MBP 1,1-10,2 Is my internal SSD drive dying? Slows down Macbook

[f54da]

neat, didn't realize that diskwarrior could also do that. I don't know whether DiskWarrior will go back at the end and actively try to reread failing data.

Actually @ojfd could you provide instructions on how to use diskwarrior in this mode? I don't see any obvious option to both prevent mounting as well as tell it to attempt to read all the data.

 

[ojfd]

neat, didn't realize that diskwarrior could also do that. I don't know whether DiskWarrior will go back at the end and actively try to reread failing data.

Actually @ojfd could you provide instructions on how to use diskwarrior in this mode? I don't see any obvious option to both prevent mounting as well as tell it to attempt to read all the data.

When DiskWarrior encounters damaged drive, it first tries to recover directories, without touching anything on a disk. Then it gives the option to recover files. Those that can't be recovered will be mentioned in the log. It also slows down, when there is a problem reading from the drive. There's more info on their website.

As to the preventing mounting of the drive and making image of it - I touched it briefly here:

Data Recovery from a Dying HDD?

I have a 500GB Crucial SSD that failed big time taking some of my very valuable data with it. I suspect that one of the memory chips is either bad or there is problem with power supply for it. Or maybe a cold solder. Anyway, I was able to rescue what was readable off of that drive with the help...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[f54da]

>When DiskWarrior encounters damaged drive, it first tries to recover directories, without touching anything on a disk


How exactly does it do this though? There's pretty much only one mode, the "rebuild" button. My understanding is that diskwarrior first and foremost is a tool to fix hfs issues, so would it start trying to do its rebuild and on read-issues switch to trying to _only_ discover valid files/directories? And as I recall diskwarrior does not actually give you a chance to copy over discovered files until the process is complete. Which means to actually copy over a file would require two reads (one during the discover phase for the catalog metadata, another during the actual copy to access the extends).

This seems really sketchy to me, and a blind block-level copy like ddrescue seems like the far better option. Once you've done your block level copy then you can mount it and try to have diskwarrior piece together anything that it can salvage.

 

[DeltaMac]

DiskWarrior still cannot rebuild (and won't scan) an APFS volume. You would be wasting your time, if that's what you have.

 

[ojfd]

@f54da , instead of me telling you how DW works, take a look at its manual. Starting from page 47.
And yes, maybe ddrescue is a better option, but that is Linux which is not everybody's cup of tea. I suggest disk imaging on a Mac using iBored that I mentioned in the other thread.

@DeltaMac - yes, if the OP's disk was APFS then he's doomed. On the other hand, I think, he mentioned that the disk in question was used for files only, so maybe it was HFS+..

DiskWarrior 5.3 & APFS — ALSOFT

www.alsoft.com

 

[f54da]

@ojfd I'm well aware of how it works, and it does not negate anything I stated. Particularly the fact that diskwarrior operates in a filesystem aware fashion as opposed to direct block level copying that ddrescue does. As a result, it can end up issuing orders of magnitude more read commands than a direct block-level copy would do. Their recommendation to use diskWarrior when the HDD has hardware issues is rather careless and dangerous.

Which is why standard practice is to always attempt a block-level copy, then mount the result image and use filesystem aware tools.

 

[ojfd]

As a result, it can end up issuing orders of magnitude more read commands than a direct block-level copy would do. Their recommendation to use diskWarrior when the HDD has hardware issues is rather careless and dangerous.

That's a valid point.

 

[subaiku]

Instead of going Linux, you might try DiskWarrior. Leave the defective drive inside the MBP on a SATA bus for faster recovery and boot off of external drive. That's what I did when I had dying Crucial SSD.
DiskWarrior has the option to prevent mounting the drives, btw.
Do not use Disk Utility to fix the drive, it will do more harm than good!

Hey thanks for the suggestion. I sent the drive to a data recovery company today. Apparently the drive had an issue with the head. Prognosis was there seems to be a good chance of recovering 90% of the data but I'll guess we'll see in the next few days.

The drive didn't have any clicking or beeping sounds like how when drives are usually dying. But I didn't want to take the chance of further damaging the drive platter by trying to recover via software. (Which makes me wonder what type of software these data recovery companies use?)

 

[f54da]

>Which makes me wonder what type of software these data recovery companies use

They usually physically inspect the drive first. E.g. in your case I think they would swap the head with one from the same model of HDD. You can search online for a tour with DriveSavers or something that explains all the things they do.

 

[ojfd]

I think there's a lot of smoke and mirror with s.c. "data recovery companies".

 

[TheShortTimer]

I think there's a lot of smoke and mirror with s.c. "data recovery companies".