Hard Drive missing after Repair

Question

Level 1

4 points

Hard Drive missing after Repair

Hi All

I had a problem with the Graphics card in my 2011 iMac 27'', it was broken and I had to bring it in to repair.

After 1 week I received the iMac back and they told me everything is in Order. When I tried to log into my account it couldn't log in, saying that there was a problem with this user account.

I then followed some tips to create another admin account. After having been able to log into this new Admin account, I can't find the 3TB Hard Drive anymore, it only shows the Information for the SSD Drive.

What could be the problem here?

What can I do to fix this without bringing in the iMac again. I have a backup for the data, however it is 30+ days old as we just moved to a new house and the backup was stuck in a box 🙂. During this time there weren't too many important Files, that I couldn't restore, but it would be great if I could avoid backup recoveries.

Thank you for your help, IT would be much appreciated if somebody could guide me into a solution.

Thanks and best regards

Mav

Posted on Jul 13, 2014 7:10 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:15 AM in response to Maverick2805

Can you post the output of diskutil list and diskutil cs list commands?

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Answer 2

Maverick2805 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:20 AM in response to Loner T

diskutil list

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 250.1 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

/dev/disk1

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_partition_scheme *16.7 MB disk1

1: Apple_partition_map 32.3 KB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS Flash Player 16.7 MB disk1s2

diskutil cs list

No CoreStorage logical volume groups found

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:42 AM in response to Maverick2805

Does the Disk Utility show any unformatted drives? It is unlikely that someone from Apple pulled out the HDD and did not connect it back.

The other possibility is that a SATA cable is loose and may need to be reseated.

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Answer 4

Maverick2805 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:48 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

Disk Utility shows the following:

Don't know if that helps, it seems that there is no unformatted drive on there?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers

Mav

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Answer 5

ChitlinsCC

Level 7

20,918 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:52 AM in response to Maverick2805

Maverick....

I am curious as to the service provider for your repair. Was it an Apple Authorized Service Professional (AASP) ?

I had my old Powerbook Pismo repaired by an AASP. He created an "Admin" account for himself.Did your service-person do likewise?

Everything about my Pismo was as I gave it to him when returned.

AASP or not, it seems that this replacement of a graphics card would neither involve monkeying around with your UserID nor with your hard drive(s). I could be wrong of course, but these misbehaviors just don't seem logical for snapping a new graphics card in.

CCC

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Answer 6

ChitlinsCC

Level 7

20,918 points

Jul 13, 2014 8:20 AM in response to ChitlinsCC

sorry, edit timeout caught me and you folks were busy-busy while I multi-tasked.... I was going to add:

Not knowing your system, it is possible that it was necessary to unplug and move your hard drive to access the graphics card. They may have just failed to plug it back in after the replacement. OR the connector might have been nudged loose during the work.

The service-person should make these hardware inspections and make sure everything works as a matter of best practice.

CCC

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 13, 2014 8:36 AM in response to Maverick2805

I think you have a bad SATA connection or bad cable.

The Admin account may have been created for running some Graphics test under OSX. Apple Geniuses would typically create an Apple Diagnostics account (and they usually ask for permission before they take you machine in)

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Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 13, 2014 9:34 AM in response to Maverick2805

Looking at this teardown - https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2428+Teardown/5485

It seems that replacing the GPU requires quite a bit of work, which can impact SATA cables.

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Answer 9

Maverick2805 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 10:44 AM in response to ChitlinsCC

Hi ChitlinsCC

I have had the problem that the iMac didn't start anymore, therefore I called Apple Support (I have AppleCare). They told me it seems to be a broken Graphicscard that I should go to an AASP. They gave me the address of the nearest repair shop and I dropped the iMac there. I was asked the username and login, that they could fully test the iMac after the repair.

When I went to the shop to get the iMac back they told me everything is in order, that they didn't have any problems.

Well, the rest of the story you know.

It's going to be a pain to bring it back there and it's going to be another week without the iMac. But I guess repairing it myself is not an option as I still have 8 months warranty with AppleCare.

Thanks for your hints and help.

Cheers

Mav

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Answer 10

Maverick2805 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2014 10:49 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks for your reply. My hope remains, that it is only a problem of the cable connection to the HardDrive and that all can be restored by reestablishing that connection. However I am not very happy with that AASP, this will result in a 3 weeks downtime for my iMac.

Thanks anyways for your help in this.

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Answer 11

ChitlinsCC

Level 7

20,918 points

Jul 13, 2014 11:00 AM in response to Maverick2805

Maverick2805 wrote:

Hi ChitlinsCC

==SNIP==

It's going to be a pain to bring it back there and it's going to be another week without the iMac. But I guess repairing it myself is not an option as I still have 8 months warranty with AppleCare.

==SNIP==

Mav

This would probably be an easy inspection, BUT opening the case may affect the Warranty - so I wouldn't do it until I was sure it didn't (probably would void it)

Too bad it's not a car. Then you would probably get a nice loaner

Stiff upper lip...

CCC

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Answer 12

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Jul 13, 2014 1:53 PM in response to Maverick2805

Do ensure that when you next pick it up that you boot it up and see that everything works as designed. Doing that will ensure they did the job correctly.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), SL & ML, G4 450 MP w/Leopard, 9.2.2

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Answer 13

Maverick2805 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 17, 2014 2:07 PM in response to Maverick2805

You were correct, they didn't fully reconnect the HDD. After they have done so, all worked perfectly.

The "excuse" was that the apple test showed a green tick for the Harddrive check, as it found one harddrive, eventhough it has two in it 🙂

At least they offered me free work hours on a possible upgrade of my MacBook, let's see if they will remember ;-)

I'm happy that all works now and that I found my backup in the moving-boxes and I could fully back the system up now 🙂

Thanks for the help to all of you!!

Cheers

Mav

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Answer 14

ChitlinsCC

Level 7

20,918 points

Jul 17, 2014 2:51 PM in response to Maverick2805

Mav

I just hate it that I'm right when things are sooo wrong. I must stress the Theory of Occam's Razor is almost always what it turns out to be, whatever the simplest explanation is is likely true.

Congrats on getting it solved and I hope you milk 'em for all the free stuff you can. 👿

CCC

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