Bad blocks on an external drive, and disk tools for a MacIntel...

I'm having a problem with my external drive which was pulled from my 12" PBook G4 and put into a USB 2.0 enclosure. When I try to transfer data from my internal HDD it runs for a bit, then, it just stops... no spinning ball and it won't allow me cancel the copy. If I fuss with it long enough (clicking on as many finder features as possible), the Finder will eventually stop responding.
I ran Drive Genius as it was the only software I could find that would work as on my computer. Using the "Scan" function, it came back and told me that I had several bad blocks (I had to stop the scan at 115 because I needed to restart my computer). In the program's help guide, it said that it cannot do anything about the bad blocks, and I may need to reformat.
So, I reformatted using Disk Utility on my system start-up disk (not the disk that came with the compuer), then I tried to zero-out all data. Spinning beach ball and the application stopped responding.
Is it possible to quarantine bad blocks if they can't be reformatted or zeroed out on a MacIntel?
Thank you kindly for any help.

Sorry for the additional posts, I don't know how to edit my last post...
Disk Utility is still at 49 minutes remaining, and it's been almost an hour. Still letting it run, and hoping for the best.

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External drives and disk space for iPhoto, iTunes...

I'm ill and cannot spend much time sitting at a desk, so I have to a MacBook (aka, when real sick, I can work in a layZboy or in bed).
So now I have the 17" MBP with 500G, and should upgrade the GHz to 8 as soon as prices drop.
Here WAS my plan:
I'd put my iPhoto library on an external hard drive (EHD), because I already have about 30.000 pictures, most in RAW format, and they take a LOT of space... (semi-pro photographer) Yup, you read right. iPhoto, not Aperture. Switched to Snow Leopard and my Aperture isn't up to date anymore, don't have the money for Aperture2 and realized I prefer how iPhoto works for organizing... Except there is no referencing... And I also want to finally have all my pics together. Pics I had put on DVDs, finally scan old pics... But I won't have enough space!
So I wanted to use an EHD to put my iPhoto library...
And of course, make a backup of that EHD with another one, which I wouldn't keep in the house, in case of a fire or theft.
But I realized I have a HUGE problem!
My computer is a laptop!
I don't use it in one place alone!
So I can't realistically have an EHD plugged in all the time (especially since they need power!)
I have Airport. It's how I do my TimeMachine backups. Works well. Maybe a little slower, but I don't have any cables!
But would it be possible to use EHD and iPhoto the same way?
I'm not so sure...
I will need to work off the EHD regularly... opening RAW pics, editing them in Photoshop...
Any ideas? Should I buy my EHD?
I don't want to change my computer again... and I can't, realistically.
Physically, I don't have a choice. It's a laptop or no computer work.
When I shopped it was the biggest drive possible in a laptop.
Please help...

Your need for a portable computer forces you to make some compromises — no way around that.
Western Digital has announced the impending availability of a 1TB 2.5" notebook hard drive, and its 640GB and 750GB offerings are currently available:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136459
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136414
The 640GB drive is 9.5mm high and will fit into all MBPs. The 750GB drive is 12.5mm high and has been reported to fit into a Late '08 15" unibody MBP, despite not meeting the 9.5mm maximum height spec for that model. The much-anticipated 1TB drive, not available yet, is also expected to be 12.5mm high.
Any of these drives could be used externally if mounted in a suitable enclosure. Note that many enclosures for 2.5" drives will not accommodate a 12.5mm high drive; one must be careful to buy an enclosure that will. I would not under any circumstances buy a WD hard drive in a WD external enclosure. There have been more reports of trouble with WD prepackaged external drives in these forums than with all other external drive brands combined. WD's drives themselves are fine; WD's enclosures seem fraught with multiple problems. If you want to use one of these drives in an external enclosure, I recommend buying the drive and enclosure separately and putting them together yourself. I can highly recommend OWC's portable drive enclosures, but I don't know whether or not any of them will accommodate a 12.5mm drive. Call them and ask:
http://eshop.macsales.com (phone number is at top of web page)
3.5" desktop external drives are available in larger capacities at lower prices than notebook drives, but of course they're larger, heavier and less portable, always requiring an external AC power supply. If you need a capacity of more than 750GB right now, these are the only option available to you.

Big flaw in Leopard regarding External Drives and DISK UTILITY

My macbook pro with Leopard 10.5.3. is not recognizing my drives and does not let me use or move files into them. File corruption in drives. Does not mount or unmount.
THe disk utility cannot repair these problems.
Now I'm at the 3rd drive getting corrupt in the last week.
Is Apple coming out with an update to resolve these issues?
In the meanwhile I saw this page on the Seagate web sites.
https://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/popupadp.php?p_sid=dLEqXr6j&p_lva=&p_li=&p_faqid=5005&p_created=1195077097&psp=
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Antonio

You can get dozens of "not me" or "yes" opinions, but you might want to look at reader feedback reports first on MacFixit (subscription required after 3 days) or MacIntouch, or handy olde Google.
There have been problems with external drives mounting, not unmounting, a known issue during shutdown, that seems to affect a number of drive cases.
Note: it helps to narrow down and ask/focus on what you are using, I assume by your link, that you are asking about a Seagate case, so issues with LaCie, Maxtor, Initio may or may not apply.
By 3rd drive, I assume same case? rather than disk drive, or same make model in each case?
For the record, years of using Oxford based and no issues, I avoid all the name brand cases in favor of the 'build it yourself' or OWC FireWire/USB Mercury (not that there aren't a few reports of problems, but I think much less).
Also, check www.xlr8yourmac.com for its "Drive Upgrade Database" reports, too.
http://www.macintouch.com - hard drives a good start.

Can I use Time Machine to backup to partition on external drive and a Time Capsule?

Trying to plan in advance...
I was wondering if I can (with a laptop) use Time Machine for both:
1. Creating Time Machine backups on a partiion of an external drive. My plan was going to create 2 partitions: one to be used for Time Machine backups of another external hard drive (that holds all of my media) and then the other partition was going to be a bootable clone of my internal drive (totally separate from Time Machine)
and
2. Also use Time Machine for my Time Capsule, to create Time Machine backups of my internal drive.
Is this possible? I had heard that you can't use TM to make backups to a partition on an external drive, AND use it for another drive (like Time Capsule) at the same time. But I would think that this should be possible-
Thanks everyone-

Yes you can, and if you are using Mountain Lion it's easy.
If you are using Snow Leopard (as in your profile - this is the Mountain Lion forum), you have to manually select the backup volume each time. Tedious, but possible.
Read Apple Support Communities contributor Pondini's FAQ on that subject: "Rotating" Time Machine backup disks

How do you fix bad blocks on an external hard drive without using disk utility

so basically does anyone know how to fix bad blocks on a external hard drive without using disk utlility please

Oh...if you have data you are trying to save then its best to try cloning the drive to another one, which should save its data as-is to another drive. Hopefully you can do so without there being hangups around the bad blocks and keep at least most of your data intact. I'd recommend you try using Carbon Copy Cloner to do this, but you will need a secondary drive that is at least the size of the data on the problematic drive.

When I check my boot SSD drive using Disk Utility under Mavericks, I often get "Incorrect number of extended attributes" errors. But if I boot off an external drive and check the same SSD, no errors are reported. Is this a bug in Mavericks?

When I check my boot SSD drive using Disk Utility under Mavericks, I often get "Incorrect number of extended attributes" errors. But if I boot off an external drive and check the same SSD, no errors are reported.
This happens not just with the SSD in my Mac Mini, but with another SSD in my MacBook (both now running Mavericks). So far as I know, all of the kit I am using is in good order (despite the file corruption reports). So I am beginning to wonder if it could be due to a bug in Mavericks? Both SSD drives have been formatted to MacOS Extended (journaled) format. Should I have used a different format, I wonder?
Has anyone else encountered this issue?
Does anyone have a solution?
Or an explanation that might help my investigation of the issue?
Thanks guys,

I understand that the Corsair Force 3 is not one of the SSD drives that are supported on Apple Macs.
I did try downloading and using Trim Enabler, but the error message came up both when it was off and when it was on.
I understand that not everyone thinks Trim Enabler is a good program, though there is a new version out now, so I may give it another try.

I think the DVD player reader on my Mac is going bad. Is there a way to copy the files off of an Apple Install DVD onto an external drive and then do theinstall from the external drive?

I think the DVD player reader on my Mac is going bad. Until I get it fixed Is there a way to copy the files off of an Apple Install DVD onto an external drive and then do theinstall from the external drive? It's ILife 11 if that makes a difference. Finder won't let me see the files to copy. I know - dumb question.
Thanks.
Bob

Adding an SSD is not a simple endeavour like adding additional memory or adding another hard drive to a Mac Pro. That's probably why the option is only offered as an option at the time of purchase. Even if your Apple store was willing to install the necessary parts you will probably be paying for 1-2 hours of labor plus the cost of purchasing the necessary service parts (SSD, bracket, cables, etc) which I suspect will make the upgrade cost much higher than what it costs to add the SSD option when purchasing a new system.
I use my system for business and need it to work reliably. Even though I'm fairly handy with tools I would not be willing to risk damaging my system and voiding my warranty by opening my system and removing the logic board and several other parts in order to squeeze in an SSD option and attach the appropriate cables and brackets. I'm also not prepared to deal with the hassles of explaining why my system has unauthorized parts installed in the event I experience issues and need to make use of my Apple warranty. My time is valuable, so I would probably investigate external storage options, or if I needed the speed of an SSD, I would consider selling my existing system and then purchase a new system configured with an SSD.
If you haven't already done so I suggest doing a search on 'iMac SSD installation' to see what's involved. It might help you understand why the SSD option is not offered post purchase.

I'd love some help trying to figure out why my 2008 MacBook no longer recognizes my external drive and now is not downloading photos from my iphone....?

After many years of having no problems at all on my Macbook, I recently figured I should finally upgrade my OS. I did that about three weeks ago, updating to Snow Leopard (10.6.8). I used Time Machine at least once after the OS upgrade but now Time Machine no longer recognizes the external drive I have used for all these years to back up. The MacBook does not "see" it. (Disk Utility does however.) The computer then also stopped recognizing another La Cie back-up that I have and now... my iPhone cannot download photos? Yikes.
I have, of course, shut down numerous times, used different cables (that worked for some) and the two USB drives. I even used a firewire. Nothing worked. I also tried to "Repair disk" on Disk Utility. It didn't work either, giving me an error (that I didn't save, sorry).
I read many other discussions on the file format of the external drive and of course I'd be happy to reformat the external drives--however, it is obviously a tad nerve-wracking to reformat drives before having an accessible back-up. Suggestions? I do not remember what file format they have but am pretty sure it's not the Mac file system someone mentioned. The drives are a 2009 WD "My Passport Elite" and La Cie 2007 d2 Quadra,
In terms of other hardware available, we do have another MacBook Air but it has started rejecting both drives as well (without the Snow Leopard upgrade). We have an old Dell but it wouldn't have the disk space to help out much.
Any thoughts on the process involved would be welcome. Any ideas on the iPhone rejection would be helpful as well! It is a 30gig iPhone 4 that has 20 or so gigs free (not clear as iTunes says that there are abour 18 Gigs on the phone but 24 free gigs? I may be bad at math but that's 40 gigs...).
I am checking out iCloud but apparently there are only 55 gigs available?
Will be glad to hear any thoughts. Thanks!

Good afternoon Lyssa,
Phew. First of all, thanks in advance...these blogs are always comforting help!
So, to answer your questions: For the age of the hard drive.Well, I added memory a couple of years ago (RAM and hard drive). Being a mom leads me to eat up a fair amount of gigs with photos of my kids and, in fact, I think I entirely replaced the original drive, so it is a couple years younger than 2008 since I did that in March 2010. If there is some way to verify that (whether or not I replaced the entire drive), I'm all ears. I have 311 Gigs free, so it is not a space issue. I verified the startup disk on Disk Utilityand nothing showed up.
Question 1- What formats...
The La Cie is format Windows NT Filesystem 3G ....At the time that I bought it I was still using a PC as well as a Mac and was told by afriend to use this format...
The WD is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I again tried to repair the WD last night and this is the error message: "Error: DiskUtility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
Also, Time Machine tried again to back-up and gave me this error: "Files can't becopied onto the backup disk because it appears to be 'read only'. You may needto repair or reformat the disk using Disk Utility. If the disk can't berepaired, you must use a different disk for backups. Open Time Machinepreferences to select a different backup disk."
Question 2. Other cables...
I used two other cables with the WD and that didn't change anything.
Question 3... Fire Wire from the La Cie
Yes, I used the Firewire cable from the La Cie and it is indeed present, though still not visible in Finder. Since it is not Mac OSExtended I know that I can't use Time Machine with it.
So, in summary...
I can plug in the La Cie and it is functional on the MacBook, visible on Disk Utility but not visible in Finder. The WD drive is not visible and not functional. So we can think it is indeed the WD that is not working.... Also, the iphone photos did, in the end, get downloaded, so it is not something more general.
Causes...
I forgot to mention that there is a "lost+found" file on the WD which apparently points to a UNIX /OS issue?
Some kind of "insurance"?....
I'm curious about how people avoid this kind of issue. You just regularly replace back-up drives and hard drives before problems come up? Time Machine is great and saves many of us from disasters, however, knowing that your Time Machine back-ups are vulnerable makes the whole system insecure. No way to have alarms ring before the drive goes out?
As for ways ahead...
It seems that I ought to be able to copy off of the WD to the MacBook then erase it and reformat it and start over again. However, I haven’t been able to see its contents except on random occasions. If you have any ideas on how to copy the Time Machineback-ups from the WD, again, I'm all ears!
Good afternoon Lyssa,
Phew. First of all, thanks in advance...
So, to answer your questions:
For the age of the hard drive. Well, I added memory a coupleof years ago (RAM and hard drive). Being a mom leads me to eat up a fair amountof gigs with photos of my kids ….and, in fact, I think I entirely replaced theoriginal drive, so it is a couple years younger than 2008 since I did that inMarch 2010. If there is some way to verify that, I'm all ears. I have 311 Gigfree, so it is not a space issue. I verified the startup disk on Disk Utilityand nothing showed up.
Question 1- What formats...
The La Cie is format Windows NT Filesystem 3G ....At thetime that I bought it I was still using a PC as well as a Mac and was told by afriend to use this format...
The WD is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I again tried torepair the WD last night and this is the error message: "Error: DiskUtility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible,reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
Also, Time Machine tried again to back-up and gave me thiserror: "Files can't be copied onto the backup disk because it appearsto be 'read only'. You may need to repair or reformat the disk using DiskUtility. If the disk can't be repaired, you must use a different disk forbackups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a different backup disk."
Question 2. Other cables...
I used two other cables with the WD and that didn't changeanything.
Question 3... Fire Wire from the La Cie
Yes, I used the Firewire cable from the La Cie and it isindeed accessible, though still not visible in Finder. Since it is not Mac OSExtended I know that I can't use Time Machine with it.
FYI...
So, in summary... I can plug in the La Cie and it is “functional” on theMacBook but not visible in Finder. The WD drive is not visible and notfunctional. So we can think it is indeed the WD that is not working.... ALSO,the iphone photos did, in the end get downloaded.
As for ways ahead…
It seems that I ought to be able to copy off of the WD tothe MacBook then erase it and reformat it and start over again. However, Ihaven’t been able to “see” its contents except on random occasions…
Any further thoughts are welcome!

My late 2006 iMac stopped finding my back up drive. I've tried rebooting but no good. Tried unplugging the external drive and rebooting. How do I tell my computer to find the external 500 GB dive that is plugged into it?

I have a Western Digital 500 gig external hardrive that I have been using successfully with Time Machine to back up my files. A few weeks ago I noticed that the external drive light was ON but not moving back and forth indicating that it was working. The light was now simply ON but not moving. So I checked and sure enough Time Machine didn''t "see" it anymore. When I tried to fix it, the drive is no longer on the list. Nothing is on the list. The external drive is not showing anywhere, including the desktop. And when I tried to switch Time Machine on the list is empty and it wants to "look" at airport for a wi-fi type peripheral. Help! How do I get the iMac to realize it has an external drive plugged into it? I don't even know why it worked when I first got it or why it stopped working. I only know that Time Machine doesn't have it listed.

Open disk utility and check the external drive and repair it. If that didn't fix the problem or if you are unable to see the drive in disk utility then the drive could be bad.

I have my iTunes library on external drive and can access from any PC. However I cannot access from new MacBokk Air.

My iTunes library is on an external drive and been using it on two PCs with no problem.
Now that I got a new MacBook Air I want to access the same iTunes library from the external drive and keep all the library and media on that external drive.
When I try to change to another iTunes library by hitting "option" with iTunes and select the library on the external hard drive I get the following message:
"The iTunes library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do noy have write permission for this file."
I have read many posts in which many suggest to go to the library or media file on the PC and right click to make sure the read only tab is not checked.
I uncheked the read only tab and gave full permission to all the iTunes files and folders.
The unusual part is that I can use this external drive on many PCs that I have tried with no problem at all.
I just select a different library, which is on my external hard drive and everything works, play lists and everything.
However, when I try it on a MAC i get the message stated above:
What can I do to be able to access my External iTunes library from new MacBook Air while keeping everything on the external drive like I can on PCs?
I am running latest version of iTunes and Mavericks.
Please advise.

Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Ciao.

How do I move my iTunes Library to an external drive and retain everything?

I'm sure this is a common [stupid] question, but I couldn't find a clear answer and I want to be sure I'm doing it correctly.
To clarify; I want to move/relocate my iTunes Library folder to an external drive (FW800 two-disk RAID1) to free up my system drive and have a backup. Do I redirect iTunes to the new location and use File>Library>Consolidate Library, or, can I just move or copy the 'iTunes' folder to the external drive and then change the iTunes 'music folder location' to the new location? Will this now save all subsequent imported/purchased music, movies,,..etc to the external drive and retain all my library details?
Message was edited by: Sakahara

Hello, Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Below you will find more information about your options of relocating iTunes Library and backing it up.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
How to back up your media in iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382

Format External Drive with Disk Utility, Make it Windows Compatible

I have formatted my external drive using disk utility, and it works great on my Mac. But no Windows PC can read it, and I need to use it on Windows PCs. I tried formatting as MS-DOS FAT but that didn't work either. What can I do?
Thanks so much in advance.

I've run into the problem fairly regularly were I format a drive as FAT32 on the Mac, but Windows won't read it. I just reformat it from the Windows machine as FAT32. My Mac always reads and writes to it just fine, so it has never been a problem, just a minor mystery.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

I changed the format to an external drive and lost everything that was on it.

I changed the format on an external hard drive and lost everything that was on it. Is there a way to recover what was on it?

1) Partition your hard drive or add an external drive and install Snow Leopard (with the Optional Rosetta) into it and then you can dual-boot (System Preferences:Startup Disk) into Snow Leopard and run FCE 3.5 there.
2) Use one of the following methods to install FCE 3.5 into Mavericks:
a) Pacifist: http://www.charlessoft.com/
b) Jeremy Johnstone's Terminal method: http://www.jeremyjohnstone.com/blog/2012-03-11-installing-final-cut-pro-studio-2 -0-on-mac-os-x-10-7-lion.html
Reports on this forum seem to confirm that Final Cut Studio 2 will continue to operate in Mavericks once it is functionally installed, albeit some plug-ins may fail to function. FCE 3.5 is the same generation as FCS2, and presumably will continue to operate in Mavericks, as well.

ITunes Media on external drive and moved to new PC laptop

Environment: Dell PC laptop, Window 7 32-bit, iTunes 12.1.1.4
I have all of my iTunes Media on an external hard-disk drive. I want to keep it on that drive. I have a new laptop and have connected the external drive to it. I have installed iTunes on the new laptop and in Advanced Preferences I have changed the iTunes Media folder location to E:\iTunes and I have checked the box "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized." I have also checked the box "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library."
When I open iTunes, the software does not seem to recognize the content in E:\iTunes. It does not recognize that I have already downloaded most of my purchased content (everything previously downloaded still has the little cloud icon in the bottom right corner) and it won't play anything I've already downloaded. Also, music that I have previously imported from CD's is not accessible.
I have read through some of the other support discussions and have seen situations similar to mine, but not exactly like mine. I would copy the file "iTunes Library.itl" from the old computer, but I have one concern: on the old laptop the external drive was Drive G: and on the new laptop it is Drive E:
I tried File --> Library --> Consolidate Files, but nothing happened.
I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Brandon

Copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the old computer. iTunes can handle a change in drive letters as long as the relative paths from the database to the media is the same - typically where you have an iTunes folder (preferably in the root of the external drive) that contains both the iTunes Library.itl file and the iTunes Media folder, as follows:
See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable for steps that may be necessary to bring your library into this layout.
Then, hold down SHIFT as you start iTunes, and when you see this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes folder on your external drive, and select the iTunes Library.itl file.
Note also that the iTunes Media folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not provide iTunes information about the location of your library (that info is all within the database file). This setting is used, in conjunction with the Keep iTunes Media folder organized setting, to determine where iTunes stores new media when you add it to your library.
Once everything's sorted out, use a second external drive to create and maintain a backup of your library.

I need to erase my hard drive and start anew, will time Machine(external drive) and all the discs I got with my computer be enough to restart things

I need to erase my hard drive and start anew, will time Machine(external drive) and all the discs I got with my computer be enough to restart things. And secondly does RAM memory cards go bad. Here's the info on my IMac:
Model Name:          iMac
Model Identifier:          iMac6,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          4 MB
Memory:          3 GB
Bus Speed:          667 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          IM61.0093.B07
SMC Version (system):          1.10f2

I need to erase my hard drive and start anew
Why do you feel you need to do this? That is such a 'Windows thing' to do!
And secondly does RAM memory cards go bad
Very rarely, but nothing in life is guaranteed (except death and taxes)! If you purchased RAM from a reputable source like Crucial or OWC it will carry a lifetime warranty.

Bad blocks on an external drive, and disk tools for a MacIntel...

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