Thank you roehlstation What you've said makes perfect sense and makes me feel a lot better about going forward and switching permanently from Windows on Nov. 30th. The Mac will be a completely new platform for me but I've been a closet Mac fan for at least 2 years and now it's time to come out of the closet Nov. 30th but because I'm far from rich spending $1099 for a computer that will quickly erode had me very nervous!
Thank you roehlstation What you've said makes perfect sense and makes me feel a lot better about going forward and switching permanently from Windows on Nov. 30th. The Mac will be a completely new platform for me but I've been a closet Mac fan for at least 2 years and now it's time to come out of the closet Nov. 30th but because I'm far from rich spending $1099 for a computer that will quickly erode had me very nervous!
I have a Mac Mini that has this model: ST96812AS - firmware version: 7.01
Am I in trouble? I've been using this since it was introduced, a year and a half ago. It's the first Core Solo Mac Mini.
I had no problems with it..
Oh, my. I had the EXACT model, with the EXACT firmware in my daughter's MacBook Core Duo, purchased in September of 2006. That was about a month ago, when the drive went Blooey.
Advice, advice, advice: BACK UP ALL OF YOUR DATA, AND/OR REPLACE THE HARD DRIVE IMMEDIATELY. It could go at any time, especially if you've been using it for just over 12 months. If you google the drive, and Seagate/MacBook searches, you'll find a whole lot of people who complain that their Seagate drives of exactly the same model and firmware version destroyed themselves just after the one year warranty expired. Moreover, the drive doesn't show up as a device on any machine, Mac or PC, so retrieving data by software means is well-nye impossible. I know. My daughter lost thousands of photographs and didn't back up any of them. They're gone. She also lost research and draft files for college courses. Ouch.
I tried every remedy that I can imagine had a chance of working. Freezing, data recovery software, etc. And I'm even considering buying another identical drive and swapping the controller board on the drive, as I heard that this might be a way to recover data. But I'm waiting for Apple and Seagate's response.
Again, your data will be gone unless you already backed it up or you're up for spending a few THOUSAND dollars on recovery, and even then, it's a maybe.
Is this really true? because I'm purchasing a new Macbook Nov. 30th so I hope it does have a Hitachi drive. Is there a way to make sure my Macbook has a Hitachi drive before I purchase it from my local Apple store
I'd imagine that you could open up the box right there in the store after you bought it, start up the machine, and go right to "about this Mac", choose more info, then go to serial ATA for the model and firmware version of your hard drive.
Some posters are minimizing the claim that the drive/firmware identity is part of some kind of hype. To me, it's not. It happened with a Seagate ST96812AS, firmware version 7.0.1. I've written this down so often in trying to find a remedy to the inability to recover data, I know it by heart.
I've been working on the drive for over a week, with NO success. Now, really, replacement of the drive is probably for a cost of under 50 bucks. It's saving the data that's really costly. So, back everything up.
My June, 2006 BlackBook 2ghz had the affected Seagate drive (80g) with the 7.01 firmware cited by Retrodata. It catastrophically bit the dust after 11 months of service. I didn't take advantage of the replacement under the 1 yr warranty period b/c Apple want to take the drive from you, regardless of the fact that you are compromising your data security by giving up the drive. No matter how much apple insists "We never have a problem with data being compromised," I don't give my proprietary data to anyone, even if it is inside a ruined piece of kit. I'm sure Apple's been aware of this problem for a long time; I just hope the latest round of publicity force them to make things right to their customers. Retrodata did the right thing - it's time apple owned up.
this now explains why i had to get my hard drive replaced 4 times in my macbook.
the one thing that bugged me with this is that after getting a 4th hard drive, they still wouldn't admit anything was wrong and accused me of doing some sort of user error to make it fail every time. i had my drive replaced the 4th time about 2 months before my 1 year warranty was up, and i think it's ridiculous they don't extend the warranty to a year from the service date.
edit: i got my macbook the summer of '06, so it's a core duo, 2 ghz, 100 gb drive, 1 gb of memory. i think this problem has been a problem in a lot of the earlier macbooks, and apple has since changed hard drive manufacturers for the new ones. i wouldn't worry about this if you bought one recently or plan on buying one.
this now explains why i had to get my hard drive replaced 4 times in my macbook.
the one thing that bugged me with this is that after getting a 4th hard drive, they still wouldn't admit anything was wrong and accused me of doing some sort of user error to make it fail every time. i had my drive replaced the 4th time about 2 months before my 1 year warranty was up, and i think it's ridiculous they don't extend the warranty to a year from the service date.
That is how Everyone in the industry handles it. Sorry about your bad luck on that. Do you know what drive is in there now.
I know if I'd have been servicing it, after the second time I may have looked into a possible issue elsewhere, (unless it was a mechanical failure every time)
Retrodata did the right thing - it's time apple owned up.
As I have explained, they need to know exactly which units are affected, they cannot make a statement until then. Making a premature announcement would have dire effects on their bottom line, which would suck if it only affected a fraction of the total installed base, I know as a stock holder that would totally tick me off. You should be comforted in the fact at this point that they have acknowledged the issue and are looking into it. (The right thing will be done, I know it stinks having to wait for it, but Apple has ALWAYS done the right thing in the past)
Also, don't assume if you've had a drive failure, that it is because of this issue. Drives fail for MANY reasons, remember you have a device rotating at 5400 RPM, there are a lot of things in a hard disk that can fail.
That is how Everyone in the industry handles it. Sorry about your bad luck on that. Do you know what drive is in there now.
I know if I'd have been servicing it, after the second time I may have looked into a possible issue elsewhere, (unless it was a mechanical failure every time)
the drive is a toshiba now, i haven't had any problems since they last replaced it (march?)
Making a premature announcement would have dire effects on their bottom line, which would suck if it only affected a fraction of the total installed base, I know as a stock holder that would totally tick me off.
Yeah it's good to know that Apple watches out the the shareholders while customer risk permenant data loss from a manufacturing flaw. I can just hear it - Apple: you lost data? Well our stock price are up, didn't you heed the warnings from the online forums?
Yeah it's good to know that Apple watches out the the shareholders while customer risk permenant data loss from a manufacturing flaw. I can just hear it - Apple: you lost data? Well our stock price are up, didn't you heed the warnings from the online forums?
They aren't only protecting their stockholders they are protecting the entire market, you should take a look at the SEC regulations regarding this. There are specific steps that must take place before announcements that are positive or negative are made because it effects the entire market.
Once again: Apple is NOT responsible for consumer's data backup strategies (or lack thereof)
They aren't only protecting their stockholders they are protecting the entire market, you should take a look at the SEC regulations regarding this. There are specific steps that must take place before announcements that are positive or negative are made because it effects the entire market.
Once again: Apple is NOT responsible for consumer's data backup strategies (or lack thereof)
Apple - a manufacturing flaw in the hard drive in our MacBook can result in permanent data loss even when used under routine operating conditions, but we are not responsible. We are protecting the entire market by not giving our customers any warning, just go look up some SEC rules. Wow!
Apple - a manufacturing flaw in the hard drive in our MacBook can result in permanent data loss even when used under routine operating conditions, but we are not responsible. We are protecting the entire market by not giving our customers any warning, just go look up some SEC rules. Wow!
Way to oversimplify the issue.
BTW: I replaced 200 hard disks in computers this week in my part time position at a service center where I am certified to work on NOT just Apple computers. 1 of those hard disks was in a Mac...(it was a 7 year old machine.) Half of the drives were still under the 1 year warranty. Should everyone else warn their customers as well? I'm going to leave it up to common sense (BACK UP YOUR STUFF.....PERIOD)
Yes I agree, it sucks that this is happening to people and it is frustrating that Apple remains rather Mum about it, and I'm sure I'd be mad if it happened to me, Rightfully so, however, I have a backup strategy in place so I might be out a day work. I do rely on my computers to make money, everything I do is on computers producing work to go onto other computers; I deal in Data. As such, backups are important. Look at it this way.
WHAT IF FED EX ONLY HAD ONE TRUCK?!
Some of you need to get a grip and realize Apple is NOT just sitting back and doing nothing. They are remaining mum until they have the appropriate information to give out. Why scare everyone if only 1/10th of 1 % of the total units are affected?
Hard disks fail under normal operating conditions MORE often then not. Realize that All hard drives will fail sometime. And you will rarely know when. Even if under warranty a hard drive can fail in the first 10 minutes of use (I've had it happen 3 times to me).
Unfortunately this article is about 2 months too late for me! My Macbook died, took it to the Apple Store, and they told me to take it to a data recovery company called Ontrak to have the data retrieved.
Ontrak attempted to recover the data for a $100 consultation fee. They said there was physical damage to the drive and nothing could be recovered. I of course didn't have anything backed up, and ended up losing about 2 years worth of photos. I guess I learned my lesson about backups.
Apple did end up replacing the drive for free because the Macbook was under 6 months old and under Apple Care, but that doesn't get me my data back.
From the looks of things AllanCook, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a Seagate. These reports are pretty scary. Especially since on Nov. 30th I'll be going to an Apple store and purchasing a new Macbook. I guess if it does have a seagate hard drive I'll simply replace it before my warranty expires.
My Seagate drive died in my MacBook last Christmas. The MacBook at that time was only about 6 months old. I assumed it was a fluke, but now it appears it may have been something more. The drive had all my infant son's photos in iPhoto, it hadn't been backed up in three months, and I lost a lot of the pictures of his birth and first months of life.
Anyway, in desperation I sent it to a professional data recovery firm (Ontrack Data Recovery Co.), but they said the drive heads had crashed hard and no data could be recovered. To top it off, it cost me about $200 just to find out they couldn't recover the data.
If it turns out that there are sufficient grounds for a class action lawsuit, you can bet I'll be a part of it.
Comments
Thank you roehlstation
Welcome, and I hope you enjoy it.
I have a Mac Mini that has this model: ST96812AS - firmware version: 7.01
Am I in trouble? I've been using this since it was introduced, a year and a half ago. It's the first Core Solo Mac Mini.
I had no problems with it..
Oh, my. I had the EXACT model, with the EXACT firmware in my daughter's MacBook Core Duo, purchased in September of 2006. That was about a month ago, when the drive went Blooey.
Advice, advice, advice: BACK UP ALL OF YOUR DATA, AND/OR REPLACE THE HARD DRIVE IMMEDIATELY. It could go at any time, especially if you've been using it for just over 12 months. If you google the drive, and Seagate/MacBook searches, you'll find a whole lot of people who complain that their Seagate drives of exactly the same model and firmware version destroyed themselves just after the one year warranty expired. Moreover, the drive doesn't show up as a device on any machine, Mac or PC, so retrieving data by software means is well-nye impossible. I know. My daughter lost thousands of photographs and didn't back up any of them. They're gone. She also lost research and draft files for college courses. Ouch.
I tried every remedy that I can imagine had a chance of working. Freezing, data recovery software, etc. And I'm even considering buying another identical drive and swapping the controller board on the drive, as I heard that this might be a way to recover data. But I'm waiting for Apple and Seagate's response.
Again, your data will be gone unless you already backed it up or you're up for spending a few THOUSAND dollars on recovery, and even then, it's a maybe.
Is this really true? because I'm purchasing a new Macbook Nov. 30th so I hope it does have a Hitachi drive. Is there a way to make sure my Macbook has a Hitachi drive before I purchase it from my local Apple store
I'd imagine that you could open up the box right there in the store after you bought it, start up the machine, and go right to "about this Mac", choose more info, then go to serial ATA for the model and firmware version of your hard drive.
Some posters are minimizing the claim that the drive/firmware identity is part of some kind of hype. To me, it's not. It happened with a Seagate ST96812AS, firmware version 7.0.1. I've written this down so often in trying to find a remedy to the inability to recover data, I know it by heart.
I've been working on the drive for over a week, with NO success. Now, really, replacement of the drive is probably for a cost of under 50 bucks. It's saving the data that's really costly. So, back everything up.
the one thing that bugged me with this is that after getting a 4th hard drive, they still wouldn't admit anything was wrong and accused me of doing some sort of user error to make it fail every time. i had my drive replaced the 4th time about 2 months before my 1 year warranty was up, and i think it's ridiculous they don't extend the warranty to a year from the service date.
edit: i got my macbook the summer of '06, so it's a core duo, 2 ghz, 100 gb drive, 1 gb of memory. i think this problem has been a problem in a lot of the earlier macbooks, and apple has since changed hard drive manufacturers for the new ones. i wouldn't worry about this if you bought one recently or plan on buying one.
this now explains why i had to get my hard drive replaced 4 times in my macbook.
the one thing that bugged me with this is that after getting a 4th hard drive, they still wouldn't admit anything was wrong and accused me of doing some sort of user error to make it fail every time. i had my drive replaced the 4th time about 2 months before my 1 year warranty was up, and i think it's ridiculous they don't extend the warranty to a year from the service date.
That is how Everyone in the industry handles it. Sorry about your bad luck on that. Do you know what drive is in there now.
I know if I'd have been servicing it, after the second time I may have looked into a possible issue elsewhere, (unless it was a mechanical failure every time)
Retrodata did the right thing - it's time apple owned up.
As I have explained, they need to know exactly which units are affected, they cannot make a statement until then. Making a premature announcement would have dire effects on their bottom line, which would suck if it only affected a fraction of the total installed base, I know as a stock holder that would totally tick me off. You should be comforted in the fact at this point that they have acknowledged the issue and are looking into it. (The right thing will be done, I know it stinks having to wait for it, but Apple has ALWAYS done the right thing in the past)
Also, don't assume if you've had a drive failure, that it is because of this issue. Drives fail for MANY reasons, remember you have a device rotating at 5400 RPM, there are a lot of things in a hard disk that can fail.
That is how Everyone in the industry handles it. Sorry about your bad luck on that. Do you know what drive is in there now.
I know if I'd have been servicing it, after the second time I may have looked into a possible issue elsewhere, (unless it was a mechanical failure every time)
the drive is a toshiba now, i haven't had any problems since they last replaced it (march?)
Making a premature announcement would have dire effects on their bottom line, which would suck if it only affected a fraction of the total installed base, I know as a stock holder that would totally tick me off.
Yeah it's good to know that Apple watches out the the shareholders while customer risk permenant data loss from a manufacturing flaw. I can just hear it - Apple: you lost data? Well our stock price are up, didn't you heed the warnings from the online forums?
Yeah it's good to know that Apple watches out the the shareholders while customer risk permenant data loss from a manufacturing flaw. I can just hear it - Apple: you lost data? Well our stock price are up, didn't you heed the warnings from the online forums?
They aren't only protecting their stockholders they are protecting the entire market, you should take a look at the SEC regulations regarding this. There are specific steps that must take place before announcements that are positive or negative are made because it effects the entire market.
Once again: Apple is NOT responsible for consumer's data backup strategies (or lack thereof)
They aren't only protecting their stockholders they are protecting the entire market, you should take a look at the SEC regulations regarding this. There are specific steps that must take place before announcements that are positive or negative are made because it effects the entire market.
Once again: Apple is NOT responsible for consumer's data backup strategies (or lack thereof)
Apple - a manufacturing flaw in the hard drive in our MacBook can result in permanent data loss even when used under routine operating conditions, but we are not responsible. We are protecting the entire market by not giving our customers any warning, just go look up some SEC rules. Wow!
Apple - a manufacturing flaw in the hard drive in our MacBook can result in permanent data loss even when used under routine operating conditions, but we are not responsible. We are protecting the entire market by not giving our customers any warning, just go look up some SEC rules. Wow!
Way to oversimplify the issue.
BTW: I replaced 200 hard disks in computers this week in my part time position at a service center where I am certified to work on NOT just Apple computers. 1 of those hard disks was in a Mac...(it was a 7 year old machine.) Half of the drives were still under the 1 year warranty. Should everyone else warn their customers as well? I'm going to leave it up to common sense (BACK UP YOUR STUFF.....PERIOD)
Yes I agree, it sucks that this is happening to people and it is frustrating that Apple remains rather Mum about it, and I'm sure I'd be mad if it happened to me, Rightfully so, however, I have a backup strategy in place so I might be out a day work. I do rely on my computers to make money, everything I do is on computers producing work to go onto other computers; I deal in Data. As such, backups are important. Look at it this way.
WHAT IF FED EX ONLY HAD ONE TRUCK?!
Some of you need to get a grip and realize Apple is NOT just sitting back and doing nothing. They are remaining mum until they have the appropriate information to give out. Why scare everyone if only 1/10th of 1 % of the total units are affected?
Hard disks fail under normal operating conditions MORE often then not. Realize that All hard drives will fail sometime. And you will rarely know when. Even if under warranty a hard drive can fail in the first 10 minutes of use (I've had it happen 3 times to me).
Ontrak attempted to recover the data for a $100 consultation fee. They said there was physical damage to the drive and nothing could be recovered. I of course didn't have anything backed up, and ended up losing about 2 years worth of photos. I guess I learned my lesson about backups.
Apple did end up replacing the drive for free because the Macbook was under 6 months old and under Apple Care, but that doesn't get me my data back.
Anyway, in desperation I sent it to a professional data recovery firm (Ontrack Data Recovery Co.), but they said the drive heads had crashed hard and no data could be recovered. To top it off, it cost me about $200 just to find out they couldn't recover the data.
If it turns out that there are sufficient grounds for a class action lawsuit, you can bet I'll be a part of it.
Tried everything to retrieve data - Disk Utility, DiskWarrior, even the good ole freezer trick. Nothing.
Went out and bought a new drive at Fry's on Black Friday.
It seems pretty crappy that these drives are suddenly dying one year out - precisely when AppleCare (without additional AC) runs out. Ugh.
My MacBook's battery also had a firmware issue that prevented it from charging correctly.
I feel like I bought an eMachine Macbook or something.