macbook pro not reading partition volume from external drive

[dr saxena]

My Macbook Pro (late 2007) OSX 10.6.8 is not reading a 3 TB partitioned volume from my external drive (Seagate 4 TB) that contains my music. I played music from the Finder last night before shutting down. The shut down was text book and smooth. This morning, it only read the 1TB CCC volume. Disk Utility shows the Music volume greyed out. I have been using this external drive for the last 3 years without a problem.

Any ideas what could have happened? Was there a problem while shutting down? The USB wire is a little loose, but if it shows the 1TB volume it ought to show the 3 TB as well, right? It won't let me eject the disk and I have to Force Eject -- "The disk Seagate CCC 1 TB wasn't ejected because one or more programs may be using it". I've tried booting in safe mode and ran Onyx as well.

Please help. It's a lifetime of music from LPs, 8-tracks, tapes and CDS.

Thank you,

Saxena

 

[ferrarr]

I hope you have a backup of your music file somewhere else? You mentioned 3 TB out of the drives 4 TB, what is the rest? Also, have you tried shut down, disconnect the drive, and start up again?

 

[dr saxena]

Thanks, Bob. The Music volume is 3 TB (the typo has been corrected in my original post). Also, I ran Onyx and Safe Mode boot up. Yes, I do have a back up, but haven't synced up for the last six months.

 

[chscag]

Yes, I do have a back up, but haven't synced up for the last six months.

Now might be a good time to sync your music to the backup. It sounds like perhaps your 3 TB drive may have problems. Also... your MacBook Pro is getting old along with the version of OS X you're using.

 

[dr saxena]

UPDATE --

My Macbook Pro (late 2007) OSX 10.6.8 is not reading a 4 TB Seagate external drive. I TB is partitioned for Carbon Copy Cloner and 3 TB contains my Music. I had issues yesterday with the Music volume appearing greyed out. After restarting via Startup Disk, the music volume appeared. I went a bit ahead of myself and tried rebooting through CCC. The system powered on with a ding, but I got this spinning grey circle and after 45 minutes I powered off by pressing the power button for 7-10 seconds.

When I powered on the Mac and plugged in the external drive, the finder wouldn't read it. Disk Utility shows both volumes greyed out, but the drive name/disk description is there. Both Verify Disk and Repair Disk say the volumes are fine. I tried switching USB cables, but nada.

Please help. I have been using this external drive for the last 3 years without a problem. It's a lifetime of music from LPs, 8-tracks, tapes and CDS.

Should I try Diskwarrior or TechToolPro? Any other tips?

Thanks,

Dr Saxena

 

[IWT]

Dr Saxena,

Assuming you're a medic - your EHD is in ICU, went into VF (which you temporarily resolved by rebooting - defibrillating) and is now in asystole.

Not a medic - your EHD has probably gone.

Data retrieval is expensive however you go about it. I favour Data Rescue 4 (latest version), but there are others like Disk Drill Pro; a quick Google will bring up reviews such as: http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/backup-recovery/best-mac-data-recovery-software/

You can usually get a free trial version which lets you know if retrieval is likely and then you pay for it!

Commercial data retrieval is very, very expensive.

I am truly sorry for you and the situation you find yourself in. Others may have different ideas, but it doesn't look good.

Ian