HD For Indies

Anybody interested in keeping up with what to do if a laptop drive dies, I've updated the article on my misadventures.

Labels: case study

UPDATED TUESDAY - see bottom

OK, I don't want to be too alarmist, and I DO NOT have a definitive reason why this is going on, but here's the deal:

1.) I ran Software Update on my MacBook (original Core Duo 2.0 GHz model w/2GB RAM and upgraded hard drive)

2.) Shortly thereafter, it locked up - clicked on an email, and the machine beachballed...then the clock stopped updating (I always have it display the seconds so I can ALWAYS tell if something is stalling the processor - if the seconds aren't advancing).

3.) hard reboot - I got a bizarre, Windows looking black screen with big fat white letters and a few random red squares saying press ctrl-alt-delete...EEK, not good!

4.) rebooted, held down option - made sure was set to OS X not Windows via Boot Camp (I have a Windows partition on the box)

5.) rebooted again, saw for the first time ever the grey Apple screen with a darker grey circle and slash - egads, I don't know exactly what that means but it CAN'T be good.

6.) rebooted holding down shift key for Safe Boot Mode - it got to grey screen, showed circle/slash, then grey Apple logo as expected....then cycled back and forth between those interminably. This was on hard line power.

7.) Shut down, prepping to to do FireWire Target Disc Mode to do a remote Disk Utility run at it.

So I have ZERO proof that Software Update has anything to do with this, and I don't know whether it was or wasn't on 10.4.10, but the new QT, iTunes, and Security Update were just installed (at least, shoulda been, assuming it worked).

It could just be something went ker-flooey with the unit by chance today after having done Software Update and has nothing to do with it.

But JUST IN CASE, maybe holding off for a day or two and see if there are any other similar reports. As of this moment, my primary machine, my MacBook, is out of operation (and gee, I'm down to 4 Macs! Oh, the horror....but I'll struggle through...but all my email and access to it is on that box...grrr...)

I'll update as I learn more, just thought it'd be good to put a cautious warning out there.

-mike

3PM update - crap, when _I_ have to call somebody for Mac help, it is BAD - I've been everybody's Go To guy for decades on Mac stuff. So I call who I think might know more - Torrey Loomis of Silverado Systems, whom I buy all my own Mac stuff from now. I describe symptoms, he says it is rare, he's seen it once in connection with a Windows/Boot Camp partition setup. He says it is probably hard disk related. "Logical or physical problem?" I ask, he says not sure, recommends Disk Warrior.

Buy Disk Warrior 4 (required for Intel Macs) online, takes maybe 7 minutes from Google search to installing - NICE. Can buy online and download and they'll mail a disk, and they IMMEDIATELY (none of this multi-hour wait crap) email a serial # - VERY good for oh-god-I-need-it-now scenarios. Kudos.

Unfortunately, it isn't helping at the moment - even after booting laptop in FireWire Target Disk Mode, THEN connecting FW cable, THEN booting host Mac, and writing all this while I wait for it to boot and maybe mount....doesn't mount, and DiskWarrior can't see it so can't do beans.

Reset the PMU at this point on this list of "things to try just in case they help" - I don't even know if these Macs have PRAM to reset with the Vulcan Nerve Pinch key command (option-command-P-R - takes a large handspan....)

After that I try a normal boot and get something new - a grey blinking folder with a "?" in the middle - guessing it can't find a bootable drive. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

Held down VNP as described above, after a minute or so it rebooted, so I'll interpret that as Parameter RAM (PRAM) was reset...but after that, couldn't even get it to Target Disk Mode...

Drat and damnation - next step - I'll pull the drive and use my SATA to USB 2.0 converter cable kit to see if that helps it be visible...

Did that - pulled the drive out, connected my USB 2.0 to SATA adaptor, and...it didn't show up, and DiskWarrior didn't see it. Touching it, can feel it spinning up, then spinning down after a brief run. Not good.

Next step - recovery services. Anybody have a data recovery service for Mac laptop drives that has a better success/price ratio than DriveSavers? Egads, this is, I believe, the 3rd laptop drive I've had go bad over the last 3-4 years. Sigh. Long hard day, many other unpleasantnesses going on also.

Just talked to DriveSavers, with my vendor's discount, I'd still be paying $1350 to $2160 if they get all the data I want off (which should be doable, it was all working until it went totally kerflooey). OUCH that is not cheap. Last backup? I've found my pre-NAB disc image, I'm looking for a newer one...

So going back to the original topic - I don't have a reason to believe Software Update had anything to do with this. Appears to be a drive gone bad.

-mike

TUESDAY UPDATE - ...so I ordered a new drive and it arrived over the weekend. I had planned to try a board swap to see if that helped. I'd noticed my older laptop drive hadn't mounted when I plugged it into my little USB 2.0 to SATA adaptor, so I tried again just to make sure I hadn't missed an opportunity to fix the apparently bad newer drive. Turns out for a laptop drive to show up, you need to cold boot or reboot. So I got the old drive to show up fine. So then I repeated procedure for the failed drive. During that process, I heard it make a little noise (I had most of the machines in the room off, not common). So I replugged it and leaned in close - uh oh, whirrrrr-click, whirrrrr-click, whirrrrr-click...sounds like Click Of Death to me. It made that sound several times and then spun down. Didn't show up on reboot in any utility as there being any drive there at all.

So I don't think a board swap is going to help.

So I hooked up the just-purchased drive and did a low level format (mapping out bad blocks by using the Zero Write option in Disk Utility, which DOES take hours) and headed out for the evening. When I got back, I mounted my most recent disk image backup (not nearly as recent as I'd like) and used SuperDuper to copy it to the just purchased laptop drive. That worked overnight.

Now I'm debating whether to even try the board swap, Just To Be Sure, or whether to just put the working drive into the laptop, having it download all the mail it can to try to get sync'd back up, updating all the software, etc. Right now, my most recent and correct address book, contacts, and email or on my iPhone - I hope when I reconnect it won't lose or do anything funny to those.

In any case, the next step will be to analyze what I've lost, what I have backups or pseudo-backups of (for instance, my NAB pics are all online at lower res), and decide what if anything I REALLY need and find a cost effective data restoration facility in that case. Thanks VERY much to everyone that has sent in suggestions, I'm going through those today as well online (not checking Comments mail on the iPhone, too much!).

Thanks to all for their helpful suggestions, I'm getting ready to start sifting for recovery service options. I swapped out the logic board between old/busted drive and new drive of same model, no joy. Durn.

Now I'm going to rebuild my laptop with the new drive that has the older backup/restored image on it. But it isn't as new as I'd like.

-mike

Labels: case study, hardware, iTunes