iMac Fusion Drive Recovery: Failing SSD With Bad Sectors, All Files Recovered | Data Recovery
Christine from Towoomba, Queensland, sent in a 128GB Samsung SSD and a 3TB Seagate hard drive removed from her iMac after it stopped booting. The system could not find a partition. Years of art and design work stored in her desktop folders were completely inaccessible.
In this video, Payam Toloo, owner of Payam Data Recovery, explains how Apple Fusion Drives work, diagnoses a failing SSD with bad sectors as the cause of the boot failure, clones both drives using specialised imaging techniques, and recovers all of Christine's files.
THE PROBLEM:
iMac with Apple Fusion Drive (128GB Samsung SSD + 3TB Seagate hard drive)
iMac stopped booting, system could not find a partition
Years of art and design work stored on the desktop
Both drives needed to access the data as they work together as a single volume
HOW WE RECOVERED THE DATA:
Tested the 3TB Seagate hard drive using the Atola Insight Forensic
Drive was detected, SMART status healthy, no hardware issues found
Cloned the hard drive immediately to protect the original
Connected the SSD using a special adapter for Apple's proprietary connector
SSD was detected, but a media scan revealed slow reads, bad sectors, and failing blocks
This explained why the iMac stopped booting
Used a custom imaging algorithm designed for failing SSDs
The algorithm reduces stress on the drive and uses specialised hardware commands to extract as much data as possible
SSD clone took nearly 36 hours to reach 99%
Connected both clones to an iMac but Disc Utility could not join them as a Fusion Drive
Opened UFS Explorer, which detected the Fusion Drive as a two-disk span and allowed file browsing
Christine's art and design folders were all there
Files saved to the external hard drive Christine supplied
In-house verification tools confirmed file integrity
Complete file listing generated and a 90-second video preview recorded for Christine
Shipped back via Australia Post Express at no extra cost with a backup kept until delivery was confirmed
WHAT IS AN APPLE FUSION DRIVE?
An Apple Fusion Drive is a type of span that combines a fast SSD for frequently used files with a larger hard drive for storage. The Mac sees them as one volume. The tricky part is that both drives are needed to access the data. If one fails or goes missing, the files become inaccessible.
IMPORTANT TIP FROM PAYAM:
If you have an iMac with problems and someone removes your hard drive or SSD, ask them to check if it is a Fusion Drive. We have seen cases where customers send in a hard drive but the SSD was left inside the computer and the computer was thrown out. Or they send the SSD but reformat the hard drive to fix the Mac. Both drives are needed to recover your data. Do not reformat or dispose of either drive.
TOOLS USED IN THIS RECOVERY:
Atola Insight Forensic: https://atola.com/products/insight/
UFS Explorer: https://www.ufsexplorer.com/
Custom SSD imaging algorithm with specialised hardware commands
Apple proprietary SSD adapter
ABOUT PAYAM DATA RECOVERY:
Australia's oldest data recovery company, established 1998
150,000+ successful recoveries across all devices
Labs in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane | Drop-off points in Perth and Adelaide
Class 100 cleanroom facility
Trusted by 2,000+ IT companies and computer repair businesses across Australia
International customers welcome
iMac data recovery pricing starts from $1,500 Inc GST for our Economy service. Priority and Emergency services are available for faster turnaround. We offer a free assessment and quote with no obligation.
YOUR iMAC HAS STOPPED WORKING? WE CAN HELP:
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Get a Free Quote: https://www.payam.com.au/free-data-re...
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1300 444 800
Website: https://www.payam.com.au/
We recover data from all iMac models including those with Fusion Drives, standalone SSDs, and traditional hard drives. We also recover data from MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro. Whether your iMac has stopped booting, has a failing SSD, a dead hard drive, or liquid damage, our engineers have the tools and experience to recover your files.
All work is performed in Australia. We never outsource overseas.
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