Hard Drive Problems

Joined
Jan 24, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi all,

Let me start by saying I typically do my research to solve problems I encounter, but I have too little knowledge and too much uncertainty when it comes to stuff like this. I will try to be as brief but descriptive as possible explaining what's going on.

Some background info: MacBook Pro with 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor with 320GB capacity in which I back up to a portable Seagate Momentus 750GB external hard drive that is housed in one of those Mercury On-The-Go cases from OWC.

Originally I had everything backed up to the external drive using Time Machine to create clones of the internal drive's current state. As time went on I filled the internal drive and stupidly moved all of the samples and sounds (a lot) that I use for music production onto the external to save room. I planned to continue building and saving my samples on this drive and other music production related things. However, being the procrastinator that I am, I didn't get around to buying a large desktop style external to back up both drives before running into an issue like this.

I woke up one morning to my external on the carpet next to my desk. It was somehow knocked off, without being ejected I'm assuming. Being busy and not focused on music for a week or so I didn't think much of it and didn't try to access the drive at all. Only until recently when I noticed it beeping and flashing while plugged in I knew there was a problem.

At first I could not get it to mount. As I frantically tried to find info on what to do someone suggested a program called Mac Data Recovery. I let this run and scan the drive for many, many hours. It wasn't until until the next day at about 90% complete that the drive mounted on its own without me doing anything. I let it finish and I was able to get into it and access everything... Awesome! Well, sort of. The program basically froze itself trying to load (from what I could tell) was a list of files it would be able to recover if I purchased the full version. However, at this point the drive was already accessible and appeared to be running like normal. So I force quit the program after it wasn't allowing me to close it or do much of anything without it immediately jumping back to itself when trying to bring another window or program to the front (hopefully that makes sense). I started to received messages from Time Machine saying that it could not complete back ups because "files can't be copied onto the backup disk because it appears to be 'read only'." This alert recommended using Disk Utility. I tried 'Verify Disk' as directed since 'Repair Disk' was unavailable. This led to the message "Error: Could not unmount disk." It then states "If the disk needs repairs, start up from your Mac OS X installation disk, and then choose Utilities > Disk Utility." This confused me and led me to here for further help as I don't want to make any major mistakes.

So, what now? Thanks in advance and any help is much appreciated!
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
So, what now? Thanks in advance and any help is much appreciated!

If I understand your post correctly, you've already got your data off the drive? If that's true, the solution is to replace that drive with a new one. No way would I trust it again especially after it's been dropped.
 
OP
K
Joined
Jan 24, 2009
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Well, I don't have the data off the drive yet. But I am able to access it therefore I am guessing I will be able to. I need to purchase a new drive first to be able to make the transfer. Is it possible to salvage this one by doing a repair?
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Is it possible to salvage this one by doing a repair?

Maybe, and if so, how long will it last before you're going through the same thing again? The point here is that the drive can no longer be trusted and since large hard drives are not expensive, it's just better all around to replace it.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top