Old Story...but new to me. Failed hard drive in target disk mode not recognized.

[LizardLizard]

Hello,

I would appreciate any advice or hopeful comments as I am trying to retrieve non-backedup material from my Mac Book Pro. Although the failing hard drive has successfully entered Target Disk Mode (i.e. the symbol is present on the screen), it is not appearing as an external hard drive on the second Mac Book Pro I have connected it to.

Is all hope lost?

Thanks,
Liz

 

[Intell]

If it isn't showing up in Target Disk Mode, it's very likely completely dead.

 

[Thraun]

Does it show up in disk utility? It's possible the disk is recognized, but just can't be mounted.

 

[Knoodles]

Make sure to boot the problem Mac into TDM before connecting to the second MBP. Reboot both and try again.

 

[LizardLizard]

Thank you for your responses.

It is not showing up in Disk Utility.

Does this mean that the data and documents will not be retrievable? I've heard Data Rescue 3 is good but is a software solution even a viable option? Or might I have better luck taking the hard drive out and putting it into an external drive enclosure ?
Thanks again.

 

[Fishrrman]

My advice would be to take the problem drive OUT of the MacBook, and try a USB/SATA "docking station" instead.

These are cheap, but VERY useful devices to have around for working with drives.

If you don't know what they are, take a moment, go to amazon.com, and in the search box, enter "USB3 SATA dock". You will see many items.

In the docking station, a "bare" drive should behave as if it were in an external case. No promises, but by "bypassing" target disk mode, you may just be able to get at the drive...

It's worth a try, if there's data on the drive that's important.

If the drive won't mount, or won't even show up in Disk Utility after trying it in a dock, it would suggest that there's a "hardware problem" with the drive itself.

 

[LizardLizard]

Thanks!

Hi Fishrrman,

Thank you very much for your help. I've used a docking station before, but was hesitant to take the step. If it is a hardware issue, do you know if data recovery companies are able to recover files despite the damage?

Thank you again! Much appreciated!

Liz