Invalid node structure, cannot repair disk, VERY valueable data... HELP!

revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
edited August 2008 in Hardware
Ahhh, my father is a film maker and i am staying with him for a few weeks.

He shutdown his computer because there was a thunder storm. After the storm turned it back on and cannot access his external firewire drive (western digital 300gb) he has tried repair disk in disk utilities and it says invalid node structure there for it cant repair.

This disk has very impotant data as my father is a film maker and it has alot of his work on it.

Please, is there anything we can do to fix this disk?

He is running powerbook G4 1.5ghz on OS X 10.4.11

Comments

  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited August 2008
    Here is what disk utility says:

    Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
    Checking HFS Plus volume.
    Checking Extents Overflow file.
    Checking Catalog file.
    Invalid node structure
    The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.



    Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


    1 HFS volume checked
    Volume needs repair

    Hope this helps
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited August 2008
    right, well we have purchased disk warrior for $100 and it has made a temperary image of the disk with all the stuff which can be recovered, the rest is lost forever :(

    he is now copying the recoverable stuff.

    Dont worry about this topic unless you have a good fix which will fix the drive.

    Thanks if anyone looked.
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited August 2008
    Well here's a little food for thought.

    If you just "turn off" an electronic device, most of the time it's still On, and you don't even know it. If the computer is plugged directly into the wall, you're lucky it's still alive. Secondly, if it isn't, not all surge suppressors are the same. I spent 80 bucks on the one I use now, and I'm about to do it again because the warranty is about to go out.

    Even your father should know to detach external drives from their host when there is a storm. That's just common storm-chaser knowledge and the Weather Channel goes on about it every other day.
  • BLuKnightBLuKnight Lehi, UT Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    I've always been a fan of SpinRite (http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm). It's always been able to help me repair tough drives so I could recover the data.
  • AnnesAnnes Tripped Up by Libidos and Hubris Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    Just FYI, he's running the disk utility on the Mac's hard drive, not the external one.
  • revorocksrevorocks England, East Sussex, Hove Member
    edited August 2008
    Yes, he will definatly unplug all his external hard drives next time there is a storm.

    Turns out disk warrior managed to recover ALL the data by rebuilding the directory so we are both relieved.

    Thank you for your help. :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    Turns out disk warrior managed to recover ALL the data by rebuilding the directory so we are both relieved.
    Although it's neither my data nor my drive, I feel relieved.

    Reverocks, here is the strategy your father should follow:

    - Use the computer for original material
    - Make daily backups (probably incremental) to an external device. The external device should be for data backup ONLY
    - power-off and unplug the external device when not in use
    - if the backed up data is critical/valuable, consider a second backup device for redundancy. Perhaps perform full backups to the second backup device on a weekly basis. Store the the redundant (second) backup device at a physically remote location, such as your father's place of work.
    - any automation that stores valuable data should be connected through a high quality UPS. Two good manufacturers are Tripp Lite and APC. Do NOT shop by price; DO shop by brand and power rating.

    There are several excellent backup utilities available, one of which is Acronis. (don't know about Apple compatible/recommended software)

    Software security can be had relatively inexpensively. There is no reason why your father should ever have a data loss crisis again. Blunt, but true.
  • bullzisniprbullzisnipr Topeka, KS
    edited August 2008
    BLuKnight wrote:
    I've always been a fan of SpinRite (http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm). It's always been able to help me repair tough drives so I could recover the data.

    I'll back this up. we use spinrite everyday, and i use it monthly on my computers at home to catch failing drives early. i would HIGHLY recommend everybody have a copy of spinrite to run on their harddrives regularly if you have important data..
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