firewire bus disappeared

Question

firewire bus disappeared

I'm sitting here like an idiot with a complete mental block, unable to even begin to think where to start troubleshooting a FW issue I had never ever heard about, much less experienced myself. Mac user since the oroginal MacPlus came out in thec 1980's 😝.

None of my FW drives are seen by System Profiler, where it simply says:

Not Apple's Disk Utility nor DiskWarrior see any of the attached FW external HDs.

Need a good kick in the pants to get me started. 😝

Will much appreciate any and all help.

Intel Xeon Mac_Pro1,1 [late 2006] 2.66 GHz Quad; 16 GB RAM; mutant/flashed, factory-overclocked 875/1225 "Apple PowerColor" ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1 GB of GDDR5VRAM driving side-by-side dual 22"/24" monitors [shared with the G5-Quad] in Extended-Desktop mode; Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 and Snow Leopard 10.6.8 boot drives; intrusive Spotlight and frivolous Dashboard permanently disabled; USB wireless 'n' available but connected to the Internet and networked via wired Ethernet.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 2.66GHzQuad 2006,16GB RAM,1GB VRAM

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 11:29 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Feb 5, 2016 9:16 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

- Run apple hardware test

Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

- Try resetting the SMC and NVRAM/PRAM

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

About NVRAM and PRAM

- Try starting in Safe Mode

OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

- Boot to Recovery and repair the startup disk

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

Also, when in Recovery see it DU sees a FW drive

- If it is repairable reinstall the OSX

How to reinstall OS X on your Mac - Apple Support

- If you do not have a backup use disk utility to restore the internal disk to an external disk so you can try to recover data.

Then format the startup disk and do a fresh install of OSX

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Answer 2

DonH49

Level 6

16,704 points

Feb 5, 2016 3:47 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

I'd disconnect ALL external devices except keyboard and mouse. Shutdown Mac and disconnect power cord. Wait and plug back in then do an SMS reset and a pram reset. If you don't know how go to apple support and do a search.

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Answer 3

Feb 5, 2016 7:34 AM in response to DonH49

removing the AC power cord for five minutes will do an SMC reset on next application of AC power and power up.

To hurry it along, remove the AC power cord, press and hold the power-on button for a quarter minute with no source of AC power. This discharges the power capacitors in the power supply and can get an SMC reset in far less time.

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Answer 4

Feb 5, 2016 9:12 AM in response to lllaass

Most obliged for the very helpful tips, lllaass.

I have an update to report:

Last night I shut off all external FW drives, after having restarted and rebooted a number of times, then shut off the machine and went to bed.

This morning I turned on the FW drives and booted the machine. To my utter amazement and delight, everything is working as it should. 🙂

I'll study all the responses I received and try to get my head around what (may have) happened.

Thanks to all three expert helpers.

Ramón

Reply

Answer 5

Feb 5, 2016 9:13 AM in response to DonH49

Most obliged for the very helpful tips, Smokerz.

I have an update to report:

Last night I shut off all external FW drives, after having restarted and rebooted a number of times, then shut off the machine and went to bed.

This morning I turned on the FW drives and booted the machine. To my utter amazement and delight, everything is working as it should. 🙂

I'll study all the responses I received and try to get my head around what (may have) happened.

Thanks to all three expert helpers.

Ramón

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 5, 2016 9:15 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Most obliged for the very helpful tips, Grant Bennet-Alder.

I have an update to report:

Last night I shut off all external FW drives, after having restarted and rebooted a number of times, then shut off the machine and went to bed.

This morning I turned on the FW drives and booted the machine. To my utter amazement and delight, everything is working as it should. 🙂

I'll study all the responses I received and try to get my head around what (may have) happened.

Thanks to all three expert helpers.

Ramón

Reply