TerraHawk is out of Action

[TerraHawk]

TerraHawk will be unable to clan for a while.

Basically, my HD on the Powerbook has gone kaput. I can still acess the 'net from my WIntel PC, but as for clanning, forget it.

For those technically minded, here is the problem :

I took the poerbook out of the car, put it in sleep mode, put it in my bag, and went inside the house. I took it ou of the back, an noticed that the power had gone off. No problem, as this has happened before.

So I hook it all up, and press the power button.

ARGH! There's a folder with a blinking question mark, which then alternates into a blinking Mac Face.

So I try inserting the Softare INstall CD and boot from there. The system boots up, but I get a dialog box saying the hard disk is unreadable by the machine, should it initialise the disk. I hit Cancel as I don't want to lose my data.

I ring the store I bought it form, and they say that I should run Disk First Aid formt eh CD.

I do so.

It comes up with the following errors :

Problem : MountCheck found serious erros
Problem : Volume Bit Map needs minor repair, 4, 256
Repairing the disk.
Unable to complete repairs. Try repairing the disk again.
The volume "Macintosh HD" could not be mounted.

So, I've rung some friends of mine to see if they have any ideas, but they weren't home. I'm expecting them to call back (I hope).

HWC TH.

[Drablak]

Never trust Disk First Aid, it has never helped me in the past. Use a real disk utility like Norton or Techtools. These kind of problems are often quickly repaired by these applications without any loss of data. It is usually easier if you had them installed before the problem though. So after all this, whatever the outcome, you might think of buying one program (there are prolly others than the two Imentionned).

I used to have Norton, then I bought Techtool Pro, then I switched to OS X and have not upgraded yet that type of utility program. i think I might look into it :)

HWC Drablak

[Delirium]

Ouch Terra! I hope you can get it fixed soon! Which PowerBook do you have?

[TerraHawk]

Late Model Pismo, 2*USB, 2*Firewire, DVD-ROM drive, 20 Gig HD, Airport Capable (not installed, couldn't afford Airport card).

The Tech at the shop said I should try using something like DIsk Warrior.

Problem is, I don't have the money to buy it, and he said if I don't have the money to buy it, then I certainly couldn't afford the labour costs at the shop to gte it fixed.

I'm wondring if I should do a software restore (wihout erasing the disk, I don't want to lose all my data), and see if that works.

I dunno.

HWC TH.

[Delirium]

Sounds like the one I have. What version of the OS do you have on it? If it is an older OS (like what came on the system), you might be able to find an older version of one of the disk utility programs for less. Here in the US there are a number of outlets that sell software a few versions old (but still in the original pacaging) at deep discounts. Some might even ship to you.

(BTW, I ordered an internal Zip for mine today from Mac Zone, which is having a blow-out on them - $69.95 + 4.95 shipping, or something close to that)

[TerraHawk]

I just recently upgraded the OS to 9.2.

The Software Restore CD would probably install 9.01.

HWC TH.

[Konoko]

Sorry to hear about your problems Terra!

The first I would suggest is NOT using Norton Utilities. I personally have not had bad experiences with it. However, I recently talked to a mac repair guy about a friend's iMac drive and he recommended not using norton.

Here's the story: My friend's iMac drive died and it would not mount. It was seen from disk first aid if booted off a CD. She tried disk first aid, norton and techtools deluxe. The problem is an invalid PEOF (physical end of file). I'm not sure which tool h\told her it was an invalid PEOF though.

For more on PEOF, go to www.alsoft.com (the maker's of diskwarrior). Then go to the Ask Al page and search for PEOF. Basically if your drive has a folder with an invalid PEOF, then your drive won't mount. The site says to use a very robust file recovery utility or something like this.

She has ordered DiskWarrior but it's on back order.


I called a local mac repair guy (one of the best in the city). He says to try stuff like disk first aid, techtools, and disk warrior (saying that they're all good). This techie then goes on to say that to avoid using Norton if at all possible because in his experience it tends to make things worse. Here are his exact words:
Techtools is a fine program to do file recovery --
but try to avoid using Norton! If Norton has tried at all, the drive data
is probably beyond recovery since Norton likes to mangle the node, keys,
Btree, etc. I have yet to see Norton do any GOOD to a drive... Disk First
Aid does a better job than Norton in most cases!!

Now, as I said before, I personally have not had problems with Norton but then I've never had major hard drive problems (knock on wood). As for disk first aid, in my experience, it is fine for what it does but it doesn't fix all problems. I've heard good things about techtools and diskwarrior. By the way, Apple ships a copy of techtools deluxe when the warranty/applecare or whatever it's called is renewed (at least here in Canada), Deluxe is better than the lite version but not as full featured as the pro version. TechTools must do a decent job if Apple includes it in warranty renewal packages.

My friend is going to be taking her iMac in to the shop to see if they can recover any of the data. She doesn't want to have to wait for diskwarrior. She needs her Mac!



How would the software restore work if you can't even mount the drive? Doesn't it need to see the drive formatted and mounted to install stuff? I haven't used this software restore thing before so excuse any ignorance... :)



Good luck with your problems Terra!

Konoko

[Delirium]

One thing about the "software restore" disk - I thought this put the computer back to it's "original factory installed" cofiguration and wiped all the data? Or is this just an option with it? It's been a while since I looked at it.

Terra's experiences remind me that I should do a back-up. It's been a while.:eek:

[Sargon]

Delirium wrote:

I've never used the software restore disk, but I assume it mainly restore the System Folder and lets the rest untouched. (since preferences under MacOS <X tend to be somewhere in the System Folder, you'd loose these as well)

I doubt that the software restore disk is of any help here, because it's not that you have corrupt files, but the filesystem/harddisk itself has a problem. Like a librarian could place fallen books back to the shelf but not fix a broken shelf.

I'm sorry for your problems TerraHawk. I assume the problem of the disk could be resolved by partioning/formatting and reinstalling the whole OS, but I understand that's not your favourite choice. Good luck and hope to see you in the lands soon!

Sargon

[TerraHawk]

Well, I've tracked down a copy o Disk Warrior, but i costs $150 Australian (That's about $75 US).

I borrowed $100 off my parents, so I can afford it (just).

So, hopefully, by this afternoon, all my troubles should be over *pray hope plead whimper*.

As for Software Restore, I didn't want to do that just in case it did wipe the drive, but from what I gather, you ahve 2 options - Restore by wiping the drive completely and re-installing, or restore by just re-installing the system folder and preferences.

I don't fancy spending all that time trying to get my Powerbook back the way I want it... Done it too many times on Wintel Machines. *shudder*

HWC TH.

[Delirium]

One of the things Steve Jobs got wrong was the failure to include any kind of Back-up device on many recent Macs. Do you have a way to back up you PB?

[TerraHawk]

The only way I can back stuff up is to shift all my data onto the PC.

But everything's fine now.

I bought Disk Warrior, ran it, it fixed the Disk so that it now works nicely.

I've installed Disk Warrior on the Hard Drive so that it can continually watch stuff, and now I'm running Plus Optimiser (came free with Disk Warrior), and it has 74 minutes to go until it's finished and I can reboot so everything runs nicely.

HWC TH.

[TerraHawk]

I'm back, things are fine.

Clan Lord works :-)

HWC TH.

[Himitsu]

Originally posted by TerraHawk
I'm back, things are fine.

Clan Lord works :-)

I am very happy to hear that your computer is back and running. What turned out to be the problem exactly?

[TerraHawk]

Lots of stuff.

I'll quote the relevant bits from the log file :


DiskWarrior has successfully built a new optimized directory for the disk named "Macintosh HD." The new directory is ready to replace the original directory.

Notes:

All file and folder data was easily located.

Optimizing the Catalog Tree Directory File has increased available disk space.

The disk was not on the desktop prior to rebuilding. Only the preview disk will appear if you preview the replacement directory.

Comparison of the original and replacement directories could not be performed because the original directory was too severely damaged.

? Errors, if any, in the directory structure such as tree depth, header node, map nodes, node size, node counts, node links, indexes and more have been repaired.

Disk: "Macintosh HD"
Repaired the Root creation date
Repaired the Available Disk Space of the Volume Information
Repaired the Creation Date of the critical Volume Information
Repaired the Modification Date of the critical Volume Information
Detected damaged Boot Blocks, they will be repaired AFTER replacing the directory
Location: "Desktop"

Folder: "System Folder"
Blessed this System Folder
Location: "Macintosh HD:"


It also fixed incorrect information in the Wrapper Volume, and the Bit Map.

HWC TH.

[Sargon]

Good to see it turned out well! And welcome back to CL! :)

Sargon

[Alby]

Pfft...

Next time you wait a little, and I send you a copy , instead of spending that much money!

(It would maybe have been in german though, but the OK Button is the same everywhere hehe)

But I

[TerraHawk]

Wait?

No way!

This thing is my in-car stereo system! (Don't ask, long story).

In any case, there may be another problem. I can't optimise the disk.

It gets part fo the way through, then Plus Optimser says "Read Write Error Occured (1857, -36)" and then it stops optimising. The manual recommends backing up (onto what?) and re-initialising the disk.

*sigh*

At least if I back everything up, I can then repartition into System, Internet, Utilities, Games, Misc, and Data.

We'll see...

HWC TH.

[Sargon]

I strongly recommend you make a backup of your important data (in my case that would be the CL folder ;) on the PC. (I think you mentioned you have one) And then you repartition and format the whole disk (with zero-filling more if it's an option) and install the system again.

On another note: I wouldn't make too many partitions. (The 12GB HD of my Powerbook has 2 partitions - 10GB for MacOSX and 2GB for MacOS9)

Sargon

[Delirium]

I don't agree with Sargon - I partition all my disks to chunks of no more than 5GB. Why? I have a "9.4 GB" DVD-RAM in my desktop at work - the disks are really 4.7 GB on a side. This way I can copy each partition onto I didk to back it up. I started partitioning my disks into the size of my largest back-up media years ago.

[Sargon]

Not sure what you're not agreeing on with me, Delirium, but I agree (hee!) that it's a good idea to be able to make a backup to another partition. It's just that (2GB - MacOS9 installation) is enough space for me to backup all important stuff in both directions. If I had the possibility to make backups as you are, Delirium, I'd partition my system as you've described and make full backups.

/action grabs Konoko's iPod to make backups! :)

Sargon

[Konoko]

My iPod's full of music! There's no room for your backups Sargon! :)

I have a DVD RAM as well and back up all my stuff to that. I just bought a couple more DVD RAMs so I could backup all my games, music, and stuff. It's a very sweet way to back stuff up. And it's actually pretty quick (I think the OS X DVD RAM copying is faster than under OS 9 - or maybe I'm just imagining that).

Delirium, what mac do you have your DVD RAM with? I got my DVD RAM as an internal drive on my G4. All I've tried are single-sided 2.6 GB and double-sided 5.2 GB discs. Will the 9.4 disc work in my DVD-RAM? I'm pretty sure the 9.4 double-sided and 4.7 single-sided discs came out after my drive did. Will they work?


Konoko

[Kiriel]

I actually do poor man's backups. I have a backup folder and I just put aliases to everything I need backed up regularly in it. Then I have a little Stuffit script that I drop all them on, and it stuffs them as one file, then ftps them to my Unix server. This works really well for my regular backups because generally I'm only concerned about backing up certain things like pref files and bookmarks and stuff (none of which are terribly big) and it's a very simple system that I fully understand. I don't worry about backing up things like apps since I can always reinstall them.

[Delirium]

Well, the mac with the DVDram is what was top-of-the-line about 1 year ago - G4 500MHZ Dual Processor with the 22" LCD display. I don't think the earlier versions of the DVDram support the newer media - like the same way you can't red an 1.4m floppy in the old 800k drives. I think they have plans to about double the media capacity again to about 9 Gig on a side, and when that happens, my drive wont read that.

[Konoko]

22" LCD display! Wow! How sweet a display is that?

And thanks for the DVD RAM info. I didn't think they'd work...

Konoko

[Delirium]

The Apple 22" display is a lot like looking at a PB screen....

It's just bigger. Much Bigger.[;)]

[Konoko]

DiskWarrior saves the day again!

Here's the story: My friend's iMac drive died and it would not mount. It was seen from disk first aid if booted off a CD. She tried disk first aid, norton and techtools deluxe. The problem is an invalid PEOF (physical end of file).

My friend finally got DiskWarrior and it saved her iMac! I guess DiskWarrior is a tool to have...

Konoko

[Delirium]

Hmmm....

sounds like I should get a copy of diskwarrior.

[Sargon]

Hm.. I'm using comps for quite a while now and never had any hardisk-related problems so far. How comes other guys have them? :) It seems that people who make backups and have disk-recovery tools suffer the most! I don't have any of these things and I'm pretty happ [invalid PEOF]

[TerraHawk]

I don't know about other people, but I tend to be harder on my stuff than other people.

I keep telling my friends that companies should use me as their test-bed, because most likely I'll find a fault in their product earlier than most other people (be it clothes, tools, computers, bags, etc:-/).

But, considering I've had my Powerbook for close to a year, and thus far have had only one major fault, I'd say that wasn't too shabby, especially since my Desktop PC tends to have a major fault a month! :-/

HWC TH.