Hello again

I'm going to send my older MBP off for repair this week, but I'd like to copy/clone/wipe the HD before I do so - I tried to remove it last night to put it in my caddy but fell at the last hurdle due to having no Torx tools (although most came out with an ordinary screwdriver!). I have now ordered some, but is there an easier way??

I've tried Target mode, but presume the NVIDIA fail stops it even booting to that.... I'd assume networking it would also be out.... are there any other ways to get another Mac to see the HD on it??

Guessing I'll most likely just have to wait for my tools to arrive, but just thought I'd ask as I"m keen to get it off asap!

Thanks!

Ben

Have you tried plugging in an external bootable disk and starting up off that? To be honest, if it won't get into target disk mode it's pretty much dead most likely and physical removal is the only way to access it, but external boot is one thing you didn't list.

So, it's not completely dead, right? Do you get the startup chimes? When using Target Mode, you're connecting via Firewire, yes?

If you're getting startup chimes, have you also tried a Safe Boot too (hold down shift key on startup)?

Do you have system discs, or is this a model that didn't come with them? If yes, have you tried booting from that?

Thanks - I haven't, no. Not sure I've got one I'd be able to use... would that help to see the drive I can't access though?

No - no chimes...

Yep, was trying firewire... assuming too dead to boot like that....

If you can get it booted from another drive you can at least see if the internal drive is available. if it is you've got a working system to copy the data off, either to another USB disk or over a network. As I say though, no startup chime probably means no go. Unless you've muted the chime of course...

There's a lot we don't know about which model Macbook Pro it is, but if it has a removeable battery you should try the SMC reset - remove battery, unplug from the mains and leave for 10 minutes or so. Models without a removeable battery you have to press a key combination. Here's Apple's support article...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
(click the relevant blue title depending on whether your Macbook Pro has a removeable battery or not)

EDIT: to add link to article!

Sorry - it's a pre-unibody 2008 MBP 17". I've tried all those resets, and nothing brought it back to life, so it's off to to be repaired...

Don't think I muted the chime! - I have a drive with a Time Machine backup of that Mac - would that help? It's not a very up-to-date one, or I'd not really be worrying about wiping it!)

Never had to set up a bootable drive - I guess a quick Google search should bring up a how-to? Not sure how I'm going to get it to boot from another drive though, if the screen is dead... I won't be able to select anything? Unless I'm doing it via the new Mac?

Okay - got my Torx tool through today, so will be removing the old Mac HD tonight to copy/wipe before it goes off for repair.

Once it's in the drive caddy, can I then boot my new Mac from it in order to make a TimeMachine backup?? Thinking that might be the simplest option!?


(I'm very glad I asked this question as it reminded me I'll need to take my other caddy from work home!! That would have been disastrous... )

That I'm not sure of, although I have a feeling it won't work. Yes, you'll be able to boot from the external drive on your new iMac (assuming the system on the bootable drive isn't older than the system that originally came pre-installed on the new Mac of course). But as for Time Machine, I'm not sure.

The reason I say that is the way Time Machine works is it creates a folder on the Time Machine drive for the Mac's name first, then a sub-folder within that for the volume name and the backup is within that. So, for example...

Time Machine Drive > Backups.backup > My Old Macbook Pro > Macintosh HD

So, when you boot from the new Macbook Pro, unless the hardware name is exactly the same, Time Machine might try to create a new folder for the next backup - for example...

Time Machine Drive > Backups.backup > My New Macbook Pro > Macintosh HD

So, in that case, it might try to create a whole new backup, rather than append to the existing backup. I'm not 100% sure of this, but I suppose you'd at least have a full backup (assuming there's enough free space on the Time Machine drive?).

The other option is to create a full, bootable, clone to another spare external hard drive - from the old drive directly to the spare external drive - using either Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. Then, when you get the old Macbook repaired and returned, boot from the clone drive and clone it back to the Macbook's internal drive to be back where you are now.

Thanks! - I may *try* the TM option first... if not then I will see about cloning. That was my first thought, but I don't have a spare drive... I've got space on one of my other drives, but I assume you need a completely spare drive or one you can at least partition?

I was hoping that if I booted the new MPB from the old MBPs drive, it would run AS the old one and TM run as normal... that would be so simple! Would Target Disc mode work like that perhaps?

Would you know if I can copy the HD simply to 'store' on another drive, to put back later, or does it have to be on a formatted clean/partitioned drive?

Mind you, even if I'm able just to copy the data that would be okay... I'm starting fresh with the new Mac anyway, and only want to make sure documents are safe. It would be more useful to be able to put back as it was, so I can make sure all mail settings in other accounts are transferred over etc.

Thanks for you help - much appreciated!

Could I clone the old drive and store on the new MBP? As it's a larger capacity (I should have room!)

Ah, but you'd need to partition the drive to do that, otherwise they'd interfere with your new Macbook's files. As well as the files and folders you can see in the Finder, there are many invisible items on a system drive in order to make it bootable. That's why you can't just do a drag and drop copy as the invisible items wouldn't be copied and therefore it wouldn't be bootable. Both Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper clone all files and folders, including the invisible ones that make it bootable.

If it wasn't partitioned, then the old Macbook's system files wouldn't be able to co-exist on the same partition as the new Macbook's system files. I believe you can do a live re-partition (including adding or deleting a partition) using Disk Utility.

To be completely safe, though, it'll be best to do it to another drive if you want it bootable. How much actual data are we talking about? Could you maybe use a 32Gb or 64Gb flash drive?

I very much doubt the problem is with the hard drive, if it's completely dead then it's either the power supply or maybe the logic board. Can you put a sticker on it to ask them not to erase the drive when repairing it?

Yeah - it's the NVIDIA fail, so not the drive gone on it... so the guy recommended on here in the other thread will do a reflow, as a new logic board wasn't cost effective, but if it works the Mac should be good for a bit more life and someone else's use for a while yet. I only wanted to wipe it for security really. Although I'm sure the repair guy is entirely trustworthy, I'm always cautious these days!

THe HD is pretty much full, so nearly 250gb. I have a portable 200gb one, so not quite large enough. I could move data from one of my 1TB drives to my 3TB drive and reformat the smaller one, but that amount of data (probably about 700gb would take ages!). Might see if anyone here at work has a drive I could borrow maybe...

I assume you can't partition a drive without wiping it?! (Talking about the new MBP hard drive here)

Are TimeMachine back-up files "moveable". TM's are done to a 500gb external drive, and I'm thinking that would be least painful to move to the larger of my drives...??

Either that or I'll stump up and buy a new one from Argos or Tesco on the way home tonight!