iPhoto from my media card, I don't have room to connect both devices at the same time as the usb ports are side by side. How do I import my photos from the media card to the external hard drive now?

First transfer the photos to a folder on your MacBook using Image Capture in your Utilities folder. Then move them to iPhoto.
BTW, you might want to invest in a cheap USB hub.

After a startup problem with my macbook pro i put it as slave and formatted the internal Hard drive. Now i want to install OS X Mavericks from USB

After a startup problem with my macbook pro i put it as slave and formatted the internal Hard drive. Now i want to install OS X Mavericks from USB
How can i do that?

What did you "put as slave?" What Mac model do you have, exactly?

I've lost the use of Appleworks in 10.9.2. Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other?

I've lost the use of Appleworks by upgrading to 10.9.2.
Is it possible to partition the internal hard drive of my MacBook Pro and install an older Mac OS (10.6.8) on the second partition with OS 10.9.2 on the other? I'd like to be able to boot to the older OS when I need Appleworks and few other applications that aren't available on OS 10.9.2.
Any suggestions?
Thank you for your help.

Hello again, WZZZ,
Here's an update. I was successful in creating two partitions on my internal drive, and in installing OS 10.6.6 on the second partition, as per your guidence. I now have it up to 10.6.8 with all the security updates and AppleWorks. A great thing.
Some thoughts:
• The partitioning had one hitch; it failed at first. But once I "repaired" the disc with Disc Utility the partitioning went thru.
• The partitioning took a long time in 'resizing the partition.' A few hours I think it was. Lots of progress bar watching.
• If I had it to do again, I'd size the two partitions differently. My original data was occupying about 230 Gb of the 320 Gb disc. I made the new partitions share the space, about 230 and 75Gb. That left very little available space for the main disc. I ought to have put some breathing room in there. As it is, it's an incentive to clean up all those files, especially all those iTunes files. I now have about 10% of available space there and mean to continue deleting.
So, all in all a good project that got me where I wanted to go. Thank you for your help.
Appreciatively,
wallah

Booting from clone with malfunctioning internal hard drive

I have a MBP 15" core 2 duo 3,1, OS 10.6.8. I am getting sudden instant shutdowns without warning signs.
It has been suggested to me that this is a hard drive on the way out.
I've cloned the internal drive to an external drive Firewire 800 connected.
I have 2 partitions on the external drive. The clone and a clean install of 10.6.8.
I've tried booting from the clean install but am still experiencing sudden shutdowns.
My question is if the internal drive mounts but then experiences problems while I am booted into my fresh install on the external drive can that cause a shutdown? I had assumed that this would not be the case but now am not so sure.

Well it seems to be a hardware issue of some sort, it's likely not software related as it occurs on the externals even with a fresh install.
It could be the internal drive, but you won't know until you disconnect it and boot from the externals.
If it's something else, at least you got a clone off.
Try a hardware test
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Try resetting your SMC
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Heck your PRAM too
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html
That's the best we can do from here, you'll have to open her up and place pressure on things to make sure they are snug and a secure connection, perhaps disconnect the internal hard drive cable and see if your problem continue.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

I have a power pc (g5) computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

I have a Power PC G5 computer that I will soon be replacing with a current i5 or i7 Mini. How do I transfer the Time Machine files from the internal hard drive on the G5 to an external drive that I will later use with the Mini?

Hi, likely the easiest is to just poll the drive & get something like this...
Get MacScan...
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/macscan.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NVSPATA/
But if you have a good external drive already, just clone it.
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/

Can I clone and transfer from the internal hard drive to an external hard drive ?

I got an intel duo iMac, the machine is very good even if it is almost 3 years old. But with the internal hard drive having 320 Gb I am running out of hard drive space. I have looked into changing the internal hard drive but that involves having to send the machine away to have that done. So I was wondering if I could just transfer all the Mac OS X and all the applications and settings within three user accounts to say a 2 TB external hard drive, and boot from that, using cloning software.
Alternatively, is there a way to transfer the iPhoto and iMovie libraries to an external hard drive. That would free up space. I do not know how, if that is possible, although I have managed that with iTunes. My iMac is running Snow Leopard.
Regards from John5801

John,
USB should be fine for general computer use, but media may add a little too much for the sustained rate that USB2 provides. In a previous career I did a lot of video editing. Firewire was much preferred in that task because of its stability at higher rates. I can see why the SuperDuper! people might suggest it.
When I cloned the wife's iMac, I had replaced the HDD on the MacBook Pro with a USB pocket drive that I've kept the original MacBook's installation mounted on. I've booted directly to that external drive, so you should be okay if you can make the clone across the USB. When I cloned the wife's machine I booted the MacBook Pro with a fresh HDD in Firewire target mode and connected it as an external Firewire 800 drive. Firewire 800 is much faster, but you'll need the cable and everything to be right.
Firewire has a better reputation among people running a lot of media from their drive. I would suggest that you try and get an external drive kit that can support both. I think your iMac supports both firewire 400 AND firewire 800 along with the 3 USB2 ports. I'm guessing based on my wife's 24" imac. The fastest would be the Firewire 800, but that standard is about to be pushed aside in both cases.
Hope that helped.

The internal hard drive on my early 2009 24" iMac is nearly full. How do I add an external drive so that it functions just like the internal drive on the iMac?

The internal hard drive on my early 2009 24" iMac is nearly full. I have already worked to free as much space on the HD as possible. How do I add an external HD and have the iMac read it as though it was part of the internal HD. I know about external HD for additional storage and I do have an external HD, but, it is so much easier to search the drive when it is internal than having to perform a search on the internal drive and then a search on the external drives. And, it is easier to save files to an internal drive so that I don't have to decide which external drive to use to save files. In other words, I want to add an external HD and have it function as though I had purchased a larger internal HD.

That is simply not possible. Every drive is a separate device. It cannot be used to extend an internal drive as though you had a seamlessly larger drive.
What you can do is to create a striped RAID array using the internal drive and an external drive. However, doing this will erase the internal drive and you will lose everything on the internal drive. Furthermore, installing Lion or Mountain Lion becomes a bit of a problem because you cannot create a Recovery HD on a RAID and this tends to make the installer choke. However, you can clone an existing Lion or Mountain Lion system to the RAID and designate the RAID as a startup volume.
I would not recommend the RAID solution, personally, but there are many who do. I prefer the basic solution of spending the money on a larger internal hard drive instead of an external hard drive.
RAID Basics
For basic definitions and discussion of what a RAID is and the different types of RAIDs see RAIDs. Additional discussions plus advantages and disadvantages of RAIDs and different RAID arrays see:
RAID Tutorial;
RAID Array and Server: Hardware and Service Comparison.
Hardware or Software RAID?
RAID Hardware Vs RAID Software - What is your best option?
RAID is a method of combining multiple disk drives into a single entity in order to improve the overall performance and reliability of your system. The different options for combining the disks are referred to as RAID levels. There are several different levels of RAID available depending on the needs of your system. One of the options available to you is whether you should use a Hardware RAID solution or a Software RAID solution.
RAID Hardware is always a disk controller to which you can cable up the disk drives. RAID Software is a set of kernel modules coupled together with management utilities that implement RAID in Software and require no additional hardware.
Pros and cons. Software RAID is more flexible than Hardware RAID. Software RAID is also considerably less expensive. On the other hand, a Software RAID system requires more CPU cycles and power to run well than a comparable Hardware RAID System. Also, because Software RAID operates on a partition by partition basis where a number of individual disk partitions are grouped together as opposed to Hardware RAID systems which generally group together entire disk drives, Software RAID tends be slightly more complicated to run. This is because it has more available configurations and options. An added benefit to the slightly more expensive Hardware RAID solution is that many Hardware RAID systems incorporate features that are specialized for optimizing the performance of your system.
For more detailed information on the differences between Software RAID and Hardware RAID you may want to read: Hardware RAID vs. Software RAID: Which Implementation is Best for my Application?

I just installed OS X Yosemite and now my WD My Book Live external hard drive won't re-connect. My Safari keeps kicking out and giving me error message after error message and my computer is really slow. How do I resolve? Can I uninstall this ?

I just installed OS X Yosemite and now my WD My Book Live external hard drive won't re-connect. My Safari keeps kicking out and giving me error message after error message and my computer is really slow. How do I resolve? Can I uninstall this ? I had to re-connect my iMovie t

USB2.0 PCI cards that use the NEC chipset seem to give the least amount of problems for Mac users.
OWC have a few different ones for sale.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5 000&N=7057&Ntt=USB2**0**cards
Do you also connect the external USB drive to the AC power as well while you use it ?
Sometimes USB external drive problems are resolved simply by plugging them into the mains power and trying again.
Stewie
Message was edited by: stewiesno1

G5 tower now boots, but one of the internal hard drives won't mount!

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