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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Consumer Hardware & Components > Help! "...no volumes that Mac OS X can read"

Help! "...no volumes that Mac OS X can read"
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immsav
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Oct 15, 2003, 09:31 AM
 
Is all of my work lost for good?

I backed up all of my applications and my users directory to an external firewire disk in preparation for a clean Panther install. (Stupidly, I admit) I then did a clean install of Jaguar just to see if that would make my machine run better. My iBook is a lot faster now, but when I connected the external drive to restore my files and applications, the following message comes up:

"You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read"

There's no way for me to get to my files! The disk doesn't mount to the desktop, and I can't reach it through terminal...

Please help me recover my files!

Thanks for any advice,

immsav
     
tr
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Oct 15, 2003, 10:41 AM
 
can you see the disk in disk utility? and if so, have you tried repairing it?

tr
     
icruise
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Oct 15, 2003, 10:42 AM
 
I'd also try shutting down, rebooting etc a few times just to make sure. You might also try Disk Warrior. It saved my bacon in a similar situation once.
     
immsav  (op)
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Oct 15, 2003, 11:30 AM
 
I can at least *see* the drive in Disk Utility, but all of the options in the First Aid pane are greyed out! It looks like I can erase the disk, but that would be a very, very bad idea.

I'll try the reboot trick, and then I'm going to see if I can mount the disk on another Mac at my office. If that fails, I'll pony up $80 for DiskWarrior.

What are my chances, Doc?

-immsav
     
Macola
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Oct 15, 2003, 12:53 PM
 
The fact that Disk Utility can see the disk is a Good Thing...my bet is that DiskWarrior will fix it for sure. It's always saved my drives in similar situations.

Even if the drive is unmountable, DiskWarrior can probably fix it if you remove it from the case and install it internally in another Mac (assuming you have access to one).
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immsav  (op)
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Oct 15, 2003, 01:55 PM
 
Okay, I restarted three times, and still nothing. Here at work, this old G3 can't see the drive either.

I guess the next step is Disk Warrior. Wish me luck!
     
tr
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Oct 15, 2003, 01:57 PM
 
yeah, that's good that disk utility can see it. one thing that may be overlooked is the cables and connections. i had a problem with my internal RAID, and i would itermittantly lose the disk (like you). i opened up my case, and saw that one of the IDE cables had a pretty bad kink in it, like it got bent or pinched in the hinge of the G4. i replaced it, and all was well.

i'd also recommend disk warrior. it's like $70 i think, but it's a small price to pay if it brings back drives.

tr
     
immsav  (op)
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Oct 15, 2003, 06:58 PM
 
The plot thickens (I hope).

I've installed DiskWarrior on my iBook, and it seems to recognize my Firewire disk as an unknown disk.

Unfortunately, DW says the "Directory cannot be rebuilt because the disk format is unsupported"!

Additionally, the software says:
"Directory cannot be rebuilt because this is not a Ma..."
and
"This disk does not appear on the desktop."
and
"This disk is 115.04 GB in size."

It sounds like DW can see the disk because it is a 120 GB disk, but it can't do anything with it.

Is there anything I can do now?

My big concern--one I'm hesitant to even admit--is that I accidentally wiped the external drive when I rewrote my internal disk with zeros. I was extra careful to only select the iBook's disk during this step, but the Firewire drive *was* still connected...

Would Finder and DiskWarrior behave the same way as they are now if they were looking at a zeroed-out disk.

Somebody please say, "no."

Thanks,

immsav
     
Macola
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Oct 16, 2003, 12:26 PM
 
Do you have access to another desktop or tower? If so, remove your drive from the Fireware case and mount it internally as an IDE drive. Then run DiskWarrior after booting from the CD (not installing) and see if that helps.
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immsav  (op)
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Oct 16, 2003, 09:57 PM
 
Thanks, Macola. I'll try this out Saturday.

-immsav
     
   
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