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funkboy · Jan 17, 2006, 05:47 PM

I opened Disk Utility last night to create an image, and the S.M.A.R.T. verification at the bottom of the window said "failed." It said my Mac Mini's boot drive is failing and I should back up my files. So I backed up, then restarted. SMART still said it was failing.

So this morning I reboot and SMART now says the hard drive is verified, that everything is normal.

How worried should I be? What would be the best thing to do?

My Mini is still under warranty with Apple, though only for another month or two. I suppose the obvious answer is send it in - of course, I'd rather not be without the Mini for a couple weeks, but maybe I need to bite the bullet on that. If Apple runs diagnostic tests, though, and SMART says the drive is fine, will they maybe not replace anything at all, and I will have just been out a computer for a couple weeks?

It happened to be not long after upgrading to 10.4.4, but I don't know if that was the cause. And like I said, now SMART says the drive is fine.

Ideas would be very welcome.

baw · Jan 17, 2006, 07:33 PM

What does Apple Hardware Test say?

mduell · Jan 17, 2006, 08:28 PM

What are the actual S.M.A.R.T. parameter values? (download SMARTReporter from Version Tracker if you don't have another way to get them)

Eriamjh · Jan 19, 2006, 07:04 PM

If the SMART reported it failing, I bet it will agan later. Do you really want to chance it? Call Apple and see what they say.

ghporter · Jan 20, 2006, 07:26 AM

S.M.A.R.T. really is pretty smart. As Eriamjh says, if it says it once, it's likely to say it again later. And with an intermittent issue, you're definitely in for trouble. Still under warranty?

funkboy · Jan 21, 2006, 11:23 AM

It now reports it is failing again.

Yes, I am still under warranty. I'm going to call Apple today and let them know about this.

I was running SMARTReporter when it notified me of the problem, but it doesn't let me see the parameters at all... and it won't launch right now, I think because it has already notified me that my drive is reporting as failing.

I don't think I have my Apple Hardware test CD here...

funkboy · Jan 21, 2006, 11:27 AM

I am really tired of the slowness of my mini, too, and I wonder if the hard drive has something to do with that. i guess I won't know unless I get the HD replaced, but I wonder how much faster a new iMac would be...

ghporter · Jan 22, 2006, 09:17 AM

A failing hard drive will often have to try many times to read the same data, which will slow it way down. I've heard a lot of people say that their Minis were slow because of the slow, laptop drive used, but not so slow that they are complaining about it-just "it's slower than my..."

Have Apple fix the problem and you'll probably see much faster performance.

funkboy · Jan 25, 2006, 10:26 PM

I am going to bring it in to fix it tomorrow.

Does anyone know if I'll be able to get my hard drive back so I can transfer the files to my new drive?

Are there any recommendations as to the best way to move the files from my old drive onto a new drive?

baw · Jan 25, 2006, 10:49 PM

Do you have another firewire equiped Mac?

You could then use target disk mode. Press the power button then hold down "T" until the firewire logo shows.

Big Mac · Jan 25, 2006, 11:56 PM

No, you won't get your drive back. I thought you said you already backed your files up, but if you didn't you need to do so before sending it in.

funkboy · Feb 4, 2006, 10:38 AM

I backed up my files and brought it in to repair. I talked with the service tech there and he said more than likely I'd get a 5400 rpm drive, since Apple has switched all their notebook drives to 5400 (no idea if that's true, but it's what he said).

I get my mini back after 3 days and lo and behold, I still have an 80GB, 4200 rpm drive. I really hope they actually replaced it, and I hope this 4200 lasts longer than the first one. Another service guy told me the 4200 rpm drives tend to be quite old and have bad ... brackets, I think he said. Some sort of bad parts. I guess I have to stay with this 4200 rpm drive, right? Overall it seems to be going quick... but the Finder says right now it will take about 4 minutes to copy 1.2GB. Is that right? That seems too slow, like the numbers my drive was getting before when it was dying.

Don't expect anything just because the service guy at the store says so....