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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Leopard-cannot erase/partition ext drive

ikram - Jan 11, 2008 - 2:45 pm

I've TWO external hard disks (Baracuda Seagate ST340083 2A) connected to my iMac (Intel core duo / 10.5.1 leopard) via USB 2.0.

I can see the two disk(s) in the Disk Utility, but when I try:
- erase (default and/or zero out)
- partition (GUID and/or Apple)

I'm getting partiion failed: input/output error *all* the times.

Is there any way to initialize these disks?
(brand new disks)

Any help is highly appreciated...

/Ikram.
ikram@nadia.org

Serenak - Jan 12, 2008 - 3:29 pm

Ikram

thanks for using macosx.com and I will see if I can help you

It is very unlikely that you would have 2 duff external drives but...

First of all try attaching only one disk and formatting it... then try the other. If you still have no joy try connecting them (one at a time still) to another USB port - also see if anything else plugged into the current port they are on is workable - usb port failures are rare but not unheard of.

Try changing the cable for a known good one, temporarily use the one from your printer or some other device

Are they self powered? (i.e. do they have their own psu or are they drawing their power from the USB bus?) and are they plugged directly into the Mac or are they further down the usb chain (attached to some inbetween device such as a hub or printer?)

At the minute that is about all I can suggest - plug them in one at a time directly to the Mac and try them then, and try different ports and cables.

If that doesn't work can you get a friend or even a local shop to try for you? It won't matter if they format them or what sort of PC they use Mac, Windows or even Linux... you just want to find out if the disks themselves work and can be formatted - if they can't you need to return them as DOA... if they can you may have to get your Mac checked over for some sort of fault.

Let me know what happens.

ikram - Jan 12, 2008 - 4:11 pm

Thanks for the reply...

Agreed that both the drives (brand new) could be bad. In order to verify the drives/cables/external-casing, I moved both to my XP box and they came up GOOD immediately. Also, if I connect my iPhone to the same USB port I was using at iMac for drives it is working so USB port (at iMac) is also good.

I also tried one-by-one, but issue persists.

SOLUTION:
I swapped one of the drive with Firewire cable and it came right up; infact hardly took 5secs to set the drive.

Hence, THERE IS *STILL* A BUG in 10.5.1 with USB drives (although they claim it is fixed in 10.5.1). There are multiple URLs supporting this (you can Google it)

Only thing left is I NOW need to buy a Firewire HUB so that I can connect the other drive (via Firewire).

Thanks again for the reply...

/Ikram.

Serenak - Jan 12, 2008 - 4:43 pm

Glad that fixed it for you

Personally I look for externals that have their own built in USB and FW hubs... they cost a bit more but it usually pays dividends in the long run.

thanks for tip re: USB Drive bug I am sure my MUG will be glad to hear of it.

and at least the problem is pinned down and you can start using your drives...

If you connect them one at a time via FW can you format them on the Mac and then USB chain them? Temporary hack I know, but it is still best to use HFS+ (Apple extended) formatted drives on Macs because if you have a problem on the drive most Mac recovery tools expect to find that and some very good tools (like DiskWarrior) won't work on FAT drives... as a couple of clients have found to their cost recently...

Thanks for using macosx.com once again and glad to have been of assistance

ikram - Jan 14, 2008 - 9:24 pm

I'm using Firewire (daisy-chained) no going back to usb

Serenak - Jan 15, 2008 - 2:50 am

Don't blame you

Just asked to see if they would work once formatted...