iMac not booting, HD not mounting in Target Disc Mode

[bpm30]

Hi all,

My iMac (2007 model, OSX 10.5.8) is having trouble booting. It loads the white screen with the apple logo and the loading icon underneath for a minute or so, restarts, and repeats this process over and over. Unfortunately I do not have a backup of my files.

I've spent two days trying to recover my files, including repair disc and transferring my files from my iMac over to an external HD using a firewire connected to a Macbook Pro. I can access disc utilities using the installation disc and holding 'c' on startup. However, I always get an error when I click repair disc. Using Target Disc Mode, I initially saw my iMac HD on the Macbook. I could not access the files though. When I tried to enter, a message popped up stating I did not have permission to view the HD. Now, the iMac HD won't even mount in Target Disc Mode.

Any suggestions on how to recover the data on my iMac? If I cannot find a solution by Saturday, I may just take it to the Apple store.

Thanks a lot everyone!

 

[Intell]

If it can't be mounted via Target Disc Mode anymore, it's likely dead.

 

[bpm30]

When I checked the information of the HD through disk utilities, it still showed the details though, ie. space used, space remaining, # of partitions.. does this mean anything?

 

[Intell]

It could mean that the disc may still be in working order, or close to working, but the filesystem is heavily corrupted and may be unrepairable.

 

[bpm30]

Thanks for the response.

This is the message I got when I tried to access my iMac HD through the Macbook Pro:

The folder “Macintosh HD 1” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.

 

[Intell]

Select the drive on the Macbook Pro's Desktop and press Command-I to get the drive's info. Then under the sharing and permissions listing, click the lock and enter your admin password. Click the plus and select your user account. Give yourself read permissions. This may also cause problems if you attempt to use that drive again without erasing it. But that's alright. You should be able to copy your data. When you're done, start the iMac up from the Mac OS X disc and erase the drive and reinstall Mac OS X.

 

[bpm30]

Thanks. The problem is (aside from the HD not showing up on the Macbook Pro), when I click the iMac HD, that message pops up and doesn't allow me to select it. I can get the drive's info when I go into the iMac's disc utilities using the installation disk though. Would I be able to do something similar with that?

 

[Intell]

What kind of message is preventing you from clicking once on the drive's icon on the desktop?

 

[bpm30]

When I click the HD, a window with this message comes up:

"The folder “Macintosh HD 1” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents."

When I close the message, the HD is no longer selected. I also cannot select anything else until I close the box.

 

[Intell]

Are you double clicking it as to open it?

 

[bpm30]

I'm single-clicking the iMac HD on the sidebar of the Macbook's Finder window, under 'Devices'. The message pops up and does not allow me to enter. When I click ok to the message, the iMac HD is unselected.

 

[bpm30]

I right clicked what I believe is the iMac HD, named "Macintosh HD 1", and unlocked it based on your previous instructions. There is nothing inside the folder. The '1' in "Macintosh HD 1" is now flashing. I'm pretty sure this is the iMac's HD because when I unplug the firewire, this HD disappears.

Does this mean the iMac's HD is wiped? Can the Geniuses at the Apple Store recover the data?

Thanks for all your help.