Bad news, or the likely death of an HD

[Z]

The last of the iBook line, my 1.33 12" machine, took a small tumble the other day and quickly went from operative to a nice startup screen with an ever-spinning timer. Managed to mount it in target disk mode and ran Disk Utility, which ginned up the following report:

Repairing disk for “Mac HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid sibling link
Overlapped node allocation
Volume check failed.

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)

Disk Utility stopped repairing “Mac HD” because the following error was encountered:

The underlying task reported failure on exit
Repair attempted on 1 volume
0 HFS volumes repaired
1 volume could not be repaired

Looks like most of the info on there will be recoverable, but none the less, an unfortunate occurence. To new HD or just update to a newer refurb? So many questions.

[C(-)ris]

New Hard Drive. They are only about $80 for a 120GB drive. There is still a lot of use left in that machine.

[TheTominator]

The iBook hard drives are relatively tricky to replace. If you are itchin' for an excuse to get a refurb MacBook (which has a very easy to replace hard drive), now may be the time.

Having a first generation MacBook myself after having an iBook G3 700 (gave to TheTominatrix) and a Dual 1.8 G5 desktop (still my primary), I never once regretted getting it. It is faster than my desktop for most things and lets me easily run Windows software (full-speed natively) when I need it.

[Harbourmaster]

This looks like directory damage that DiskWarrior should be able to repair.

Be advised that things like invalid sim links and ovrlapping nodes/files take a looooooooooong time to repair.

Don't get over anxious because it seems like DW isn't doing anything, it could take up to several days for a large drive!

[john-o]

"...relatively tricky to replace..."

I would say that's the understatement of the day! If you call spending about 45 minutes (one way, just to get to the drive) removing dozens of screws and struggling to pry apart the case "relatively tricky", I'd hate to see what you'd call "damn hard"!!

;-}

Seriously though, that job is one that I would say about 5% of us are up to. As Tom says, if you can rationalize a new MacBook, go for it. Drive replacement for them is night-and-day easier...

All that said, get a hold of a copy of DiskWarrior if you can. That message you got in Disk Utility is one I've seen many times, and DW has been able to rectify the situation. Hard to say for sure, obviously, given what you say about the "small tumble", but still worth a try in my book. [No pun intended!]

Good luck!
John

[anonymouse1]

FWIW, it took me 3 hours the first time I replaced an iBook HD. What helped was making a loop of masking tape, sticky side out, to hold all the parts in order as i removed them. Also, there are a bunch of guides online, which are essential, IMHO.

[LyleH]

Last time I checked you could buy Disk Warrior from Alsoft online and download a copy for immediate use. They also then send you a bootable CD in the mail.

LyleH