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From: David Empson on 5 May 2010 16:37
JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot(a)vaxination.ca> wrote:

> SpreadTooThin wrote:
> > My hard drive crashed... I'm in single user mode. I did the fsck and
> > it gave an error indicating the drive was bed.
>
> What is the exact error message you got ?
>
> Remember that when boot into single user mode, by default the disk is
> mounted read-only, you need to mount it manually to get read-write
> (which is needed for fsck to do it job). The instructions to mount it
> are displayed when you boot into single user mode.

Not exactly. As the instructions in single user mode say, you are
supposed to run fsck _before_ mounting the drive with write access. The
entire point is that it can find and fix minor errors before you risk
modifying anything.

fsck will be able to repair errors even if the drive is mounted
read-only. (It automatically mounts the drive read-write for its own
use, then restores the original mount method.)

> > I do an ls and I can see all my files.
>
> Looks like the disk is still usable. When you boot form the install
> DVDs, does it give any error message on why it can't fix it ?

It will probably be the same error as fsck, since Disk Utility and fsck
use the same mechanism to verify/repair an HFS+ volume.

> > I can't ftp .... apparently...
>
> Doubt this is functional in single user mode.
>
> > Can I connect a usb key and mount it and try copying some files over?
> > boot DVD? Disk Utility?
>
> I *think* you should be able to mount a USB key. But you will need to
> use the mount command manually because the process which automatically
> mounts stuff for you isn't running. Not sure what the "mount" command
> syntax is for mounting USB drives.

I don't know about that either.

Best options would be:

1. Restore as much as possible from your backup rather than trying to
extract it from the corrupted or damaged hard drive.

Don't have a backup? Right.

2. Assuming both computers have Firewire, you can put the old one into
Firewire Target Mode and connect it to the new one to access any files
on it.

The main catch is that this could result in corrupting the hard drive
further, depending on the degree of damage. What is the error message
reported by fsck?

To protect against this, you need a utility like DiskWarrior, which you
can run on the new computer, then while in DiskWarrior, connect the old
computer (in Firewire Target Mode), and use DiskWarrior to repair its
directory, at least to the point where it has reported the problems it
found and offers to mount a temporary read-only copy of the repaired
directory. You can use that to copy files off the old computer. Once
you've copied everything, you can proceed with attempting to repair the
drive.

An alternative is Data Rescue, which does the copying for you, trying to
salvage everything it can find from the damaged drive, _without_
attempting to repair it or write to it in any way.

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: ZenMaster-Flash on 5 May 2010 20:13
The hard disc is probably 100% usable.
Your directory is damaged and needs to be REPLACED.
Disc utility cannot REPLACE. It repairs minor corruption only.

The best FIX is via Disk Warrior
Next best is Drive Genius 2.3
TechToolPro5.0/7 also does a decent job of it.

NOT having these bootable DVD's at hand is ill advised.
From: David Empson on 5 May 2010 22:00
ZenMaster-Flash <flash1296(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> The hard disc is probably 100% usable.

We don't know that for certain, as we haven't seen what error message
was reported, and the OP hasn't run any kind of surface scan yet.

The hard drive might have a physical defect resulting in I/O errors.

> Your directory is damaged and needs to be REPLACED.
> Disc utility cannot REPLACE. It repairs minor corruption only.
>
> The best FIX is via Disk Warrior

Debatable. If the fault is _only_ directory corruption, _and_
DiskWarrior's trial repair produces good results then DiskWarrior is the
best solution.

If there is major corruption, DiskWarrior (or any other repair tool) may
overwrite important data when trying to repair the directory (which at
least in DiskWarrior's case only happens after you've told it to go
ahead and write the repaired directory, so you have a chance to inspect
the results first).

In cases of major corruption I prefer Data Rescue, as it doesn't even
try to fix the damaged volume - it just copies as much as it can to
another drive.

In cases of major physical defects, you are better off using a
professional data recovery service, as any repair attempt (even just
powering on the hard drive) could do more damage.

> Next best is Drive Genius 2.3
> TechToolPro5.0/7 also does a decent job of it.
>
> NOT having these bootable DVD's at hand is ill advised.


--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Warren Oates on 6 May 2010 08:28
In article <1ji2p19.13gb4p65xk48oN%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz>,
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> In cases of major physical defects, you are better off using a
> professional data recovery service, as any repair attempt (even just
> powering on the hard drive) could do more damage.

Nah, put it in the freezer ...
--
Very old woody beets will never cook tender.
-- Fannie Farmer
From: Jolly Roger on 6 May 2010 12:53
In article <1ji2p19.13gb4p65xk48oN%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz>,
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> In cases of major corruption I prefer Data Rescue, as it doesn't even
> try to fix the damaged volume - it just copies as much as it can to
> another drive.

A friend of mine recently recommended CopyCatX for this. I wonder how it
compares to DataRescue.

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
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JR
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