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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Hard Drive Icon Not Showing Up.

gaild - Apr 27, 2005 - 10:59 pm

Working on a PowerBook G4, 17", OS X Version 10.3.9 1.5 Ghz/512 MB DDR SDRAM.

The Hard drive icon is not showing up on the desktop. I tried mounting in Terminal. I tried TechTools Pro 4. I ran every test and the drive is in great condition. I just can't access it on the desktop. When I click on the icon in a window, I get the dialog "Item "G4-17" is used by MAC OS X and cannot be opened."

When I review the data, the mountdrive is listed as "/" only. All other mounted items are listed as /Volume/

I have been troubleshooting this since noon, which makes it 10 hours.

I tried the original Mac recover disk, but they won't work. Just to let you know, I have tried different commands in Terminal and they say it's mounted, but it doesn't show up. Basically the drive is just great, but I can't get to it.

DeltaMac - Apr 27, 2005 - 11:38 pm

Close any open windows on your desktop -
When you click on Computer in your Go menu, you should get a new window with the name of your computer (whatever that is) and any mounted volumes. Do you see your hard drive there?
If yes, try to open it, and come back with what you discover.

- Dale
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gaild - Apr 27, 2005 - 11:43 pm

It doesn't have the name of the hard drive. It has "computer" etc, but not the name.

I did remember something wierd. The name of the hard drive was highlighted in orange before it disappeared.

I am getting frustrated. But the good thing is under the Go menu, I can access previously opened folders.

any more suggestions?

DeltaMac - Apr 27, 2005 - 11:58 pm

OK - Open your Applications folder, and press command (the Apple key) and the up arrow, and come back with what happens. You should go up one level of folder, and see all the folders on the root level of your hard drive (System, Library, Users, Applications, and whatever else you may have added to the main hard drive)
If you continue with one more Apple-up arrow, you should be at the last level (Apple-up arrow should not do anything) where you see your computer's name. Might just be 'computer', but describe more about what you see there.
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gaild - Apr 28, 2005 - 12:16 am

when I do the apple up arrow from applications, it takes me directly to the computer icon which is named the same as the hard drive, G4-17. the icons in that window are the TechTools 4 edrive and the network icon.

gaild - Apr 28, 2005 - 12:33 am

I forgot to tell you, I can open up and application through the dock and get to the hard drive from there. when I get to the computer that way, and see the e-drive and the "network" icon, I click on network and get servers, then I click on servers and get the name of my hard drive.local. I can't access it there, but I can if I just go directly to the software. I am so confused.

DeltaMac - Apr 28, 2005 - 6:58 am

The location with the name that ends in .local is not your hard drive, it is your computer local subnet name. If you go to your system preferences, and open Sharing preferences, you can change both. I have changed both to slightly different names, so I can know where I am.

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gaild - Apr 28, 2005 - 10:57 am

I know that. I was just letting you know what was there. I am backing it up now. It is still saying

"Item "G4-17" is used by MAC OS X and cannot be opened."

on every attempt.

DeltaMac - Apr 28, 2005 - 7:15 pm

Is G4-17 the name that you used for your hard drive? Or, is it the name of your computer? You can see the actual name of your computer in your Sharing preference pane.

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gaild - May 2, 2005 - 2:52 pm

Well, here's what ended up happening, when you buy a new mac it gives you the option of carrying over from the old mac. So I did that a while ago. It took the name of the old computer. That made it kind of confusing.

In a nutshell, after trying everything, I was able to reinstall the finder and the system and it solved the problem.