Today I went to perform my weekly maintenance on my imac and I noticed it said that my internal HD was failing SMART. I looked up what this meant and came to the conclusion I needed to backup my hd and restore it, but everytime I try to back it up I get an error that says "Unable to create "Macintosh HD.dmg" (Input/Output Error)". Any advice?
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HD failing SMART
- Thread starter IronicTrout
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Yup the previous poster was correct, time to replace the HD that's in there. Have you been backing up?
CarbonCopyCloner is the best thing ever thank you so much. How much is the repair? Do you know off the top of your head?
What do you mean labor? Replacing a hard drive is about the simplest thing on the planet. Some light reading on www.ifixit.com should yield good results.
Search for a good deal online and do the "repair" yourself.
Does anyone know a good replacement 1TB internal hard drive I was trying to find them through google and OWC, but I can't find anything that looks likes it would be compatible.
So something like this would work? http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
Sorry I'm asking so many questions I just don't wanna screw it up.
Sorry I'm asking so many questions I just don't wanna screw it up.
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Look up your model and instructions on iFixit.com first.
Except for very recent imac (probably under warranty) that might require temperature sensor or different connector.
Except for very recent imac (probably under warranty) that might require temperature sensor or different connector.
I sometimes miss the section title in Tapatalk. Drive replacement in an iMac is definitely a pain in the arse.
OK, you're hard drive looks to be failing, but still working for the moment, and you have NO BACKUP.
Obviously, the hard drive is going to need to be replaced, soon, but not yet.
What you really need RIGHT NOW is a second, backup drive.
Here's what to do to create a fully-bootable copy of your internal drive:
1. Get one of these gadgets:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one that's cheap, if you can afford it I suggest you get one with USB3 capability)
2. Get a "bare SATA hard drive" (either 3.5" or 2.5") from the vendor of your choice. It should be at least as large as your internal drive. Larger is better.
3. Download the FREE CarbonCopyCloner app from:
http://www.bombich.com
4. Once you have all this stuff, connect the USB/SATA dock to the Mac and put the bare drive into it.
5. Turn on the dock. You will need to initialize the drive using Disk Utility. Give it a useful name. When initialization is done, it should "mount" on the desktop.
6. Launch CarbonCopyCloner. There are two main "windows". On the left you select your "source drive" from the popup menu. On the right you select your "target" (backup) drive.
7. You want to backup everything -- do a complete "clone".
8. When CCC is done, the external drive will now be an exact copy of your internal drive.
(IMPORTANT: CCC does NOT normally "clone" the recovery partition that's on the internal drive [if you're using Lion]. It DOES have an option to do this, however, I've never tried that myself. It's not really necessary, as the entire cloned drive will now function as your "recovery" volume in the event of a disaster).
Only one more thing to do, and its very important:
Do a "test boot".
- Restart
- As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the "option" key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
- In a few moments, the startup manager will appear.
- Use the mouse pointer or tab keys or arrow keys to select the backup drive, then hit the enter key
- The Mac should now boot from the external docked drive. IMPORTANT: it will look EXACTLY like your internal, so be careful to distinguish which is which. I suggest you give the external drive a different desktop picture for easy identification.
This all sounds like a lot, but it's very easy to do. Once you do this, you will be "backed up" (certainly moreso than you are right now), and in a much better position to deal with the failing drive when it goes.
CCC can also do "incremental backups" that will go much faster than the original, because only the changes get copied. Because your internal drive is "weakening", you should backup daily.
When the internal finally DOES fail, you can still use the Mac by booting from the external, until you get the internal drive changed out.
Obviously, the hard drive is going to need to be replaced, soon, but not yet.
What you really need RIGHT NOW is a second, backup drive.
Here's what to do to create a fully-bootable copy of your internal drive:
1. Get one of these gadgets:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
(many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one that's cheap, if you can afford it I suggest you get one with USB3 capability)
2. Get a "bare SATA hard drive" (either 3.5" or 2.5") from the vendor of your choice. It should be at least as large as your internal drive. Larger is better.
3. Download the FREE CarbonCopyCloner app from:
http://www.bombich.com
4. Once you have all this stuff, connect the USB/SATA dock to the Mac and put the bare drive into it.
5. Turn on the dock. You will need to initialize the drive using Disk Utility. Give it a useful name. When initialization is done, it should "mount" on the desktop.
6. Launch CarbonCopyCloner. There are two main "windows". On the left you select your "source drive" from the popup menu. On the right you select your "target" (backup) drive.
7. You want to backup everything -- do a complete "clone".
8. When CCC is done, the external drive will now be an exact copy of your internal drive.
(IMPORTANT: CCC does NOT normally "clone" the recovery partition that's on the internal drive [if you're using Lion]. It DOES have an option to do this, however, I've never tried that myself. It's not really necessary, as the entire cloned drive will now function as your "recovery" volume in the event of a disaster).
Only one more thing to do, and its very important:
Do a "test boot".
- Restart
- As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the "option" key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
- In a few moments, the startup manager will appear.
- Use the mouse pointer or tab keys or arrow keys to select the backup drive, then hit the enter key
- The Mac should now boot from the external docked drive. IMPORTANT: it will look EXACTLY like your internal, so be careful to distinguish which is which. I suggest you give the external drive a different desktop picture for easy identification.
This all sounds like a lot, but it's very easy to do. Once you do this, you will be "backed up" (certainly moreso than you are right now), and in a much better position to deal with the failing drive when it goes.
CCC can also do "incremental backups" that will go much faster than the original, because only the changes get copied. Because your internal drive is "weakening", you should backup daily.
When the internal finally DOES fail, you can still use the Mac by booting from the external, until you get the internal drive changed out.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I have the late 2009 iMac I believe. The identifier is iMac10,1.
At the moment I have CCC'ed to an external 1TB drive. I haven't booted from it yet though. That is a really good idea.
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warren111warren
Hi guys, i'm new to this forum, & a bit of a mug with computers. I've jumped in her as i found my answers on a similar forum, I have just updated my 2008 8,1 imac 24inch from a broken down 320gb to a 2tb.It's now a godzilla computer. Took a while, but basically you can go to u tube to see lots of links showing how to strip down your machine, replace drive & put back together again. What u tube can't tell you is how to format your new drive with your machine. The new hard drive you are putting in needs to be the same brand name as the 1 your replacing. Mine was a WD so i replaced with a WD. Reason is the temperature gauge, & other things have been formatted for that brand. After watching the u tube strip down etc, & get everything ready to go, if you try to kick start imac with the discs the came with the machine, it won;t work. you will switch on the imac, & you'll probably get a flashing question mark, or a circle with a line thru it. When that happens insert disc 1 that came with mac. The white screen will then feature apple logo, & then go to initial set up. If you continue, you will get to a stage where it wants you to tell mac where you want info stored, but, it doesnt give you any drive options, bar your time machine if it's plugged in. You need to backtrack to the original disc 1 info where it asked for language use. At top left a menu will have appeared. You go to options & you will find your new drive is not recognized by imac.On same option bar open up disc utility, you will see your new disc recognized. If you dont, it will mean the new connections to drive, as per u tube, are not as sure as they should be, so when changing drive, do it slowly, making sure all connectors are solid.When your drive is recognized on disc utility, it needs to be formatted to your mac, by partitioning the new drive, many as you want.When you settle on all that, press done. Then back to installing disc 1, when it comes to where you want to install disc1, it will show you all the partitioning disc options you have just created. Choose 1,& continue on with instalation, & it will be a mega machine.Best of luck, mate.
Hi guys, i'm new to this forum, & a bit of a mug with computers. I've jumped in her as i found my answers on a similar forum, I have just updated my 2008 8,1 imac 24inch from a broken down 320gb to a 2tb.It's now a godzilla computer. Took a while, but basically you can go to u tube to see lots of links showing how to strip down your machine, replace drive & put back together again. What u tube can't tell you is how to format your new drive with your machine. The new hard drive you are putting in needs to be the same brand name as the 1 your replacing. Mine was a WD so i replaced with a WD. Reason is the temperature gauge, & other things have been formatted for that brand. After watching the u tube strip down etc, & get everything ready to go, if you try to kick start imac with the discs the came with the machine, it won;t work. you will switch on the imac, & you'll probably get a flashing question mark, or a circle with a line thru it. When that happens insert disc 1 that came with mac. The white screen will then feature apple logo, & then go to initial set up. If you continue, you will get to a stage where it wants you to tell mac where you want info stored, but, it doesnt give you any drive options, bar your time machine if it's plugged in. You need to backtrack to the original disc 1 info where it asked for language use. At top left a menu will have appeared. You go to options & you will find your new drive is not recognized by imac.On same option bar open up disc utility, you will see your new disc recognized. If you dont, it will mean the new connections to drive, as per u tube, are not as sure as they should be, so when changing drive, do it slowly, making sure all connectors are solid.When your drive is recognized on disc utility, it needs to be formatted to your mac, by partitioning the new drive, many as you want.When you settle on all that, press done. Then back to installing disc 1, when it comes to where you want to install disc1, it will show you all the partitioning disc options you have just created. Choose 1,& continue on with instalation, & it will be a mega machine.Best of luck, mate.