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My iMac died and I'm about the throw up. **UPDATE**
- Thread starter MVallee
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First I would try DiskWarrior. If that can't fix it, then most likely you will have to use a very expensive data recovery service like DriveSavers
Maybe, but he said it does show as "media" which suggests that it could be reformatted. I've seen this sort of behavior from drives with directory damage, though fortunately not often. This kind of damage can often be repaired with DiskWarrior.
In the beginning the OP said "After trying everything several times I once got it to show the size of the drive, but it said "unpartitioned". I have not been able to get it to show that again however." I thought Media was the optical drive.
I know. He said:
You could be right, but if I'd managed to rescue my data I'd sure try to reformat this drive. If Disk Utility simply can't find the drive then you know it's very likely a goner. If it can, it's more likely to be logical issue than a mechanical one.
I'd definitely give it a shot. Since nothing is shown, it can't hurt. Data recovery is _expensive_.
If this is a hardware error (definitely seems like it), try Data Rescue 2 on a CD to recover the data. You'll need an external hard drive to restore the files to.
I haven't read the entire thread, so my apologies if I have missed something
I haven't read the entire thread, so my apologies if I have missed something
Well i can say it has helped me a few times too. I was able to recover a entire drives worth of information. At one stage the drive when it go too hot would fail. So i had to run the hard drive in the freezer, i enclosed it with freezer bags, static bags anything to stop the moisture touching the drive.
Sorry but you have no one else to blame, this is what happens if backups aren't done
HOW TO GET YOUR PHOTOS BACK
It certainly sounds like a hard-drive failure. I'd bet 99% it is. Maybe it's not, but as you don't know either-way, you should assume and act on the worst to protect yourself. You have two choices:
1. Recover the data yourself. Highly likely you'll succeed, possibility you'll make it worse.
The issue here is that if the drive has failed, the more you use it (run 'repair' utilities on it*) the more likely you are to worsen the situation, especially if a head has struck the platter. The key point is to spin up the drive as little as possible. Therefore you want to create a byte-perfect image of the drive (errors and all). From this disk image, you can run all the disk utilities and recovery software you want without further risking the actual source of your photos (the physical drive).
2. Send it to a data recovery firm. Almost certain to succeed. Almost certain to cost you a packet.
I know the first one sounds daunting, but it's really not. Plus when it happens again or to one of your friends, you're an instant hero. Which is always good.
AppleMatt
edit: Hate to say it because the issue is buried, but the torrent posts reminded me of this: http://xkcd.com/552/
It certainly sounds like a hard-drive failure. I'd bet 99% it is. Maybe it's not, but as you don't know either-way, you should assume and act on the worst to protect yourself. You have two choices:
1. Recover the data yourself. Highly likely you'll succeed, possibility you'll make it worse.
The issue here is that if the drive has failed, the more you use it (run 'repair' utilities on it*) the more likely you are to worsen the situation, especially if a head has struck the platter. The key point is to spin up the drive as little as possible. Therefore you want to create a byte-perfect image of the drive (errors and all). From this disk image, you can run all the disk utilities and recovery software you want without further risking the actual source of your photos (the physical drive).
- Get the drive back from the technician.
- Stick it in an external drive enclosure (eBay) and connect it to a good Mac.
- You'll need to use 'dd' with the 'noerror' switch in Terminal. Sounds complex but don't worry, it's really really easy. Look here: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050302225659382
- You'll likely be able to simply mount the image in Finder and copy your files across without bothering with disk utilities.
- You'd be prudent to backup the disk image you make using dd before playing around with it, as opposed to spinning up the drive again to make another one, and another one...
2. Send it to a data recovery firm. Almost certain to succeed. Almost certain to cost you a packet.
- This is a good reason why you should work only on an image of the drive. If it's a hardware failure playing around accessing files and running utilities on it run a good chance of making it worse. This pushes the cost of recovery up and the chance of success down.
- They charge a lot even to simply perform the above, but if that doesn't work they can scale it right up-to sourcing an identical drive and using the parts to re-build yours it in a clean room. Make sure you instruct them to get authorisation from you for every, e.g., £100 of work done or you could be in for a hefty bill.
- I've only had to do this once after I dropped a laptop onto a tiled floor. It cost me £360 in 2004, they recovered almost everything.
I know the first one sounds daunting, but it's really not. Plus when it happens again or to one of your friends, you're an instant hero. Which is always good.
AppleMatt
edit: Hate to say it because the issue is buried, but the torrent posts reminded me of this: http://xkcd.com/552/
Most data recovery people will make you pay a up front fee and still charge you if they don't recover anything.
I had Drive Savers replace a corporate drive with proprietary data a few years ago, it was roughly $1,000.
Is the hard drive clicking or making noises? If so, don't freeze it or try to recover data from it. You could very well make it worse, as it's likely that the head has crashed.
Drive Savers have some diagnostic sounds to listen to on their Web site.
http://www.drivesavers.com/company-info/recovery-tips/
Is the hard drive clicking or making noises? If so, don't freeze it or try to recover data from it. You could very well make it worse, as it's likely that the head has crashed.
Drive Savers have some diagnostic sounds to listen to on their Web site.
http://www.drivesavers.com/company-info/recovery-tips/
I have used Gillware.com before and they are pretty good. Low priced, yet quality work. They will look at the drive and give you a listing of what they can recover. If you want them to recover it, then you pay.
A couple recommendations, 1. make sure the Apple tech knows you want your old drive back. 2. do not spin the drive any more than absolutely necessary. If the drive is damaged, further attempts to get it to work can and does do further damage.
A couple recommendations, 1. make sure the Apple tech knows you want your old drive back. 2. do not spin the drive any more than absolutely necessary. If the drive is damaged, further attempts to get it to work can and does do further damage.
If you don't want to/can't afford to send it to a professional, and it is a hardware failure (which I'm sure it is), you could try recovering it yourself. Data Rescue 2 is good, use to "Clone" function, then the "Thorough Scan."
If you don't want to pay for it and know how to use the command line, there's an alternative. You can use the "dd" command (there's a link to a macosxhints.com article about it above) to clone the drive, and then use testdisk or photorec to recover files from the clone.
testdisk lets you browse a drive and view existing and deleted files (and restore them.)
photorec will find all the files on a drive and will restore them.
Remember, using any of these tools on your drive will probably damage it further if you have hardware damage.
Data Rescue's clone function, and the dd command both pass through the disk once copying all the data from the drive, bit by bit, so they are the best options for recovering the most data before the drive finally fails.
If you don't want to pay for it and know how to use the command line, there's an alternative. You can use the "dd" command (there's a link to a macosxhints.com article about it above) to clone the drive, and then use testdisk or photorec to recover files from the clone.
testdisk lets you browse a drive and view existing and deleted files (and restore them.)
photorec will find all the files on a drive and will restore them.
Remember, using any of these tools on your drive will probably damage it further if you have hardware damage.
Data Rescue's clone function, and the dd command both pass through the disk once copying all the data from the drive, bit by bit, so they are the best options for recovering the most data before the drive finally fails.
Of course it's a "hard drive failure," but what kind? A substantial majority of "hard drive failures" are logical, not mechanical in nature. So I simply cannot agree that running a drive recovery application on them is at all likely to make the problem worse. I have personally recovered drives that would not mount and could not be found by Disk Utility using DiskWarrior. A few hours later I was up and running again, and was able to use that drive for years thereafter without further incident.
If it is a mechanical failure, running anything on it has a good chance of making it worse.
Running that Apple Hardware Test might help determine what kind of problem it is, but I'm not sure if it tests the hard disk. If it does, and the damage is mechanical, it might make it worse. If it isn't mechanical, it won't do any harm. Disk Warrior is good at repairing corrupted file directories and other non-hardware errors.
OP: Did you hear any strange sounds coming from the drive? What happened in single user mode when you ran fsck?
I repair PC's for a living and see alot of machines come in to my office with clicking problem. I am not saying you should follow my directions but this has worked for me!
First thing, i fire it up. If it hear the clicks i take the drive out. Put it on the bench and plug it in and slightly tap the side of the drive to see if i can know the read / write heads into place.
if that fails, it gets put in the freezer. Now 90 percent of the time with the freezer treatment you will get a good result, others the data has gone.
Now if it is a electrical problem with the drive, you can remove the electrical board of the drive provided you have the same model, same firmware version. I have used this method and once again recovered data. But you have to ask your self, can i get another drive with the same firmware / model?
But i strongly agree with the other members, turning the computer on will potentially damage the drive.
First thing, i fire it up. If it hear the clicks i take the drive out. Put it on the bench and plug it in and slightly tap the side of the drive to see if i can know the read / write heads into place.
if that fails, it gets put in the freezer. Now 90 percent of the time with the freezer treatment you will get a good result, others the data has gone.
Now if it is a electrical problem with the drive, you can remove the electrical board of the drive provided you have the same model, same firmware version. I have used this method and once again recovered data. But you have to ask your self, can i get another drive with the same firmware / model?
But i strongly agree with the other members, turning the computer on will potentially damage the drive.
Yes, but this is a relatively rare cause in my experience. I have seen many logical errors in drives over the years, but few actual mechanical failures.
Could be the controller card, Fry's sells an adapter with IDE/SATA interface on one end & usb plug on the other, also has a power supply.
Freeze the drive & plug it in.
I have had good success with this .
It costs about 20.00.
Freeze the drive & plug it in.
I have had good success with this .
It costs about 20.00.
Why would you get the extended Apple Care for.. like.. $150? I know it's way cheaper than Apple Care for macbook pros. And then you don't back up with time machine. HDDs are crazy cheap nowadays. I was browsing and I saw 1TB drives for like $100.
But hopefully you learned your lesson. There's a good chance you can get your photos back, I think. Even if you just rip out the old hdd (assuming that wasn't the problem) then I'm sure it's as easy as extracting the data from there (Using an external hdd or something)
But hopefully you learned your lesson. There's a good chance you can get your photos back, I think. Even if you just rip out the old hdd (assuming that wasn't the problem) then I'm sure it's as easy as extracting the data from there (Using an external hdd or something)