How to rescue the data?

[aggemam]

Hi

I have a PBG4 / 400.

Because I messed up PHP and Apache, I wanted to reinstall Mac OS X 10.1.

Unfortunately, as I was ready to install, the CD drive refused to read the Install CD. And now, there is no OS on the hard drive. In other words, I have no boot device.

I could take out the hard drive and back up my data from another computer, but that would void my warranty, wouldn't it?

I've got plenty of other Macs; could I possibly set up NetBoot? How do I do that?

I don't care about my CD drive or the health of my computer; Apple is sending me a new one. But I'd like to have my data back :)

Thanks a lot!

Christian

[Sun Baked]

Where is the OS 9 disk that came with OS 10.1?

Or even the old CDs that came with the computer.

[aggemam]

Well I have those, but the CD (or DVD, actually) drive does not work.

I am looking for a way to boot my Mac without using the hard drive or CD drive... NetBoot?

[Macmaniac]

I have heard that you can hook a firewire cable to two computers and make one comp mount like a firewire drive, You could use it to retrieve data. I'm not sure what key you hit when you boot though:(

[Solipsys]

I don't know if this will work for your situation, but if you hold down "T" on bootup your PB will act as a FireWire hard drive... Connect it to one of your other computers using a FireWire cable with two 4 pin jacks and your PB hard drive should mount on the other computer.

hope this helps

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by Solipsys
I don't know if this will work for your situation, but if you hold down "T" on bootup your PB will act as a FireWire hard drive... Connect it to one of your other computers using a FireWire cable with two 4 pin jacks and your PB hard drive should mount on the other computer.

hope this helps

Actually, that's 6pin connectors...4 pin is the mini connector.

[AlphaTech]

If you have a tower (any generation with an ATA bus and spare/open port on the ribbon, you can get a rack that will hold your TiBook's 2.5" hard drive so that you can read it from the other system.

You could also boot in the TBM (Target Disk Mode) and the laptop's hard drive will mount on the other computer as an external drive. You can find out how (exactly) to do the target disk mode here (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583&SaveKCWindowURL=http%3A%2F%2Fkbase.info.apple.com%2Fcgi-bin%2FWebObjects%2Fkbase.woa%2Fwa%2FSaveKCToHomePage&searchMode=Expert&kbhost=kbase.info.apple.com&showButton=false&randomValue=100&showSurvey=true&sessionID=anonymous|139503721) (AppleCare Document 58583).

BTW, pulling the hard drive from a TiBook will NOT void the warranty, it's one of the user installable parts.

[Sun Baked]

Good luck, hopefully you'll find a way to get your data back.

At least it was only a Murphy's Law experience ...

[aggemam]

Thanks everyone!

I'll try the firewire disk mode thing. I'll just have to buy a cable first :)

--
Thanks,
Christian

[aggemam]

I just bought a FireWire cable, and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for your help!

--
Christian

[aggemam]

LOL, just as I wrote that message, I pulled out the firewire cable and got a kernel panic on the host :)

So the word "flawlessly" should be "almost flawlessly" or something like that :)

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by aggemam
LOL, just as I wrote that message, I pulled out the firewire cable and got a kernel panic on the host :)

So the word "flawlessly" should be "almost flawlessly" or something like that :)

Did you follow the instructions that were posted (in the article)???

As shown in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document
4. When you are finished copying files, drag the target computer's hard disk icon to the Trash or select Put Away from the File menu (Mac OS 9) or Eject from the File menu (Mac OS X).

5. Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.

6. Unplug the FireWire cable.

[aggemam]

Darn, someone noticed it :-)

I actually did think of it myself after posting. I'll raise the white flag.

However, it's still not quite logical that you have to turn it off, FireWire being hot-plug.

[AlphaTech]

Target Disk Mode is NOT the same as a hot pluggable hard drive... Even those, you want to dismount before you unplug them... With the TDM, you just turn off the system (the one acting as a drive) before unplugging it.

A couple of extra steps would have saved you from the panic... :p :D

[aggemam]

Yeah :)

Damn, I can't wait for Apple to send me the 667 MHz / DVI in exchange for this 400 :)