Hard Disk Won't Boot - Recovering Data w/ Live CD

Hey guys,
I have a MacBook.
My operating system got corrupted. I can't boot into it. I also have a tiny Linux partition installed, which can boot totally fine (therefore, not a hardware problem).
I booted into a Linux Ubuntu 7.10 Live CD, and was able to see my hard disk partitions as accessible. I could navigate to the Ubuntu partition, and see the data there.
HERE'S THE THING:
I can also access my OS X partition, and see the data. The problem is that some of the folders I can open just fine, while others have a tiny red circle in the top-right of the icon. When I try to open those ones, it says that I don't have permission.
Is there a way around this?
I am trying to rescue my data before wiping the hard drive.
I have already tried repairing permissions with the original install disk, and it won't work. I have tried booting in FireWire target-disk-mode, and it won't work. I have tried using DiskWarrior, and it worked only enough to tell me it won't work.
The Apple support guy said to try this Linux Live CD. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

Hey dude,
Thanks again for the followup help.
I have done a million diagnostics, here is a short list:
Tried booting resetting PRAM - nothing.
Tried booting in Verbose mode, nothing
Single-user mode, nothing
Safe mode, nothing
Nothing will boot.
I have Ubuntu installed on a different partition which boots totally fine, so it's definitely not a hardware failure. Apple said this as well.
I boot into the install DVD, and run the Disk Utility FIrst Aid. It can't repair the disk, and gives me errors.
The hard drive is nearly full, so there's not 15GB free to do a Archive and Reinstall the OS.
Apple said that the OS is corrupt, and I have to recover the data and wipe and reinstall.
I tried booting in target disk mode, and the host computer can't find the target mac (I tested it with 3 different macs and the cable works and everything else works fine). Apple said this is probably due to the "headers and footers" of the partition being hard to read.
I tried DiskWarrior, and at first it DID find the disk and data, and it said IT COULD RECOVER IT. I did a hardware test and it was fine. I did the permission repair, and then it found all my data and allowed me to browse it before recovering it, but it also gave me errors. Then it said that it COULD NOT recover it. When I tried to run the recover, it said first to reboot. After rebooting, it said that it couldn't even find the Mac hard disk at all, let alone repair it.
Then after trying to boot again as normal, instead of simply staying at the permanent "boot up" screen, it goes to a gray screen with a black message that says "Please reboot your computer".
I am able to boot from an Ubuntu Live CD, and I can even see my Mac disk as accesible. I mount it and can browse SOME of the data, but other folders it says I don't have permission to access. Unfortunately, it's the locked ones that I need the data from.
I didn't put any extra locks on these folders in OS X than the other folders that I can access, so it's nothing like that.
Any ideas?

Similar Messages

Hi, I have a hard disk failure so to recover my data I am using disk utility to restore the data on an external drive while booting from a second external hard drive. When I perform the operation it gives me an input/output error and stops. Any tips?

Hi, I have a hard disk failure so to recover my data I am using disk utility to restore the data on an external drive while booting from a second external hard drive. When I perform the operation and after having selected both my destination and source drives, the operation begins but soon fails due to input/output error. If I try to create an image of the drive it gives me the same error message. Any help would be much appreciated.

Disk Utility only creates a image of the drive, so it's no help getting exactly what you want, which is your files. If the file structure is messed up or the drive is failing then it's no help.
If you have a external boot drive and you can't access the internal non-booting drive though the typical Finder and windows to transfer your files via drag and drop methods, then you need to install Data Rescue on the external boot drive and it will do as best as it can to recover your files. (works on non-encrypted/non-Filevaulted drives only)
.Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Are you sure you have hard drive failure, or that OS X isn't merely not booting?
Because if the drive is working physically, then there is a host of fixes
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents#/

MacBook Pro does t start I turned it off during start up I've tried a lot of stuff. When I hold startup my hard disk says efi boot instead of Macintosh hd

MacBook Pro does t start I turned it off during start up I've tried a lot of stuff. When I hold startup my hard disk says efi boot instead of Macintosh hd

Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
If this does not work, then you will have to erase and reinstall Mountain Lion:
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

External USB hard disk fails to boot

I installed Arch Linux on an external USB Lacie 1 TB Hard Disk. I followed instructions on WiKi: "install from exisiting linux", method 2, since I already have Linux installed
on the internal HDD of my laptop (dual boot with Windows, also with Grub as bootloader).
Problem: The external HDD stalls during boot right after the "Welcome to Grub!" - message. I can only hard-reset my laptop from there.
The external HDD has msdos Partition Table. It is recognized by BIOS just fine, since I can choose to boot from it. It has following (very simple) partition setup:
[root@arch-laptop chris]# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x000c9610
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 2048 40962047 20480000 83 Linux
So there's just the root partition, no boot or home partition defined. Grub installed to the external HDD with no errors.
Here's the grub.cfg auto-generated, without anything adapted. The UUID of the external HDD /dev/sdb1 is correct.
[root@arch-laptop grub]# cat grub.cfg
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
set default="${next_entry}"
set next_entry=
save_env next_entry
set boot_once=true
else
set default="0"
fi
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
set timeout_style=menu
set timeout=5
# Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
# unavailable.
else
set timeout=5
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_archlinux ###
menuentry "Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel" --class arch-linux --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
fi
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod ext2
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
fi
echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel initramfs ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
menuentry "Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel (fallback initramfs)" --class arch-linux --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
fi
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod ext2
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
fi
echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel fallback initramfs ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_archlinux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
fi
echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-advanced-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd1,msdos1'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
fi
echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
the internal HDD (/dev/sda) also has GRUB installed, without any problems, with a graphical console menu.
GRUB version is 2.02
laptop: dv6-6b41ed
Legacy BIOS (no EFI / UEFI).
Any ideas on how to solve / troubleshoot this?
Last edited by christopher72 (2014-04-21 15:05:21)

Any hooks in particular? I don't know which hook to add other then the 'blocks' hook, which is there already:
HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block filesystems keyboard fsck"
Also, I don't think that could be the problem since loading the initramfs image takes place after choosing something from the Grub Menu. That menu never appears, I just get "welcome to grub!" with a blinking cursor underneath.
I did add "insmod usbms" in grub.cfg, but that didn't change anything.
What strikes me as odd is that in grub.cfg, the disk is referred to as "hd1", where I think it could just as well be "hd0" if that's the first hard disk the BIOS boots from. But I'm not sure if that really matters since the search is done with the UUID.
Another thing I tested earlier: I dd 'd the Arch Live image to the external usb HDD, and then it boots fine...

MAC PRO HARD DRIVE won't boot

HARD DRIVE won't boot past APPLE ICON, grey spinning wheel on grey screen. Tried using install discs, no go past the icon.
Replace small battery inside? replace chips? Logic board replace as last resort. Can't take it away from work at this point to an apple tech.
Had just installed updates to snow leopard and was successful...but went to restart it...and this crap happened.
Thanks for any help.
MT1111
< Edited by Host >

I'll try that tomorrow. Thinking it could also be:
1) The PRAMM battery. found info on that they can wear out close to 5 years. This MAC PRO is close to that now. And I use a lot of power on it.
2) MAC PRO is plugged into a SURGE PROTECTOR, instead of right into the wall outlet.
3) Been doing a lot of FORCE QUITS and HARD BOOT -- unplugging it directly when it wouldn't shut down soon enough -- lately this past year.
I just assumed that this MAC PRO with the XEON QUAD CORE etc., was a heavy duty enough NLE,
that i wouldn't have these problems. It's not fully loaded with all the chips it can carry...and I don't have near enough external terabyte hard drives for storing video and audio files to edit. I've been storing wayyy too much
on the internal hard dives and just have to stop that.
I noticed these past few days that much of the LETTERING for hard drive icons and folders' titles
were starting to look in OVERLAPPING of the lettering. That was my first hint that something was up.

Should I format U disk at first or recover data at first?

When I connect U disk to computer, system prompts me to format U disk. Well, should I format U disk at first
or recover data at first? I used Power Data Recovery

When I connect U disk to computer, system prompts me to format U disk. Well, should I format U disk at
first or recover data at first? I used Power Data Recovery
Format would damage metadata (file system information) so the only way to recover data would to be scan the whole disk and find binary files with signatures (headers) to get size of them. Doable if disk is not fragmented. There are tools capable of doing
what you want, see:
RecoverMyFiles
http://www.recovermyfiles.com/
(I'm not affilated with these guys)
So making long story short: try to get your data back BEFORE you'll wipe out file system information with a format.
Hope this helped :)
StarWind VSAN [Virtual SAN] clusters Hyper-V without SAS, Fibre Channel, SMB 3.0 or iSCSI, uses Ethernet to mirror internally mounted SATA disks between hosts.

I'm trying to install a new hard drive on my Touchsmart but the recovery disks won't boot.

The Touchsmart 300-1120 is only 1.5 years old and it's hard drive is already fried. I bought a new hard drive, ordered the recovery disks, and it still won't boot. I've changed the boot order to go from the CD drive first, but all it does is click and then give the same error message it gave when the fired hard drive was in. I checked the diagnostic, and it can see the new hard drive...it just won't boot.

Sometimes they do work - i've done it before. I have a late 2008 Macbook Uni and used the install dvd of my 2009 Macbook White and it worked.
Why not just clone your hard drive? It'll save you a lot of time doing a clone rather than doing a clean install.
Unless you're having issues with your old set up or your old hard drive is dead.
You can download Carbon Copy Cloner - install your new hard drive in a external usb enclosure (around $10) and clone fromt here then test it before you install it in your Macbook.
Once you've done the swap, you can install your old hard drive in the USB enclosure and use it as a backup drive.
Good luck

Internal Hard Drive Won't Boot or Mount

I don't know if this is the right forum for this but...
My 24" iMac running 10.5.2 won't start up. Meaning I can't get past the grey screen. I fsck the disk in single user mode and got back "invalid nobe structure (4,19621)" and repairs failed, then quickly shut down. As I understand it the (4,19621) means that the file with catalog node ID 19621 in the Catalog B-Tree portion of the disk directory has an invalid extent entry. I might be wrong here. If any knows how to correct that problem that would be helpful. But thats not the real problem.
I should add I tried to boot from the install DVD and repair the disk with disk utility and it would not repair the disk either.
Disk Utility recognizes the disk as "232.9 GB AAPL Firewire Target Media" and thats all while in target disk mode.
The real problem is the disk won't mount in firewire target disk mode. I would like to try to recover some of the fills that I haven't backed up mainly in my documents folder or repair this problem.
I am going to install (well not me) a new hard drive Monday and have a fresh and new system but in the mean time I would like to try to recover some of my files if possible.
I should add the one time it did mount, all the folders were there but none of the files. And it gave no worrying. I checked the S.M.A.R.T. status and the start up volume yesterday and got the report the disks seems to be okay.
Any help in getting the disk to mount in firewire target disk mode to repair and/or recover some files would help.
Message was edited by: windylove

Thank you for the reply. That was the best and most logical reply.
DW never got to that point if thats what you are talking about nor did it get past "Inspecting disk" and Step 1: Searching entire disk in final rescue attempt". After hours of the beach ball spinning.
I am not within my apple care 3 years time frame. When they replace the hard drive tomorrow they said they might be able to recover some of my data in my Users folder.
Do you think that is possible?
That is more what I am worried about at this point. All of my important files have been back up there are just a few that weren't.
You confirmed what I was thinking. Thanks

After 10.6 security update 2013-002 PGP encrypted disk won't boot

I ran the latest security update on my very old 17" intel MacBook Pro (It won't boot, so I can't give you the model number). It has PGP encryption installed on it, but I only have my passphrase, not the keys since it's a managed system. Half way through the install, it failed with a cryptic error, and the machine won't boot now. It gets half way through booting, and the screen goes black.
I have booted into single user mode, and ran fsck and applejack, only to get an error about a sibling error, and the hard disk is full.
Is this a PGP issue? Does the latest security update conflict with PGP?
I found this resolution to a similar sounding problem in 2010, but am unsure if this is happening now. Google searching hasn't yeilded anything so far.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20101111120329585
Thanks for any help.
Melissa

About PGP I can't tell; the hint you linked (and the suggested fix) might still be valid:
PGP recommends folks to decrypt their drives first, update to 10.6.5 and then re-encrypt.
this sounds as a general recommendation.
However fsck reported a sibling error (an invalid link sibling error I presume) and that's not fine. Afaik, Disk Utility can't fix it; DiskWarrior hopefully will. I quote from Alsoft Support Database:
Question
Is DiskWarrior capable of repairing an "Invalid Sibling Link" error?
Answer
This is an error you definitely don't want. It indicates that parts of your directory, and therefore some of your files and folders, are inaccessible.
Mac OS Standard (HFS) and Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) disk directories have a very complex structure. Each file or folder (item) on a disk has an entry in the disk's directory. These entries are in order of enclosing folder and then item name. This is similar to a yellow pages directory being ordered by type of business and then business name. Just like a yellow pages directory, the disk directory has pages except that its pages are called nodes. Unlike the yellow pages, nodes are dynamic and change as you add and delete items. It's sort of like a realtime yellow pages.
Imagine that the pages of the yellow pages are not in order and at the bottom of each page it says "Continued on page n," where n is the page that contains the next set of listings for the particular type of business that you're looking up. Well nodes are not arranged in order and each node has a reference, or link, to the next node that contains the next set of ordered items. This link is what is referred to as the sibling link.
A sibling link error is a bad link to another node. Either the link refers to the wrong node or it refers to an invalid node. As I said, a sibling link error makes some of your items inaccessible and can even prevent a disk from mounting. Sibling errors are notoriously difficult for some of the patching type of disk repair utilities to repair. Sometimes the repairs fail and the directory is damaged further. If a disk with a sibling link error is still mountable, I would advise backing up the accessible files and folders on the disk before attempting to repair it with that type of disk repair utility.
I'm not really sure DiskWarrior will work on a PGP encrypted disk. According to a few old Google matches, it should. See e.g.:
http://kb.mit.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=4263350
but according to more recent ones, it won't:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2719460?start=0&tstart=0
It seems you're out of luck even with Safe Boot (from PGP Whole Disk Encryption Command Line User's Guide):
The Mac OS X Safe Boot feature does not work on a boot disk that has been whole disk encrypted; if you hold down the Shift key to enter Safe Boot, the system will fail to boot after authenticating at the PGP BootGuard screen.
So, while you're waiting for some more knowledgeable advice, you might backup your data to an external drive while booted in single user mode. There are many how-tos out there; I think this one is pretty clear:
http://jsalovaara.com/blog/backing-up-files-to-a-usb-drive-using-single-user-mod e.html
Hope this helps.

My USB external hard disk won't work anymore after I updated to 10.4.10

As I said in title since it's quite urgent to me. ALL of my files is in my external hard drive. It's format as FAT or FAT32 I can't remember since I use it between mac and PC. More than that IT IS WORKING FINE UNDER PC. Before updating to Mac 10.4.10 I used my hard disk fine till I updated to this version. I plug in my usb port and after a hours it still won't be detected. I can find my hard disk in finder or desktop. I have tried plug my hard disk to other MacBook or Mac Pro but still won't work anymore. However it's working fine under PC or when I started my MacBKPRO as WindowsXP under bootcamp, my hard disk is working fine, too.
I have search this forum and seems someone have got the same problem as I face. I don't know what to do...and I feel so disappointed to Mac.

As Mac OS X has no known viruses in the wild, that leaves you with one of three possibilities.
1. When connected to the Windows machine, a virus has written over a critical boot block area which allows the drive to become crossplatform. Get the latest Windows virus detection software and make sure the drive is clean of Windows viruses.
2. The firmware that allows it to communicate driverless has become corrupted on the drive case. Replacing the drive case itself will eliminate that problem, as suggested earlier.
3. The directory damage is just enough that the boot block itself is damaged. Backup any critical data from the drive onto the Windows machine first, and run Alsoft Disk Warrior 4.0 to repair the directory and see if that works.
The fact that Mac OS X 10.3.9 won't read it basically eliminates this as a 10.4.10 problem. Only a boot block or firmware issue like this could make a drive not readable on one platform, but readable on another.
P.S. please note the nomenclature of Mac, versus MAC on this user tip, as it appears you haven't learned it:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=503342&tstart=10

New hard drive won't boot!

I have an iBook, and the hard drive recently broke. First I installed os x on my external firewire hard drive, but the iBook wouldn't boot off of it (it's a maxtor onetouch drive). I got another hard drive, and using the installer (for panther), I formatted the drive, and installed os x on it. However, the iBook won't boot off of the drive. What is wrong? Is it more serious than just the hard drive?

Well I just tried to boot off of the external hard drive (which is a Maxtor Onetouch firewire drive), while I didn't have an operational hard drive. However now that the replacement drive doesn't work as well (which I am more concerned about), I am wondering whether it is a more serious issue, or not. When I took it apart, I didn't see a logic board connector as in http://www.sterpin.net/uk/ddibookg4uk.htm (picture 43). It boots the installation cd fine, so I assume that there is not a problem with the logic board? The drive I purchased was completely empty, and I am wondering whether the boot part of the partition is wrong?
In disk utilities (in the installer), it does not see the new internal drive. I have tried to start up holding the option key, but it only has a screen with two buttons, and that ticking clock as a cursor.

Pavilion dv6t new hard drive won't boot after OS install

Hello, I have a HP Pavilion dv6t-3000 and the hard drive went bad and I just ordered a new one with basically the same capabilities. BIOS recognizes it because I can run the hard disk test and because the HP Recovery disc's successfully load and install on the hard drive. But once the recovery disc's finish the install and restart I get the error "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". The only thing I can think of is the hard drive is not compatible or something needs to be configured in the BIOS, but it is still recognized and still gets Windows 7 Home Premium installed using the recover disc's so in my mind that eliminates that problem.
Is there something I am missing or something else that needs to be done?
Thanks

Hi,
Locate your specific Model from the list on the link below.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/pfinder?cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&tool=&query=dv6t+#N29
From here, select Software and Driver Downloads and select your OS for all the driver downloads available for your notebook.
Regards,
DP-K
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****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Pismo G3 Tiger Install Disk won't boot

Hey, I just got a G3 Pismo off eBay and I am having trouble reinstalling Tiger onto it. It's a 500 Mhz G3 and it's been upgraded to 1 gig of Ram and a 100 gig hard drive. It's currently running 10.4.11, so I know it can handle it. Whenever I try installing it just hangs on a white screen after start up. I've tried from both the internal DVD drive and an external DVD drive. One thing I have noticed is that the install disk won't show up as an option in the Startup Disk panel when it's in the external drive, even though it will mount normally.
I've tried booting as the startup disk from it's current install and from Os 9.2.2 but no luck. I've reset the PRAM/NVRAM and reset the PMU and still nothing.
Any ideas?

Are you using a retail Tiger install DVD (black with silver X)? A gray, model specific installer for a different model Mac won't work.
I suspect your external DVD drive is connected via USB, which can't be used for a boot drive. You need an external Firewire drive if you want to boot from a DVD/CD.
What's wrong with the 10.4.11 OS currently installed? We might can recommend some fixes if there are problems.
 Cheers, Tom

PB 15" won't Boot/Loses Date & Time

I have a 15" PB 15" that runs fine for a few days on either battery or AC, then suddenly won't boot (apple logo w/spinning gear). I can get it running again after running Disk Warrior (from a Fire Wire drive), but notice that when booting from that FW drive that a message pops up informing me that date & time was set to a date prior to 2001. Anyhow, after rebuilding by DW, the system runs fine for a few days, but then reverts back to the same problem.
I should note that after booting from the FW drive, and before running DW, I could not run Disk Utility on the problem MacintoshHD because, while it showed the drive, Permission Repair was greyed out, not allowing me to access the problem drive. Sustem does, BTW, boot from CD also. The fact that it boots from CD and FireWire drives leads me to believe that the internal HD is my problem. I'm scared. however, about the message that date & time was changed at the time of failure.
Would (or could) the date & time be lost if problem was limited to the HD ? I ordered a new HD, and hope that the problem is not the Logic Board. FWIW, I have done the PMU reset procedure, and that didn't solve anything.

Okay, it seems the problem is resolved, and the cause seems to have been a bad 256Mb DIMM. At least that's all I can imagine it was. I still hadn't gotten around to replacing the HDD nor the clock battery. While waiting to receive these two parts, I removed the replaced the second memory DIMM (a 256Mb) with a 1GB. and it's been running about a week with no problems. (I even accidentally dropped the PB yesterday, and it's STILL functioning fine. I can only imagine that the 256 DIMM was flaky, yet passing all diagnostics. Maybe the loss of date & time problem was caused by the machine not having been used for a long time prior to my purchase a few weeks ago. (Is that battery a re-chargable one?) Maybe now that I have the machine on each day, it remains charged enough to hold the data.
Anyhow, I'm going to upgrade the HDD from 80 to 160 and hold onto the spare clock battery just in case. Thanks for the help guys. Walt

Hard drive failing, need to recover data before it fully crashes

Tried these things:
--disk utility from startup disk (said disk could not be repaired and invalid node structure)
--disk warrior three times, which of course took like a week total (all times it said could not be repaired; got error codes 2160 and 2304, which after researching led me to the next step)
--firewire the HD on the macbook in target mode to a working mac and ran disk warrior from there (said couldn't be repaired again and to backup files. yes, great, that is what I want to do, but how?)
--tried to mount disk through disk util while it was connected via FW (could not mount disk, said to verify/repair disk first)
--tried disk util's repair disk function (got 'unused node is not erased'; upon research, found advice to use disk warrior. great, now I run around in circles?)
I can easily replace the hard drive, and will do so... as soon as I get this woman's data off her corrupt drive. Is it possible to do that at this point? I don't get how I can see the drive but can't get to the files on it!!!

General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Hard Disk Won't Boot - Recovering Data w/ Live CD

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