New iMac (A1418) Imaging Issues

I had a similar problem this week imaging a Macbook Air purchased late this year. All bootable CD tools failed and of course there was no luck extracting a HDD as the new laptops sport the integrated modules. However, with a quick upgrade to the latest version of Macquisition, I quickly overcame the problem and performed a preservation with rediculous ease (250GBs in 45 mins - not including verification) to an attached USB, thanks to Apple's decision to integrate 3.0 ports into their chassis.

With the latest changes in the Mac OS older tools will fail until they have made the necessary updates to account for the changes. Blackbag obtains the latest distributions from Apple and performs the necessary adjustments to their tools accordingly. There are always multiple tools that you should keep in your toolbox, but Blackbag's tools have never let me down when dealing with Macs.

I am glad that you found the time to share with us the exceptional results of that tool, and I am sure you are not in any way connected to their manufacturers. )

It is not so common that a new member joins and on his/her first post decides to express his recommendation for a specific tool, recommendation that is usually regarded as extremely reliable, particularly because it comes from someone of which we know not any background, nor experience or current activity. roll

The word for today is "astroturfing"
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

jaclaz

Not again!

I'm sure Macquisition is great. I use BlackLight, also by BlackBag, but I just don't see the value of Macquisition. I can do the same thing sgware described through my Tableau T9 in target disk mode using the method described by sgware. Maybe the newest Macs won't work the same way, but I've had some late-2012 Macs and have been able to use this method even for Macs with fusion drives. I just had to connect to each LUN in sequence and image them separately.

I've also had good luck using single user mode and connecting a USB drive that has FTKImager CLI pre-loaded. Single user mode mounts the system drive in read-only mode by default, so it's easy to push the image to a USB drive that way.

I had a similar problem this week imaging a Macbook Air purchased late this year. All bootable CD tools failed and of course there was no luck extracting a HDD as the new laptops sport the integrated modules. However, with a quick upgrade to the latest version of Macquisition, I quickly overcame the problem and performed a preservation with rediculous ease (250GBs in 45 mins - not including verification) to an attached USB, thanks to Apple's decision to integrate 3.0 ports into their chassis.

With the latest changes in the Mac OS older tools will fail until they have made the necessary updates to account for the changes. Blackbag obtains the latest distributions from Apple and performs the necessary adjustments to their tools accordingly. There are always multiple tools that you should keep in your toolbox, but Blackbag's tools have never let me down when dealing with Macs.

I am glad that you found the time to share with us the exceptional results of that tool, and I am sure you are not in any way connected to their manufacturers. )

It is not so common that a new member joins and on his/her first post decides to express his recommendation for a specific tool, recommendation that is usually regarded as extremely reliable, particularly because it comes from someone of which we know not any background, nor experience or current activity. roll

The word for today is "astroturfing"
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

jaclaz

I actually have no ties to the company at all and it's unfortunate if you were confused by the underlining and bold. I just wanted those two items to stand out if people were merely skimming instead of reading all the postings looking for solutions. As I said, you should always have multiple tools in your tool box, however, in this particular instance (where I was in the field and pressed for time and didn't have the luxury of tinkering around in the lab in safety experimenting with various elaborate solutions) this one worked and worked faster than I had expected…allowing me to catch my flight back to my home office on time. I only joined this forum because a co-worker of mine found this blog to see if anyone else was having issues with new Macs. My goal is to share this so anyone else caught in the same position had another option. However, if you wish to tackle this pretty simple problem with overly elaborate solutions (that can easily be attacked in court) you're free to do so. I've worked in the CF arena for approximately a decade now and can tell you that court tested solutions and reliability is key. Personally, I am keen utilizing simple solutions especially when stuck in the field. As for FTK CLI, that too can be a viable solution, however live imaging is always a last resort for me. No reason to have to jump that hurdle in court if you can perform a proper forensic image instead. Its up to you.

I actually have no ties to the company at all and it's unfortunate if you were confused by the underlining and bold. I just wanted those two items to stand out if people were merely skimming instead of reading all the postings looking for solutions.

Good ) , let's say that besides the bolding/underlining of the product and maker, the wording (actual awe and praise), and occasion (joining to post that info) as well as the information that the maker "obtains the latest distributions from Apple and performs the necessary adjustments to their tools accordingly" confused me 😯 .
If people in this field of business "skim" instead of reading, and need brands/product names to be bolded and underlined, it seems to me like there is a problem.
I would dare to say that if they do that, they deserve to not be informed by all the marvels of modern technology.

jaclaz

I actually have no ties to the company at all and it's unfortunate if you were confused by the underlining and bold. I just wanted those two items to stand out if people were merely skimming instead of reading all the postings looking for solutions.

Good ) , let's say that besides the bolding/underlining of the product and maker, the wording (actual awe and praise), and occasion (joining to post that info) as well as the information that the maker "obtains the latest distributions from Apple and performs the necessary adjustments to their tools accordingly" confused me 😯 .
If people in this field of business "skim" instead of reading, and need brands/product names to be bolded and underlined, it seems to me like there is a problem.
I would dare to say that if they do that, they deserve to not be informed by all the marvels of modern technology.

jaclaz

I would probably not penalize people on their ability to rapidly weed through the internet white noise to find real relevant data; and I would dare say that those individuals in this field that get easily confused would more likely deserve "not to be informed by all the marvels of modern technology".

I would anticipate people that come here to find a solution to their imaging problem will find my posting a bit more helpful over the solution you have presented. Oh, wait that's right…what solution.

I would probably not penalize people on their ability to rapidly weed through the internet white noise to find real relevant data; and I would dare say that those individuals in this field that get easily confused would more likely deserve "not to be informed by all the marvels of modern technology".

That's OK with me, as besides not really belonging to this field, I can be easily confused and I am often (deservedly) out of touch from marvels of modern technology, I appreciate however your wish to not penalize the people in the field that have not the abilities to filter out the internet noise while quickly weeding for vital information for their businesss.

I would anticipate people that come here to find a solution to their imaging problem will find my posting a bit more helpful over the solution you have presented. Oh, wait that's right…what solution.

Sure ) , your posting represents a very good solution, some exceptionally useful anecdotal evidence that you were very kind to share.

jaclaz