Hard disk failure?!

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Level 1

95 points

Hard disk failure?!

Hello!
I am wondering if anybody could help me because I cannot not use my iBook. From this morning, I was not able to get the iBook started. Everything seems toatally fine, such as the keyboard, battery, power... except for the hard disk. It seems to me that the hard disk is broken or at least the computer is having difficulties to recognize the hard disk.

When I switch on the computer, the grey screen comes up. However, then I can hear this small and slow clicking sound fom the hard disk... then it takes a while for the computer to notify on the screen that it cannot find any system files or OS to boot the computer. (a flash of the mac face and a picture of the classic file image with a ? mark on it).

I'ver tried a lot of thing... I've taken the battery for a night and left it and I've restarted the computer many times. I also tired booting from the Tiger CD, which was successful, and I managed to use the disk utility application. Despite it recognized the hard drive, it said that it could not perform any diagnose or repairs since the hard disk seems to be facing a hardware problem. In fact, in red letters, it said that S.M.A.R.T (I don't know what this is) is having a problem.

I guess, the most sensibe thing is to replace the hard disk... although I've thought about getting a macbook, but I thought I could still use it...(last month I bought an Airport card at eBay, the memory was upgraded last year...)... I found out that in Japan I could get the hard disk replaced for about ¥20000 or $200 or £100, but right now I'm in London and I not going to Japan till end of this month. Could anybody give me any advice?

Also I'm wondering if I would ever be able to recover the files on the hard disk. At least the hard disk is sort of moving (I don't know if it is any good sign)... I don't have any extremely high profile type of files saved onto it, but it would be nice to get back some of my recent music and photos...

Any advice would be grately appreciated!

Thanks

iBook G3 600MHz, 20GB, 640MB, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 9, 2006 6:45 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

mhunter

Level 6

9,185 points

Jul 9, 2006 7:34 PM in response to knzf

Hello,

That is definitely a hard drive failure.

S.M.A.R.T. is a built-in diagnostics and warning system. It's designed to be an early failure notification system. But, doesn't help you if nothing tells you about the errors.

You can read about this here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88410

You need a new hard drive, and they can be replaced. But, it may not be easy or cheap.

These small drives start at around $70 for a 40 to 60 GB drive, and go up from there.

Here's some to look at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

And, the iBooks are a challenge to get into.

So, it's something you could do yourself. But, you would need to be very detailed in your work, and it would be time consuming.

You can read about the process here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide

As for the drive, I would guess that it may be too late to recover much now. It's possible, but likely too late.

You would need to try reading it from a working system. Perhaps put your computer into Target Disk Mode, and read it from another computer.

You can read about those steps here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=151958

I hope this helps.

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Answer 2

knzf Author

Level 1

95 points

Jul 12, 2006 4:23 PM in response to mhunter

Thank you mhunter for your helpful information!

I went to London's Tottenham Court Road to search for a place where they could replace hard drives. I'm more sure they are quite a few there, but out of the places that I tried Microanvika was the only place that was able to offer the service. However, they seemed to have a limited range of hard drives for some reason and they were extremely expensive. (I guess it's the problem of this country).

After having visited the links you gave me, I knew that it was too expensive to pay £60 for a 40GB plus £80 for labour fee. A total of £140 ($280ish?)to get a new hard disk and get it installed was quite over my budget.

I later decided that I should wait until when I get to Japan in two weeks time. It seems like I can get a Seagate hard disk 40GB installed with ¥20000, which is like $200. Although the ifixit instructions seemed very comprehensible and user friendly, the process seemed too difficult for me carry out.

Nevertheless, your advice was extremely helpful.

Meanwhile, I have another question. I would be grateful if anybody has the solution. I currently have a iPod mini, which has about 300 songs uploaded from tmy iBook, before the hard disk experienced the problem.
I am now wondering if it anyway possible to upload the songs that I have on my iPod to my G3 iMac, which I am currently using as a backup.

Also, I may have asked this before, or maybe not, but is it impossible to recover the file on the 'broken' hard disk in anyway? Well, the hard disk does make sounds, but it is not recognised when upload from CD's.

Any advice and information would be appreciated!

Thanks

iBook G3 600MHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

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Answer 3

mhunter

Level 6

9,185 points

Jul 12, 2006 4:39 PM in response to knzf

Hello,

Nevertheless, your advice was extremely helpful.

Glad to help 🙂

I am now wondering if it anyway possible to upload
the songs that I have on my iPod to my G3 iMac, which
I am currently using as a backup.

Yes.

Here is the method you need:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61131

Also, I may have asked this before, or maybe not, but
is it impossible to recover the file on the 'broken'
hard disk in anyway? Well, the hard disk does make
sounds, but it is not recognised when upload from
CD's.

Well, it depends.

It is never impossible, as you can always send your drive off to have the information manually extracted from the disk in a laboratory. But, that costs a lot of money.

But, if the drive is able to be connected and read in any fashion, then perhaps you can copy some files from it.

But, if all it is doing is clicking, then I would suspect that most of your option are gone. You need to be able to get a computer to recognize the hard drive before you can do anything with it.

So, the only options I could suggest, are FireWire Target disk mode to read the drive from another computer (if it will work):

You can read about that here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

Or, installing it in an external hard drive enclosure, and trying to read the hard drive with another computer.

If none of that works, then you are probably down to the laboratory method. That's very expensive.

Any advice and information would be appreciated!

Well, I'm not sure how much help it is. But, that's all I can really suggest.

I hope this helps.

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Answer 4

knzf Author

Level 1

95 points

Jul 13, 2006 3:20 PM in response to mhunter

Thanks again for the great help, mhunter!

A. I was able to upload all of my song on my iPod onto my iMac and to an external hard disk. (Although I did not have all of the songs that were in my iBook svaed on my iPod, I'm glad that I have most of the ones that I like!)

B. Unfortunately, the iMac that I have doesn't have a Firewire port so I could not use target mode... perhaps I will try ask some one who might have a Mac.... if not do you think if I take it to the Genius Bar at the AppleStore in London, they would sort of help me do this?...

C. I found several site on the interent where they said that they wold be able to recover files from broken HD's. However as you told me they are extremely expensive...

Meanwhile...(sorry this is not a typical Mac question, but...) my mother has a Sony VAIO laptop, which has circuit problem and does not even turn on. Apparently it's quite an expensive job to get it fixed so we are not really considering to get it repaired. However, my mother wants the contents inside the ard disk recovered. Unlike my iBook, the hard disk in the VAIO should be perfectly alright so I'm thinking that it's not a huge problem... We asked one company here, and they said that they will do it for £200 (about $400)... which I think is over priced for what I think would be a simple job...
I'm thinking that all what needs to be done is to A. get the hard disk removed from the computer. B. then put the harddisk to a caddie type of thing or whatever it's called then C. connect it to a computer via USB, which will treat the VAIO harddisk as a removable disk... Surely, this is not something that would cost $400...I think

On the other hand, I am just wondering which disk would be a good type to fit into my iBook? I'm thinking about a 40GB 5400rpm... but I'm not sure which make is good...toshiba? hitachi? ibm? seagate?...

I would be grateful if anybody could give me some advice!
Thanks

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Answer 5

mhunter

Level 6

9,185 points

Jul 13, 2006 3:38 PM in response to knzf

Hello,

Thanks again for the great help, mhunter!

You're very welcome 🙂

A. I was able to upload all of my song on my iPod
onto my iMac and to an external hard disk. (Although
I did not have all of the songs that were in my iBook
svaed on my iPod, I'm glad that I have most of the
ones that I like!)

At least you were able to get those back 🙂

That's better than nothing.

B. Unfortunately, the iMac that I have doesn't have a
Firewire port so I could not use target mode...
perhaps I will try ask some one who might have a
Mac.... if not do you think if I take it to the
Genius Bar at the AppleStore in London, they would
sort of help me do this?...

They might. But, I would expect that they would want a fee for it. I don't know what they might charge.

C. I found several site on the interent where they
said that they wold be able to recover files from
broken HD's. However as you told me they are
extremely expensive...

Yes, very expensive.

I'm thinking that it's not a huge problem... We asked
one company here, and they said that they will do it
for £200 (about $400)... which I think is over priced
for what I think would be a simple job...

Yes, that is over-priced.

I'm thinking that all what needs to be done is to A.
get the hard disk removed from the computer. B. then
put the harddisk to a caddie type of thing or
whatever it's called then C. connect it to a computer
via USB, which will treat the VAIO harddisk as a
removable disk...

That is exactly what you need to do. It should work just fine.

Just place the hard drive into an external enclosure, and plug it into the new machine. It will be readable on any PC immediately.

If the drive is in FAT32 format, then you could also read and write it with a Mac.

But, if it's in the NTFS format, then all you could do with a Mac is read it.

But, any PC running Windows will be able to read and write the drive just fine.

Surely, this is not something that
would cost $400...I think

Definitely not. If you do it yourself, it might cost around $50 total. That assumes that you buy your own enclosure and cable to connect it to the computer.

Just make sure you get an enclosure that will accept the hard drive from a portable computer like her Vaio.

So, you might want to remove the drive first, and then buy a case that matches that drive (same interface / connector and size).

Most portable hard drive enclosures should work fine. Portable computers typically use 2.5-inch drives instead of the 3.5-inch drives found in desktop computers.

On the other hand, I am just wondering which disk
would be a good type to fit into my iBook? I'm
thinking about a 40GB 5400rpm... but I'm not sure
which make is good...toshiba? hitachi? ibm?
seagate?...

IBM sold their hard drive division to Hitachi. Hitachi actually has made the drives for many years anyway, and they were just sold under the IBM brand.

Personally, I would choose either the Hitachi or Seagate drives.

Seagate is going to be much easier to deal with on returns and warranty claims for the end-user (you).

Hitachi makes excellent drives. But, they are generally centered more around supporting system builders. So, while they have a great warranty, it may not be as easy to file a claim as it is with Seagate.

You can just fill-out a claim on Seagate's website and a replacement is arranged. It's that simple.

I would be grateful if anybody could give me some
advice!
Thanks

I hope the comments above are helpful.

Let me know if you have additional questions.

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