Mac Ibook file system type?

[dejacky]

I'm a mac n00b. My friend's mac ibook doesn't boot up into OSX anymore, so I had the idea of formatting her hard drive and then re-installing a fresh copy of the operating system. But what file system type do mac hard drives use?... i.e. should I format fat32 or ntfs???

 

[Paperlantern]

i THOUGHT OSX did the formatting for you, similar the windows XP/2000 setups where its part of the setup... i could be wrong as i have never actuallyset it up before myself, but i just assumed that

 

[dejacky]

good deal. now i only have to find a way for my Shuttle XPC computer to read the laptop hard drive. And what devices would enable me to do this while keeping the laptop hard drive powered of course?

 

[Paperlantern]

ideally you would install the OS while the drive is still in the notebook, that way all devices are detected properly through the setup, but maybe i'm just not understanding what it is you want to do...

 

[hopejr]

Just turn on the iBook, put in the OS X/System restore cd and hold down the C key (tells it to boot from CD). Follow the instructions on the screen. HDD is automatically formatted in the correct filesystem and OS X is installed. Don't waste time taking the HDD out unless you need to. Look in the manual.

BTW, the file system is HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended).

 

[dejacky]

hopejr,
THANK YOU, you've given me hope indeed! I like how I only have to press down the letter C key to get it to work. But what if that doesn't work, what would be my next best option to try hopejr?

 

[hopejr]

if that is the case, then the laptop is screwed. it would need to either be sent off to apple to get fixed, thrown in the trash, used as a book end 😛
I'm sure the c key will work 😀 BTW, you only have a couple of seconds to get it done tho (while it posts). If it doesn't work the first time, hold down the power button until it switches off (with the cd inside still), then turn it on again holding down the c key.

 

[halfadder]

This is a **late** reply, but I hope it helps:
Modern Macs use UFS (Unix File System) or HFS+ (Apple Hierarchical File System). Apple ships their new computers with HFS+ and filesystem journaling enabled. But if you install the OS from scratch by yourself, you are given a choice.

Using the DVD that shipped with the Mac, you should be able to run the hardware diagnostics to test your machine... or reinstall the OS (preserving your data)... or restore the entire drive to the original factory installed configuration (losing your data).

If it's disk corruption, you could try a program like Micromat TechTool Pro 4. It comes on a bootable CD and is often able to fix broken filesystems. I have not used TTP in ages though, so I cannot comment on any version newer than 2.0.

The best thing is to keep your data backed up... either on CD-R/DVD-R or on a USB thumb drive. That way you can always wipe the system clean and reinstall.

 

[dejacky]

Can my PC dvd-rom drive read a MAC Operating System CD or not?

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: dejacky
Can my PC dvd-rom drive read a MAC Operating System CD or not?

I'm almost 100% sure it can't. Why would you want it to anyways? It's not like it could install. Also, putting a OS X formatted HD in a PC won't let you access the data without 3rd party programs, since OS X uses a different file system.

 

[dejacky]

Okay, that's good. I just wanted to make sure these OS X CD's were working properly for my friend's mac. since my pc can't read them, i'll take that as a good sign they're fine 🙂.

 

[halfadder]

It depends on the format the CD uses. A CD with a HFS+ or UFS partiton won't be readable by Windows XP without additional software.

But most data CDs on Mac and Windows use ISO9660, and most data DVDs use UDF... which both Windows and Mac and read.

And most Macs can read FAT32 and NTFS volumes without too much trouble. FAT32 is simple, NTFS takes a little more work:
http://www.macosxhints.com/art...5607668&query=NTFS

 

[hopejr]

linux can read and write HFS+

 

[dejacky]

i want to do a "fresh" reinstall. Which is better? "MAC OS Extended (journal enabled)" or "unix file system?" I want it to be completely clean and erase all the previos drive data.