Home Forums Hardware Mac Desktops & Notebooks Hard Drive Issues

Hello all,

I am hoping someone can give me some good news and point me in the right direction.

Mac:
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 10 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05


Problem:
Machine would not boot yesterday. It would start up and get to a grey screen and stop.
It would not boot from cd.
It would not show me any startup drive choices when I held down option.
Zapping pram did nothing.

What I did:
I removed the Ram, hard drives etc etc, until I found the issue.
Turns out, when I removed the Secondary drive it booted up just fine from the original startup disk or cd.
When I put the secondary drive back into any bay, the same problems occur.

What I can't do:
Boot up with the drive in so I can run a diagnostic and hopefully repair.

I was thinking:
I will go buy an external case and see if I can get it to mount. Then try and diagnose and repair.

Things I don't understand:
Why would a secondary hard drive cause so much havoc? In the sense that nothing seems to work, instead of simply not mounting when the computer boots up.
To me it seems as if the computer keeps trying to make it the boot disk and nothing else is an option.

THE MAJOR SCARY THING:
I have to get it to boot and get the info off. I have a major edit on this drive that I have been working on over three weeks. I was almost finished with the project when this happened.
The client is waiting and there is no other option for me than getting it back up. I'm sure you understand.


Does anyone have any suggestions before I do anything?

Thanks in advance

Certain HD/interface damage may prevent a computer from running properly or at all, and it appears that this is what you're seeing in your case. In our previous incarnation as MacFixIt forums I have seen similar issues, but I haven't yet been able to pull up an example.

Anyway, your plan to pull the errant HD and put it in an external enclosure is a good one, but the mechanism may not work there either for the same reason it's causing problems right now. If this should be the case and no further alternative approaches offered here or elsewhere should work, you may have to rely on a data rescue service to salvage your work on this drive. Meanwhile, I wish you good luck!

Can you get your data from your secondary HD without booting from it?

I wonder if it's possible to reinstall your secondary HD (or plug in its enclosure) while your Mac is already booted and simply copy off whatever you need.

I wondered that myself. My first guess is trying to "hot swap" an internal is not a good idea. But I thought about that same thing, once it was booted up, slide it into its bay and see what happens. Maybe I can force it to mount then.

But the content is too valuable to be that risky yet.

If you go ahead and hot swap a drive, let us know how it went. Personally, I would never try it but, if you don't mind being a guinea pig and risking your Mac Pro, do it. I still think that it's not a good idea.

I know there are hot-swappable enclosures; that would be your best option.

sounds very likely the second hard drive has a mechanical problem and is what I call "blocking the bus". A failing hard drive or optical drive can cause this problem. (optical drive even without a disc in it!)

How does the computer respond when you unplug the device, start up the computer normally, and then try to plug the device in? Listen to it carefully for unusual sounds such as repetitive clicking or chirping.

When I remove the drive the computer starts fine. But placing the drive into any of the four bays and it causes the same grey screen, no-boot issue.

I have since bought an external case and put it in there. No luck. The computer boots just fine with it hooked up that way, but no program (DiskWarrior, Disk Utility, etc) can see it to even attempt a mount or fix.

I thought about swapping the electronics on the drive, but I'm not sure that would be worth the time. I can hear the drive now. It whirls up as if it is starting, clicks, slows down, starts all over again.

I am only guessing, but it sounds mechanical. Maybe that can be caused by an electronic issue, but I don't think so.

So, I guess I'm left with a data recovery company to save what is on the drive. Which is terrible, cause I am flat broke in this economy. But I guess I am out of options. I must have what is on there.

Thanks for the input so far, please feel free to add some more.

If you haven't tried this yet, it's worth a shot before you contact a data salvage outfit. Try the Data Rescue demo to find out if it can access the problem drive and see your data. If it does and can recover the small data sample allowed by the demo, it's worth the purchase price ($99) to let it do its job: it beats a salvage quote.

That said, Prosoft, the publisher, also operates a data salvage service and can provide you with further info on that, but I've no idea how they compare with other companies providing similar service.

I have tried most of the big data recovery programs. None of them see the drive.

So, I guess I'm left with the fact that it is the electronics or physical.

I would try to replace the electronics. However, I just don't want to spend the time and money I don't have hunting down the exact drive to replace the components with if that is not even a logical solution.

Anyone know some symptoms of failing/failed electronics? My first guess is it simply does nothing. If it is still trying to spin, then the electronics are fine. But hopefully I'm wrong and this could be a solution.

The "data recovery" quotes I am getting are terrible. $1000 - $2500 range.

Thanks again to all those who have input.

Update.
Discovered the possible cause and warning for all.

I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB drive.

Apparently these were a major problem for Seagate. They constantly fail because of firmware issues. Just one day simply lock up. You can google countless articles about this drive and many videos on youtube with people trying to fix them.

Seagate is having me send the drive in and they are going to flash it. Hopefully mine is not a fluke and I'll be back up and running with all my data. So, maybe there could be light at the end of this tunnel.

Point is. Check your drives!

It was not just the 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11. It was also the .5, 1.5, 2 etc and I believe it also affected the 7200.12.

Just look for those numbers and google them for yourself. It is apparently not a matter of IF these will fail, only WHEN.

> So, maybe there could be light at the end of this tunnel.

I think I can safely say that I speak for all in wishing you GOOD LUCK!!!