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Powerbook Hard Drive Recovery using Data Rescue II

P

Paperstreet

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 21, 2003
87
0
Detroit, MI (Or close enough to it.)
Hey everyone.

My powerbook 15" 1.5ghz (80gb 7200rpm HD) is not working.

I had been having a lot of freeze ups, etc... the last few weeks. Ran MacJanitor, deleted cache files, ran disc repair (said no problems), repaired permissions. Worked for a while.

Then I was on business in California and the thing died. WOn't load- only goes to a screen with a folder and a question mark. Ok, so booted from Tiger CD. Ran Disc Repair a few times- same thing: Can't fix. Error on exit or something. HFS1 errors, common error messages based on others messages.

Anyhow, I know I have limited options. Well, I have Disc Warrior and I have a bootable Data Rescue II CD. I don't want to use Disc Warrior as it seems it could mess things up. My PRIMARY concern is getting my data. I am an IDIOT for not backing things up. (NO reason to berate me for it, I know I screwed up- lets move on to trying to recover Data.)

So I have a Powerbook with its dead HD. I have an external 80gb 9600rpm Maxtor Firewire drive. Just some random files on it, no OS or anything.

So how do I go about doing this? Do I hook the hard drive up to my powerbook? THen put the Data Rescue II CD in and boot from the CD? BEcause it's hooked up to powerbook, will it see the firewire drive as a safe drive to move recovered data to?

I'm using my friends PC laptop to communicate with you guys while I try to recover my data.

ANY and ALL tips are greatly appreciated. I mean GREATLY. We're talking wedding, honeymoon pictures. I just got married 6 months ago. And then theres important documents, - you know all the stuff I SHOULD have backed up.

So where do I go from here?

THANK YOU!!!

And if I can recover my data to my firewire drive, can I just replace my hard drive on the powerbook? (through an authorized tech center) Thereby not making me buy a new damn computer. ANd yes, I will make sure to back up all important data in the future. (Especially since I HAVE the harddrive to do it on.)
 
I don't know about rescuing data. I do know that you can get any notebook sized hard drive and pop it in. There are some guides on the internet on how to open up your computer and put it in.
 
Okay, well first of all, congratulations on your wedding. :D

Now, I think the easiest and best way to get your data back would be to use Target Disk Mode with another Mac. If at all possible, I think this will be the best solution.

Otherwise, I guess you could plug your external drive in, start up from the OSX disks and install the OS on the external (remembering that you'll lose data on the external). Then, you could start from the external drive and back everything up from there if it recognises your internal drive.

As for replacing your hard drive, there's a guide here you may be interested in if you want to save a little bit of money. :cool:
 
Paperstreet said:
Bump AGAIN.
Click to expand...
Nag posts are very annoying.


1) Follow the directions that came with Data Rescue II.
(If you don't have a legit copy, spand the $80 and get one 'coz it's worth it.)

The general plan of yours with the Firewire drive is OK.

2) If you go to an Apple service centre, they are going to want to sell you an Apple service part drive with 90 days warranty for $300-$400.

Instead, buy an third-party IDE (UltraATA/100) 2.5" hard drive. I like the Seagate Momentus series with a 5 year warranty. Do not buy a SATA notebook drive. Take your brand new drive to the repair centre to have it installed and just pay for the labour - about 1/2 hour.


I'm guessing but I don't thing Target Disk Mode is going to do it for you, if the logical structure is too badly damaged, your other machine won't be able to work with the drive. I havel always found the disk repair/recovery tools to work better when booted from their specific CD.

madjew's idea of making the external Firewire bootable with an OS is a good one. You should always have a secondary way to boot a machine. Installing an OS on the FW drive, as long as it is Mac HFS+ formatted already and has 3+ Gb of free space, doesn't have to lose any data.
 
Good point about not losing data on the external. No idea why, but I'd assumed it was FAT32. :confused:

However, I find that Target Disk Mode is a more robust way of getting to a failing drive than booting from an external, but that might just be me.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

Since I used a windows computer to download the .dmg boot file for Data Rescue II (and was going to buy a serial number to make it fully functional)- I can't get it burned on a disc that'll work with booting the mac. I tried everything to convert the .dmg to .iso, all sorts of programs, etc...Not working.

So I do have the full copy being sent to me and will receive it tomorrow.

The problem with installing the OS on my firewire drive is all I have are my Tiger Upgrade discs. So no luck there.

So I guess my plan is this: If I can find my original isntall discs, I'll install an OS on the firewire drive. Then I'll boot my laptop up with Data Rescue II and use the firewire drive to save my data to. Then it looks as if I'll buy a new hard drive for my laptop.

Once thats done, do you think the main problem was the hard drive? Should the computer work fine with a new drive?

I have Disk Warrior too, so i'll install that on the new drive so it can warn me if anything unstable might be coming up on the new drive.

Sounds like fun.

(Oh- and I promise no more nag posts.)
 
Paperstreet said:
Once thats done, do you think the main problem was the hard drive? Should the computer work fine with a new drive?
Click to expand...

Without seeing your computer, it is hard to say. If I had to bet, I'd bet it is the hard drive. A new hard drive should make everything shipshape.
 
I hope so. I mean, sure I'd LOVE a new Powerbook or Intel Powerbook (refusing to use the name MacBook Pro)- but I think the cost would kill me. :)

So lets hope I can get my data, and get up and running with a new HD.

Maybe playing World of Warcraft on it for up to 18 hours at a time proved to be TOO much for the old HD to handle. Hehe.
 
Data Rescue II saved me a while back......

I have a desktop, not a laptop when my main drive decided to take a dump on me....

What I did was bought an external firewire case and an internal HD and created an external firewire drive... I booted from the Panther install disks and created a boot firewire drive, installed DR2 and rebooted with it.. I did the "thorough scan" and was able to recover EVERYTHING... Sure, it took about 2-3 hrs, but hey, the wait was worth it....

I then re-formatted the same drive and re-installed everything again... I haven't had a problem with it since...

Maybe your powerbook's HD isn't screwed up... maybe it's just the catalog b-tree or something that got scrambled or whatever... Try re-formatting it once you get everything backed up and use it for a while...

Good Luck!
 
Funny you mention the B-tree, as thats where the problem lies when running Disk Repair on it.

It would certainly be nice to find that was the case.

I'll definitely be keeping constant backups on my firewire drive from now on.

I hit a further snag today too: Can't find my damn Install/Restore discs. All I have is my Tiger Upgrade disc. So I ordered replacements from Apple. Anyone else ever order replacements? Wondering how soon I can expect the discs.....
 
Paperstreet said:
Funny you mention the B-tree, as thats where the problem lies when running Disk Repair on it.

It would certainly be nice to find that was the case.

I'll definitely be keeping constant backups on my firewire drive from now on.

I hit a further snag today too: Can't find my damn Install/Restore discs. All I have is my Tiger Upgrade disc. So I ordered replacements from Apple. Anyone else ever order replacements? Wondering how soon I can expect the discs.....
Click to expand...

yup.... like I said.. that's what happened to me... I was able to restore my files when I did that thorough scan... and I re-formatted and everything has been good since.. so you might not need another hard drive...

good luck...
 
This may be a ridiculous idea but make sure that the PB and case is not HOT to the touch. I heard that someone got data off a hard drive after putting it in the freezer. I myself was having some weird hd trouble on my pb until the last Tiger update with over heating -- but now it seems to be all okay again. I actually put one of those blue freezer pack things in plastic under the PB to cool it down. Good luck
 
Whilst I agree with California that cooling the PowerBook down will probably help, I strongly recommend never putting computer components in the freezer. The temperature combined with the condensation is enough to kill even the sturdiest machine. :(
 
Help!!!

Ok so.. i understand about half of the posts on this thread.. all I know is my hard drive is not being accessed anymore.. and the best result I have gotten doing these little helpful hints on this pocket booklet "my mac won't start" is the same little folder with a question mark.. I need my data.. I backed it up onto an external about 6 mos. ago and i need what has been added since.. Is there a service i can do or just pay for to recover the data? Please help. .you folks seem to know a lot more about it than i do.. thanks

b http://images.macrumors.com/vb/images/smilies/frown.gif
 
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