Problem w/ Target Disk Mode - Starts but won't mount drive.

G

Germ13

Registered
Sorry if this has been addressed before, I couldn't find it.

While transferring files from my G4 PowerBook to a new iMac using TDM we had a power failure. Now when I try to start the PB in TDM I get the Firewire icon but the drive never mounts on the iMac.

I've tried powering down both computers and starting from scratch. No dice.

Ideas?
 
After a lot of time in Disk Utility and fsck it looks like my disk is hosed.

I'm seeing a lot about Disk Warrior working where everything else fails. My new question is how do you run the software if you can't boot? Does it come on a bootable disk?
 
Hi there,

My MacBook 13" running Tiger (I think, geez one loses track of all these animals) died unceremoniously last week and as it was over 5 years old and already had two new hard drives I figured it was time to give up the ghost and get a new one. So I am writing this on a new MacBook Pro running Lion.

I thought I had backed up most important things, but a recent crash of our external hard drive caused me to reorganize things and in so doing I seem to have forgotten to back up all our videos of our one-year-old baby.

My problem:

The old Macbook is toast, it won't boot. It *will* open in target mode, but the new Macbook Pro can't see it (it won't "mount," I guess).

I'm reading a lot about Diskwarrior, and understand it is a bootable disk. Can it help me retrieve data in this situation?

I'm very grateful for any and all help. I'm a dedicated Mac user but not a pro of course; that said, I'm very good at following detailed directions should anyone have some to offer!

thanks, peace and goodwill--
A
 
Hej Bjarne,

I'm not sure I will be able to find you the model number, as the one I'm using came with our G-Tech external hard drive:
http://store.apple.com/dk/product/TX118ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&s=alpha

That is to say, it's NOT an apple-produced cable, though it is a standard FireWire 400 (1394) to FireWire 800 (1394b).

Do you suspect the cable could be the problem? I must confess I had a similar thought, but dismissed it since it communicated fine between the (now-dead) MacBook and the external drive.

thanks for the help, interested to hear what you have to say.
 
You haven't answered my question #2 : exactly which computer models you have.
I'ld still like to have an answer to this question as my advise will rely on having this information.

But from what you do tell me, I infer that
  • you are connecting the two computers with a FireWire 800-400 cable
  • the old computer has FW400
  • the new computer has FW800
And I don't suspect that the FW cable is the problem.
 
sorry Bjarne, I understood from your post that you were interested in the cable's model number only.

the MacBook (old) is a:
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.16 13" (White) from Mid-2007, 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo (T7400)
running Tiger--I think. Whatever came standard--we never updated it.

the MacBook Pro (new) is:
MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.4 13" Late 2011, 2.4 GHz Core i5 (I5-2435M)
running Lion.

And yes, the FW400 is in the old one and the FW800 in the new.

thanks!
 
OK - if it's not working when cabled, we'll have to access the HD itself through some 'surgery'. You can find a complete guide here: MacBook-Core-2-Duo-Hard-Drive-Replacement on how to access the HD in the MacBook.

When you've got hold of the HD, you'll have to connect it somehow to the new MacBook. You've got 3 options:
I've shopped with both companies and can recommend both of them.
 
thanks both of you--I'm having a busy few days and don't expect to have time to hunt this down til tomorrow or Friday, but a preliminary question before shopping/buying:

Is it likely that the hard drive can be more easily read through an interface or enclosure than on the old machine? Can it be the case that an unreadable disk can suddenly mount where it couldn't before?

If the answer is yes, I'm obviously game to look at prices etc...but I'm not keen to throw good money after bad, if you understand. I've been quoted about $350 from our local data recovery option, and that's too much, especially given the sudden expense of a new computer right at the holidays!

thanks again for your time.
 
I've had this kind of problem twice before:
Computer wouldn't boot & no access through TD-mode over FireWire. In both cases the problem turned out to be the HD-interface inside the computer. The HD itself was in perfect order with all data intact. In fact, after having transferred the HD to an external enclosure, in both cases I was able to boot the computers off the external enclosure over FireWire. I acutally used one of them for a couple of years that way.

You'll just have to take your chances one way or another. Nobody can tell you the state of the HD unless they pull it out of the computer & mount it externally.

NB: see the Private Message I sent you :)
 
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