BTmy1andonly
Level 1 (8 points)
Desktops

Q: Mac Pro 1,1 Hard drive failure... sorta. Then not.

I have a MacPro 1,1 Quad core 2.66 processor, with what I believe is the original 250 Gb hard drive. I'm running OSX 10.7.5.

Today when I powered it on, I could hear the hard drive spooling up (same sound as normal) then I heard 6 clicks and could hear the hard drive spooling down for a few seconds. It then spooled up again, heard 6 more clicks and it spooled down. Finally it attempted once more to spool up which was followed by 1 click and then spooled down with no more tries at booting up. Monitor showed blank grey screen until about the single click which brought up the grey screen with folder symbol with the question mark in it. I pressed the power button which turned it off. I tried powering up several additional times all with the same pattern of clicks and visuals on the monitor.

 

I did some research and tried to run the Apple Hardware Test by inserting the second of my original install disks and holding down the D key. Instead of bringing up the Apple Hardware Test, my hard drive managed to boot up completely with no clicks, and now appears to be running fine. I restarted and also did shutdowns... my Mac is booting up completely normally. I took the opportunity to make sure I have a recovery disk and the ability to download and install a new copy of Lion if the need comes up any time soon.


The main question is... was this likely an indication of a hard drive failure about to happen, as I tend to want to assume, or was the clicking sound and failure to boot a symptom of something else? Booting up while pressing "D" with the second install disk inserted shouldn't have fixed a hard drive problem... I wouldn't think. Also, anyone know the max size a replacement hard drive could be? I'll go with the same kind of hard drive as is currently in it, but not sure on if I'm limited to the original 250 Gb size.

Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 25, 2015 4:49 PM

Close
BTmy1andonly

Q: Mac Pro 1,1 Hard drive failure... sorta. Then not.

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by The hatter,Helpful

    The hatter The hatter Jan 25, 2015 5:25 PM in response to BTmy1andonly
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jan 25, 2015 5:25 PM in response to BTmy1andonly

    Why bother? it is old, very slow and beyond worry about. You should have a clone and backup, and now is excellent to invest in an SSD device and get some decent I/O which is a big bottleneck. A small fast SSD can do wonders. Add a HGST 2TB for data and another for TimeMachine.

     

    SAMSUNG XP941 M.2 128GB PCI Express MLC Enterprise Solid State Drive SAMSUNG XP941 M.2 128GB PCI Express

     

    Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242)

     

    This is the fastest and works in all Mac Pro models, 400-700MB/sec writes, and only type (XP941) that are bootable in 2006+ starting at $130 plus adapter.

     

    Recover what files you do not have backup of and start with a new drive and clean install then import what you need to the system, and leave media and data on a 2nd drive.

     

    A standard SSD in SATA II drive bay gets 250MB/sec and would cost about $125.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jan 25, 2015 5:59 PM in response to BTmy1andonly
    Level 9 (61,390 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 25, 2015 5:59 PM in response to BTmy1andonly

    I sometimes refer to your adventure as a 'near-death experience'. That drive has had it, and should be replaced as soon as possible.

     

    anyone know the max size a replacement hard drive could be?

     

    Not to worry, buy whatever size you like. Drives up to 3TB are cheap and readily available. The largest drives may have reduced screw depth allowance (need a washer under the heads of two of the mounting screws).

     

    The maximum drive size of Mac OS X after 10.5.3 is 8 Million Terabytes:

     

    Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits - Apple Support


    Green drives are great for backups, but not for Production.

  • by BTmy1andonly,

    BTmy1andonly BTmy1andonly Feb 1, 2015 3:58 PM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 1, 2015 3:58 PM in response to The hatter

    Thanks for letting me know there are other possibilities than just replacing the hard drive with another hard drive. I've been negligent about keeping up with newer technology, like the SSD. I'm not sure I understand your reference to "clone and backup." I assume it's something else besides a standard backup done with Time Machine? I'll do a search for that term in the support community, but wouldn't turn down a link/reference if you have one.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Feb 1, 2015 4:11 PM in response to BTmy1andonly
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Feb 1, 2015 4:11 PM in response to BTmy1andonly

    Or Google as the modern dictionary-encyclopedia or there is www.macupdate.com etc

     

    Carbon Copy Cloner came out in 2002, not that new. SSDs came out August 2008 as far as people buying and installing in their Mac Pro. That is 6 1/2 years new.

    http://www.bombich.com

     

    The best and to me after using a number of such SSDs over the years costs more but slides into PCIe slot.

    Otherwise Samsung $89 EVO 850 128GB or 256GB for ~$139 or less on Amazon. Pick up Icy Dock $15 on Amazon also.

     

    Amazon can sell high quality Nemix FBDIMM kits $23 2x2GB for Mac Pro 2006 - no typo, use to cost $300 for 1GB in 2006.

     

    HGST 2TB or even 1TB data drive also very low cost and excellent.

     

    Getting a more modern graphic card is probably in order if you intend to keep using it.

    http://www.macvidcards.com

     

    4 years and any hdd has changed a lot, and yes I have some from 2008 still in use, a few that work that are older, all my WD 10K VelociRaptor in 150 and 300GB - that were replaced with SSDs.  So 4 years, when warranty is 5, and assume drive will fail and need to be replaced, or just reformatted yearly as well as clean install time with new OS.  Your drive is about 1/3 the performance of any standard HGST / WD today, and 1/10th or less of an SSD. So the SSD is the cheap easy way return on performance for less than $100 ever. The PCIe device, 400-700MB/sec writes, 1000MB/sec reads versus the 50-65MB/sec you now get. Zero latency and seeks are what make it fabulous on top of high I/O 90,000 I/O per second.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Feb 1, 2015 5:38 PM in response to BTmy1andonly
    Level 5 (7,813 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 1, 2015 5:38 PM in response to BTmy1andonly

    BTmy1andonly wrote:

     

    I'm not sure I understand your reference to "clone and backup." I assume it's something else besides a standard backup done with Time Machine?

    The main things to realise…

     

    Clones are a static copy of an OS or disk.

    Generally they don't have the history of older files (some can).

    OS clones are usually bootable - a really fast solution to 'oh carp my disk died' moments.

    Schedule one to be made as often as you can afford to lose data (e.g once a day, or every other day etc).

     

    Time Machine is a 'rolling backup'.

    TM copies new files, preens older stuff & then deletes when space is running out.

    It also excludes some inessential system files (like logs) - technically you will not get an identical copy back from a TM restore.

     

    Archives are for the occasions where you want to store on another media for permanent safekeeping.

    These need to be capable of being read in whatever timeframe you need to store for (a year, a decade…)

    Don't archive with proprietary backup software or proprietary media, otherwise you will have a tough time finding a machine to connect it to it & run the software.

    Several copies on different disks, probably on different media too (e,g. HD + Flash storage + archival DVD's…).

    You may want to revisit archives & duplicate them to new media once in a while depending on how important it is.

     

    Ideally you would have some offsite copies to protect against fire/ theft etc.

     

    If you are in business you need to employ all options, if it's just iTunes music & some family photos, you still need to employ 3 types of backup