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OS X Mavericks Ate My Computer

S

Sal Collaziano

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I had a 2010 MacBook Pro with the latest version of OS X working perfectly fine this morning. I attempted to install the Mavericks update and it didn't work out. Now my drive apparently has some type of damage and I really can't do anything with it. I can't reinstall OS X from a CD, from the restore partition, from the net or anything. The drive is gone. I can't format it. I can't unmount it.... It's a good thing this was my "other" MBP. I'll be installing a new drive...
 
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If you can download the Lion/ML/Mavericks installer you can make a boot drive with a USB stick, and run Disk Utility from there to see if you can possibly repair any corruption that may have occurred to your drive.

Edit: does the drive show up at all? Are you getting flashing folders or hanging at the apple logo or what?
 
Astroboy907 said:
If you can download the Lion/ML/Mavericks installer you can make a boot drive with a USB stick, and run Disk Utility from there to see if you can possibly repair any corruption that may have occurred to your drive.

Edit: does the drive show up at all? Are you getting flashing folders or hanging at the apple logo or what?
Click to expand...

I'm actually ABLE to repair the drive but the repair fails and basically says to backup whatever I can and get a new drive...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I'm actually ABLE to repair the drive but the repair fails and basically says to backup whatever I can and get a new drive...
Click to expand...

Hmm. I've had the same problem, just once, a long time ago. But the way it's sounding your drive is corrupted and you are going to have to replace 🙁 Are you still covered by applecare? I'm assuming from your calm posts you have a backup of the drive too...
 
Astroboy907 said:
Hmm. I've had the same problem, just once, a long time ago. But the way it's sounding your drive is corrupted and you are going to have to replace 🙁 Are you still covered by applecare? I'm assuming from your calm posts you have a backup of the drive too...
Click to expand...

I think its just unimportant data from it being his "other" laptop
 
My main workhorse 17"MBP late 2011, she is still running Lion and not a single problem here so not a single interest in upgrading to a free OS no less. I don't wanna become no guinea pig, no no no.
 
I have a backup of my new MBP on Time Machine so I should be able to copy everything over to the new drive/old computer when I get it situated. I need two MBPs because if there's ever an issue where I need to leave my computer at the Apple Store for a week, I'd be SOL without a computer.
 
vpro said:
My main workhorse 17"MBP late 2011, she is still running Lion and not a single problem here so not a single interest in upgrading to a free OS no less. I don't wanna become no guinea pig, no no no.
Click to expand...

Isn't that the point of beta testing? 😉 I just upgraded from Lion and I haven't noticed much difference at all actually, the only thing I noticed is the mail popup. Installation went great and I have a Lion USB key if I need to downgrade. Each to his/her own though, I know where you are coming from 🙂, thats why I never upgraded to mountain lion.
 
Astroboy907 said:
Isn't that the point of beta testing? 😉 I just upgraded from Lion and I haven't noticed much difference at all actually, the only thing I noticed is the mail popup. Installation went great and I have a Lion USB key if I need to downgrade. Each to his/her own though, I know where you are coming from 🙂, thats why I never upgraded to mountain lion.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this computer was the beta test. I figured I'd try it out on my old computer before I upgraded my new one. Needless to say, I'm not going to upgrade right this moment. 😛

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P.S. I edited my first post. I realized it was a 2010 17" MBP I was talking about... So which hard drive should I buy to replace it? Any advice out there?
 
Sal Collaziano said:
P.S. I edited my first post. I realized it was a 2010 17" MBP I was talking about... So which hard drive should I buy to replace it? Any advice out there?
Click to expand...

Depends. An SSD would be the fastest, and likely most expensive depending on how much space you need (256gb is reasonable). I've had good luck with a 1TB WD scorpio blue, about $70, as well as a 500gb of the same model. I've heard good things about the Seagate Momentus XT SSHD hybrid drive as well, but have never used one.
Are you more concerned with speed or cost of the drive?

Nearly any 2.5" hard drive will do though, as long as it is under 12.5 or so mm high I think.
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I'm actually ABLE to repair the drive but the repair fails and basically says to backup whatever I can and get a new drive...
Click to expand...

I had the same issue last year, also random beach balls started getting more frequent. Can you access the Console Log? Are there are any errors around disk i/o? I had a few errors like these. What is the SMART status of your hard disk? (I had used the smart-utility to check this).

I ended up re-installing everything, but the issues came back. I run some disk diagnostics tools, which marked a few blocks as bad, but every time I was running these tools, they kept marking more and more bad blocks. The SMART status was also failing.

In my case, it was a clear and simple failure of the hard disk. I asked :apple: how much it would cost to get it replaced, they quoted me a stupid price, then I went out and ordered a Seagate 750 hybrid, for much less money, put it in, installed OS, happy days...

I hope it's just the software, but it does not seem so... If the reinstall fixes your problems, then fine, but if they keep coming back, this is almost sure HD failure, it happens...😱
 
Same here

Said it could not repair hard drive - AND I WAS HAVING no problems prior to the install.

I did everything as it was stuck on a install software loop. I had to format and reinstall everything.

SUX big time
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I need a friggin' Torx T6 before I can install it. 😱
Click to expand...

Ouch. I know the feeling 🙂 my hardware store had a decent multi-tip set for $5. Sucked to have to take the time and get it though. I think once I got by on a small flathead, but you risk ruining stuff that way...
 
I installed Mavericks last friday... then my Macbook Pro started crashing. About 5 Kernel Panic crashes over the weekend, another 5 on monday (at work) another three on tuesday so I brought it into the local Mac store. They kept it overnight for diagnostic tests. After about 24 hrs of tests, they concluded that there was a "low level error" but said they could not be more specific than that. In my opinion, Mavericks was the culprit. It is a total crap release. I had them wipe the system and I lost all my apps and some files... mostly music... (I backed up the important stuff, like my work files). I am now back on 10.8. I don't plan on upgrading to Mavericks anytime soon.

...also noticed that coverflow didn't work in 10.9. Pretty incompetent work by Apple, in my opinion. And I am telling all my friends not to upgrade to Mavericks.
 
I'll hold off on upgrading to Mavericks on my main computer until another version or two is released. It's the first "free" Mac OS, right? When I get my new drive setup, I'll load Mavericks on there to see how it works. It's good to have a backup computer...
 
Is there some kind of trick to getting the computer to see the new hard drive? I get a folder with a question mark instead of the apple symbol when booting. When the CD Rom kicks in, everything seems okay until I need to pick a hard drive to install OS X on...
 
Sal Collaziano said:
I guess it could have but everything was working very nicely - and probably still would be had I avoided the upgrade...
Click to expand...

I know this "feels" like the right answer, but it really isn't. Keep in mind that the magnitude of an OS upgrade means that a lot of your drive is getting hit, and it exposes problems that have been lurking. It sounds like your drive was in the process of dying, and that the OS upgrade merely accelerated recognition of that fact.

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Sal Collaziano said:
Is there some kind of trick to getting the computer to see the new hard drive? I get a folder with a question mark instead of the apple symbol when booting. When the CD Rom kicks in, everything seems okay until I need to pick a hard drive to install OS X on...
Click to expand...

Try starting up while holding down the option key. If that doesn't give you any sort of web installer, then you will probably need to install from your original installation DVD first, while holding down the "C" key during boot up.

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robhouse said:
After about 24 hrs of tests, they concluded that there was a "low level error" but said they could not be more specific than that. In my opinion, Mavericks was the culprit. It is a total crap release. I had them wipe the system and I lost all my apps and some files... mostly music... (I backed up the important stuff, like my work files). I am now back on 10.8. I don't plan on upgrading to Mavericks anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Without knowing exactly what you were told, I will say that people sometimes use the term "low level errors" to refer to bad sectors on your hard disk. Sectors fail, and hard disks are designed to deal with this in limited doses. That said, if your problem is widespread, well, what the future holds is obvious. If you aren't upgrading your drive immediately, then I'd certainly be fastidious about your backups going forward.

Mavericks isn't the culprit. It isn't a crap release. If you really do have serious hard drive problems, sticking with 10.8 isn't going to fix anything.
 
Sal Collaziano said:
Is there some kind of trick to getting the computer to see the new hard drive? I get a folder with a question mark instead of the apple symbol when booting. When the CD Rom kicks in, everything seems okay until I need to pick a hard drive to install OS X on...
Click to expand...

I forgot to format the drive. I'll try upgrading to OS X Mavericks next...
 
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