Hard drive death and invisibility
the other day, my hard drive seemed to die. i made a silly mistake - i had accidently gotten myself down to about 5gb free on my macbook pro's internal drive, and had then forgotten and started downloading more things. i guess i was downloading for a little while, then i shut down my computer, left the house, and got on a train. on the train, i plugged in my charger and started playing around on ableton live (resource-intensive program). everything was running fine for about 20 minutes (and nothing more was downloading at this point), but then my computer began to freeze. i thought it was just the program, as it can be a little buggy at times, but then then the whole os locked up and i had to do a force-shutdown.
then my woes began. i turned the laptop back on - and got the flashing folder with the question-mark. around this time i remember how full my hard drive was, and i get a bit concerned. i try a few things to get it to boot, but no joy. i resign myself to a train ride with no laptop. when i get home, i boot from the install dvd, open disc utility, and it shows only my dvd drive. hard drive invisible. as though has just vanished. so i assume it's a dead drive. i plug in an external through usb, and install the os onto this. computer boots fine, though a little slow (to be expected, usb). my internal drive still doesn't show. i try diskwarrior, and that it doesn't show there either. so by now i've resigned myself to an unsalvagable (within my price limits) drive. so today, i went and bought a replacement drive and a set of screwdrivers. i had to buy a slightly higher-end drive, as it was the only one they had in stock - a western digital 'scorpio black'. i get home and open the laptop's guts and install the replacement, then boot from the dvd. disc utility doesn't show it. i open the guts again and check that i installed it okay, and i'm pretty sure i did. i've opened it again about 4 times since, to check again and again. it always seems fine. when i do system profiler (from the boot disc or os on the external) i get the "there was an error while scanning for serial-ata devices".
then there's the problem that i'm really broke, after buying the replacement drive, so i can't buy an external enclosure to test that the drive(s) work, to see whether it's a drive issue or a laptop issue. could i plug them directly into the desktop (that i write this from), to test them? or would i need adaptors..? i know that my desktop (windows) case wouldn't support 2.5" drives, but if i secured it in place by other means, would the connectors work? as a troubleshooting thing.
any ideas? my guess at the moment, it must be either:
- the overloaded drive did something bad to my hardware (the bit that controls the hard drives?).
- a powersuge on the train did something nasty (maybe?)
- my first drive is dead, and the replacement drive isn't appearing for a different reason (it's a 3gb/s drive, i read that there was a firmware upgrade required to get these running - but i downloaded the update on the external os, and it said the update wasn't required).
- everything is toast. and i have to use windows.
it seems relevant that everything works fine when running the os through usb. it's just that internal drives don't appear or work. and it's also relevant that i can't send it away to get repaired, 'cause i have no money.
after all this, i got stressed and drank beer. so please excuse any silly errors and my extensive storytelling. and thank you so much in advance.
miinna,
Did you ever figure out the problem?
I am working on a friends mac and it has the same exact issue. For some reason my Lion hard drive boots as ab internal, but any blank or snow leopard drive won't even show up in the disk utilitiy. I can install/read from an external drive. I get the same "there was an error while scanning for serial-ata devices" error.
I'm wondering if it is the SATA cable or something worse.
Specs:
MacbookPro5,3
Intel Core 2 Duo
2.66
A1286
Similar Messages
-
MacBook Pro -- external hard drive corruption -- AND hanging computer?
Since purchasing a 17" MacBook Pro, I've had serious problems with directory corruption on three of my external firewire hard drives (80 and 100 G FireLite Pocket drives and a 400 G Lacie drive). About 2 weeks ago, the 80 G drive (with most of my critical files) disappeared from the desktop. Disk Utilities returned with a message that it was repairable. Tech Tools supposedly fixed it, but the drive icon shortly disappeared from the desktop. This time, Disk Utilities "repaired" it, but it was the kiss of death. After this, plugging in the drive caused the computer to hang indefinitely. I could no longer run any repair or data rescue software. Once this problem occurs, I can switch firewire cables and computers, and the computers still crash/hang. A techy at work managed to rescue the files and replace them on the disk (this required other hardware, a PC, and some software he downloaded(?)). Two weeks later, the problem happened again. However, this time, it was the 80 G and my 400 G backup drive. Now, all of my originals and backups (for the past 2 years, since I did my last CD/DVD backups) are (hopefully) temporarily unavailable. My 100 G drive started to do the same thing. However, I purchased and downloaded a copy of Disk Warrior, which seems to have rescued this disk.
I've had these drive for between 3 and 5 years, with little or absolutely no trouble. Then, after getting the MacBook Pro, I'm encountering really serious problems.
Is the MacBook Pro at fault? (I've returned to my PowerBook G4 until this issue is resolve).
What causes such severe disk directory damage that causes my computer to hang?
How can I recover my files (critically important to my work, some of which is on a tight deadline) without having to run to the vastly overworked/underpaid techy in my place of employment)?
My conversation with an Apple Tech was much less than satisfying. In fact, he seemed to portray a state of denial about the MacBook Pro having any problems, even though the web is full of complaints. What's up Apple? Are you beginning to backslide yet again?Welcome To Discussions JeffBloom!
I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with your MBP, but you have posted your inquiry, in the Discussions Forum, that is intended for discourse about the use of Apple Discussions.
You will get more focused attention to your issue, if you select a more appropriate location from this page Discussions Forum Home.
For example,
From the Forum Home Page, select the Category MacBook Pro.
Then choose an appropriate MBP Forum, such as Using your MacBook Pro.
On Forum pages, there is an option to Post New Topic.
Good Luck!
ali b -
Importing Mailboxes Upon Hard-Drive Wipe and OS Reinstall + .Mac Issues
Hi --
I was wondering if someone could help me out here. My dilemma is this: Long story short, I had to have my hard-drive wiped and have Tiger reinstalled yesterday at an Apple Store. Beforehand, I copied my entire Mail folder over to my external drive. Now, after the reinstall, I've reimported all of the mailboxes, and I'm not happy with the way things are looking. I should note that I used a mac.com POP account, in addition to another POP account, the setup of said account now apparently also having been wiped in the reinstall. Anyway, here's the breakdown:
(1) My entire Inbox is imported, but appearing inside of a grey "INBOX" folder inside of an "Import" folder, on the mailboxes strip. I've tried dragging the entirety of the Inbox contents up to the REAL Inbox (the very top icon) which is where I've always had my Inbox contents, and where I demand they stay!! However, doing the aforementioned copy/move, which seems like a reasonable enough action, leads to the following problem:
(2) It seems as though Apple Mail is now UPLOADING the entirety of my Inbox back to the POP web server, so that if I check my mac.com account via .Mac on the Web, all of these old messages from 2003 are showing up in the hundreds. (a) I do not want Mail uploading any old messages of mine ANYWHERE. Not even to my old account. (b) Because I've got about 40,000 messages in my Inbox, I do not want these going back up onto the server, taking up all of my space.
(3) I would also like the proper "Sent" (paper-airplane) box at the top to contain all of my old sent messages, and not some "Sent Messages" mailbox-folder of the sort in which it has currently dumped all of them during the import.
(4) Just as a lateral question to the above, I'd be very grateful for any tips on Preferences settings or the like that might get me out of the above POP quandaries. It seems as though there are options for "Do Not Store Sent Mail on the Server!" but no preference for "DO NOT REUPLOAD THE ENTIRETY OF MY INBOX TO MY POP ACCOUNT'S ONLINE STORAGE UPON A REIMPORT"!
Anyway, many thanks for any help anyone can provide on these matters!!!
best,
craig keller.
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9)Hi David.
Thanks for the helpful information. I had an inkling that the .plist Mail file might have been the cause after all of this happened, but had no idea it was necessary before the fact -- which of course is partly-my-fault, partly-the-world's. (As I see it.) So, the .plist file is gone, but my messages still exist, inbox, outbox, and all of the mailboxes.
In the meantime, where I'm at is the following juncture: What can I do to make a boot-up of Mail CEASE uploading the OLD contents of my Inbox onto the online server (and my apologies for the confusion in the IMAP/POP nomenclature, it's all a blur to me), which occurs automatically upon opening Mail -- the program is hanging up, with the "pie-chart" icon appearing to the left of the Inbox, not downloading any mail and so on, as it (silently, secretly, invisibly) uploads my Inbox to my IMAP .Mac webmail Inbox. Of course, this would not be an issue, as I could ostensibly just go on the Web and delete all of this old excess mail, were it not for the fact that I have 250MB of storage free on said .Mac account, and approximately 1.06GB of Inbox mail associated with that account, accumulated over four years of daily use.
I should also note that even if it was a "bad idea" for me to move my messages back to the Inbox, and if it shouldn't be used for archiving purposes, that is -exactly- what I use it for, as it's simply the place where my mail comes in, and traditionally, the online web server deletes mail after X number of days sitting there; that done, it still, nevertheless, exists within my Inbox. Where my mail comes in, that's where I want it to stay. No moves, no folderizing beyond that. The Inbox is the Inbox, and that should be that. (Pull the messages from the server; keep copies on the server for 10 days or whatever, then delete; but let the messages exist, still, on my hard-drive, on my computer.) Sorry if I'm conceiving of this contrary to Apple's dicta, but it's operated exactly the way I've needed it to -- until now. So I'm a bit frustrated; also slightly miffed by the fact that I was told to post on this forum from Apple, rather than getting a human-to-human, real-time interaction on the matter, as that, apparently, costs $49.99 for a 30-day trial.
Anyway, any further help/insight you (or anyone else) might be able to provide on the matter would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!! As I'm sure it is with so many, my mailbox inbox is the core of my life, and I like it to be "just so" -- possibly a foolish idyll on my part, but there you have it.
thanks!
craig. -
My PC hard drive died and I have replaced it. Need to import the music on my classic iPod, but get a message that it's synced with another library (old hard drive). How do I import the music onto the new hard drive? Senuti (one respondent's suggestion) is just for macs. I have no old hard drive to copy to the new hard drive (another respondent's suggestion.)
See this older thread from another forum member Zevoneer on different ways to copy music from your iPod back to your PC.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2417169?start=0&tstart=0
B-rock -
How to sync both from hard drive folders and from Aperture?
I have the following problem. So far I was syncing photos directly from my hard drive folders and everything was fine. Recently I decided to add some photos from Aperture albums. When I did this all previous photos synced from HD were deleted. When I switched back to syncing from folders, the photos from Aperture were deleted. It looks that it is impossible to sync from both sources. Anyone had this problem and found the solution?
I couldn't figure this out on my device, so I just consolidated them into one sync folder by copying photos.
Good thing I have extra disc space..... -
Hi everyone,
I am looking for help and maybe someone can help me please. My hard drive crashed and dell installed a new one. I have two iphones and an ipad with all my apps, music, amd photos. Can anyone indicate me what to do so I do not lose everything when I plug in my phone. ThanksNaturally you should have a recent backup of your "crashed" hard drive. If you don't, well, hopefully you've learned a lesson but that doesn't solve your current problem.
If all your apps and media were purchased from the iTunes App Store, don't worry about them. Redownload all your apps and media, then allow iTunes to sync with and wipe your iOS devices - which will also put all the apps and media on them. You'll lose your settings, and any data which resided only on the iOS devices, and of course you'll need to organize your iOS folders and home screens and whatnot. But you won't really lose much, and without a backup this is your best choice.
If you have media from sources other than the iTunes App Store, look at Senuti or similar applications designed to copy media from iOS devices to computers. Use that first, then sync as I described in my second paragraph above. (I mention Senuti because it's popular. There are other options which work just as well, and some are even free.) -
My hard drive crashed and I replaced it. I also switched from ATT to Verizon for my iPhone. Now when I sync with iTunes, only about a tenth of my songs are on the new iPhone. one or two from each album. I still have an iPad with all my songs on it. I subscribed to music match, but when I try on the iPad it wants to match with iTunes and erase a\the music on the iPad. I have no music on iCloud when I sign in. Can anyone help me???
If the hard drive that crashed is the one that stored the itunes library, be sure to restore the library from Time Machine (mac) or whatever backup you use on windows. That will get back your music. I suspect that the replacement drive has an empty itunes library and thus, perhaps, the itunes match used that to sync to its servers.
Try posting in the iTunes Match forum, you'll probably find more knowledgeable folks there.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/itunes/itunes_match -
My hard drive crashed and I had to wipe my computer. When I plug my iPod into my computer, it asks if I want to sync my (empty) iTunes account to my (full) iPod, but doesn't give me the option to put my iPod music onto my empty iTunes account. All I want to do is put my iPod's music back into my iTunes account, but can't figure out how to do it. I had some music backed up, but when I put it into iTunes, it won't play the songs (has an ! next to it) even though I purchased the songs from iTunes. I've tried authorizing my account, but nothing brings my old account back. Any help would be appreciated.
It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer for just this reason.
Use your backup copy to put everything back.
If for some reason you have failed to backup ( not good), then you can transfer itunes purchases from an ipod: File>Transfer Purchases -
MY hard drive crashed and i lost all my files. How do i move my files from my phone or ipad back to my new hard drive
See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2 -
My hard drive crashed and I restored my computer with my daughter's hard drive (her battery was dead) and I want to install my personal itunes on the new hard drive. I was unable to deauthorize the original computer and I do not know how to reinstall my personal itunes. Can someone help me with this?
Thank you.Without a backup of your "crashed" HD you will have to download your iTunes purchases again. Make sure your restored computer is running the latest version of iTunes.
Here is the procedure for your reference.
On your restored computer, launch iTunes. Click on iTunes Store on the left
On the right you will see this
"Sign in" using the Apple ID used to purchase your songs, then click on "Purchased" (with the orange blob)
On the summary page that appears select the tab "Not on This Computer" on the right.
On the list that appears, select what you want and then click the "Download" button.
When you want to play your newly downloaded music, you will have to "authorize" it. Don't worry about the lost HD until enough of your computers crash that you reach the limit of 5. Then you can "deauthorize all" and re-authorize as necessary.
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519 -
I've had a hard drive crash and put in a new one. However iTunes has or list all of them from my old drive. How do we re-set the directory?
You can re-download the software from Download CS5.5 products
Install and enter your serial number when prompted.
Find your serial number quickly -
Hi All,
My hard drive crashed and is no longer usable. I just installed a new drive however, I am not finding any way to export my recorded CD's from the Ipod touch to the new hard drive. Can anyone help please? I thought by enabling syc with Ipod woudl do it but to no avail.
ThanksI used a 3rd party program called copytrans http://www.copytrans.net/ that is not free to move my library from my ipod to my itunes library when I had to start from scratch. After that happened I started backing up my music that purchased from the itunes store to a dvd so I would always have it if things went south. Now I always backup my purchased digital music to an optical disc just in case plus everythng else I have is on retail cd's so I can just rebuild my library from scratch again if I have to. You should also regularly back up your itunes media folder to another disc so your entire library will be backed up just in case you should lose your program drive.
-
My hard drive fried and had to be replaced. I'm trying to install CS4 from my original discs but keep getting this error message - "One or more of the required components of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard failed to install correctly". A customer service rep gave me a link to download off the Adobe site, but when I try to open the file to run it, I get this error message - "A problem occurred extracting the archive".
Can anyone help?Yep. Nothing happens at all. Windows tries to execute the uninstaller, but I don't get any other screen and all activity stops for the MSI. I monitored it in Process Monitor and the MSI executable appears, but is quickly ended, like it couldn't find anything or something.
It's as if windows has a blank entry in Programs and Features, because it used to show the size of the Adobe application in the "Size" column. Now it's just blank. Link to screenshot below:
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5006/screenshotcaf.jpg
Note the install date. That's when I was able to successfully reinstall it. Now I can't even do that. I should also mention I tried Revo Uninstaller. It deleted one small registry key, but nothing changed.
By the way, is the CS cleaner supposed to ask for a disc in the drive when you run it? It refused to run unless I had one in it, so I used my install dvd. -
I am trying to restore my Mac OS after a hard drive failure and my password is no longer recognized, however I can log in by double clicking on the Lion Icon? How can I reset my password
First, make sure caps lock is not on.
Another reason why your password might not be recognized is that the keyboard layout (input source) has been switched without your realizing it. At the login screen, you can cycle through the available layouts by pressing the key combinationcommand-space or command-option-space. See this support article.
If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then maybe the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
Otherwise*, boot into Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. In the window that opens, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window opens. Close the Terminal window to get it out of the way.
Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.
Select
▹ Restart
from the menu bar.
You should now be able to log in with the new password, but your Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it.
*Note: If you've activated FileVault, this procedure doesn't apply. Follow instead these instructions. -
Hello - I just had to replace the hard drive on my pc, and now my Outlook calendar and contacts won't sync to my iphone 5s. I ended up getting two hard drives (C and G), so I'm afraid that might have something to do with it - although I'm pretty sure Outlook files still live in the normal place on C. Itunes sync acts as if it's working, but nothing changes on my phone. Any ideas? Thanks!!
"2MEM/1/4: DIMM3/J14"
Replace the memory in the DIMM 3 slot.
If you are running Mac OS X 10.5 you can use this program to test your G5's memory:
http://www.kelleycomputing.net/Rember/
It will subject your RAM to a more thorough test than Apple Hardware Test.
Maybe you are looking for
-
Firefox was working fine, but recently it's just stopped working. It instantly comes up with the error message 'Firefox Has Stopped Working'. I have pasted the error message below Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BEX Application Name: firefox.e
-
Customize Scheduled Payment Selection Report in R12
Hi, How can I customizing the Scheduled Payment Selection Report in R12? I need to declare new concurrent for this report that submit from a payment process. Rivka
-
Imagemap Rollover image - Dreamweaver CS3
Hey, a quick run-down of what im trying to do: I have a background image of a map. What im wanting to do is when I hover over the word 'Germany' say, i want a new image to appear. Can this be done using Imagemap as apose to 'Rollover Image' or can it
-
Downloaded CS6 design and web premium file not recognized
I have downloaded the file designwebpremium cs6. When I try to open it the process stops because my Mac does not recognize the file.
-
Thinkpad laptop, red "mouse" button/nub in keyboard does not work with version 4.0, Why?
IBM and/or Lenova laptop computers have the red button/nub in the center of the keyboard that acts with "mouse" functions such as scrolling up and down pages. After downloading Version 4.0 of Firefox this feature does not work anymore. Is it locked i