Target volume damage after data migratio

H

HeavyD

Registered
Last week I upgraded from my 2003 iMac G4 to the Core 2 Duo 24" iMac. I immediately turned on the new device and the migration assistant prompted me to complete a migration which I did successfully. I then turned my iMac G4 off, carried it downstairs to its new home and tried to turn it on without success. I received the gray screen w/ the gray apple and indicator wheel. It would then turn off (black screen) automatically.

I have restarted in Safe Mode, Single-user Mode and tried to reinstall Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) all without success. At the reinstall, it stated there were "errors installing the software". A log of the problem stated that the "target volume is damaged and cannot be repaired by the installer."

I have seen suggestions to try a disk repair utility, but which one? I have also seen advice to proceed to wiping the hard drive. Is it worth trying the utility repair or, since I already completed the firewire backup, simply wipe the hard drive.

I also don't understand how the machine was working and literally 30 minutes later it craps out.
 
Does seem strange it has blimped after a few hours. Could be hardware or Software.
If you install the Panther disc again and when you get to install it go to the header bar and "Options" here you can run Disc Utility to see if you get any errors on the hard drive.
That would be by our first option. Then if it says ok.. you may be best with a ERASE AND INSTALL.. if your happy all your migration has worked.
 
If the computer was in use and relatively stationary for many years as an iMac G4 would be, then it's possible that the act of moving it downstairs caused the hard drive to fail. All hard drives will fail -- it's just a question of when. More often than not, those failures are brought about by some physical shock (however miniscule), and the act of moving a computer can generate enough shock to compound a possibly pre-existing condition with the hard drive.

How likely is this? Very likely.

If all the data is successfully transferred to the new computer, then there's no need to try and resuscitate the old one... I would suggest a complete wipe and reinstall of 10.3. If the hard drive is truly dead, there's not much you can do at home (and even if there were, would you trust any data on that hard drive from here on out?) -- a hard drive replacement is pretty much the only remedy.
 
I'll try the re-install once more (nothing to lose) and try the disc utility option. But I think I did that and got the message about "target volume" being damaged. If no info from this, I'll wipe and reinstall. Thanks.
 
Your best bet is Diskwarrior. If that doesn't fix it, the drive is probably gone. Perhaps all the reads from migrating the data was the last straw. You are just lucky you got your data across to the new machine.
 
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