How to transfer files on Macbook internal hard disk to a Windows/Linux OS

[delubi]

I have a Macbook pro 2014. Recently the keyboard and touchpad stopped working. I had to use an external keyboard/mouse instead.

When I boot into the Macos, the kernal task shows 300%+ cpu, fan runs crazy and system is extremely slow to operate.

Took the macbook to a nearby apple store. Technician found corrosion on the logical board and said it has to be replaced.

I'm not too concerned about saving the macbook itself but do need to export data (mostly photos) from the internal hard drive to somewhere I can access.

I have a Windows10 laptop and a Ubuntu17.04 laptop with usb3.0 port. Brought a hard drive enclosure with usb3.0 interface. Then took the internal hard drive out of macbook and put it in the enclosure.

The problem is I can't get either Windows to recognize the file system on the enclosed hard drive.

If it's an external hard drive formatted with hfs/hfs+ file system then that's not an issue. Apps such as hfsexplorer can recognize the file system. However, it can recognize the disk and partition on the enclosed hard drive but not the file system so I can't can't access any files.

Is there anything special with the file system on macbook internal hard drive?

Any suggestion?

 

[chscag]

Did you install High Sierra on that MacBook Pro? If you did, the file system has changed from HFS+ to APFS which might be the reason the HFSExplorer app can not recognize it.

 

[Slydude]

Welcome

I'd suggest getting in touch with Paragon software and asking whether HFS+ for Windows or this Linux tool will do the job.

Since you just joined I doubt you are aware of the looming forum shutdown

Edit: Good catch Charlie. I did not think of that.

 

[delubi]

I have not installed High Sierra yet. Still running Yosemite.

 

[delubi]

I have tried Paragon's HFS+ for Windows. It reported "Unfortunately, no supported volumes have been found" even though my enclosed hard drive is connected through the usb port.

I also tried Paragon's hard disk manager 16 (basic). It recognized the enclosed hard drive as "Basic GPT Hard Disk 1 (To external USB3.0 SCSI Disk Device)" with the following info:

volume letter: (*)
volume label: [No label]
File system: Not formatted
Volume size: 464.96GB
Type: GPT volume

I also tried plugging the enclosed hard drive to my Ubuntu17.04 laptop usb port. The parted -l output shows:

Disk: /dev/sdb: 500GB
Partition table: gpt
Disk flags:
Number Size File System Name
1 210MB fat32 EFI System Partition
2 499GB Macintosh HD
3 650MB hfs+ Recovery HD

Tried mounting /dev/sdb2 as hfsplus type. It returned with error:

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bd superblock on /dev/sdb2, missing codepage or helper program, or other error.

Then dmesg -l showed: hfsplus: unable to find HFS+ superblock.

Any ideas?

 

[delubi]

Btw, thanks for letting me know about the looming forum shutdown. I'll create a similar post on Macrumors forum to continue seeking advice.

 

[Slydude]

The guys are working frantically to get a new site set up ASAP. If you would like to be informed when it goes live PM me an email address before this forum ****s down and I will email you when the other one goes live.

If you are on Facebook Dennis has set up a Facebook group there temporarily to keep folks informed. https://www.facebook.com/groups/189879291592017

All you have to do to join the group is to provide your Mac-Forums username. One of the admins for the group will add you then.

 

[delubi]

The problem has been resolved. It turned out that the macbook was configured with filevault. After disabling it, I was able to see the file system and access all the files.

Thanks and have a wonderful new year!

 

[delubi]

I now have a new problem.

After exporting the files on enclosed hard drive to Windows10 laptop (via hfsexplorer), all photo files are not viewable.

For example, when I tried to open a file Image003.jpg, it says "Photo gallery can't open this photo or video. The file may be unsupported, damaged or corrupted.".

I used a text editor to open the file and enabled hex mode, the first three lines in the hex dump are:

61 4f b1 e4 9f c6 35 56 5e 6b 31 83 fe 7f c1 19 d1 79 1f 43 5d f3 61 f4 b7 bd 11 9e 53 dd a1 b9 33 5f 69 19 d9 58 46 73 7c fe 31 da 0e 68 5e 9e

Comparing with a known good jpg file on my Windows10 where the first three lines in hex dump are:

ff d8 ff e1 44 ef 45 78 69 66 20 20 4d 4d 20 2a 20 20 20 08 20 09 01 32 20 02 20 20 20 14 20 20 20 7a 88 25 20 04 20 20 20 01 20 20 02 1f 01 10

It seems that the jpg file exported from macos lacks jpg header thus resulting it not viewable by photo editing app on Windows10.

Is the jpg file format different on Macos vs. Windows?

Or is it a residual effect of using filevault on macos (where files are encrypted)? I did disable the filevault though.

Any thoughts?

 

[MacInWin]

When you disabled FileVault, did you give it the time it needed to decrypt the files? That can take quite a while. Normally jpg files are transferable from one OS to another with no issues.

 

[delubi]

When you disabled FileVault, did you give it the time it needed to decrypt the files? That can take quite a while. Normally jpg files are transferable from one OS to another with no issues.

Thanks for the advice. It's now working fine after completing the decryption.

 

[Slydude]

Good catch Jake. I should have thought of that.

 

[MacInWin]

Sly, I looked at the time of the posts. There wasn't enough time between them for the decryption to have finished. Not that hard to figure out.

 

[Slydude]

Now that's good thinking. I almost never think of FileVault but it is often the issue if it is enabled.