Please Help: MacBook Internal Drive Won't Mount

[mac 2005]

Inexplicably, the internal drive in my MacBook has unmounted. Using Disk Utility, I've clicked the "Mount" button, but nothing happens. I've zapped the PRAM, etc. to no avail.

Disk Utility initially showed the drive as mounted when I ran the application. I don't know what's happened as I did not unmount the drive.

Verify Disk and Repair Disk quit because of errors.

How can I get the drive to remount?

The computer is running OS X 10.4.11 with 2 mb RAM. The hardware test indicates no problems with the computer's hardware.

 

[Cave Man]

I hope you have a backup. It sounds as if your drive's directory has been compromised (if lucky) or the drive has a hardware fault (unlucky).

 

[mac 2005]

The error I'm seeing now is "Invalid Node Structure. The volume [name] needs to be repaired."

 

[Cave Man]

It looks like your directory is compromised. This could be a software issue (sometimes Disk Utility fails at fixing these) or a hardware issue. By chance do you have Disk Warrior? That will be your best bet of fixing it if it's a software issue.

If it's a hardware issue, your best hope will be to use Data Rescue II. But it's impossible to know how much it can recover (if any) until you try it. I had a hard drive failure several years ago and DRII was able to recover 95% of the files from the drive. Since then, I have a backup of all my files. An expensive lesson to learn.

 

[mac 2005]

It looks like your directory is compromised. This could be a software issue (sometimes Disk Utility fails at fixing these) or a hardware issue. By chance do you have Disk Warrior? That will be your best bet of fixing it if it's a software issue.

If it's a hardware issue, your best hope will be to use Data Rescue II. But it's impossible to know how much it can recover (if any) until you try it. I had a hard drive failure several years ago and DRII was able to recover 95% of the files from the drive. Since then, I have a backup of all my files. An expensive lesson to learn.

Is Data Rescue II reliable? Disk Warrior said it could fix problem, but it didn't do anything except say it couldn't do anything because of a hardware problem. The Apple Disk Utility hardware test tells a different story, so it's hard to know what's going on here.

It's tough throwing $100 down the drain for Disk Warrior; before I try Data Rescue, does anyone else endorse it?

 

[Cave Man]

Is Data Rescue II reliable?

I've only had to use it once because I learned from that (expensive) experience to have a backup drive (now using Time Machine).

Disk Warrior said it could fix problem, but it didn't do anything except say it couldn't do anything because of a hardware problem. The Apple Disk Utility hardware test tells a different story, so it's hard to know what's going on here.

Disk Utility is not the most reliable app for these things, unfortunately.

It's tough throwing $100 down the drain for Disk Warrior;

Been there, done that. It is a drag because I've only had to use Disk Warrior a couple of times and DRII once.

before I try Data Rescue, does anyone else endorse it?

I'm sure others will chime in here with good impressions of DRII, and a search of the forums will provide you with a lot of info on it. However, the problem with hardware failures is that it's completely unpredictable as to how much (if any) of the data are recoverable. You can DL DRII in trial mode and it will give you a good idea how much it can recover, but you won't be able to pull much (like 5 mb or some such) off the drive unless you buy the app.

Good luck with this. I really feel your pain.

 

[mac 2005]

Good luck with this. I really feel your pain.

Thanks! It's an expensive lesson, primarily because I didn't drop the computer, and I didn't spill anything on it. It literally presented the spinning beach ball and would not recover from a forced restart.

Given that, is it realistic to expect DR II or an outside company would have a high probability of recovering the data? At this point, I'm $350 into this process for the backup drive I should have owned, the useless Disk Warrior and the replacement drive.

I'm torn between paying $100 for software (Data Recovery II) that seems iffy based on the reviews I've seen vs. putting that $100 toward a professional recovery company.

Any thoughts?

On a marginally related point, should I upgrade to 10.5 or wait for 10.6?

 

[Cave Man]

There is a small possibility that the controller on your Mac is failing. If that's the case, you can pull the drive (takes like 5 min) and connect it to a SATA enclosure or Universal Drive Adapter if you can borrow one. You may be able to see if the drive mounts using a different controller. If it does, that would be real bad because it means your MacBook is the problem, not the drive.

At this point, I'd wait for 10.6. It's only a couple of months away (we hope).

 

[mac 2005]

There is a small possibility that the controller on your Mac is failing. If that's the case, you can pull the drive (takes like 5 min) and connect it to a SATA enclosure or Universal Drive Adapter if you can borrow one. You may be able to see if the drive mounts using a different controller. If it does, that would be real bad because it means your MacBook is the problem, not the drive.

At this point, I'd wait for 10.6. It's only a couple of months away (we hope).

Thanks for suggesting that possibility. I have an SATA enclosure at home, but I can't find my Torx screwdriver. I'm buying one this evening to see if I can recover my data that way. I'd not considered the chance that something other than the drive could be at fault.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Data Rescue 2 is the best.

If your files are there, and haven't been corrupted or overwritten, it will be able to recover them.

Professional data recovery companies cost a lot more than $100, and are best used when the drive has totally mechanically failed, and therefore can't read the data.

First, try booting from the system DVD and running disk utility. Click Macintosh HD, and select "Repair disk".

 

[mac 2005]

First, try booting from the system DVD and running disk utility. Click Macintosh HD, and select "Repair disk".

That was the first thing I tried -- and the second and third. I also ran the hardware test. Disk Utility could not fix the problem, so I tried Disk Warrior because it claimed it could.

I ran through the Disk Warrior process twice. It was not able to correct the problem -- also, it would not allow me to recover any data. In short, it did NOTHING of what it said it could.

Ergo, I'm reluctant to throw $100 at Data Rescue II -- which gets mixed reviews, at best.