Mac/Techy Mags -- Help. I bruised my baby.

**focus** · 07-22-2007, 11:50 AM

Like the idiot I am, I left my beloved 12" powerbook on the kitchen table (running) just within reach of my 16 month old, and left the room. We have a tile floor. Amazingly the only thing that seems to have been affected was the HDD. There's a little seperation on the corner where impact occurred (the corner where the HDD is located

)

I'm pretty sure I wrecked my HDD, though. The system froze up and wouldn't load the OS on restart. Disk Utility told me it couldn't repair it. Thankfully I just purchased a firewire external that's bootable, and I'd backed up the entire drive. I booted from the firewire and was able to access the HDD and copy most of my new files since the backup. I had a couple folders fail.

Then I wiped the HDD, and tried to restore from my backup image. Tried to boot from it -- it looked like the Matrix had taken over my computer (scrolling, flashing code).

So I partitioned the drive, restored to one of the partitions, and for good measure did a fresh OS install on the other partition. Thus far, both partitions seem to work flawlessly and boot just fine.

Am I hosed? My theory in creating the partitions was that the bad spot is probably only one spot (since I was able to access the internal HDD almost normally from the firewire). If I can just stay away from that spot I should be fine. Am I bullshitting myself?

If it's possible that I can partition around the bad spot, is there a way to more specifically target the bad spot? How do I identify what partition has the bad spot (besides trying to fill it up and read it all back)? Disk utility tells me both partitions check out ok, but that the HDD itself has an unrepairable error.

Is it probably only a matter of time until the HDD fails completely?

Any other suggestions? I'll probably end up getting a new HDD someday, though i'm not excited about taking the little guy apart and installing it. Money's tight, though, so later would be much better than sooner.

Thanks....

**f2f** · 07-22-2007, 11:58 AM

take it to a shop and fit a new drive in it, or just do it yourself. there's no point in relying on this drive since it can fail any time nowafter a fall. any sign of damage after this fall is a bad sign: trying to spin a plate with a hairline fracture at 5400rpm means it can explode whenever it feels like...

**hemas** · 07-22-2007, 12:11 PM

Most likely you got lucky and only need to get a new HDD... But you might have also done some damage to the motherboard. No issues now, but if the comp starts to act up again (w/ a new HD), it's pretty much done for (just salvage all the parts you can, and get a new comp).

**focus** · 07-24-2007, 11:54 AM

I've been running off the partition for the past couple days and have had no issues, though all I've really been doing is email/surfing/word processing. I did buy a new HDD, and it should be here Thursday. I've cleared my schedule Thursday afternoon to swap the drive (you essentially have to gut the entire computer to get to the HD - I've heard it can take 2+ hours).

On the positive it will be an upgrade -- 5400 from 4200 (with roughly equivalent power dissipation) and 120GB from 40GB.

Originally Posted by hemas

Most likely you got lucky and only need to get a new HDD... But you might have also done some damage to the motherboard. No issues now, but if the comp starts to act up again (w/ a new HD), it's pretty much done for (just salvage all the parts you can, and get a new comp).

Is there any way to test for that?

At first I was pretty sure i was going to need a new computer, and I had already started looking for a replacement (and a loan via school financial aid). Now it seems a new $70 HDD is all I need, and it's a teensy bit disappointing. I'm entertaining the possibility of selling it on eBay after installing the new HD. It should still fetch a respectable amount, especially as she's maxed out and upgraded: 4x superdrive w/ dual layer capability, new 120GB HD, 1.25GB memory, new battery, scrolling trackpad (somehow this is a selling point on eBay, whatever, it's easy to accomplish via a download), everything has always worked flawlessly.

They seem to be going for something of a premium right now, as Apple doesn't have a current "ultra portable" model for sale [/speculation/justification]. Macrumors says one is in the works for later this year.....

I'd like a little more confidence on that "flawlessly" bit before putting it up for sale, though.

???

**hemas** · 07-24-2007, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by focus

Is there any way to test for that?
???

Not really. At least any reasonable way (you could always open up the comp and search for obvious cracks/fractures on the MB... But most likely they'd be so small that you'd miss 'em).

Just get a new HDD and if you start having issues later, start searching for a replacement. No need to worry until something comes up.

Of course, you could do the Egay-way...

**bossass** · 07-24-2007, 01:20 PM

If you replace your HD on your own MAKE SURE to meticulously seperate, mark and note where each screw goes back and in what order. There are many different LENGTH screws with the same headsize. Get one of those little partitioned screw holders (or weekly pill sorters) to keep things under control. Good luck.

**The Jackamo** · 07-24-2007, 07:11 PM

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/Powe...rd-Drive/53/10

^^what bossass said. when i replaced the HD in my old 12" AlBook, i had a piece of paper and wrote down the step # and the color that the screw corresponded to in that step in the guide and put the screws in a little pile next to that marking, that way i was just able to work backwards and be assured that everything was going back the way it was supposed to.

the toughest part, in my opinion, of the whole take apart is disconnecting the microphone and power button cables from the logic board. other than that, it's all pretty straightforward.

**Snow Dog** · 07-24-2007, 08:55 PM

Hard drives are pretty indestructable -- they have a G-force sensor and are good to 200 - 300 G of shock (the heads move so fast that they can park before they hit the platter. I'd go with a cracked motherboard. The smallest of hairline cracks can completely fubar a computer.

Connectors can get knocked loose too so that would be the first thing to check -- don't forget any socket mounted ICs that don't clamp down.

**focus** · 07-24-2007, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by Snow Dog

Hard drives are pretty indestructable -- they have a G-force sensor and are good to 200 - 300 G of shock (the heads move so fast that they can park before they hit the platter. I'd go with a cracked motherboard. The smallest of hairline cracks can completely fubar a computer.

Apple didn't roll that technology out in their products until 2005. My PB is from 2004. Are you talking about an internal (to the HD) sensor?

The fact that it booted and operated normally both from the restore CD and the external drive makes me think the HD was the issue. Disk Utility is still telling me my HD is fucked up.

???

I'm not trying to justify or prove anything... but there seems to be little doubt that my HD did sustain some kind of damage. Motherboard very well could have been damaged too, I'm hoping not... Is there something I'm missing?

**Snow Dog** · 07-24-2007, 11:10 PM

The technology is built into the hard drive and has been around at least 10 years. If it's running fine from the restore CD then the MB is probably ok. I'd reseat the HD connectors (data and power) just as an experiment. The HD and CD probably share that same drive controller so if the CD is working then everything downstream is probably working ok.

**Arty50** · 07-25-2007, 12:02 AM

Yup. Reseat the drive connectors; and if that doesn't work, replace the drive.

It's definitely not your mobo.

**focus** · 07-28-2007, 07:30 PM

I replaced the drive Thursday. Took me about 2.5 hours. It wouldn't have been too bad, really, if I'd had a proper set of tiny screwdrivers. The cheap ones I had probably made the whole process take twice as long as it should have.

Anyhow, no problems now. Nice little upgrade. Even so, I think I'm going to unload it on eBay and take the student loan for a new macbook.

Thanks for the help.

**RShea** · 07-30-2007, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by focus

Apple didn't roll that technology out in their products until 2005. My PB is from 2004. Are you talking about an internal (to the HD) sensor?

The fact that it booted and operated normally both from the restore CD and the external drive makes me think the HD was the issue. Disk Utility is still telling me my HD is fucked up.

???

I'm not trying to justify or prove anything... but there seems to be little doubt that my HD did sustain some kind of damage. Motherboard very well could have been damaged too, I'm hoping not... Is there something I'm missing?

I'd agree with the diagnosis on the hard drive being the problem if it boots with the other media. The hard drive G force even on a laptop is such that the heads cound have slammed hard enough (even if they did park) to damage the heads or alignment of the heads or one of the platters could have even come loose.

As for the motherboard, if you have to disassemble the unit to get to the drive, inspect for cracks or any signs of physical damage- especially around the area that took the force of the drop.