HELP!! Something Wrong With iBook HD

Two days ago, I turned on my iBook and I got the flashy question mark folder thing. So I booted from the iBook software restore disk and ran disk utility. I ran the "extended test", and got an error message when it got to the "mass storage" section of the test. I called Apple and the tech-support guy told me my HD was fried. So I installed OS X onto my iPod and booted from that. Everything's working fine. But the iBook's internal HD is nowhere to be found. It won't mount on the desktop, it won't show up in disk utility, it's not in the start-up disk list, and it doesn't show up in system profiler. I'm no expert, but I don't think this is a good thing. Can someone please help me to get my hard drive working? I don't even care about the drive itself, it's the dada on the drive I'm worried about. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

You need to get a utility like TechTool Pro to analyze the hard drive. It may even be able to repair it.

If you have access to another computer, you could try to see if you can access it using the Target Mode feature.

I borrowed a copy of TechTool Pro 4 from a friend, but the hard drive doesn't show up there either. I'll try tdm next and see what happens.

how about starting the ibook while holding down shift or option?

The second thing I tried after booting to the iBook restore CD was holding down the option key while starting up. But alas, the HD wasn't one of the options to boot to. The three icons were:
1. Mac OS X Install DVD
2. Apple Hardware Test
3. My iPod (I had my iPod connected at the time because it has OS X installed on it and is the only thing I can successfully boot from. That's how I'm using the computer now. But like I said before, if I can get the data off the HD, I don't care if it works or not.)

And as for the target disk mode thing, I didn't quite realize what the full procedure consisted of, and don't have another Mac handy. But I do have a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows ME. I think I'm better off with my dead iBook… Is it possible that there is simply a loose connection (like a disconnected wire) with the HD inside the computer? I have to fix it by the time Christmas break is over because that's when my dad is making me send it back to Apple for repair. The reason I have to fix this before then is that I know once I send it to Apple I'll never see my data ever, ever, ever again. Ever. So with that, I'll reiterate: "HHHEEELLLPPP!!!!!!!"
Thank you

Since you can boot your system of the iPod. Run the disk utilitly application and see if your internal disk is available. If so, mount it and copy off any data you want. If you don't see your disk, then it may be a bad system disk.

corysw said:

1. Mac OS X Install DVD
2. Apple Hardware Test
3. My iPod

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FRom what you have stated your system disk maybe corrupted.

Great. How do I fix it?

corysw said:

Great. How do I fix it?

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Check this out…it may be what you need to do. This user was able to recover data, but had to use Target Mode.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20041127045644235

Is it possible to use target disk mode with my iBook and a PC, instead of another Mac? It probably should also be noted that said PC doesn't have a firewire port. I guess maybe I just answered my own question… I also just realized that I am still running 10.3.3 on my iPod. I'll install the 10.3.7 update and perhaps that will help. And by "perhaps", I mean "most likely won't but still want the most recent version of OS X on my iPod anyway."

corysw said:

Is it possible to use target disk mode with my iBook and a PC, instead of another Mac? It probably should also be noted that said PC doesn't have a firewire port. I guess maybe I just answered my own question… I also just realized that I am still running 10.3.3 on my iPod. I'll install the 10.3.7 update and perhaps that will help. And by "perhaps", I mean "most likely won't but still want the most recent version of OS X on my iPod anyway."

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My PC has a firewire port....

vuschejan said:

My PC has a firewire port....

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And we're all very happy for you.

Originally Posted by vuschejan:

"My PC has a firewire port...."

Reply by corysw:
"And we're all very happy for you."

You originally said that:
"It probably should also be noted that said PC doesn't have a firewire port."

I suppose vuschejan thought you meant that the PC platform as a whole doesn't have a firewire port (you didn't say "my PC"), so no need to be mean...

Back on topic:

You can try booting to firewire target disk mode and accessing your harddrive through a pc that DOES have a firewire port, but even then your PC couldn't read the HFS+ drive. To do that you would need a prog like macopener installed on your PC (that will let it read the HFS+ drive).

But realistically you might just want to cut your losses and send it in.
Maybe add a note asking if you could have the original drive back as it contains dreadfully important personal data - maybe some apple tech with some sympathy will shove it in the box for you, but don't get your hopes up!

Sorry - Merry christmas anyway!


Btw. I had a similar experience a while ago and I ended up losing around 6 months worth of photos, my entire ripped cd collection (had to rerip around 500 cd's again) and all the other stuff that gathers on one's harddrive over the years, I now maintain 2 backups - one weekly backup to external harddrive and 1 monthly backup to DVD+RW.

Not trying to rub it in, but at least your problem will serve as a warning to everyone that it's important to BACKUP YOUR DATA!

By said PC I meant the Vaio. And I wasn't being mean, I was being sarcastic. There's a difference. Screw realistically cutting my losses, I'm getting my hard drive back.

And merry Christmas to you too

corysw said:

By said PC I meant the Vaio. And I wasn't being mean, I was being sarcastic. There's a difference. Screw realistically cutting my losses, I'm getting my hard drive back.

And merry Christmas to you too

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OOps, I think I missed the "said" as well...

Sorry... Go for it though, don't give up your data until you have no other options left!

Best of luck to you and don't give up!

Thanks

Are problems like this common in Macs? making me nervous...

Greenredfield said:

Are problems like this common in Macs? making me nervous...

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No, they are not common. Since 1985 I've lost 2 hard drives.

There are 3 words that all computer users need to learn. BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP! (unless your data isn't important to you).

I'm scared. I don't know if this is good or bad, but the hard drive in the iBook is making really scary scratching noises. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's like the HD is trying to start up, but it's stuck somehow. What is this?

corysw said:

I'm scared. I don't know if this is good or bad, but the hard drive in the iBook is making really scary scratching noises. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's like the HD is trying to start up, but it's stuck somehow. What is this?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I suggest salvage all data you want to keep.. It sounds bad.