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User profile for user: OldMacOz
OldMacOz Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Mounting old MacOS system drives

I have pulled the 160GB hard drive from a 2006 iMac 17/2.0/2x1GB/160/sd as it has archive files I want to recover. I can't remember what OS was on it but dates from the big cats - Lion or Leopard I think

I've put it into a powered SATA to USB enclosure but it won't mount on my 2017 MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.6.7.

It does sort of mount as I get string of "Disk Not Ejected Properly" messages but it doe not - quite -mount.

Under Terminal "diskutil list" does show the disk up at all. I'm not good enough to use other Terminal commands with any degree of confidence

I have an even older 80GB drive that I would like to recover if possible as well.

Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.6

Posted on Oct 4, 2024 4:00 AM

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11 replies
User profile for user: OldMacOz
OldMacOz Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Oct 4, 2024 3:27 PM in response to BDAqua

The drives will be whatever the OS format the had back in the day, probably one of the MacOS Extended flavours.

I never messed around with them at that level so I really don't know. I don't fiddle with things like that without expert advice. FWIW I have pulled drives and put them in enclosures before to retrieve files but this the first time have done with such a large gap between operating systems.


I'm about to head out for 8-10 hours. I will check to see if fsck is running when I get back and report in then.

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User profile for user: OldMacOz
OldMacOz Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Oct 6, 2024 4:52 PM in response to BDAqua

I've done some additional testing and I am now reasonably certain it is the enclosure I am using to physically mount the drives that is the issue.

They mount but don't stay mounted. When they first mount I can see the contents briefly and then the image drops off the Desktop. It then remounts but for a shorter time. This process repeats in increasingly shorter cycles until it won't mount at all after about 3 minutes

I'm using one of these enclosures https://www.simplecom.com.au/simplecom-se331-aluminium-3-5-sata-to-usb-c-external-hard-drive-enclosure-usb-3-2-gen1-5gbps.html

Am I being hopeful that an old Seagate 80GB driveModel ST3808 19AS can be mounted with this unit?

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User profile for user: OldMacOz
OldMacOz Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Oct 6, 2024 5:18 PM in response to BDAqua

I can't use your suggested unit as they don't ship to Australia.

My son has something similar to it but we had no power supply for it which is why I used the Simplecom unit that DOES have a power supply.

I was trying to do it on the cheap but it looks like I'll have to take it into a shop to get what I need done done.

Thank you for your assistance.

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Mounting old MacOS system drives

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