[fishguy]

I have a Sonnet fusion 400 external sata box running with my mac pro (internal e-port sata card). After about 8 years with Macs and about 1.5 or so with this current config, I had a hard drive go bad. The drive is a Seagate 7200.10 250 GB.

I don't have a great deal on the drive it is less than half full. However, I have home video footage from 2001 that has sentimental meaning (New infant, etc.).

The error code in disc utility said "Invalid header node". Is that specific enough to mean anything useful to either get the files off or repair the drive? The drive will still appear with name in disc utility but it will no longer mount.

A related question would be if I need to worry more about the longevity in drives in an external enclosure rather than in the Bays in the Mac pro.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Frankeinstein]

I'm sorry that I dont specifically have a solution or idea regarding the "Invalid header node" error you received, the only thing about that i would suggest like probably anyone else (and im sure youve heard many times ) is DiskWarrior...it was designed to diagnose and fix those errors.

Originally Posted by fishguy 

A related question would be if I need to worry more about the longevity in drives in an external enclosure rather than in the Bays in the Mac pro.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

regarding harddrives and enclosures...my best bet would be to invest in a nice decent External Enclosure with atleast FW400 or if you can USB2.0/FW400/Fw800/eSata a combo of those would be ideal.
I like the ICY DOCK's MB559UEA-1S USB2.0/FW400 eclosure. (just slap it in the drive sled and slide it in, NO internal cables..VERY similar to the MacPro drive sleigh)
then invest in SATA drives (dirt cheap... 250Gb drives on newegg are roughly 70$ ~ 80$ a piece) 320Gb ~90$

I got the case for like $60 and a 500Gb for 99$ ~159$ for my own set up compared to roughly $200+ for a prebuilt one who knows for sure if its reliable.

that way you dont have to be limited by manufactured drives that may or may not be reliable...or if something happens to the drive or enclosure/psu your out the Premium you paid for it.
you can take drives out when you need to do a quick back up or transfer files so you dont have to keep investing in external drives at a limited storage capacity.


goodluck.