Earlier this week, I had two FireWire hard drives apparently die on me. I'm posting here hoping someone can either help me to restore these drives or offer suggestions for a replacement storage method, between a single large FireWire HD or a FireWire DVD-R drive.
The Information:- Drive 1- 40gb FireWire HD purchased from TransIntl.com in fall of 2001. Enclosure is the OWC Mercury Elite.
- Drive 2- 20gb FireWire HD purchased from Poweron.com in July of 2003. The drive itself is a Quantum. (link to product page)
- PowerMac G3*
400mhz
448mb RAM
9gb IBM SCSI drive
DVD
Zip
10.2.6
*(The G3 is on loan to me while my iBook is fixed by AppleCare. iBook specs are below)
- iBook (Dual-USB)
500mhz G3
640mb RAM
10gig 2.5'' IDE
DVD
10.2.6
The issue:
I was recording in ProTools LE 6.1 to the first drive and both FireWire hard drives in my chain somehow unmounted themselves. ProTools developed "spinning beachball syndrome" and had to be force quit. When I plugged the first drive back in, I received this ill message:
You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read. To use the unreadable volumes, click Initialize. To continue with the disk inserted, click Ignore.
Not wanting to lose any data, I clicked ignore, as a result, the drive didn't mount. I turned the first off and tried the second. Same message, same result.
I first tried using a OS 9 version of Tech Tool that came with AppleCare to see if I could recover any of the information. It only came up with half of the data on one partition (out of three). I booted back into OS X and tried to format the drive. Disk Utility succeeded in merging the 3 partitions back into one, but would not title that partition or mount it in the Finder. Still no solution. I tried using a copy of Intech's Hard Disk speed tools to reformat the drive, but again, this was a no go, exact same outcome as with Tech Tool.
As a last resort, I pulled out the Jaguar install CD, and was relieved to see that its version of Disk Utility could properly format and mount the drive. I rebooted back onto my startup drive, and was met with the same ridiculous error as before. I tried the Jaguar CD again, this time opting to install the os onto the firewire drive. This worked, but upon reboot (to finish with disc 2 and set up the administrator account) the drive was not found. I still have not been able to mount the drive with my current boot disk.
The reaction:
At this point in time, I'm really frustrated. I've knowingly destroyed all the data on the first drive, yet it is still unusable. The second drive, which contains most of my important files (two years worth of documents and ten gigs of music) seems to be KIA as well. I'd really appreciate
your help with either of the following:[list=1][*] Somehow, some way, get these drives fixed.
The TransIntl drive is out of warranty, so I'd be paying someone to fix it, but don't have a clue as to who specializes in FireWire HD repairs. I may be able go get PowerOn to replace the second drive, but I'd really like to save the data on it if at all possible. If anyone on this forum has had a similar experience with a FireWire HD problem, and/or as a solution, I'd be most grateful for your assistance.[*] Buying a new drive.
I figure I can cut my losses and start fresh with a single, large capacity FireWire HD. I'm partial to OWC because of their support and service in the past, but quite leery as I'd be purchasing an updated version of the same enclosure as the failed. My budget would be $200.00, and I'd prefer at least a 60gb, 7200rpm drive. Any suggestions?[*] Buy a FireWire DVD-R drive.
As the drive was used mostly for data storage and back-up anyways, I wonder if a DVD-R drive may be a viable alternative? ReWrite support is a bigger priority than iApp integration (as iDVD won't work with an external drive anyways, and it seems fool hardy to spend $380.00 on an internal drive for my aging iBook. As a plus, I could reuse the drive with my next computer. What is recommended?[*] Wait it out.
I'll be in the market for a new machine by January, and plan on picking up a Gigabook with SD or the lower end of the 15'' if they are updated by then. I could survive with my iBook's internal hard drive and save up for the newer computer which would have a larger drive and DVD-R anyways. The only major disadvantage, is I wouldn't be able to run ProTools, and I still don't have a decent back up solution.[/list=1]
I'm at the end of my rope as far as troubleshooting goes. I really appreciate those that took the time to read through my dilemma and thank in advance those who offer their sage advice!
edit: tried to make the thread's title less confusing.
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