[Wrao]

My friend just turned on his g5. The resolution was all messed up(set to 640x480, 256) his desktop was bare, his dock was defaulted and world of warcraft was completely missing, vanished without a trace, no mention of it at all in anything(numerous spotlight searches yielded nothing)

Everything else seemed to be 'OK', until he opened iTunes and found that his library was missing(iTunes also treated it like a first run), iPhoto was the same. Safari had no bookmarks, and all around he began to freak out.

His HD still had 54 GB used, so I calmed him down with the knowledge that those files still exist, and that there is just some weird hardware/software/firmware something er other miscommunication that is likely to be fixed easily enough.

After some furmuffering, I did a disk utility "verify disk". It tested for about 5 minutes then popped up a dialog box that said there was a hardware error and the disk needed to be repaired.

He went to get his install discs but could only find disc 2.

So we shut off the computer and will take it down to the local computer store(not an apple store, but they service apple computers) to see if they can save his files.

The problem should be averted by then, unless there is something else we can do now?

He's running a dual processor g5 with 1.5 GB of RAM, 80 GB HD. Running the latest OS X.

He's a fairly light computer user, mostly just plays WoW(he originally got the computer for audio work which he only did for a year or so before WoW set in), so I don't think it was any tinkering on his part that caused this, but nonetheless, it's a problem, and he's pretty upset, so if we can come to a solution that'd be great.

[scratt]

Did you see him start it up?

Have your tried viewing the HD on a another machine, using FW disk mode, or by physically installing it elsewhere?

[alcimedes]

Sounds like he renamed his user account. (missing prefs, iTunes, WoW etc.) Also, spotlight wouldn't find the files if they belonged to another user account. Don't ask me how that would have happened though outside of your friend making some changes.

[scratt]

That's what I was thinking too alc. Or that he moved the Home directory, or something along those lines.. Hence my question about watching it start up..

[Wrao]

I was the one that hit the power button( I was closest, that's all I did though, it's set to automatically log him in) then I walked away. About 10 minutes later when he finally sat down, he saw that things were messed up.

Quickly we thought it might have been an accounts issue, so he tried logging out and logging back in, he was definitely in his regular admin account. Additionally I checked to see if his permissions had been changed somehow, it was all in order.

I mean, disk utility said there was a hardware error, so that's probably going to fix it I mean, how bad can it be? the computer still functions just fine....

[scratt]

Hmm. I wouldn't expect a hardware error to make files and folders dissapear. I mean it's possible, but not particularly likely...

The screen being screwed up and stuff like that I would perhaps put down to some wierd PRAM stuff. You could try zapping that, just for kicks..

But, at the end of the day the hardware error is going to need to be looked at, and perhaps that will solve everything..

EDIT - I just re-read your post. The 'hardware error' was from Disk Utility, right? I read it as from the Hardware Test DVD.

Sounds very simple.. Sounds like your HD is dead / corrupted. You may recover some files.. But if the disk is screwed then yes, some files will be missing, preferences will be screwed (including screen settings) and you may well still get the volume used info making the disk look ok, and parts of the OS / other files may work fine, whereas many will be corupted / lost.

When did your friend last backup?

Have you checked the HDs SMART status?

[Don't use Norton or TechToolPro on it] [Really] [Don't]

I would whip this drive out and mount it on another machine to see what I can salvage, and be off to buy a new HD / get it replaced under warranty, once I had salvaged what I can.

Simply booting off it again will probably do more damage..

[jimih]

Originally Posted by Wrao I mean, disk utility said there was a hardware error, so that's probably going to fix it I mean, how bad can it be? the computer still functions just fine....

Wrao, can you remember what the hradware error was thta Disk utility was reported? I have seen a situation in the past that a users account was basically set to defaults and that when repair permissions was run, it reported an hardware error.

Also, did you go through the Library in the users account to look for their personal account setting etc? ( Mail, calanders etc?)

A back up is necessary to say the least! However, some further investigation is necessary before doing a re-install.

[MBHockey]

I agree with scratt, if he's sure he didn't change any accounts stuff it's likely a disk error from what Disk Utility said.

First thing is to check the SMART status...if it is anything other than 'verified' he needs a new HD and he needs it yesterday.

Don't boot any longer from the internal drive if its smart status isn't verified, and hopefully you can pull data off it later.

[Wrao]

Fortunately, he does have extended 3-year coverage on applecare. So maybe it would be best to take the beast down to the Apple store(unfortunately the closest apple store is in seattle, ~40 minutes away) and they can do everything his warranty entitles him to?

A little bit nervous that he might have lost files for good, he seemed very down at the mere possibility that of losing his pictures.

Unfortunately, he's really not a computer person, and he's never backed up his stuff, I know I know, but it's the truth.

Lastly, if we have to take it down to the Apple store, do you think that the simple act of moving the machine could damage the hardware further? To be honest, I think that's what may have hurt it in the first place, we moved the machine to a new room and in the new room we had to re move it a few times?

[alcimedes]

I'd pick up an external HD, drop his into Target Disk mode and connect the two to your Mac. The Apple store will charge $50 to fix this, because I'm still thinking it's not a hardware error.

A HD error catastrophic enough to make the WoW folders, music folders etc. all disappear would have destroyed the drive to the point where it wouldn't boot. It still logged in, software still ran, the OS booted etc. No way that's a hardware failure.

If you connect your computer to hers and the external hard drive you should be able to get everything back no problem. My money is still on a renamed user account.

[Majost]

Originally Posted by alcimedes If you connect your computer to hers and the external hard drive you should be able to get everything back no problem. My money is still on a renamed user account folder.

T, FTFY. It sounds like they checked the accounts out... but not the folders. Just my two cents.

Edit: Although, on second thought... the permissions for the old (renamed) folder wouldn't have changed... so the stuff should have showed up in the spotlight searches. Sooo... I dunno.

[alcimedes]

Yeah, the accounts might still appear there, but I think a folder was changed. That or there was a preference file screwup somewhere. I hate to tell people to log into the GUI as root, but that would show all the files, and I bet the WoW, music, images etc. are all still there then.

[Majost]

You could simply run a /usr/bin/find command as root. Although not very intuitive (in fact, I forget 'best' way to use the find command), it'd be safer (and easier) than logging into the GUI as root.

Here's something that would work... but I think it should be possible to get it to go with just the Find command. This will go through every file, but only print it if it contains (case insensitive) "warcraft."

sudo find / | grep -i warcraft

[Wrao]

We took it to the apple store, they fixed it under warranty, I wasn't around when the genius did whatever he did, but it seemed to have been a user error and a hardware error. We've made a backup, and all is well. I also bought a mighty mouse

[MBHockey]

Originally Posted by Wrao We took it to the apple store, they fixed it under warranty, I wasn't around when the genius did whatever he did, but it seemed to have been a user error and a hardware error. We've made a backup, and all is well. I also bought a mighty mouse

Awesome. Glad to hear!

[alcimedes]

I'd be interested to see what they wrote it up as.

I'm guessing they didn't actually swap out any hardware.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by alcimedes I'd be interested to see what they wrote it up as.

Me too..

And I would also like to know if the problem re-occurs in a week or so...