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Does this mean my HD is dead ?

I experienced the White screen of DEATH (as I have seen it referred to on these forums) and have been unable to successfully boot the comptuer back up.


I have tried going using command/R to enter the OSX Lion (among other things)...but when I get to the main screen I tried choosing "Restore from Time Machine backup"...and that wouldn't work. It asked for the Destination drive (assuming I was going to be able to choose my mac hd)..but NOTHING was listed. As if it wasn't even seeing my hd?


So I tried the Utilitiles...First Aid. I highlight the HD (which is no longer even labeled as my HD, but called "media" instead)..and I am unable to choose "verify", "repair".I couldn't even ERASE the hd.


I tried to "reinstall OSX LION" option. Again, get to the screen where it says "Searching for Disks", but NOTHING happens!


I booted from the original osx disk...but same thing happened.


ANYONE ?????

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Feb 17, 2012 12:24 PM

Reply
12 replies

Feb 17, 2012 12:31 PM in response to chrstene96

So, when you do the Command + R to go into Lion recovery, and bring up Disk Utility, it doesn't show the hard drive as a device you can do anything with, yes?


Since you have your original OS X disks, boot from the one that says in small print on the label 'AHT Version x.x'. Boot holding the D key down, or if that doesn't take you into the Apple hardware test, reboot holding the alt/option key down, then choose the Apple hardware test, and when prompted, choose the extended test. Guessing that will confirm a hard drive issue.

Feb 17, 2012 3:35 PM in response to BGreg

Excellent...I did what you said, started it while holding the D key...and I am now running the extended hardware test ! I can't thank you enough for even getting me this far. It says it will take over an hour. I will report back.


thinking ahead, if the HD is bad - are they worth going to Apple and replacing it? how much do they cost ? Or is it just time to get a new machine ? (It's the first mac I had that actually died before I got rid of it)! I am lost !

Feb 17, 2012 4:04 PM in response to chrstene96

If the system is doing what you need it to do in a way that you're satisfied with, then replace the hard drive. However, if you need an excuse to move to a newer system, this is it, lol.


A new 3.5" SATA hard drive, depending on size (500GB to 1TB or more), can run around $100 to $150+. See http://www.newegg.com, as they have lots of user reviews, and their prices are pretty good. I happen to like Western Digital Scorpio Black drives, with their 5 year warranty.


If you want to change it yourself, take a look at http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iMac_Intel , pick your system then hard drive. The scary part is using suction cups to pull the glass off the magnets and getting the LCD out of the way.


You can find a drive you like and take your iMac to an Apple Authorized Service Provider, who will generally install what you take to them or what you buy from them. Apple stores will only replace the drive, often with a refurbished drive, and they keep your existing hard drive as a trade in, which bothers some people.

Feb 17, 2012 4:09 PM in response to BGreg

Apple stores will only replace the drive, often with a refurbished drive, and they keep your existing hard drive as a trade in, which bothers some people.

Didn't know that. That would bother the **** out of me. I've moved everything really sensitive to an encrypted disk image, but still, if it fails before you've had a chance to zero it out, you're really screwed. And they only use refurbs?

Feb 17, 2012 4:11 PM in response to BGreg

The test is finished and it said "No problem found". Now, I had disconnected the entire computer to move it to another room so I could work on it (more)! So it is not connected to the external HD that I use for time machine backups.


I chose "restart" after the test was done and was brought to the OSX installation process screen. I did NOT hit continue (not sure if that would be bad since it is older software than what I have on the computer)....and instead I chose UTILIIES again to see what would happen.


On the left is ONLY listed the DVD drive that is being used. and another (hd) icon named "media" (I am assuming this is somehow what used to be named my hd?) If I click on the MEDIA icon on the left...and choose First Aid, I cannot chose any of the "verify disk, repair,erase" options. they are all grayed out. As I am clicked on Media, the description below says:


Disc description: media Total capacity: 0 bytes

connection BUS: Serial ATA 2 Write Status: read/write

Connection type: Internal SMART Status: not supported

Partition Scheme: unformatted


ANY other help you can give me !????

Feb 17, 2012 6:29 PM in response to chrstene96

As I am clicked on Media, the description below says:


Disc description: media Total capacity: 0 bytes

connection BUS: Serial ATA 2 Write Status: read/write

Connection type: Internal SMART Status: not supported

Partition Scheme: unformatted



SMART status is only supported on the internal hard drive. You wont' see any SMART status on external hard drives. So, just the fact that the internal hard drive is showing SMART status not supported tells me there's an issue there.


If you can boot on an external drive, I would want to download to the external hard drive the SMART Utility demo from http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php and see if it can tell you anything about your internal hard drive.


For comparison, here's what Disk Utlity says about my internal hard drive. Note is knows what the brand and number of the hard drive is, it's capacity, it's SMART status, and it's partition type. Those are absent from what's showing on yours today.



Disk Description : ST31000528AS Media
Total Capacity : 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 Bytes)


Connection Bus : SATA
Write Status : Read/Write


Connection Type : Internal
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Verified


Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table


Since it passed the Apple hardware test, I'm inclined to think the drive is toast, although I'm a little surprised it didn't trip something on the test. At least it didn't have any errors to suggest the logic board electronics supporting the drive have problems. Hopefully SMART Utility can give you a second opinion.

Does this mean my HD is dead ?

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