Troubleshooting an Imac G5 that won't mount on host computer in target mode.

I believe the internal harddrive on my Imac G5 has failed as the computer is stuck on a gray screen at startup and I am unable to repair the disk using disk utility on the OSX installation cd. I have the machine connected to another working mac with a firewire cable and am attempting to access the harddrive through target mode. The non-working mac starts in target mode but does not mount on the host computer. How can this be troubleshooted?

Make sure you start the G5 iMac in Target Disk Mode first, then connect it to the other Mac. If that doesn't work then, I'm pretty certain the hard disk is dead.
Sorry.
Good luck.

Similar Messages

Volumn that won't mount or repair

When copying a folder from one volume to another the mac froze.
Had to turn it off to get it to do anything again.
When it restarted one of my main volumes did not mount.
When I ran disk utility on that volume it ended with an error
and a line that said it has an "Invalid sibling link"and it will
not repeir that volume due to an error.
HELP!
How do I fix this to get this volume mounted again?

Can you boot to the OS install disk? Does the Disk Utility (from the Utilities menu of the Install disk) see the partition?
If DU sees the partition, try "Repair Disk". If errors are returned, but repair cannot be completed, try again. I would try 3-4 times.
If, after 3-4 tries, DU still reports the device/volume cannot be repaired, then your best hope is to use DiskWarrior.
There is one other option, and that is to use Terminal, and get the path to the partition that won't mount. Once this is known, fsck can be used to run repair on the partition. It is a bit involved, but if you a willing to try, use this guide to perform the task.
Specific to the invalid sibling link error, instead of "-y" use "-r". This article explains.

Need help with Lacie Big Extreme that won't mount

OK Guys,
My buddy's Lacie 1TB Big Extreme won't mount to any computer we try. The blue light is flashing. We have tried different cables on different computers. After a web search for similar problems we found out several people had success just plugging in a new power supply. So, we ordered one. Didn't work.
I can hear the drive spinning up. Oh, I guess I should mention this unit is out of warranty.
Here's my question. After some research, I found out this drive has 2 hard drives inside and set up as Raid 0. This is the way Lacie sets these up for use right out of the box. So if I take the Lacie enclosure apart and try to mount the drives separately in another generic enclosure what will I see in terms of the files written on a single drive (assuming it mounts) since I am dealing with an initial Raid 0 set-up? My intention is to save the files. Please help.

Same problem with an external LaCie Little Big Disk = does not mount, but shows up under FireWire in System Profiler. I assume it's a OS X issue, because I ran a software "Data Rescue II" and this software has recognized the disk.
Has probably something to do with one of the latest OS X updates, because I've used this disk with Time Machine now more than a year and never had a problem.
I recommend not to experiment with partitioning/reformatting (if you care about the data on the disk) and push Apple for a solution. It assume it's some kind of an access problem.

How to recover partition (with encrypted sparse bundle disk image) that won't mount?

I have a Late 2013 27" iMac running OS X 10.9.4. I have an external drive that I use for Time Machine backups which also has an encrypted sparse bundle disk image. Yesterday, the drive stopped showing up in Finder, so I went to Disk Utility and tried to mount it. No go. So I tried repairing it, and it said it couldn't. I'm not worried about the Time Machine backup since my iMac is find so I can just make a backup to a new external drive. However, the encrypted sparse bundle disk image has some files in it that I don't have elsewhere. Is there a way to recover these files without sending it in to a drive recovery service (since those would cost a LOT of money)?

No such options. As I mentioned in the post title and in my first post, the partition won't mount.

PLEASE help my 1ST gen that won't mount or update or connect suddenly...

Please can I beg for someone to help me with my dear old first generation 10GB scroll wheel iPod (Version 1.5) that has suddenly developed it's first ever problem in 5 years?!
I know it's a veritable dinosaur compared to most of you, but it was my first and is very special to me, and like I said, it's worked like a dream from day one, until yesterday.
Yesterday I plugged it into my HD via the Firewire port that it always connects with, and iTunes didn't find it, and it didn't appear in the Finder either. All it did was charge the battery with the flashing charging indicator icon.
Nothing has changed here, not on my system unit, nor on my Powerbook (running a different version of iTunes). The only thing that happened was we had a power cut the night before last and I don't know if the iPod was plugged in via the cable to the plug in the wall (like that would have anything to do with it??!!)
However it still works, it still plays music and it still charges, I just can't connect it to a computer to add/delete music etc.
. I tried resetting it.
. I tried it on my Powerbook which also didn't load it in iTunes or mount it in the Finder.
. I tried a different Firewire cable into a different port.
. I've rebooted my machine.
. I've put it in Disc Mode and I get the "OK to Disconnect" message, but when I connect it, the message just stays there and all that happens is the little battery logo charges, and so far I have not got the "Do Not Disconnect" message.
. I've tried the iPod Software Updaters that I have in my Utilities folder, but even that won't find the iPod and asks me to connect an iPod when it is already connected via Firewire. So I can't Restore it.
Is there anything else I could try? Please don't tell me I'm screwed, I mean, it still plays, but I don't want to be stuck with it not being able to be updated
I've looked through loads of topics here and can't find any suitable answers or things I haven't tried that haven't worked.
Eternal gratitude (and great Karma!) to anyone that can help a poor old grandaddy iPod out
PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hopefully, there will be something in one of these support articles that fixes the problem for you. Don't rule out resetting your router by unplugging it from power for about 30 seconds.
Can't connect to the iTunes Store - Apple Support
http://ipadinsight.com/ipad-tips-tricks/best-fixes-for-cannot-connect-to-itunes- store-errors/

How to Format an SD Card that won't mount?

This is the closest forum I could find for this, I have an SD Card which I used when taking photos on my Canon T1i on a family outing. I have pictures of my new born on there from the day. When I got home that day I immediately went to copy everything to my computer; however, the SD Card could not be read.
* It does not mount on any Mac (mini HDMI & eMac, internal slot & card reader that both worked previously - 16 GB card)
* The Canon says "Card Cannot Be Accessed" - when attempting to format I get "Cannot format. Change Card"
My hope was that I could initialize (ie: non-low level format) the SD Card then use one of the many apps out there to restore any recoverable data.
Question is... how do you format a card in a situation like this?
I was going to use my work laptop (PC) which had a card reader, insert a diff card, find the driver letter, then format h: /q (assuming h was the drive letter)... with a last second swap with the bunk card... but my laptops card reader isn't working at all (just found out when attempting this).
Are there any other ideas? I do know that the name of the card is "No Name" and I was hoping to format it via some terminal command or via some magical utility that I have yet to find.
My worst fear isn't to lose all the photos (that would suck bad), but that I would have to buy another card (I'm not up for the task of soldering a new controller chip to the memory). Also, the console does not come up with any error messages.
Any help much appreciated.

Thanks Niel; however, Disk Utility does not see it on either computer (mini or emac)
Then the problem's one that reformatting won't resolve.
I saw somewhere a command to format a HD that was not mounted; however, it was for a diff OS and the command didn't map (was a *nix variant).
Even if a volume's not mountable, the computer's aware of its presence and the Disk Utility list will show it as a grayed entry. The Disk Utility won't show network volumes, whether mounted or not.
Put a working card in the drive and check the Disk Utility again. If it shows up, consult a professional data recovery service. If it doesn't show up, the Disk Utility isn't designed to work on items of this kind; this may also be the case if only software provided by the manufacturer is capable of accessing it.
(53989)

How do I repair a damaged dmg that won't mount and Dick Utility can't repair?

Apple Care gave me wrong instructions on how to create a disc image of my internal HD then erased it. Now I have a .dmg that has the same gigs as the HD but won't mount and Disk Utility can't repair. Tried to recover files with Data Rescue 3 but that isn't going so hot. Any suggestions?
Thank you

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
I guess that it's a moot point to ask if you didn't test the dmg before you erased the drive. Do you have a Time Machine or other type of backup?
If not, it's a hard lesson to learn, but I would guess that unless you are willing to pay for expensive outside data recovery service, all is lost and you are starting over.

Another iMac G3 that won't boot

Hello! I too, have an iMac G3 (slot loading) that won't boot. I press the power button and get the "happy mac" icon, but nothing else. If a CD in, you can hear the CD drive. I have tried various tricks, including command option P R, but nothing seems to work. I am now going to try my CD that came with the computer, but am wondering which I should try first, Apple Hardware Test, Apple Software Restore, or what?
Thanks, Beth

No, your remark is NOT dumb. Sometimes you need to quit the disk utility and than re activate it to see all of your options such as "verify permissions" and "repair permissions" which should be on the left side while the verify disk and repair disk is found on the right side.
You also might want to try booting from the install disk and than running the disk utility program or if that's what you are doing than open the utility program as soon as it shows up on the screen.

How do I erase and external HD that won't mount?

Help! I bought an Iomega eGo drive from Amazon. I backed up my MacBook Pro and my work on this drive. Now it won't mount and I want to send it back to Amazon. I tried disk utility, Disk Warrior and plugging it into other Macs. It has firewire 400 & 800 and usb. Nothing from all of them. How d I get my personal stuff off so I can return this hunk of junk? (my 2nd one! I never learn.)
Any help or ideas would be very much appreciated!
Thanks!

Just to add to the previous, if you use "System Profiler" (in your Utility Folder) and look under which ever interface you have it connected through, does the "bridge" in the enclosure itself at least appear, even if the drive itself doesn't? If it DOES, then the problem either lies with the drive or with its connection to external enclosure's "bridge". If even the "bridge"/ enclosure itself doesn't appear then the problem is either with the bridge/enclosure itself, the cable you are using, or the port you are using on the Mac (as the drive doesn't surface under any of three connection methods you can pretty much disregard the last two).
If the bridge is dead, then the only way you will be able to erase the drive is by removing it from the enclosure and putting it in another one (which will almost certainly void any warranty).
If the bridge appears, but the drive does not, then it is probably the drive itself which is dead, in which case you won't be able to erase it anyway, but no-one is likely to bother going through the expensive and time consuming process of seeing what is on it by removing platters etc! Most techs in the warranty departments of major companies like Iomega are overworked, underpaid, and trying to avoid additional work. They just won't be interested in the content. Dead drive, into the bin, onto the next one! As you say yourself, such failures with Iomega drives unfortunately aren't exactly worthy of headlines!
If Disk Utility can "see" it, though, even if it won't mount it, then there may be some other options for wiping data before sending it back.
Cheers
Rod

DVDs I've burned on my G5 won't mount on my computer

I'm archiving a lot of digital photography images on DVDs. They burn and verify fine (Memorex 8x) and then when I put them back in the slot later, they will not mount. I've rebooted, restarted, unplugged and then rebooted - a couple of times the DVD showed up and then when I take it out and put in another it won't mount. I can see commercial DVD movies as well as a DVD (Sony 16x) a friend made of data files that does mount. I've just noticed this problem, although it may have been going on for a while.
Does anyone know how to fix this?

I'm archiving a lot of digital photography images on
DVDs. They burn and verify fine (Memorex 8x)
Does anyone know how to fix this?
Use a piece of cardboard cut in a circle. OK it won't work but it is free and no less reliable than Memorex. Try a Verbatim DVD +R. I burn hundreds of them, so many I burned out the DVD drive. They are great media.
If they don't work, spend the $40 - $50 and get a new drive, Pioneer 111 or 112 and replace the old one. It is 15 minutes with no tools required and instructions are in your manual.

PMG4 won't boot from DVD or FW Target Mode

I have a 350mhz PMG4 (AGP) that has a DVD/CDRW drive that works fine under 10.4, but won't boot (have tried from prefs panel and by holding C).
Also, it comes up with open firmware and gives an error when I try to start firewire target mode from the prefs panel, and does nothing if I hold up T on start.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi, Brian -
This sequence may do a full reset of Open Firmware -
- Start the computer and immediately hold down Command-Option-O-F
- When the computer starts it should open into a prompt screen (Open Firmware).
- Press Return, you will see OK.
- Type reset-nvram include the dash, here and below.
- Press Return
- Type set-defaults
- Press Return
- Type reset-all
- Press Return
The system should restart. If not, try typing exit or shutdown, or you can manually restart the system.
Note - some machines may return "unknown word" in response to the reset-nvram instruction; if that happens, try init-nvram instead.

What do I do if my iPhone is in a reboot cycle and won't connect to any computer in DFU mode?

My iPhone won't turn on and it also won't connect to iTunes in recovery/DFU mode... It is jailbroken and I don't know what to do!

If it's jailbroken you cannot expect help in an Apple hosted forum. Google is your friend.

How do I disable journaling on an external drive that won't mount?

I'm trying to fix a hard drive that gives me the "Invalid content in journal" error. I've run the latest TechTool and Drive Genius and they say the drive is fine, except for its crippling inability to actually mount. Onyx and Cocktail won't touch it until its mounted. Ideas?

It's possible to recover files 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.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Mac noob has an imac g3 that won't boot

i recently got a imac g3 from a friend to play with. i've never used a mac, so i was hoping to learn a bit.
at first, it seemed to work fine... nothing wrong
later, out of curiosity, i tried to boot from an ubuntu live cd and that's where everything went wrong.
it started to boot, then hung, so i ejected the CD and rebooted the computer... and ever since, the computer won't boot at all
it makes the chime, then sits at a grey screen for a long time (i usually walk away at this point) and eventually a folder with the mac logo pops up and nothing happens from there.
booting from CD also does nothing. the CD starts to spin up, then idles.
i don't have a firewire hard drive to test firewire boot either...
i've tried appleoption+pr and it made the chime twice, but i still get the same results.
any ideas?

Sometimes if volumes don't appear in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open ourFirmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime. Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
"The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US
How to eject a cd from the internal cd drive:
eject cd
List of devices:
devalias
List of variables:
printenv
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
reset the PMU
http://mrjcd.com/junk/PMU.jpg
well, an external monitor did nothing
as for the firmware, it has 4.1.9f1...
That's a positive sign.
when i hold the option key on startup, i get two buttons, (a round arrow and a straight arrow) both of which i am unable to click. The firmware could not find a valid os. Should include icons for each partition or cd with a valid os. Why don't you try boot with the option key with a cd in the drive.
but is there a way i can use open firmware to redirect the boot partition?
I hadn't been able to fathom the syntax... until I listed a bunch of os's.
Used startup of system perferences to select disk/media then click on lock then
Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
nvram boot-device
Now, we can guess meaning:
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:12,\\:tbxi
   | | Partition/location
   | on device
   |
   0 = master
   1 = slave
   for ata internal device
Why set nvram variable? I've had open-firmware based Pegasos PPC and it simply had boot command, so instead of:
setenv boot-device ud:3,\:tbxi
should be enough to write:
boot ud:3,\:tbxi
my setup,boot my internal harddrive Tiger partition:
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:12,\\:tbxi
my setup, boot my internal harddrive classic 9.2.2 partition
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:10,\\:tbxi
boot from Mac OS 9 cd???
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
boot 10.2 install cd
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
boot hardware test cd
boot-device mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@1:9,\\:tbxi
boot from external firewire hd with Tiger installed
boot-device fw/node@1d202009c115c/sbp-2@c000/@0:10,\\:tbxi
boot from external firewire cd/dvd drive Tiger DVD
boot-device fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:3,\\:tbxi
boot from external firewire cd/dvd drive 9.2.2 install cd
boot-device fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:9,\\:tbxi
boot from external firewire cd/dvd drive Hardware test
boot-device fw/node@50770500071002/sbp-2@4000/@0:9,\\:tbxi
network startup
boot-device enet:bootp
mac $ sudo pdisk -l
Password:
Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk0'
#: type name length base ( size )
1: Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
2: Apple_Driver43*Macintosh 56 @ 64
3: Apple_Driver43*Macintosh 56 @ 120
4: Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh 56 @ 176
5: Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh 56 @ 232
6: Apple_FWDriver Macintosh 512 @ 288
7: Apple_Driver_IOKit Macintosh 512 @ 800
8: Apple_Patches Patch Partition 512 @ 1312
9: Apple_Free 262144 @ 1824 (128.0M)
10: Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_1 2254440 @ 263968 ( 1.1G)
11: Apple_Free 262144 @ 2518408 (128.0M)
12: Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_2 146538496 @ 2780552 ( 69.9G)
13: Apple_Free 6982440 @ 149319048 ( 3.3G)
Device block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488 (74.5G)
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
Drivers-
1: 23 @ 64, type=0x1
2: 36 @ 120, type=0xffff
3: 21 @ 176, type=0x701
4: 34 @ 232, type=0xf8ff
pdisk: No valid block 1 on '/dev/rdisk2'
Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk3'
#: type name length base ( size )
1: Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
2: Apple_Driver_ATAPI*Macintosh 8 @ 64
3: Apple_HFS Mac_OS_X 5531656 @ 72 ( 2.6G)
4: Apple_Free 10 @ 5531728
Device block size=512, Number of Blocks=5531738 (2.6G)
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
Drivers-
1: 4 @ 64, type=0x701
mac $
why am i now unable to boot from CD as well?
See Richard's second paragraph having to boot up from the original cd to get cd reader to work again.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5966197#5966197
i'd love to get this thing working again
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343
Well, you could get an external firewire CD/DVD drive and use the option key to boot a cd/dvd in the drive.
thank you all for your help
-Randy
Message was edited by: rccharles

Help for hd that won't mount

re my inquiry Lacie disk not mounting: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1247473&tstart=225
I tried everything technically possible to have it mount ... finally I called LaCie ... problem: it is an old external disk (no longer in production) and/or very possibly it got corrupted via recent upgrade to Leopard (or not) - I see that there are a few threads re FW problems with external peripherals not mounting, etc .... I would venture to say that I was not spared ... needless to say if I wanted to recoup my data on this disk prior to repartitioning it, etc I had one solution - that is find data retrieval software ... PROSOFTENG.com offers Data Rescue II for the Mac ..... you can download a trial version to test out if this is what you need ... limited trial retrieval to 5 mb ... if it does the trick, then it is up to you to purchase it to authenticate it and to have full retrieval capability ... it worked for me. Oh, by the way, I am not an employee and this not a sale pitch ... simply, this info is to give suggestion to others to avoid 2-3 days worth of frustration ... when you have external disk that no longer will mount for one reason or another ...
ApB

Subrosasoft Filesalvage can sometimes work when Data Rescue does not. Both are great.
You might also want to check out the advice on my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/firewirebug2.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.
Message was edited by: a brody

Troubleshooting an Imac G5 that won't mount on host computer in target mode.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for