[X-Newbies] Can't backup due to HD rot?

[Aldo Johnson]

Like the title says, I can't backup. I use SuperDuper! to backup my 
Mac Mini's 80GB HD to an external HD via USB, and it's been super. 
But now, whenever I use it to backup my HD, it would just spin like a 
car's wheel in mud. The program still runs, it just doesn't do any 
copying anymore; the colored bars doesn't get longer. I once left it 
for 8 hours, but no, still hasn't finished copying.

At first I thought it was my HD.

I tried CCC, and it stopped with a dialog box saying "There was an 
error during copying Library from source to target: 
ditto:/Volumes/Backup... Device not" The dialog box was too small for 
the whole message(!?)

So I thought, maybe it's my external HD. Maybe it just doesn't spin 
well anymore. Maybe, I don't know, I mishandled it a bit roughly, and 
it spins well for the first 20 minutes or so, but then would just 
idle and not do any write.

Is that possible?

Is it the HD or the power source? The ext HD is a "home-built" one, 
that is, I purchased a HD and a casing and put the HD in the casing. 
Perhaps it's the locally built power brick that is losing its oomph?

If that is so, was it due to frequent handling? Because I always 
moved the ext HD around, from its storage space to the computer desk?

Or is it due to rough handling? I always try to be gentle, but 
perhaps I put it down a bit to too hard one day.

And if that is so, would that affect my MacMini HD too? I've been 
using my MacMini as a luggable, carrying it to work to use as my 
computer, then bringing it back home.



My mac: Mac Mini 1.4GHz, sys 10.4.9
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