[whiterose]

I have a Powerbook G4, 1.33 gHz, with a 60GB Toshiba hard drive. Well, the other day, I am embarassed to admit, my computer fell from my desk to the floor (I'm still not exactly sure how; one moment it was sitting there nicely, the next it was crashing down). It has, by all appearances, been running fine even after that incident.

However, the next disk scan I ran (later that same evening) my hard drive's S.M.A.R.T. status is reporting as "failing" and I have a message reading

This drive has reported a fatal hardware error to Disk Utility.

If the drive has not failed completely, back up as much data as you can and then replace
it with a working drive.

As I mentioned, the computer seems to be running fine. I'm a college student, and don't exactly have money to throw around on repairing something that may or may not fail on me. The failure message seems rather no nonsense, however, I would like to know if anyone has recieved this message and had their drive continue to function normally for any considerable length of time. Even if I have a chance of keeping this drive running until after Spring Break, so I can get in a couple weeks of full time work and have the money to fix it without enduring financial hardship, that would be a relief. While running it, I've been backing up all my important documents immediately after they are typed up, so loss of work is not an issue if it does fail on me.

So, has anyone had the drive failure message and had their Powerbook not fail immediately? Can the S.M.A.R.T status possibly be wrong?

Also, as there are a couple other issues with the laptop I would like looked at, when I do get the drive replaced/upgraded, I may opt to send it in to one of the 24 hour turnaround internet services. The last time I had work done (keyboard replacement and a couple other things) by one of these companies I went on a friend's reccomendation, and was consistantly charged prices higher than I was originally quoted before I sent it in (on actual items which should have concrete prices; I would have understood if it was on a service which may have been more difficult than they originally thought or something). The repairs wound up costing me over $700 on something that I was told would cost around $300. Then when I got the computer back more than two days past the 24 hour turnaround promised, I found that the keyboard that they installed was faulty. This was covered by their 90 day warranty, so I sent it back in, and when I got it back again, there was a big dent in the side of the bottom casing right near my ethernet port.

This time I am trying to research the companies a little better before I entrust my poor computer to them. I am looking at the companies MacServe and TechRestore. Has anyone here had any experience - good or bad - with these companies? Have you used any other service for Mac repairs that has had quick turnaround and taken good care of your computer?

Edited to repair the MacServe url.

[ewiser]

Well I have used MacResQ with great luck fast and speedy service. Prices where on line and the repairs where made.
http://www.powerbookresq.com/

[k squared]

I had the same message reported to me (on the same PB, except mine had the 80 GB HD) and it failed shortly afterward. It will not boot but Data Rescue can see and copy files from it.

Back up. Now.

Replacement 60 GB 5400rpm drives are running around $110 online. A local authorized reseller quoted me $55 for installation. Not a bad deal.

[SSharon]

Yes, Backup right now. I don't think I have ever heard of a time where a drive lasted more than 2 weeks after that message.

[uicandrew]

i'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I actually took pictures of my laptop from all different angles before i send it in for service (i sent my compaq laptop) for documentation. definitely back up all your info. good luck

[mduell]

First, get your data off.

Then run SMARTReporter and see what the actual values are; I'm not sure how Disk Utility decides if the drive is failing.

[whiterose]

I have been backing up everything.

I've run SmartReporter and it doesn't seem to tell me much more than Disk Utility did. This is what it reports in its log file.

2006-02-08 17:17:51.201 SMARTReporter[531] ATA Drive: 'TOSHIBA MK6025GAS' - SMART condition exceeded, drive could fail soon!

Are there any console logs that would give me more information? If I restarted in verbose mode would that tell me anything useful?

And PowerbookResQ was the company I had the initial issues with. I'm beginning to think that this was an isolated incident, as all my friends have had good experiences with them. Also, a couple of the issues (long turn-around time and the dented casing) could have been partially the fault of the carrier or, in the case of the dent, my university mail service as well. This was why I didn't take any action against the company when it happened. Taking pictures of condition before shipping it out is a good idea. I will definitely do that before I send my computer out anywhere next time.

Its interesting the difference in what I've heard. In research I've done on other sites I've read that a drive reporting this failure could last up to a year. However, I'm more inclined to believe the two weeks given here as being more reasonable.

[mduell]

There should be some way to get SMARTReporter to tell you the values of the 20 or so S.M.A.R.T. parameters, to see which one is out of whack.

[8minute]

Yes I agree with everyone else ... backup your data asap. My drive was making weird sounds so I ran disk utility and got a list of errors (can't remember what they were). I managed to repair the errors by running disk utility off the restore cd.

My drive probably lasted another month or so before it really started playing up (weird buzzing sounds, system would freeze randomly) and it happened to die one day after I bought the replacement drive I was planning to install ... talk about timing!

[whiterose]

I have all my data backed up, and I've arranged for the 24 hour hard drive upgrade service from TechRestore. (My parents agreed to help pay for it as part of my birthday present). My Powerbood should be getting a nice new 60GB 7200RPM drive and back to me by around Tuesday.