Macbook Data retrieval after crash.

[Crivim]

Ok guys! I'm new here and am an amateur at best so please bear with me.

I am a PC guy. I've tinkered with Mac and usually have headaches afterward do to my lack of knowledge and the large differences between the operating systems. Having said that...

A friend of mine has a Macbook Pro. It recently took a dump and I was asked to sort it out. When the computer first boots up it goes straight to Mac Recovery HD. She wants me to do my best to save the files however the kicker of course is that she never used Time Machine and didn't even know about it. Blah.

After looking for different ways to access the info I found this little helpful fella:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTdiPSf2E0

Followed the instructions, everything went great right up until it was time to copy "le data" over to an external HD. No tengo permissions. Meh!

I create a user, make it an admin, add it to the group, "root", and do all the other crap that various forums told me to do and none of it works.

Suddenly I stumble upon this:
"File system is read-only"
Aha! So all I need to do is change the file system to rw and I'm sorted....

This is where I am at. Everywhere I look the suggestion is to enter this in terminal:

'mount -o remount,rw'

Now what they don't tell you is that you need to know the "type" sooo I look that up and find that it is a "hfsplus" So I type this into terminal,



'mount -o remount,rw -t hfsplus /media/macintosh hd/'

Macintosh HD being the drive that I want to change the file system on, Media being the folder it is located in, (duh?)

THIS code produces the same result. It gives me a list of the "usage" of "mount."

My question is,

"Is the information salvageable?"

and

"If so, How do I make this drive's file system rw so I can remove the data?"

 

[Mal]

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say you're probably trying to copy to a drive you already had, and you didn't reformat it for the Mac?

Assuming that's correct, the file system that is read-only is almost certainly the external drive, not the computer's hard drive. After all, a read-only drive can be copied from without issue.

What you would need to do is reformat the drive as a Macintosh Extended (Journaled) file system, which you can do with Disk Utility from that Recovery Partition (which incidentally, you could also use to try and repair the internal drive). Remember that doing so will erase it, so if you already have data on there you need, you'd need to copy it off elsewhere or get another drive for this purpose.

jW

 

[Crivim]

Ah, First off I'd like to say I love your work and was distraught upon the cancellation of Fire Fly.

1. I did try repairing MacHD (the crashed hard drive) and got a nice long list of "missing threads" and ultimately an error messaging saying the drive is unable to be repaired.

2. Perhaps there is something dreadfully wrong with MacHD. The external drive I am currently trying to use is a USB memory stick. I was going to format a much larger external drive once I could confirm that I would be able to remove information. Interesting note I took and I'm puzzled.

When I look at the properties of "Macintosh HD" in the permissions page it doesn't show that it's readable or writable. It only shows,

"--- ---"

When I try to switch it as administrator it says, "You do not have permission to change.." blah blah blah.

Corrupt beyond repair?

Thanks to all who respond.

 

[Crivim]

OK here's the dealio.

If I try to copy anything from Macintosh HD anywhere on the desktop or where ever I am told,

"Error while copying. The folder cannot be handled because you do not have permissions to read it."

So I try to "mount -o remount,rw /dev/sda2" which is where the HD is to make it's file system "rw"


When I input this in Terminal I receive this response:

"/media/Macintosh HD not mounted or bad option."

If I unmount MacHD and enter the same code I get the response:

"mount: can't find /dev/sda2 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab"

So obviously it is mounted in the first instance so what does it mean that it is a bad option and can this be remedied? or am I fraked?

Thanks to all who respond.

 

[Mal]

I don't think you're going to achieve what you want with a Terminal command. I'd suggest grabbing a copy of the very useful DiskWarrior or Data Rescue 3, and unleashing them on the problem drive. Either will give you the chance to copy the files off. I'd recommend Data Rescue for this, although DiskWarrior is more likely to be useful again in the future.

jW

 

[Crivim]

I'll give Data Rescue a try. Thanks for your patience and help.

 

[Crivim]

No good. It would appear that the hard drive itself may be damaged physically. We are currently in the mountains and it's winter here so I am thinking she left her computer in an room lacking in heaters and it just got too cold. Thanks for your time.

 

[shelob8888]

first things first...

so, is the computer still under apple care? Did she purchase the extended version, or just the standard one that comes with every apple computer? I am assuming she does not and/or the one year has passed, but it is always my first question to ask because it is easily forgotten

if she has it, it is no problem to get it fixed (since you are in the mountains, I would suggest a mail-in repair through apple) and a data recovery would most likely be possible at the same time.

good luck

 

[Crivim]

Yeah it's been over a year...And I'm pretty sure it isn't covered. Plus when I say mountains I mean the mountains of Southern Africa. Not too many Mac stores 'round here. And I don't think the ones in SA would recognize a warranty from the states anyway. Thanks guys.

 

[shelob8888]

OH WOW!!! COOL!!!!! actually, all apple stores recognize any apple care no matter where you are (depending on what that store offers)!!!!

"The AppleCare Protection Plans for Mac and iPod provide global repair coverage. If you take your Apple hardware with you when you travel and happen to need repair service, you can either go to an Apple Retail Store or contact Apple for information on how to obtain service. Service will be limited to the options available in the country where service is requested. Service options, parts availability, and response time vary according to country..."

http://www.apple.com/support/products/faqs.html

too bad it might not be covered though...