DiskWarrior error codes

Thanks. I had not considered this obvious solution. On the other hand, I doubt they'll tell me this: it's one step forward to replicate their product.

The drive has physically failed. Neither DIsk Warrior nor any other software is going to work. The data can only be recovered, if at all, by a specialist such as DriveSavers. Their services are very expensive.

Thanks. I already know that. However, I'm convinced that, knowing the meaning of the error code that DiskWarrior reports, I could figure out the origin of the problem and perhaps try to solve it (is it mechanical or logical? Perhaps the offended chip could also be discovered). Of course, if it's a mechanical failure, I don't have the clean room required.

In general, I'm against the use of error codes that no one can know. We should clearly be allowed to repair things by ourselves, as long as we can understand how they work.

I could then remove that chip and replace it by a new one. I don't solder beautifully (I'm slighty eyes-disabled), but it has worked so far, for other things.

CaptH wrote:

The book is free. Scroll through it until you find the picture of a coin sitting on a circuit card. On the version I have it's on page 9, but they might have updated it since then. What you're looking at is a picure of dime next to a connnector. The connector has 50 pins. The connector is smaller than the dime's diameter!!!

The days of pulling chips off and re-soldering them are long over. To be honest if I took one of my finest point soldering irons I couldn't even get it to make contact with less than 2 of those connections simultaneously. The fine point soldering irons I have would be bridging 2 or more pins at best.

Well, you're right, especially for a hard disk.

The reality is that the odds of it being the controller are rare, and the odds of it being a mechanical failure are high. However at this point you have little or nothing to lose by examining all possibilities.

....leaving me with these parting words: Good Luck.

Thank you. Actually, the chances of being a controller failure are likely, because the iMac whose this disk came from has problems with the fans (its owner says they don't run (yes, the three fans) and I have to admit I haven't hear them for the short time I saw the computer (before I opened it)); the computer being hot, this likely explains why the disk has failed (it was not that old) and it may have first defeated the controller.

Gary Scotland wrote:

Ye of little faith!

Allsoft tell me that error code -36,2738 is: directory cannot be rebuilt due to disk hardware failure - file structure is damaged

Thank you very much! And yes, you're right, my faith isn't that big.

As Disk Warrior cant rebuild your drive, I would try Data Rescue from Prosoft, there is a free trial that can scan to see if there is any data that can be recovered. Prosoft applications are used by Apple Genius Bar and many Authorised Mac service cantres. I have used Data Rescue for many clients with very good results

Data Rescue

Thanks, but I already tried it (I tried DiskWarrior, Data Rescue and Tech Tool Pro in the same row, prior to asking in this forum). Data Rescue, which I have already registered years ago, tells me it couldn't find any file (even in the extensive and the analysis test).

In the meantime, I've another problem related to this (sorry for the extra post, the Edit link is now gone).

We went in a shop to buy a new hard disk. We left the bad disk in the shop, because they proposed us to search for another controller for this disk (so we may hope to repair it if the culprit is the controller). Back to my friend's home, I saw the new disk had one connector less than the old one had; at that moment I realised Apple is now shipping disks with built in thermal sensors (and I knew fans run at full speed when one sensor is missing). I phoned the shop (not a Mac one, they are too far away) and they told me they couldn't figure out where to buy disks with such a connector; however, I must solve this.

I then went in my house and managed to find an old sensor, still attached to a malfunctionning disk from an iMac G5. However, its connector is smaller than in my friend's iMac. I tried to make a bridge, by cutting the old sensor's cable and inserting it in the plug of the new iMac's sensor (I thought they are both sensors, with only a couple of years of difference, so their data should be the same) but it didn't work. The new connector has only two wires and the old one has four; I guess the extra two are for the power (that is built into the hard disk in the new iMac version). Still hoping both sensors are compatible.

Otherwise, how would I solve this problem? May I disassemble the original, failed, hard disk to extract its sensor (wouldn't solve the power problem, though)?