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iMac stuck on Apple screen

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Elchopperfreak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 23, 2013
6
0
San Juan PR
Hi
First off, I am new here, my guess is theres answers for my problem and I will search for them. Im kind of at my wits end with this, im in the middle of a job and most of the data needed is frozen inside my Imac

The OSx is snow leopard.

This is what I did:
I was downloading data into an Memory stick, the computer started acting weird and slowing down ( showing the colored wheel) so I shut it down via the back button.
When I restarted the comp did not go further of the white/silver screen with the apple.
I tried starting in various modes suggested in the internet to no avail (pressing shift, control S, control plus something else P and R)
Ended up inserting the disc and starting via pressing C into Disk Utility
Tried to repair to no avail
Bought a seagate tb2 external hard drive and disk utility wont allow to back up to the seagate

I am no expert on computers, not even close..

I am trying to back up the Imac in order to restore the OS X

Need to save mostly photo files..
Is there a way to see them and transfer them to the external?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!!



Need help..badly..
 
E

Elchopperfreak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 23, 2013
6
0
San Juan PR
20130224_000934.jpg


This is the prompt when trying to back up into Seagate 2tb

----------
20130223_032708.jpg


This one is when trying to repair disk..
 
S

sliceofman

macrumors newbie
May 26, 2007
18
0
you can try starting the computer in Safe mode buy restarting the computer and immediately holding the shift key for the duration of the start up. But, in general it sounds like your hard drive died. What year is it? I know it will not help to back up your files if it is dead but there was a few years spanning like 2009-2011 that Apple was having a HD replacement program b/c the Seagate HDs were failing.

There is a way to transfer files from one computer to the next via an ether port or a fire wire (maybe USB or Lightning idk) But i'm not sure it'd work if it is that the HD is dead.
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
If you hit "OK" in that last screenshot, does your HDD mount? If it does, you won't be able to clone or use Disk Utility for copying. However, you may be able to simply drag the data, folders, etc. from that drive to your new external drive.

That internal drive has died. I had that happen on an old Mac Pro 1,1 only two weeks ago, and I saw the same dialog box pop up. After many attempts I was able to get the drive to mount, and copied most of the files and folders off it. There was one file that would not copy, and I assumed it was simply badly corrupted. In this case, the files were routinely backed up monthly, but hadn't been for a month, so she would have lost a months worth of work.

I tested that drive after removing it and it was completely spent. Every block, except the first few tested as bad.

As the previous poster mentioned, Apple has recalled certain iMacs with Seagate HDDs. You can enter your iMac's S/N here to see if yours is one with the recalled drive.
 
E

Elchopperfreak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 23, 2013
6
0
San Juan PR
How do I mount? Or what does the "mount" shows when its done??
If it does how do I retrieve the data.
The computer is 2010 but does not show on the recall..
Thanks for your help
 
jmpage2

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007
3,224
549
Your hard drive is dying. You need to replace it and then restore it from backup.
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
Elchopperfreak said:
How do I mount? Or what does the "mount" shows when its done??
If it does how do I retrieve the data.
The computer is 2010 but does not show on the recall..
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

When it's mounted, it is seen as a hard drive icon on your screen desktop. If it shows there, click on it twice to open it, and drag the data from there to you external drive icon. You can select all, or if that doesn't work you can drag individual files and folders.

DiskWarrior works well when the disk directory becomes corrupt. It may or may not help in your situation. Yours are the symptoms of a failed hard drive. Although, DiskWarrior is a good utility to have on hand, I use Tech Tools Pro, which did help me to at least mount that failed drive in the Mac Pro I mentioned in an earlier post. But, it did not repair the drive. Western Digital's Diagnostic utility (for Windows) later showed that drive as completely failed.
 
E

Elchopperfreak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 23, 2013
6
0
San Juan PR
Thanks for the tip, will try it out..
Although, if I keep messing with disk utility will than augment the chances of the whole thing going kaput for good?

If I reinstall OS X is it true that the files will be kept, including photo folders, documents and such?
 
M

macthefork

macrumors 6502
Feb 2, 2013
467
7
The disk is spent. You'll be lucky if you're able to get anything off it at this point. It's likely you can't write anything to that disk with those types of errors. If it mounts copy what you can. Then, try what you want... DiskWarrior, as mentioned, if it was able to repair those directory problems, may prolong the usage, but that drive likely has some serious problems that will recur.
 
Last edited:
jmpage2

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007
3,224
549
Elchopperfreak said:
Thanks
How can I back it up??
Been trying to..
Click to expand...

The idea is to back it up with time machine BEFORE you have a failure. A Mac is the easiest computer on the planet to make backups on and you never did so?

I bet you'll back the next one up.
 
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