external Hard disk drive did quit this morning...help needed

[HeinrichVoelkel]

Hello, this is my first post to this forum, I did the search, but still...I know this is probably one of the most common problems in the storage world, but now it hit me.

This morning I started my Desktop G4 and then the external just made a clicking noise and won't mount anymore. Few hours earlier it was working fine. Yes, I disconnected it properly, before turning the g4 off. On my PB the hard drive shows the same signs.
I tried some things suggested in forums, like unplugging, replugging, etc. but nothing works.

In the System profiler the hard drive shows up, I get info on it.

In the disk utility the hard drive shows also up, but just the physical part of it, but not the part where the data lies. I cant search and repair this volume, the windows for that are greyed out.

What happened to the hard drive? Is it gone, dead, useless.

I went to the mac repair shop and they suggested some repair and recovery service and estimating 2000 € worth of labour. Are they crazy?

Some of the enclosed data is backed up, but not everything. Should I use DiskWarrior or Data Rescue X?

The disk was formated HFT+.

Please help me, I want to understand what is going on and to learn for the future how to avoid it.

Regrds and thank you for your time helping me,

Heinrich

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Hello, this is my first post to this forum, I did the search, but still...I know this is probably one of the most common problems in the storage world, but now it hit me.

This morning I started my Desktop G4 and then the external just made a clicking noise and won't mount anymore. Few hours earlier it was working fine. Yes, I disconnected it properly, before turning the g4 off. On my PB the hard drive shows the same signs.
I tried some things suggested in forums, like unplugging, replugging, etc. but nothing works.

In the System profiler the hard drive shows up, I get info on it.

In the disk utility the hard drive shows also up, but just the physical part of it, but not the part where the data lies. I cant search and repair this volume, the windows for that are greyed out.

What happened to the hard drive? Is it gone, dead, useless.

Sounds like it's dead. Not much you can do!

I went to the mac repair shop and they suggested some repair and recovery service and estimating 2000 € worth of labour. Are they crazy?

Nope, not crazy. Data recovery is extremely expensive. The procedure involves disassembling the hard drive in a "clean room" and rebuilding/replacing/substituting the bad components with good ones... essentially, rebuilding the hard drive by hand -- not an easy task. Considering that hard drives are dirt cheap and backup solutions are imperative, it's rare that someone should actually have to use a data recovery service. If they do, though, $2000 ain't too bad considering the data on the drive is probably worth much more.

Some of the enclosed data is backed up, but not everything. Should I use DiskWarrior or Data Rescue X?

You can try DiskWarrior to rebuild the directory on the drive, but it may take several days to complete if the data is REALLY screwed, and there's no guarantee that it'll work.

The disk was formated HFT+.

I assume you mean HFS+ -- there's no such thing as HFT+.

Please help me, I want to understand what is going on and to learn for the future how to avoid it.

It truly sounds like the hard drive is either dead or dying. DiskWarrior would be a good place to start, and then DataRescue X may be needed after that (these two programs do completely different things, so it's not an "either-or" situation -- you most likely need both: DiskWarrior to rebuild the directory structure on the drive, then DataRescue X to recover any data if the drive still doesn't work after that). If those don't work, your only hope may be a data recovery service.

I have ten words of advice, and I guarantee they'll prevent this kind of disaster in the future: backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup.