What is Fusion Drive for Mac?
A Fusion Drive is a storage solution specifically designed for Mac computers that combines traditional hard disk drives (HDD) with solid state drives (SSD). It provides the performance of an SSD while also offering the large capacity of an HDD.
The Fusion Drive works by automatically moving frequently used files and applications to the SSD, giving them faster access times.
The Fusion Drive is a great way to get the best of both worlds when it comes to storage. With the speed of an SSD and the capacity of an HDD, it provides users with fast access to their data while also having plenty of room for photos, videos, music, and other large files.
For those who have a need for speed but don’t want to sacrifice storage space, the Fusion Drive is a great solution.
Unfortunately, when it comes to data recovery on Mac computers with Fusion Drives, there are some unique challenges that must be addressed. The combination of SSD and HDD means that traditional data recovery methods may not always work as expected.
Fortunately, there are specialized tools and techniques that can be used to recover data from a Fusion Drive.
What causes data loss on Fusion Drive?
The most common cause of data loss on a Mac computer with a Fusion Drive is when the drive is formatted or re-partitioned. In addition, a system crash or power failure can cause data to become corrupt or inaccessible.
File system corruption, viruses, ransomware and other malicious software can also cause data to be lost from the Fusion Drive.
Finally, user error while performing operations such as deleting files or moving them to another location can lead to data loss.
How to recover data from a fusion drive on Mac?
If you have a Mac that uses a Fusion disk, and you need to recover data from it, there are a few steps you can take. A Fusion disk is an Apple-created technology that combines the speed of an SSD (solid state drive) with the capacity of a traditional hard drive. It’s an excellent way to get both speed and storage in one device.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to recover data from a Fusion disk. But, with the right software and techniques, you can get your data back.
Use Mac data recovery software
Yes, it is possible to restore Mac Fusion Drive data with UFS Explorer Professional Recovery. This software is a helpful solution when there is no backup available. It supports all major file types, including documents, photos, videos, and audio files.
You can recover lost Fusion Drive data by downloading and using UFS Explorer Professional Recovery for Mac.
Use Mac data service
The second step is to try using a data recovery service. These services are designed to recover data from all types of drives, including Fusion disks.
They specialize in recovering deleted, damaged, and corrupted files, so they may be able to help you get your data back.
Data recovery services can provide you with either an online or an on-site solution for recovering your data.
If you’re not comfortable with the idea of sending your hard drive off to a service, you may be able to find one that provides on-site recovery services.
Apple time machine backup
If you have an Apple Time Machine backup, it is possible to recover data from a Fusion Drive on Mac. Time Machine is Apple’s built-in backup system that can create periodic backups of your entire system.
To do this, the Time Machine application will need to be set up on your Mac ahead of time and must be connected to an external storage device such as an external hard drive or network
What are the common issues with Fusion Drives?
The most common problem users of an Apple Fusion Drive experience is the drives appearing as two separate entities in Finder, potentially leading to the accidental deletion of files stored in either or both drives.
Another common issue seen in these drives is when they’re split into component drives and deleted in the wrong order which can lead to serious data loss concerns.
Additionally, a disk unmounting error may strike if either the SSD or HDD fails within the Fusion Drive system. To fix such an instance a full restoration should be done with proper instructions followed carefully.
How to troubleshoot Fusion Drive issues?
For those who have a Fusion Drive, there may come a time when the drive experiences problems. Thankfully, these errors can typically be resolved with some basic troubleshooting and DIY repairs.
Fusion Drive is displayed as two drives in the Finder
To determine if your Fusion Drive is indeed in a Split stage, simply follow these steps :
Click on Apple Menu, About this Mac, then Storage. If everything checks out fine, you should see a drive named ‘Fusion Drive’ normally associated with your Macintosh HD icon.
On the other hand, if you are seeing separate drives for both SSD and HDD portions of your fusion drive such as “Macintosh HD (SSD)” and “Macintosh HD (HDD)” it means that your system has split into its individual components due to upgrade or replacing of hardware parts.
To resolve the split mac fusion drive, please refer to the following instructions.
Note : It is recommended to take a complete backup of your drive before proceeding.
- Shut down your Mac or iMac.
- Start it again and immediately press the ‘Command-R’ or ‘Option-Command-R’ keys during boot. Release the keys only when you see the Apple logo.
- Navigate to ‘Utilities’. Click on ‘Terminal’.
- In the terminal window, type ‘diskutil list’. Hit Return.
- You should be able to see the identifiers of the two internal storage drives. Note them.
- In the terminal, type ‘diskutil cs create Macintosh\ HD identifier1 identifier2’. Hit the return key.
- Type ‘diskutil cs list’. Hit the return key.
- Note the identifier after Logical Volume Group.
- In the terminal, type ‘diskutil cs createVolume logical-volume-group-identifier jhfs+ Macintosh\ HD 100%’. Hit the return key.
- Quit the terminal and select Reinstall MacOS.
- Click on ‘continue’.
After the installation is complete and the system restarts, the drive will be visible as a single Fusion Drive.
Fusion Drive is Deleted in the Wrong Order
If you find yourself in this unfortunate spot of having deleted the wrong drive in the wrong order, don’t despair just yet! You can attempt to rectify this issue relatively quickly.
The first step is quitting out of Terminal mode and restarting your Mac, followed by launching disk utility mode and manually reformatting one of the drives so that it matches the other.
It’s worth noting that even if Filesystem Utility shows that both drives are linked in RAID-1 or RAID-0 configurations after deletion, they still may not be bootable until one of them is formatted again.
In most cases, following these steps above should get you back on track with accessing your files once more.
Disk Unmounting Error
To resolve this Fusion drive error, please follow these steps :
- Go to the terminal.
- Type the command – ‘diskutil unmountDisk identifier’
- Hit the return key.
Conclusion
It is possible to recover data from a Fusion disk on Mac. With the right tools and techniques, you can get your data back in no time.