Bill from Maryland

Q: Stuck: Need Disk repair but DVD drive dead and only have USB 1

[1 Ghz flat-panel iMac with USB 1 ports (no USB 2) and also Firewire 400]

 

I noticed a strange discrepancy (small but concerning) between the size of a folder on hard drive (folder of all mp3's with no subfolders) and the backup of the same folder on a mounted thumb drive.

 

(The size difference was not due to any invisible .DS_Store files and both folders are displayed in List view format.)

 

Disk Utility reports three things:

 

1. Incorrect number of thread records

 

2. Volume Bit Map needs minor repair

 

3. Checking volume information.

          Volume free block count",0)   [I might have mangled this line]

(It should be 13438611 instead of 13437937)

 

::::

 

Here is the GOOD (but these are useless as explained under the "Bad"):

 

- I have a Tiger 10.4 boot DVD for a repair ==>but see below

- I also have a Disk Warrior disk (never used)

 

Here is the BAD:

 

- My built-in optical drive [Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105] is -- I now discover - defunct and DEAD - it does not run the Tiger Boot DVD (in pristine shape).

- I bought an external SuperDrive (unopened) but I believe no boot from USB 1 is possible in PowerPC so a SuperDrive with USB 1 is useless.

 

Questions:

 

1.) Is there any way to boot from some external source (optical drive is DEAD) to run Disk Utility and/or Disk Warrior? -- I see none in this case! (gulp).

 

2.) More importantly (and this is my fundamental concern): Do the three Disk Utility hard drive issues constitute any direct threat to the integrity of my files?

 

I have almost everything backed up to duplicate thumb drives over these many months as standard practice.

 

Are these Disk Utility errors fully isolated to hard drive directory-keeping...or do these directory damage errors pose the possibility of mangling or harming my files or their metadata (filesize, etc.).

 

Put another way, when files are backed-up from a hard drive under the Disk Utility reports above, do they remain unharmed and undamaged by the situations reported by Disk Utility?

 

Thanks,

Bill

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 21, 2013 6:51 PM

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Q: Stuck: Need Disk repair but DVD drive dead and only have USB 1

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 21, 2013 9:11 PM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 21, 2013 9:11 PM in response to Bill from Maryland

    Addendum/correction re: Dead Pioneer DVR-105 optical drive

     

    This Pioneer drive in my iMac will:

     

    - ALWAYS read commercial music CDs which properly boot up into iTunes

    - Only sometimes read data CDs...mostly not

    - NEVER read DVDs [commercial DVD movie discs AND home-made BOOT disks]

     

    Can't figure it out.

     

    I saw some post about the DVD reading function getting locked down (blocked) when the DVD region is changed too many times. But I have never done that and don't even know how it would be done.

  • by Jeff,Helpful

    Jeff Jeff Sep 22, 2013 12:31 AM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 6 (11,559 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 12:31 AM in response to Bill from Maryland

    As for sometimes reading data disks, does it seem to be related to the brand of blank CD media used or does it occur with a variety of CD brands?  The quality of media used can affect the integrity of the finished burned disk.  Because the laser frequency used for CDs is different from that used for DVDs, a drive can function with one type of disks and not the other.  I had an internal Plextor DVD±RW drive that couldn't read any type of DVD media, but read and burned CDs flawlessly.  This has nothing to do with setting the drive's region code for watching DVD movies, which is limited to an initial setting and (4) subsequent changes.

     

    You could replace the internal optical drive (check Other World Computing) or use a FireWire-connected drive - such as this one - to boot the iMac.  This presumes that you'll be using a good, bootable disk.

     

    As for the integrity of your files, you really need to correct the damaged disk directory or you may lose access to those files because the computer won't know where to find them.  Persistent directory corruption might indicate a malfunctioning hard drive.  With a bad hard drive, you may begin to experience corrupted files as well.  Since you've got the best utility (DiskWarrior) to create an entirely new directory, I'd return the USB-only SuperDrive and go with the FireWire-compatible drive.  The OWC drive that I linked has a good enclosure, having multi-connectivity for every popular interface.

  • by MlchaelLAX,Helpful

    MlchaelLAX MlchaelLAX Sep 22, 2013 11:30 AM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 4 (2,256 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 11:30 AM in response to Bill from Maryland

    Reboot your "Luxo" iMac G4 with the "T" key held down and it should go into the firewire/transfer mode; you will see a screensaver of the firewire symbol:

     

    fw_2.png

     

    Now connect the iMac by firewire to another mac and the iMac's hard drive will appear on the desktop of the other Mac.

     

    Run your diagnostic programs on the other Mac.

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 12:53 PM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 12:53 PM in response to Bill from Maryland

    Jeff and Michael,

     

    Thank you both for your generous and thoughtful input.

     

    Michael: As I slept on it overnight, the exact same idea occurred to me of trying a Target Mode to the iMac from my Lion MacbookPro (I have it but stupidly have yet to use it much!).

     

    I did buy a Firewire 800 (MBP) to Firewire 400 (iMac) adapter cable a few months ago!

     

    CONCERN: Would there be potential compatibility issues or risks in running Lion 10.7's Disk Utility against the hard drive of the old OSX 10.4 iMac in Target Disk Mode?

     

    ==> Assuming an "it's ok" answer to the Target Disk question, would the majority of users agree that the Target Disk Mode would be more prudent than running:

     

    fsck -fy   in Single User Mode

     

    I have never done fsck -fy before especially because I was under the impression there were issues with Journaled drived but from what I have read today...it looks ok to do)

     

    Jeff: Can't thank you enough for the reference to the OTW DVD drive. I might first invest $10 in one of those DVD lens cleaner disks that I've read about. It's probably not the issue or else why would the drive read commercial Music cds perfectly well!

     

    Thanks,

    Bilil

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 5:05 PM in response to MlchaelLAX
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 5:05 PM in response to MlchaelLAX

    This note is to flag MichaelLAX about my follow-up response/entry this afternoon

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 5:06 PM in response to Jeff
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 5:06 PM in response to Jeff

    This note is to flag Jeff about my follow-up response/entry this afternoon

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 6:28 PM in response to MlchaelLAX
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 6:28 PM in response to MlchaelLAX

    MichaelLAX,

     

    Forced AIR blown cautiously today into open DVD drawer returned to me the ability to open Data/File cds and even one commercial MOVIE DVD that I tried.

     

    I have always protected this iMac from exposure to dust accumulation but at this 10 year anniversary of this unit, it's understandable.

     

    However...same no-disk-spin on the boot DVD (on Maxell DVD media). I will try Target Disk Mode before doing

     

    fsck -fy

     

    Thanks

    Bill

  • by MlchaelLAX,

    MlchaelLAX MlchaelLAX Sep 22, 2013 10:38 PM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 4 (2,256 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 10:38 PM in response to Bill from Maryland

    Bill from Maryland wrote:

     

    However...same no-disk-spin on the boot DVD (on Maxell DVD media)...

     

    Whoa!  I pretty sure that Apple never shipped its Restore discs on Maxell media!

     

    Call 1-800-SOS-APPL and give them your model and serial number and they will give you a replacement disc for about $17.95.

     

    If you have a late model iMac G4, you can install Leopard, so check your About this Mac and see if your G4 is either 1.0 or 1.25 GHz.  If so, ask Apple if they will provide you a replacement Leopard disc as well (some are successful, some are not).  Retail sources for Leopard are very expensive.

  • by Bill from Maryland,Solvedanswer

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 10:54 PM in response to Bill from Maryland
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 10:54 PM in response to Bill from Maryland

    Final Report:   (good news further down)

     

    DVD player has returned to disfunctional last legs..shooting more forced air does not help. The DVD player will not start the commercial DVD movie disk that successfully loaded a few hours ago.

     

    The drive *did* successfully open a data CD burned by ImageBurn (on PC) in Windows 7 but refused to mount a duplicate version of the same data CD that had been burned directly through the Windows 7 OS and not using ImageBurn as the agent.

     

    GOOD NEWS: Firewire SAVED the situation -- running Disk Utility in Target Disk Mode worked perfectly with MacbookPro as host and iMac as Target Disk.

     

    Even better:

     

    1.) Disk Utility run by MacbookPro reported no errors (bada bing!) related to the iMac disk ("Everything appears to be OK" message). Apple directs users not to fully trust Disk Utility's errors when it is being run off and against its own startup drive.

     

    2.) SUPERB: After disconnecting the target disk setup, I ran Disk Utility from the iMac against itself and this time -- as opposed to last time -- it agreed with the MacbookPro, reporting "Everything appears to be ok."

     

    Quite a decent ending as long as a dying and dysfunctional CD/DVD optical drive is of little concern.

  • by Bill from Maryland,

    Bill from Maryland Bill from Maryland Sep 22, 2013 11:20 PM in response to MlchaelLAX
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2013 11:20 PM in response to MlchaelLAX

    Thanks for the tip on replacement disks. I saw your note (thanks!) after my final post.

     

    The thing is, I only have 768 MB RAM (1 GHz) and the optical drive continues to fail to mount/read DVDs. All that, plus a clean install, would be too much for me needs.

     

    My plans are to just use the iMac a little bit longer for the reorganization of files and then copy them out via Firewire one last time. It's good to know the directory filesystem structure is currently in good shape.

     

    I want to add one personal subjective opinion about the round-base flat-panel iMacs:

     

    I believe the 17-inch flat-panel iMac was one of the most elegantly/visually designed desktop computers Apple ever engineered. I marvel at its visual harmony and aesthetics to this day.

     

    The flat-panel iMac was a majestic piece of art and I regret having to leave this 10-year old "great one" behind...