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willshaker · Mar 10, 2008, 12:44 PM

Hi there,

I'm hoping I can get some help on how to bring my eMac back from the dead. I. running 10.3.9 on the machine. Was using it when it froze up and got the evil rainbow pinwheel. Tried to do a force quit to no avail. Tried to power down using the power button - no go. Had to unplug.

When I tried to start it up, I only got a white screen. No Apple logo, nothing. It just sits there staring blankly at me (and I stare back of course...and mutter a few choice words)

I had a service agreement that expired in December of 07 - perfect timing. It came with a repair utility disc, which I tried. It loads up the interface, but fails to recognize the hard drive. The error was something like "fix the hard drive and try again". DUH!!! ...trying to do that now!

Pried open the drive again and popped in the Install/Restore disc. Tried to run the utility on this disc. It sees the hard drive on the list in the left, but all the buttons are greyed out and it says 0MB (ugh...I'm starting to think I've lost everything at this point). So, I can't repair from here either.

Broke down and pulled out the User's Manual. Found out how to run the Apple Hardware check. Ran the check and it found no problems with hardware or memory, but it still won't start up. Also tried to clear the P RAM (is that right?) upon start - still no joy.

When I do a boot, it makes a weird clicking noise, like it's trying to access the drive or something. No idea what it is.

Fearing that I'm hosed, but thought I'd run it by the experts here....

Thanks in advance for any assistance....

Big Mac · Mar 10, 2008, 01:29 PM

The drive's dead, Jim.

willshaker · Mar 10, 2008, 01:46 PM

just damn...thanks for the response, even though it's not what I wanted to hear.

Do you think there's any chance someone could recover the data or would I just be wasting money? Is it pretty easy to replace the drive in an eMac for a non-techie person?

thanks again (sigh...)

Big Mac · Mar 10, 2008, 02:03 PM

You can try Data Rescue II if the drive is visible, but I wouldn't say the prognosis is good for recovery. As for replacing the drive in your eMac, unfortunately it's not that easy. You'd probably be better off using an external drive.

CharlesS · Mar 10, 2008, 02:27 PM

Here's a page I found describing how to disassemble an eMac, in case you're willing to attempt replacing the hard drive yourself:

eMac Disassembly

Looks like a PITA, but doable. I'd pay attention to the warning about CRT monitors - be careful, don't electrocute yourself.

Alternatively, you could either see what a local repair shop will charge to do the replacement for you, or you could just use this as an excuse to get a new Mac.

If you do remove the hard drive, you can later on get an external FireWire enclosure (this is a pretty good one) and put the hard drive inside that for the purposes of trying out some recovery procedures (your best bet is Data Rescue II, like Big Mac suggested). Afterward, you can throw away the defective drive and put a new, working hard drive in the enclosure and use it as a backup drive for Time Machine (if you upgrade to Leopard) or something like Retrospect (if you stay with 10.3.9) so you'll be backed up in case something like this ever happens again.

Big Mac · Mar 10, 2008, 02:52 PM

The electrocution risk is real. I have never tried to disassemble as CRT Mac, but I have spoken to those who have and you have to use a special tool to release the stored voltage in the monitor before doing anything, and they say it is definitely a real PITA. It's probably an even better idea to buy a replacement Mac at this point - especially considering how cheap many great Power Macs are listing on eBay now.

willshaker · Mar 10, 2008, 03:06 PM

Big Mac and CharlesS -

Thanks, this information is very helpful. I don't think I'm up for a possible electrocution at the moment, so I'll be skipping the DIY approach - thanks for the warning.

I think I'm going to check into pricing on a replacement drive. If it's too much, I may look into getting the drive removed for possible data recovery...and start shopping for a new Mac.

Thanks again - I really appreciate your input and advice!

Big Mac · Mar 10, 2008, 03:30 PM

Glad to have been of help and sorry you had to experience a drive failure.

CharlesS · Mar 10, 2008, 03:52 PM

If you decide to go with the "new Mac" route, you might not have to worry about getting the old drive out of the eMac - in this case, you can just start up the eMac with the T key down and it becomes basically a giant FireWire hard drive that you can connect to the new Mac with a FireWire cable and try your data recovery stuff.

I'd still recommend you get an external hard drive though, since if you get a new Mac, you'll be getting Leopard on it anyway, and having a Time Machine backup will be a lifesaver if something like this ever happens again.

willshaker · Mar 10, 2008, 04:00 PM

Thanks Charles. That's really good to know...I was actually considering an Office Space scenario

although, that electrocution thing would probably still be in play if I used a metal baseball bat.

...and yes, I will definitely have a backup solution moving forward.

The one piece of good news in all of this is that about 2 weeks ago, I decided that I should probably back up all of my pictures from iPhoto. That's probably the only thing that was truly irreplaceable and I'm so glad I made the time to do it.

Thanks again!

CharlesS · Mar 10, 2008, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by willshaker

Thanks Charles. That's really good to know...I was actually considering an Office Space scenario

although, that electrocution thing would probably still be in play if I used a metal baseball bat.

You'd also end up with a real mess, with broken glass from the screen all over the room. I wouldn't recommend it.

...and yes, I will definitely have a backup solution moving forward.

The one piece of good news in all of this is that about 2 weeks ago, I decided that I should probably back up all of my pictures from iPhoto. That's probably the only thing that was truly irreplaceable and I'm so glad I made the time to do it.

That's good to hear - it's always better if you have a backup of your important data.

Thanks again!

Any time.

Peter · Mar 12, 2008, 06:46 AM

just firewire boot it of fan external and use that

Tombo · Mar 14, 2008, 08:52 AM

Will, you can probably still salvage the eMac. Here is my advice from being an electronics technician. You should be able to get the HDD out and a new one in with no problems and minimal risk of shock. Looking at the disassembly it looks pretty safe. My suggestion should you decide to do this is, remove power from it, then hit the power button which should discharge any remaining voltage in the Mac. This should minimize the voltage if there is any on the CRT. Also if you are still concerned with voltage being on the CRT you can get a device to ground the CRT(won't ruin it) to be sure you wont get electrocuted and do the 60 HZ shuffle. You can get these at most RadioShacks and other electronic repair shops. Also I just looked at the disassembly again it appears as though the HD is on the bottom by the disk drive and there should be very minimal risk of actually being electrocuted. I now think the biggest risk is shocking the new HD when you install. They are sensitive to ElectroStaticDischarge(the same shock when you rub your feet on the carpet and touch a door knob. Anyway that is my advice. A little long winded and some rambling but I hope this sheds some light on you situation. Good luck man and if you have any Q's let me know.

EdipisReks · Mar 18, 2008, 01:01 AM

i've had dozens of eMacs apart at work, and i've never been shocked. the eMacs are a pain to work with, but take your time, don't stick your finger into the CRT yoke (the eMacs should have a bleeder that will discharge the yoke after an hour or so, but just keep your hands away from anything on the back of the CRT), and follow the instructions, and you should be fine (warning: EdipisReks takes no responsibility if you do zap yourself, your property, or anything else). make sure you rest the screen on a soft, clean cloth.

EdipisReks · Mar 18, 2008, 01:03 AM

if you're really worried about shock, take it to a tv repair place (or make your own discharge tool), and have the CRT discharged.

msuper69 · Mar 22, 2008, 07:52 PM

Take a screwdriver, touch it to the chassis then stick the end under the high-voltage rubber boot. It will discharge the CRT. I used to do this back in the days when I would test all the TV tubes when I worked at a repair shop (late '60s). Even if you do get shocked (which I occasionally got), the worst danger is from scraping your skin against the sharp metal casing when you instinctively jerk your arm away.

MacPro8Core · Mar 23, 2008, 11:49 AM

You know I had a very similar problem last week with my Mac Mini which for no apparent reason did the same thing using 10.5 leopard. I took the drive out and installed it into my Mac Pro (or any other computer/enclosure) and then using disk utility I completely formatted the hard drive. I then reinstalled it back into the Mac Mini and then the system recognized it and I reinstalled the OS. That worked for me but instead of going through all that trouble with formatting it, if you have the extra $$ a newer bigger drive could always work as well. By brother has an eMac and they are great machines so definitely salvage it if you can.

willshaker · Mar 24, 2008, 11:22 AM

Hi all - thanks for all the great information and advice. I don't think I'm feeling handy enough to get into the case myself, but will probably take it to someone to see if they can recover the data. The first quote a I got for this type of service was 150.00 per hour, which seems high, but I don't have anything to compare it to.

Again, I really appreciate everyone's input and helpfulness!