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badidea · May 23, 2005, 04:09 AM

I did a routine check of my HDs 2 weeks ago and DiskWarrior found severe problems on one HD that it claimed to be not repairable (wow, never had that before with DW)!

Here's what I did then:
- checked with DiskUtility and it found a problem that got repaired
- checked again with DU and no more problems
- checked again with DW and still the same severe problem that was not repairable
- checked with TechToolPro and it found several problems that got repaired
- checked again with TTP and no more problems
- checked again with DW and still the same severe problem that was not repairable

Since I actually didn't have any noticable problems with this HD (it was only a routine check how I found out about it) I though what the heck...and stopped thinking about it...

Yesterday the HD didn't mount anymore!!!

What now?? I need help! I am thinking about buying a new one and trying to recover it to the new one...

(please no comments about backups! This HD is my largest one and it was actually used for backups but as the time went on, I ran out of space and started to use it for data storage too. I didn't have space anywhere else to backup this one! It's 160GB and was about 85% full...)

f1000 · May 23, 2005, 04:33 AM

Data Rescue X. Download the demo and pray to God that it can "see" some of your files.

Sacrifice a PC while you're at it.

badidea · May 23, 2005, 09:27 AM

Thanks for the reply!
I already considered Data Rescue X but I was hoping for a more convenient solution

- I just don't get why this HD was working flawlessly with this error for 2 weeks and now it doesn't want to mount anymore...

Detrius · May 23, 2005, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by badidea

Thanks for the reply!
I already considered Data Rescue X but I was hoping for a more convenient solution

- I just don't get why this HD was working flawlessly with this error for 2 weeks and now it doesn't want to mount anymore...

Just because you didn't see anything going on doesn't mean it was working flawlessly. For all you know, it was spewing garbage all over all kinds of files, and you just didn't see it. Just because the computer booted doesn't mean it wasn't broken.

mportuesi · May 23, 2005, 07:44 PM

If you saw a big problem two weeks ago, why did you just keep on using a suspect drive? And why didn't you make a backup of your important data THEN?

I understand people not having backups and then getting caught by surprise, but in this instance the drive gave you ample warning. Even if you had to max out your credit card to get another drive for backup, it would have been better than losing all your data.

Good luck getting your data back.

f1000 · May 23, 2005, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by badidea

Thanks for the reply!
I already considered Data Rescue X but I was hoping for a more convenient solution

- I just don't get why this HD was working flawlessly with this error for 2 weeks and now it doesn't want to mount anymore...

If your data is truly valuable (i.e., work-related), then I suggest that you stop any further repair attempts and send the drive in to a data recovery service.

Otherwise, one thing you could try is to swap drive enclosures. Alternatively, you could place the drive in a Ziplock baggie, freeze it, and then bang it on a table before reinstalling it. It worked for me with a drive with clacking heads.

ryaxnb · May 23, 2005, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by badidea

Thanks for the reply!
I already considered Data Rescue X but I was hoping for a more convenient solution

- I just don't get why this HD was working flawlessly with this error for 2 weeks and now it doesn't want to mount anymore...

HDs are very finicky - one more tiny problem will rock the whole boat. Frankly, upon the errors, you should have bought a second HD/REV drive/DVD/whatever and immediately backed up all essential data. A bunch of weird errors indicates a failing hard drive...

badidea · May 24, 2005, 12:28 PM

Ok, some more explanation what was going on and why I was stupid enough to do nothing:

- The only application that saw the error was DiskWarrior! If I wouldn't have it, I would have never noticed the error - and if I wouldn't have done a rountine check, even DiskWarrior would have never warned me before the drive failed! (since neither DiskUtility nor TechToolPro noticed this problem, I thought that it could maybe be an error of DiskWarrior - I now know that I SHOULD ALWAYS LISTEN TO DISKWARRIOR!!!

)

- The error is NOT hardware related (no clacking heads) - it's some severe error with the catalog B-Tree (or something) that seems to be unrepairable!

- I can still see ALL my data with Data Rescue X and I am waiting for a friend who wants to bring me his 200GB HD so that I can recover my 160GB HD to this one...I hope most will be recoverable!!

typoon · May 24, 2005, 12:31 PM

To recover data I've used both Data rescue AND file Salvage. Both of them actually got back about 3/4 of a customer's drive before I reformatted. The recovery took all day. Good thing I had other things to work on.

badidea · May 24, 2005, 12:52 PM

I was wrong with the catalog B-Tree error - that's how it looks like:

http://www.badidea99.de/drive.jpg

Person Man · May 24, 2005, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by badidea

- The only application that saw the error was DiskWarrior! If I wouldn't have it, I would have never noticed the error - and if I wouldn't have done a rountine check, even DiskWarrior would have never warned me before the drive failed! (since neither DiskUtility nor TechToolPro noticed this problem, I thought that it could maybe be an error of DiskWarrior - I now know that I SHOULD ALWAYS LISTEN TO DISKWARRIOR!!!

)

I would have used multiple utilities myself, but even if one told me there was an unfixable error, I would have immediately copied everything off (that I could), and then reformatted and copy everything back. Regardless of how many other programs told me there was no error.

badidea · Aug 15, 2005, 02:00 PM

...and 3 months later the HD has the same severe error again!!!!!

But this time it's not alone - another HD (I have 4) also has the problem!!!!!

I bought a new 250GB HD and copied everything over because the HDs luckily haven't failed yet - I just found the error with a routine Diskwarrior check as last time.

What's going on here??
Why does my data directory get destroyed all the time?
Whom should I blame?

Is anyone here who uses iGetter and has seen similar problems before?

OreoCookie · Aug 15, 2005, 05:21 PM

Hmmm, what about the cables? Do they look alright to you? Are they bent?

Love Calm Quiet · Aug 16, 2005, 08:17 AM

Are you suggesting iGetter might be involved in your problems?:
?? "Is anyone here who uses iGetter and has seen similar problems before?" ??

I don't see how an ordinary app could have such an impact on HD(s?), but I'm not liking some of the problems described for iGetter:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6175

I'm also having trouble following the chronology of your problems:
First you mention only one problem with one disk.
Then you mention having had the same problem before. (?on same HD?)
...and having *another* HD with same diagnostic?

I'm not a HD expert but those who are might have some observations if you could give the full history.

mousehouse · Aug 16, 2005, 08:26 AM

maybe your drives are getting too hot within their enclosures shortening the lifespan of these drives?

also, keep in mind that standard IDE drives are built with "consumer quality" and not built for heavy duty 24x7 use (search for the class-action lawsuit against IBM for their completely crap DTLA series that cost me most of my personal archives).

badidea · Aug 16, 2005, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Hmmm, what about the cables? Do they look alright to you? Are they bent?

Can this be an issue? Yes, they are bent! The 4 HDs in my Quicksilver have very little space (but it's build for 4 HDs) and one cable was just long enough but it's quite bent - I'll have to check, if it connects the 2 problematic HDs...

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet

Are you suggesting iGetter might be involved in your problems?:
?? "Is anyone here who uses iGetter and has seen similar problems before?" ??

I'm also having trouble following the chronology of your problems:
First you mention only one problem with one disk.
Then you mention having had the same problem before. (?on same HD?)
...and having *another* HD with same diagnostic?

I was thinking about iGetter because it downloads to only those two HDs and they sometimes make very loud noises when iGetter is running! It was just an idea because I don't think it's OS X itself that's screwing my data dirctory!

And if you read all my posts, then you should understand the history!
I have 4 HDs in my Quicksilver. One had a severe data directory problem that wasn't repairable with Diskwarrior about 3 months ago! I copied what was possible to another HD with DataRescueX and formatted it - problem solved (some data lost)!
Now the same HD had the same problem again but this time a second HD also had the problem (as reported by Diskwarrior)!
I bought a new 250GB HD, put it into an external enclosure and backed everything up (HDs were luckily still working perfectly, the error was only reported by DW) and formatted both drives!
Now I want to find out what's causing this because that doesn't seem normal (2 times in 3 month)!

Originally Posted by mousehouse

maybe your drives are getting too hot within their enclosures shortening the lifespan of these drives?

Well, all drives are in my Quicksilver and Apple designed it for 4 HDs - that should work, shouldn't it?

OreoCookie · Aug 16, 2005, 02:34 PM

[QUOTE=badidea]Can this be an issue? Yes, they are bent! The 4 HDs in my Quicksilver have very little space (but it's build for 4 HDs) and one cable was just long enough but it's quite bent - I'll have to check, if it connects the 2 problematic HDs...[quote]

Yes, if the cable is slightly damaged, this might cause problems over in the long term.

Although high temperatures might also be an issue. It would be interesting to find out the peak temperatures of the drives (you can do that with smartmontools).

badidea · Aug 17, 2005, 03:32 PM

Ok, I checked the HDs and both are on the same bent cable! The cable is only bent after the first HD though - shouldn't it affect only one HD then?

Maybe it's the Acard IDE PCI card those HDs are connected to?
(the other 2 HDs I have in my computer are connected to the onboard IDE controller)