PowerMac G4 HD Update: Oops, too late!! Help!!

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
When I came into work this morning, my Dual 500Mhz PowerMac G4 had kernal panic'd for only the second time in almost three years. When I rebooted, the 40GB Maxtor hard drive started clicking and ticking like a clock. It was unreadable by the machine at all.



So then I have a long offsite meeting, and when I come back, I see the headline on MacMinute says, "PowerMac G4 Hard Drive Update for OS X released" and it definitely applied to my G4. Do you think this update might have saved my drive, or at least put off the inevitable for a few days??



I booted off CD and even put in another drive to boot off of, but I have yet to find a way to recognize the drive, it just keeps ticking. I have about 1/3 of the machine on backup, but there are still many things I'd like to get off of it.



First, do you have any suggestions on getting the drive to boot, even if just once or twice? I've heard putting it in the freezer in an air-tight container might help, but that sounds sketchy.... Any apps that might help me?



Second, for last ditch data recovery, do you have any suggestions on places to send it or companies that can help? I'm in the LA area.



I still can't get over the irony. My co-workers had a good laugh, that's for sure. What a sucky day. Any help, advice or sympathy would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks.



--------------------

RosettaStoned

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 1
    I had a very similar problem with my Dual Gig MDD. The hard drive clicked like a clock like you described and I couldnt get the PM to recognize the drive. I installed the OS on my iPod, but had no luck. I lost 3 weeks worth of work on a documentary I was working on. I called Apple, and they told me it was a hardware problem after we went through every step imaginable. I hate to say it, but I think you're stuff might be gone. You can try various software to try to get it back, but you need a new HD first, then you can install the OS on that and run software. Good Luck.
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