Mac Mini home computer won't boot

[buckeye]

Tried safe mode and single user mode but to no avail. Ran Disk Utility from the install disk and got the error "Reserved fields in the catalog record have incorrect data." Did a google of the error and pretty much the consensus is that a third party utility, such as DiskWarrior, would be needed if I wanted to salvage any of the data. To save $95, I could just reformat and reinstall everything but I don't have any of the data backed up. My question is, if Disk Utility can see the hard drive, but it won't mount, would the Mac Mini hard drive show up and be accessible if I ethernet it to another computer?

[MacTwidget]

Instead of networking them w/ ethernet, I would try booting the mini in Target Disk mode. Then use another Mac via FireWire to try to access and repair the disk.

[buckeye]

Sounds like a plan. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

Erik

[buckeye]

MacTwidget,

No dice on the Target Disk mode. The firewire icon came up on the Mac Mini but the Mini never would show up on the other computer.

Erik

[graficworx]

What that error indicates is that somehow the filesystem have become horribly corrupt. Without going into very techy details, your hard drive has an index, sort if like a map to where all your data is. Without that index, it's just s garbled mess. You will definitely need some kind of recovery software. I recommend Data Rescue 3 Mac Data Rescue, Mac Disk Recovery, Macintosh File Recovery - Prosofteng.com. It will recover data that Disk Warrior or Tech Tools can't. It's a very slow process, but I have had very good luck with it.

[buckeye]

graficworx,

Thanks for the info. I already ordered DiskWarrior a couple days ago. Hope it does the trick. As far as the corruption, I guess that would explain why when I booted up from the Install Disk and it asked to select a destination, the hard drive wouldn't even show up to restore or re-install the operating system? I'm also guessing that it probably would have let me erase or reformat though?

Erik

[buckeye]

What a freakin waste of money DiskWarrior was. It still wouldn't show up in the list of hard drives. Does it at least mean the hard drive is functioning properly (spinning up) since I can see it with Disk Utility and am able to erase it?

Erik

[Joe]

I would try booting the Apple Hardware Test DVD and see what it says about the disk. Also, if you can see it with Disk Utility you boot from the install DVD but instead of installing, start Disk utility and see if it will repair the HD.

[buckeye]

Joe,

I already booted up from the Install CD. I ran Disk Utility from there and got the error "Reserved Fields in the Catalog Record Have Incorrect Data." I googled the error and most of the links said a third party utility would be needed to fix the catalog/directory. Nowhere did I get the impression that it could be a bad hard drive but my paranoia meter is making me think so. Will run the hardware test when I get home. Thanks.

Erik

[Joe]

So Disk Utility said it couldn't fix it? Is it making any kind of unusual noise?