Be Excellent To Each Other

Hi Guys,

I'm not sure if we have a thread about broken Apple stuff and Apple questions ( I see many for each problem people have had but not purely Apple based).

OK quick initial question... does this (see picture) most likely signify a Hard Disk failure? I'm no Unix/Linux geek but it's looking likely to me.

It just works!

It's saying launchd has crashed, which is a major system process. Could be a hard drive failure I guess, but could also be a corruption in the OS X install. Can you get into Recovery Mode (hold CMD+R whilst powering on) or does the same thing happen?

Seems to be able to get to the recover screen. I pressed 'options' and R. So not sure that's the same come to think of it. .... Will check again

Just checked and cmd + R does nothing.


It looks like finding a replacement will be expensive too.

Replacement for what? The HDD? Is is a laptop or tower? Are you able to try booting from an install DVD? Which is CMD C. Not sure if you could boot from a USB stick with the contents of an install DVD copied onto it. I'm sure Google would be your friend though.

Or try one of these

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533

Apparently CMD R doesn't work in all cases "Some CPUs require an EFI BootROM update to support this feature."

Hold Option whilst powering on and it should show you what bootable drives and partitions it can see. Chose the Recovery partition from that if possible.

Its a mac air. So need to run the installer from another system. Will try option menu.

Seems my shit phone didn't post my message.

Anyway I got to an options screen. HD or WiFi. Selecting HD does nothing.


I'll give the WiFi ago but after listening to the laptop I'm pretty sure the HD is the problem. I hear it spin up and try access the data but then nothing else.

Anyone recommend anywhere good for spares? I guess we can't just swap the HD for a standard HD due the Apple pissing around with connectors? Its a Mid 2009 Air. LINK I'm pretty sure its that.

Could you PM me the serial number, which will be on the bottom of the MBA? I'll have a look on the AppleCare system and see exactly what it is you have inside there.

Thanks man... Will shortly.

Okay, you've got a Mid-2009 MacBook Air with an internal 120GB HDD. It uses a proprietary connector that only works with MacBook Airs and it looks like a bit of a bugger to get it out (mostly because of how small and delicate everything is inside a MBA, to be fair). There are replacement kits and SSD kits and so on available online and I can provide guides for performing a drive swap. My employer sells a 120GB SSD for £106.58 that will fit and I'm sure there are other replacements available.

I don't think we should completely write off the existing hard drive though. Whilst not especially likely, we don't know yet that you've not just got some kind of corruption on the existing one. We really should try to reinstall OS X on there first.

Do you have any friends with Macs or do you happen to live/work anywhere around London?

If not, I'll PM you my address - stick a 8GB USB stick in the post to me and I'll send you it back with a bootable install of OS X to try restoring the machine with. Let me know first though - if you've got a Mac owning friend nearby, you could just as easily get them to make you such a drive. Also, the WiFi option you got when trying to boot your machine should allow you to use Apple's Internet Restore, where it re-images your machine via the internet.

If you've got a few weeks to spare Seriously, it takes a while.

Yeah, it will do. It does bug me a wee bit that, for how much it probably costs, Apple can't stick a Recovery USB stick in the box with Macs. I appreciate they have recovery partitions now, but still. It would save a lot of arseache.

Cheers man. I have a few people I might be able to abuse if I and them find the time. Will double check and see if I can get it running with the remote installer. I'm happy to try swapping the drive out ( I've already taken a look and it seems possible if not a bit fiddly ) but as you said I should check it is properly dead first.

Finally I've done some abusing and got a USB with the recovery software... however it just says unable to verify and repair. It then recommends I recover as many files as possible, format and restore/reinstall.

Question is... the recovery tool does appear to give me access to any way of recovering the files in this case. Is there some way to get to the files without the OS working?

Did you just copy a Recovery Partition to the USB stick instead of a full install of OS X? Really it's better to get a full install on the USB, as then you'll be able to access the Mac's internal HD and get everything off it. I don't believe it can be done with the Recovery Partition. You might find you can back the internal hard drive up as a disk image however, though you'd need somewhere to save the disk image to.

mmmm. Ok so how would I get the OS install on the USB?

On a working Mac, download the Mavericks installer via the App Store, plug in a formatted 8GB USB stick and run the Installer. When it asks what disk you want to install it to, install it to the USB. It will be slow off a USB stick though, bear in mind. I think ideally for this you want some kind of external hard drive really, so you've got somewhere to save your data to.

is it named after the reef at Half Moon Bay in California? Where legend Mark Foo drowned?

It is indeed.

Well blow me ( don't) . I'll see if I can arrange this. Once running from USB would the wifi still work and ethernet? I assume so? So could copy it to a network drive or something.

Also can you point me in the direction of a reputable place for a Mac HD replacement? Even if I can get the drive running again I'm not sure I'll be happy with it.

Replacing the drive in your machine is a bit of an arse and I'd recommend going to an Apple Store or taking it to an Authorised Apple Service Centre. Yes, I do work for one, but I'm leaving in a few weeks, so I'm not saying that out of loyalty for my employer. The drives are smaller than conventional 2.5" hard drives, so you have to find one that will fit a Mid-2009 MacBook Air (that's the model you have).

The company I work for sell OWC Mercury Aura SSDs that will fit and they're £161.15 for a 240GB one and £102.59 for a 120GB one, I may be able to get them slightly cheaper, but I'd have to ask (I'm on notice now, so I don't know if they'd still give me my discount or not). Obviously an SSD will massively outperform the original hard drive, so it could be a good excuse to upgrade.

Thanks man! How much of a premium is the Apple store option?

I've got no idea I'm afraid, you'd have to arrange an appointment in one and ask.