non-mountable drive

Hi,

I have an iMac running OS9. The hard drive has disappeared. If I leave the machine for a while (a couple of hours). I can boot off a cd and see the hard drive. When I click around I start getting an error message saying that data may have been lost restart with extensions off. When I do this the hard drive disappears. I tried reinitializing it, and reinstalling the OS, but it gave me the error that the drive couldn't be mounted. Any thoughts. Am I in for a new hard drive?

Thanks,
Jon

Hi there and welcome !

Certainly sounds like it. Has anything happened before, has it showed any signs that it may be on it's way out ?

What model iMac is it ?

regards

Ric

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Its an iMac DV Special Edition. It crashed hard a couple of time before this. I can't remember the error, but I had to shut it down using the little button with the arrow on it on the side.

Thanks again,
Jon

Hi there Jon,

the chances are that if you can't see it when booting from the install CD then it probably is 'toast'...

Do you have any Disk Utility software such as Nortons etc, this might help, give you a definitive answer. Certainly sounds like it's on it's way out/broke.

I haven't ever opened up one of the iMac DV's, so not sure how hard/easy it is to replace the hard drive with a new one. Are you a 'take it apart' person, or leave well alone ?

I'll try and find a guide for replacing the hard drive, they're are relatively cheap and if the iMac currently services your needs, then it's a cheap way of getting it working again.

regards

Ric

Hi Ric,

Thanks for your help. I have taken it apart before, and it looks like I will be taking it apart again. Oh well, at least it will keep the hard drive market alive.

Thanks,
Jon

Hi Jon,

it's always a lot easier the second time !

good luck

regards

Ric