External Hard Drive Trouble

[ross.32]

I have a TB external HD that had 2 partitions on it, one for my media and one for my Time Machine backup. Earlier today I took 50 GB off of the Time Machine backup so I could backup the information on my PS3 to install Linux. The backup and restore of the PS3 data went fine. When I was installing Linux, I did NOT unhook the drive from the PS3, but when the destination for the install came up, I choose the PS3 "Other OS" partition (/dev/ps3da) and I unchecked anything that had to do with the external.

When I plugged my drive back into my computer, I got an error that said "Disk Insertion: The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." I then had the choice to "Initialize, Ignore, or Eject." Initialize brings me to the Disk Utility where is shows my drive as being unformatted. Is there anything I can do to recover my partitions?

 

[BlueRevolution]

I'm afraid I don't have any wisdom to offer there. Unless somebody else has something to offer, I suggest looking into some of the data recovery applications available for Macs. The generally agreed-upon price point seems to be around $100.

 

[ross.32]

$100 seems reasonable to recover my data. Can anyone recommend any certain apps. I don't want to try to use one that is not real good and have it mess up the data.

 

[macrem]

Depending upon the amount of 'other media', another solution would be to reconstruct your external HD: run Time Machine to get a new back up (so you lose prior backups), backup the PS3 again, then copy (re-rip) 'other media' from CDs/DVDs, considering right now as the riskiest moment if you don't have a reliable backup your HD's current state.

 

[ross.32]

Depending upon the amount of 'other media', another solution would be to reconstruct your external HD: run Time Machine to get a new back up (so you lose prior backups), backup the PS3 again, then copy (re-rip) 'other media' from CDs/DVDs, considering right now as the riskiest moment if you don't have a reliable backup your HD's current state.

I don't quite understand what you are suggesting. To clarify, I do not need to do anything else with the PS3 data. I backed up the PS3 data, reformatted my PS3's HD with 2 partitions, and then restored my backup to the main PS3 partition.

I am also not too worried about my Time Machine backup. I can start Time Machine over again once I get the drive working. The only thing that I am really worried about is my main partition which has about 600 GB worth of videos.

 

[macrem]

The only thing that I am really worried about is my main partition which has about 600 GB worth of videos.

Ouch that would be a lot of ripping if you started over! I would just do something fast if you currently have no backup of your mac.

(based on your response, you understood me)

 

[ross.32]

After rereading your post, I do understand what you mean. I originally though you mean burning DVD's from my hard drive to get the data for some reason.

Tomorrow I am going to order another 1.5 TB hard drive and I will try to use that to back up my data if I can find a good piece of software. I can't do anything about getting the data off before then because I have no other place to put it until the new drive comes in.

 

[BobZune]

$100 seems reasonable to recover my data. Can anyone recommend any certain apps. I don't want to try to use one that is not real good and have it mess up the data.

Data Rescue II has a demo version that lets you "look" (but to reover, you'd have to buy it). There is also FileSalvage (v6.1.5 now) -- which appears to offer no demo mode. "Machintosh Data Recovery" is another one - do a search if you want to see more. I have no personal experience with any of them, but something that has a demo/free preview mode is worth trying out.

Don't write anything to that disk till you recover the data, of course. You may at least be able to recover the media files.

 

[ross.32]

I am having Data Recovery do a scan right now (only 9 hours remaining lol), but if it lets me view my files, I will throw down the money for it and use it for the backup once the other drive comes in. Thanks for the help everyone!