Help please - HD crashing/crashed?

[Yamana_work]

Hi

My iMac has started giving problems, freezing up and now not always starting up correctly.

I ran disk utility from safe mode and got the dreaded "invalid sublink" error.
Tried finding info on net and it is supposed to be resolved by running fsck in single user mode, which I've tried, but have not been successfull with.

I've also booted up from the installation disks and now it no longer finds the HD to run verify disk or repair disk. When it did find it, it indicates that repair is running, but there is definately no disk activity.

Took it to Incredible Connection in PE and they can only send to Core...
It is about 2 years old so outside warranty.

Any help or advice is appreciated!

Thanks

 

[ponder]

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070204093925888 best to do from dvd
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 some recommend doing this first
http://mahalkita.nanogeex.com/2007/09/28/how-to-fix-the-invalid-sibling-link-error/ not as good as from dvd because some files are locked when you boot from the drive.

If the drive is not seen at all then it 'might' be faulty.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Backup all critical files immediately.

 

[ponder]

Backup all critical files immediately.

Bit hard in a iMac that does not boot

He either needs to have two spare external drives so he can install osx on the one and backup to the other or remove the internal drive and back it up from another mac or linux box.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Oh, my bad, yeah. Or with one external drive, install OS X and back up to it as well.

 

[Yamana_work]

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070204093925888 best to do from dvd
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 some recommend doing this first
http://mahalkita.nanogeex.com/2007/09/28/how-to-fix-the-invalid-sibling-link-error/ not as good as from dvd because some files are locked when you boot from the drive.

If the drive is not seen at all then it 'might' be faulty.

Thanks for the help, I've finally managed to get into single user mode and am busy running fsck.

 

[Yamana_work]

Running fsck a couple of times seems to have helped.
Is this a sign of failing HD or just OS getting screwed up?
Do I need to format the HD and start from scratch?
Thanks once again!

 

[ponder]

Running fsck a couple of times seems to have helped.
Is this a sign of failing HD or just OS getting screwed up?
Do I need to format the HD and start from scratch?
Thanks once again!

Might be worth the effort to backup your data & format followed by a fresh install.

Run some diagnostic & SMART tools on the HD although this does not always indicate imminent failure.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I know this is somewhat late, but this is why you should have an external drive and use SuperDuper! to make and maintain a clone of your internal drive. When the internal drive fail, you can just swap them around.

 

[Yamana_work]

I know this is somewhat late, but this is why you should have an external drive and use SuperDuper! to make and maintain a clone of your internal drive. When the internal drive fail, you can just swap them around.

Thanks
Things are not running 100% smooth yet so don't trust the current HD. Just sad that I might have to replace it after only about 2 years of light duty work...
And I was just getting used to the idea that the iMac might be bullet proof.

I do have an external backup using Time Machine, but with moving back to PE and not unpacking all the boxes yet, the last backup was in Dec'09! Yeah, too late for tears!
I just need to rescue about 300 pictures and will probably then replace HD and get bigger external HD to do what you suggest.
Is SuperDuper! the best cheap option?

Thanks

 

[koffiejunkie]

Is SuperDuper! the best cheap option?

Worth every penny I paid for it. Early last year my MacBook was stolen. When I got the new one, I just shoved my backup drive (I used 2.5" drives for backup) into it and continued working as if nothing happened. That alone made it worth it. These days I'm a little more paranoid, I keep two backup drives - one at home and one at work. So if my house gets broken into when I'm away, I still have a backup at work. This is outside of normal backup - these are purely mirror images of my internal drives.

 

[DuckieZA]

Is SuperDuper! the best cheap option?

There is also Carbon Copy Cloner, http://www.bombich.com/, which I use. It's free although the developer does ask for a contribution if you find it useful.

 

[ponder]

Thanks
Things are not running 100% smooth yet so don't trust the current HD. Just sad that I might have to replace it after only about 2 years of light duty work...
And I was just getting used to the idea that the iMac might be bullet proof.

I just need to rescue about 300 pictures and will probably then replace HD and get bigger external HD to do what you suggest.

Just go and buy a nice fast/big new HD and replace it yourself. Put the old one in a external enclosure and recover the pics you need from there.