The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Help! Lost my whole OS X partition.

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by dnjnyc, Sep 21, 2007.

  1. dnjnyc

    dnjnyc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have a MBP with Windows on a separate partition. Normally, the computer boots to Windows by default; pressing the Option key at startup gives me the OS options. Typical, right?

    But suddenly I can't get OS X to boot. Instead I get a blank, lit screen, but the hard drive spins, the KB works (tested it in Windows), the fan runs, the optical drive tries mightily -- but no OS X. After about 5 minutes, Windows finally boots. Even that kind of wait is wrong.

    I tried booting with Install disks 1 and 2, pressing all combinations of keys: Cmd/Opt/Shift/Delete; the C key; the trackpad button -- I'm just trying to get the disk to reinstall everything from scratch, and hoping that would cure. But I can't even boot from disk. Also, Safe Mode won't kick in.

    Any suggestions? Is OS X lost forever? This is weird. All I can think of now is putting in a new HD. :confused:
     
    dnjnyc, Sep 21, 2007
    #1
  2. stealthsniper96

    stealthsniper96 What Was I Thinkin'?

    Reputations:
    207
    Messages:
    1,398
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    sorry man but i cant help here.

    *waits for sam and all his bootcamp smartness*
     
    stealthsniper96, Sep 21, 2007
    #2
  3. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

    Reputations:
    1,988
    Messages:
    5,253
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    *tells sam on the random thread to get over here*
    when did it happen did you install some thing before it?
    SAMS ANSWER:
     
    Thomas, Sep 21, 2007
    #3
  4. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    3,661
    Messages:
    9,249
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Who me? I don't know either, sorry :eek:. Do you happen to have an external hard drive that is a backup of your entire OS X?
     
    Sam, Sep 21, 2007
    #4
  5. Xander

    Xander Paranoid Android

    Reputations:
    1,321
    Messages:
    1,455
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Xander, Sep 21, 2007
    #5
  6. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Can you be a little more specific? What exactly happens when you hold down Option at boot-up? Does the Windows/Macintosh selection screen even appear?

    In addition to resetting the PRAM and the SMC, you might also try booting into Windows, since you can do that. Boot Camp manager's startup manager in Windows isn't simply for "Boot Camp" only - you can insert startup disks and tell it to manually boot off those disks as well, as well as run the partition in Targeted Disk Mode. There are also options to restart the system directly to OSX in the Boot Camp manager as well.
     
    taelrak, Sep 21, 2007
    #6
  7. smiley_lauf

    smiley_lauf Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    43
    Messages:
    234
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    dn, I just found this, I am not sure if it the same issue as you have, but have a look just in case--here is the link to the site, and here is an excerpt:
     
    smiley_lauf, Sep 22, 2007
    #7
  8. dnjnyc

    dnjnyc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Aargh, no backup. And yes, I tried resetting PRAM and SMC. Again, I don't even reach the Apple screen or the twin OS choices screen. Just lit but blank throughout. I will try some of Taelrak's ideas -- stand by.
     
    dnjnyc, Sep 22, 2007
    #8
  9. passive101

    passive101 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    1,548
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Is there a program that will allow windows to read the mac formated section? If so Get the files from there and just re-install both of them with a clean install from the Apple cd's.
     
    passive101, Sep 22, 2007
    #9
  10. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    MacDrive will let you read HFS+ partitions. It costs money, but there's a 5-day free trial, which is probably long enough for you to recover your data if necessary.
     
    taelrak, Sep 22, 2007
    #10
  11. dnjnyc

    dnjnyc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I can't find anything anywhere in Windows re. Boot Camp, startup manager (I looked all through msconfig, etc.) -- and what is Targeted Disk Mode?

    And Passive, this being Boot Camp, Windows has no knowledge of the Mac partition (correct me if I'm wrong), so I can't figure a way to read it.

    It's not that I have so much data to retrieve -- most files are on a flash drive. I just want OS X back! I will give MacDrive a try.

    Does anyone else think the HD might just be shot?
     
    dnjnyc, Sep 22, 2007
    #11
  12. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Boot camp startup manager should be in the Control Panel, if it's not on your taskbar (the icons on the lower right hand corner of the screen usually).

    One thing you might try if you really can't find Boot Camp Manager is to reinstall the Boot Camp 1.4 drivers (this is assuming you already burned them onto a CD, since you'd need to access OSX to get them).
     
    taelrak, Sep 22, 2007
    #12
  13. dnjnyc

    dnjnyc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    18
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Found it. I told the computer to automatically boot up OS X, but no go. It went back to Windows by default. I'm taking a break!
     
    dnjnyc, Sep 22, 2007
    #13
  14. HLdan

    HLdan Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,088
    Messages:
    2,142
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    If you don't see on the startup screen in Windows the option to choose OS X as the default then it's gone. Pop in your OS X install disc and wipe the drive clean and start over.
     
    HLdan, Sep 22, 2007
    #14
  15. ogando_jose

    ogando_jose Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    looks like its not exactly damaged. It just doesn't want to boot.

    First, try using a linux live-cd to recover most important files. I recommend knoppix. its really simple to use. Just drag and drop files you need.

    EDIT-

    Oh well... by the way if you wanna try to repair your disk partition table you can also try using "parted" in linux. Its a bit complex but it supports mac disks. If you try to do this, i would suggest backup windows too cause you can end up deleting it too lol.

    Parted is a comand line tool so its a bit difficult to use at first. The "rescue" command within parted is really good. http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/manual/html_mono/parted.html#SEC24

    just use rescue start: 0 end: sizeinMB (approx, try using a bit more)

    And i forgot to mention, this knoppix and parted is free software under GPL, you can download it free from http://www.knoppix.org/ the 700 MB version will work though if you wanna try linux the 4 gigs version has A LOT... A LOT of software
     
    ogando_jose, Sep 23, 2007
    #15