MAC Hard drive problem

lostkat · 03-09-2006, 16:41

My Dad's hard drive on his G4 won't boot his machine, and is making a strange noise, which I can only describe as a whining dog. He has 2 HDD's, so he can still boot from one, but it has a sad face displaying against "old hard drive".

I know I am asking the obvious here, but is his old HDD dead? Just want to make sure I've given him the right advice.

Is the whining dog noise a "Mac" noise, or just the old hard drive whimpering?

Thanks in advance for any help

Burble · 03-09-2006, 17:38

It sounds dead to me. Odd noises are a pretty good indication of a buggered hard disc, and the Mac seems to agree if it is giving you the unhappy face when you try to boot from it.

Mark · 03-09-2006, 19:39

Sounds like a head crash or fubar'd motors. In an act of desperation, the 'put it in the fridge' trick is sometimes worth a go (it's been known to resurrect disks long enough to get the data off them), but in this case I suspect probably not.

Dr. Z · 03-09-2006, 21:08

Whining = bad

If its a head crash it will be chewing through the platter in the landing zone and doing muchos damage (hence the whining).

Pop it out and have a look at the chips on the bottom - anything fried that you can see? If the data on it is important its pretty imperative that once you have tried the old freezer trick you take it out the PC and dont run it until you can send it off to get the data from it.

lostkat · 04-09-2006, 06:33

It's dead then. Thought so!

There's no vitally important data on it as his photos are all backed up on CD, so he's taken it out and replaced it with the new one. I think there are a couple of programmes on there which he would have liked to keep, but I don't think it's anything that he can't live without.

Cheers guys

03-09-2006, 16:41	#1
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	MAC Hard drive problem My Dad's hard drive on his G4 won't boot his machine, and is making a strange noise, which I can only describe as a whining dog. He has 2 HDD's, so he can still boot from one, but it has a sad face displaying against "old hard drive". I know I am asking the obvious here, but is his old HDD dead? Just want to make sure I've given him the right advice. Is the whining dog noise a "Mac" noise, or just the old hard drive whimpering? Thanks in advance for any help __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

03-09-2006, 21:08	#4
Dr. Z I'm going for a scuttle... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,021	Whining = bad If its a head crash it will be chewing through the platter in the landing zone and doing muchos damage (hence the whining). Pop it out and have a look at the chips on the bottom - anything fried that you can see? If the data on it is important its pretty imperative that once you have tried the old freezer trick you take it out the PC and dont run it until you can send it off to get the data from it. __________________

04-09-2006, 06:33	#5
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	It's dead then. Thought so! There's no vitally important data on it as his photos are all backed up on CD, so he's taken it out and replaced it with the new one. I think there are a couple of programmes on there which he would have liked to keep, but I don't think it's anything that he can't live without. Cheers guys __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

03-09-2006, 17:38	#2
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	It sounds dead to me. Odd noises are a pretty good indication of a buggered hard disc, and the Mac seems to agree if it is giving you the unhappy face when you try to boot from it.

03-09-2006, 19:39	#3
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Sounds like a head crash or fubar'd motors. In an act of desperation, the 'put it in the fridge' trick is sometimes worth a go (it's been known to resurrect disks long enough to get the data off them), but in this case I suspect probably not.