Choice of hard disk

New to Leopard and Time Machine I would like to have some opinions as to what hard disk to choose as there are so many on the market at so many prices. For example, are there any specifically made to go well with Time Machine? What about firewire or USB2 connection? Price versus performance? I will typically use Time Machine to automatically backup everything on my iMac an am not a heavy user.

1. There is no such thing as "Designed for Time Machine" (although the Drobo claims to be the first drive 100% compatible, I think it is BS)
2. FW over USB. Although USB is theoretically faster than FW400, it is not in the real world because of the way Firewire handles large files. If you have FW800, use it
3. Which drive you get...it's really up to you. I purchased the WD My Book Premium Edition because I didn't need the faster Firewire or eSATA (I have an older Intel iMac that doesn't have FW800). Although there is a firmware update available, it will not install. The issue is when you use two WD drives at the same time via Firewire, so I am not affected by it and have not spent time to figure it out. Out of the box, I first installed the included software (I'm not sure if the drive now ships with Leopard versions of the software. If not, download it from wd.com) and formatted the drive using the GUID partition table and HFS+ (a must, or you will have problems with Time Machine). I haven't had any problems with it. When my computer goes to sleep, the drive goes to sleep. Maybe other WD drives are affected by the bug.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
-Adam

Similar Messages

RE: Apple iMac 27 Hard Disk Replacement Complaint

Dear Customer ServiceManager,
RE: Apple iMac 27” Hard Disk Replacement Complaint
On May 12, 2011, Ibought an iMac 27” for my daughter from your official Hong Kong website (www.apple.com/hk).
I am writing tocomplain about my dissatisfaction of your poorproduct quality, irresponsibleattitude of your customer service, and most importantly my painful experience with your Apple Careservice. I am also very disappointed with how your Apple Care staff made a discriminating comment about your low income Hong Kong customers.
On July 28, 2011, mydaughter received an email from your company ([email protected]) informing her that the hard disk of her newly purchased iMac wasdefective due to factory error. You promised to replace the defective hard disk with a brand new onefree of charge, but when she asked your HK Apple technical support if therewould be on-site replacement service, your staff told her that she can onlyeither carry the 30-pound iMac herself to their service center or pay HKD1200for the Apple Care which offers the on-site replacement service.
First of all, I foundyour request very unreasonable. Mydaughter was not the one who broke the hard disk, your company informed herthat you gave her a defective one. So why is the responsibility and the cost of taking the iMac for repairshould be borne by her, as an innocent customer, who paid HKD18, 000 for aniMac directly ordered from your official website? She did nothing wrong but your company required her to barethe cost of transporting a 30-pound iMac and the risk of causing damage on theway.
Secondly, I believeyour company has deceitfully forced my daughter to buy your Apple Care, whichis completely against her original will. Since she is just a 22-year-old girl, it is impossible for her to carrythe 30-pound iMac by herself. Andclearly, she was not given a choice but had to pay HKD1200 for the AppleCare. This made me doubt if thisis a scam of your company. Is thisa way of how Apple make extra money by giving your customer faulty products anda mission impossible, then forcing us to pay for a service that we did notneed?
Anyway, thepainfulness of enjoying your Apple Care service has just started…
On Aug 10, 20111:30pm, your service man came to change her hard disk with just a look as ifthe process was very ‘efficient’ and left after half an hour, even her Mac OShas not yet been completely installed. After he left, my daughter found that the OS could not be installed, soshe called your service center immediately and under her strong request, he hadto come back on the same day and check the new hard disk. He found it proved to be a defectiveone again. I was shockinglysurprised that your company, which always claims to produce products of highquality, selling at an expensive price, replaced my claim-to-be defective harddisk with a defective one again. Iwonder how Apple’s quality control is done? Your company didn’t even bother to check if the new harddisk is working before replacing it for customers.
My daughter requestedfor a new one, but then your service center said they had no new stock andasked her to wait until further notice. But without any definite date, it means my daughter’s brand new computercannot be used for… I don’t know how long. Please notice that I paid HKD18,000 to buy a first-classproduct of high quality, as claimed by your company all over the world.
So my daughter had tocall your service center again and forced them to return her original harddisk. Till 5:00 pm on the sameday, another technician came to reinstall her original hard disk into hercomputer. Surprisingly, all thedata in her original hard disk was still there, which means there is a riskthat all her personal data and information had been accessed by your servicecenter staff.
As a father, I had totake over the matter from my daughter and called your hotline 2112 0099 at5:00pm on Aug 10, 2011. After 30minutes, I could finally talk to one of your technical support staff for 10minutes about my complaint. Heasked me to hold the line and wait for him to transfer my call to his seniortechnical support colleague, so I kept on waiting for 15 minutes, but finallythe line was being cut and no body contacted me and my daughter again.
I had to call yourhotline again at 6:00 pm and waited for another 15 minutes to reach one of youradvisors. He passed my line toyour senior technical support advisor located in Singapore. He said he is just a technical supportadvisor, so he could not take my complaint directly. He needed to talk to meagain on the next day with a customer service advisor. He promised if he could not reach me onmy mobile phone, he would leave his direct line for me so that I would not haveto waste another half an hour to reach him through the hotline.
On Aug 11, 2011 5:28pm, I received a voice mail from your senior technical support advisor asking me to call him back but he didn’t leave any direct telephonenumber as he promised. So I triedto call back the caller ID, which was shown on my phone. However, the auto reply of this numberwas, “This is an invalid number”. I asked the Hong Kong Telephone Company to help me to call but even theycould not reach this number. Theytold me this number was from Shanghai, China. So I had no choice but to call your hotline again. After 25 minutes, one of your advisorstook my call and I had to repeat my story to him again in order to have him putme through to talk to your senior staff 42058 again. I asked him why he didn’t leave his direct number for me tocall him back as he promised. Hesaid he forgot! What a surprisinganswer to leave your customer nothing but a number that he knew clearlycouldn’t be reached.
By that time, I havewasted nearly 45 minutes to reach him, and it was already 6:20pm and thecustomer service advisor was off work. Therefore, I made an appointment with him again and we agreed that hewould call me between 9:31-10:00am on Aug 12, 2011 morning. I took half day-off from my work towait for your senior staff to call me.
Unfortunately, Iwaited until 10:10 am and nobody contacted me again (I left both my mobilenumber and email to them).
Finally, I called the hotline again and waited for 15 minutes, an advisor put me to your on-dutyCustomer Service Manager, Ken. After I told him my name, he realized that he should be theone responsible for calling me this morning, but since he had a meeting thatmorning, he forgot to call me again! The Apple staff didn’t keep their promises after all which disappointedme a lot. It seems to me thatApple is unwilling to accept negative feedbacks from customers.
Ken told me thatthere was nothing he could do.
At the end, I wasreferred to a Customer Relations staff, Ms. Wing Liu. Her response was also there is nothing she can do exceptgiving me a case number of my complaint. Since then, I never get any response from Apple regarding my case.
I believe Apple has afull record of all my conversations with your staff and thus, should be able tolook into my case thoroughly. Isincerely hope that Apple can take my feedback seriously and respond to my complaintin a responsible manner, but not just trying to suppress your customers, whohave already been treated unfairly, from claiming their rights. Otherwise, it is really a shamefor Apple to claim itself delivering high quality products and services allover the world.
Yours truly,
Tommy Fong
Apple Customer
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

I just realize Apple might have blocked my daughter's Apple ID from posting in your discussion forum.
My daughter was trying to go to this Community Page by logging into her account. But your Communities webpage displays a "We'll be back soon" webpage. Then I try to login with my Apple account and it works fine.
<Email Edited by Host>

K8neo 4 socket 939 cpu 3800 x2 amd what is the best hard disk

k8neo 4 socket 939 cpu 3800 x2 amd what is the best hard disk
for this confy
i know maxtor has more problem
so i ask to you
what is the best hard disk 250 300 gb ?
sata sata 2 ?
i read about in some site but i can understand what is the best for this confy
thank
my english is Lol

When we are talking about Quality and Performance the choice is:
http://www.wdraptorx.com

Hard Disk Upgrades on Satellite 2410

I know that I can just stick any drive that will fit in, but my question is:
Can I just use the recovery CD that came with my laptop to re-install windows XP onto the new hard disk, or do I have to get a seperate copy of XP?
The model of laptop is a Satellite 2410-something, and has 30Gb and I was thinking of going for a 80-100Gb disk.
Thanks in advance!

Hi James,
Your recovery CDs will work with whichever hard drive you choose to install.
With regard to your choice of drive please be careful with your choice of rotation speed. Your notebook has cooling only for the CPU heatsink so any extra heat generated by your hard drive will need to be able to dissipate naturally. The faster rotation speed on 5400 and 7200 RPM drives naturally generate more heat and this can cause problems for your notebook.
Obviously if you are not using disk intensive applications this can be lessened by allowing the hard drive to power down when not in use.
By the way I use a 5400RPM 80GB drive in my SA30 and the extra heat produced is only in evidence when I run a full virus/malware scan followed by a defrag and full image backup, and believe me the casing gets very hot indeed in the vicinity of the hard drive.
regards,

How to delete files from external ntfs hard disk [Solved]

Hi guys
first, sorry for my bad English.
I have an external hard disk ( WD 500GB ) with ntfs file system and i have installed ntfs-3g package.
3 days ago, when i wanted to delete some files, i get a problem with it,
look the output :
[jahangir@Arch New Metal]$ sudo rm *
[sudo] password for jahangir:
rm: cannot remove '02 - Korn - Love and Meth.mp3': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove '30Seconds To Mars': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove '30Seconds To Mars 1': Is a directory
rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia 1': Is a directory
rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia 2': Is a directory
rm: cannot remove 'Behemoth': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Behemoth 1': Is a directory
rm: cannot remove 'Hanging Garden - At Every Door - 2013': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Hanging Garden - At Every Door - 2014': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Rosetta': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Rosetta 1': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Sepultura': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Sepultura 1': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Slipknot': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Slipknot 1': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Tokio Hotel': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'Tokio Hotel 1': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'T\303\275r': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove 'neww': No such file or directory
[jahangir@Arch New Metal]$
Who can help me ?
I wanted to delete .trash-1000 file from my main directory hard dist and i confront with this error :
[jahangir@Arch My Passport]$ sudo rm .Trash-1000
[sudo] password for jahangir:
rm: cannot remove '.Trash-1000': No such file or directory
[jahangir@Arch My Passport]$
In the event that it is there.
also in main directory of my hard disk i have 1 mp3 file that i can't view it in file manager and it will be displayed in Windows OS and with ls command in terminal :
[jahangir@Arch My Passport]$ ls
ls: cannot access 01 - Lost.mp3: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access 02 - Surrendered To The Decadence.mp3: No such file or directory
01 - Lost.mp3 In The Name Of God Videos ZzZ - IMAN winold
02 - Surrendered To The Decadence.mp3 New Metal World of Warcraft Cataclysm 4.3.4 enGB navid wow wrath
[jahangir@Arch My Passport]$
what is this file and how can i delete .Trash-1000 and this files and content of "New Metal" directory ?
Last edited by jiros (2013-12-23 20:57:05)

I believe you used ntfs for a reason. As far as I know, Windows isn't friendly with hdd filesystems others than fat or ntfs, so once you format your external harddrive to ext4, windows won't talk to it at all, unless you install some additional driver or software.
You have several possibilities to do:
1) You could use FAT32, it's kind of a dumb filesystem, linux, mac and windows can read and write to it, there are some limitations like file permisions or 4GB file size limit.
2) You could make multiple partitions on your external harddrive, one with ntfs (for windows) and the other with some fs that is support natively in Linux and Mac, I believe only option would be HFS+. I'm not an expert, maybe somebody will correct me. Anyway, if you aren't going to connect your disk to Mac, than ext4 would be a good choice. But this approach with two different partions is kind of dumb, because usually you need the same data available on whatever platform.
3) If I were you, I would continue using NTFS or FAT32. It's not ideal, but it's a price you have to pay for dealing with Windows systems.
4) If there is any other smarter solution, I believe somebody will add it to responses bellow.
Anyway, it's weird that your problem persists. There has to be something wrong with your filesystem, otherwise ls wouldn't show you question marks in its output. Did you perform chkdisk via GUI? It has to say that either there wasn't any error with your fs, or that there was some error. We live (unfortunatelly) in binary computer world. I mean you can perform that command from shell, or however microsoft calls it, and if you run it in a proper configuration, it will tell you whether your fs is bad or not and perform needed repairs.
And how to format disk to ext4?
Backup your data, run as root fdisk /dev/yourexthdd (fdisk /dev/sdd), delete all partitions, create new ones, once you are done, write changes down. fdisk is pretty easy to use, don't be afraid of it. Then you have to create filesystem on each partition you created with fdisk, so if you created only one, run mkfs.ext4 /dev/yourexthddwithpartnumber (mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdd1). There are nice articles about doing these things on Arch Wiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/File_Systems), don't be worried to read them

Is my hard disk fried?!?

I have a 2009 imac running Snow leopard. It was running ridiculously slow and stalling out on programs like crazy this morning, I had to force shut down several programs several times (usually Firefox or Photoshop - though I did relaunch Finder once as well). Moving files even from folder to folder was painful, as was opening folders. Things had been running slowly on and off yesterday but not enough for me to have any concerns over it but when I tried to work this morning it was next to impossible as I could barely launch files or had to wait up to 10 minutes for a page to load.
I restarted several times throughout the day, still not working well. I checked for software updates on all the affected programs, all were up to date. I rebooted from CD, ran disk utility on it, it said everything was fine. I knew it wasn't fine so I started to back up my files just in case - I had two firewire backup drives daisy chained to the computer. It was having great difficulty backing up to the master backup drive, all files would copy painfully slowly. What was usually a 30 second back up took up to 2 hours if it worked at all without stalling. I have no idea what, if anything, actually got backed up. Again I started from CD and ran disk utility to fix the drive and again it said nothing was wrong.
I quit off disk utility which prompted a restart and ejected the disk. It restarted slowly but allowed me to log in my user and loaded my desktop. While launching the start up programs I have (Mail and Firefox auto start) it stalled. I could move my mouse, view the desktop but nothing else. I waited about 10 minutes to see if it would recover and when it didn't resolve and wouldn't allow me to force quit the programs it was hung up on, I hard restarted using the power button. Upon launch, I got the white screen with the question mark in the file.
I've followed every direction on this page http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570. I can still successfully start from CD but I can't run disk utility as it isn't even recognizing that I have a hard drive. Where my hard disk is supposed to be, it has the icon and says media. It shows the total capacity as 0 bytes and that it's an unformatted drive.
I don't know what to do from here - I really need the information that is on this drive if possible as I have a work deadline looming and I have no idea if it backed up or not. I'm going to drag the back up drives to the inlaws as they have a mac and see what I do have copies of. I was also considering trying to access it in target disk mode off of her computer. Is this a bad idea?
We live in a small town and there is no local mac support. Any information as to what I can do to fix my computer and get the info off of it is greatly appreciated!!

Greetings,
but I can't run disk utility as it isn't even recognizing that I have a hard drive. Where my hard disk is supposed to be, it has the icon and says media. It shows the total capacity as 0 bytes and that it's an unformatted drive.
If disk utility isn't showing a mounted volume like "Macintosh HD" that does suggest an issue with the drive. This could be physical, or something wrong with the format / partition table.
If you weren't maintaining regular backups like with Time Machine then your priority #1 should be to try to get the data off the drive if it is extremely important data. Any repairs you might do be it with Disk Utility or other repair software (Disk Warrior, Drive Genius, Tech Tool Pro, etc.) run the risk of making whatever data is on the drive harder to recover. Repair programs by their nature move data on the drive. If this drive is truly failed, you want to avoid making changes as much as possible so data recovery software / companies have the best chance to get the data off.
Target disk mode would certainly be my next step.
It might also be worthwhile to reset the SMC which will also reset the drive controller, just in case it is not mounting for other reasons: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
If you cannot access the drive in Target disk mode then you have 3 choices:
A. Try repairing using Disk Utility or other program and hope that the repairs are sufficient to get the drive up and running and risk moving some data in the process (which as mentioned above makes data recovery more difficult).
B. Contact a data recovery professional.
_There are many nationwide / worldwide data recovery companies out there. Here are a few examples:
http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com
http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/
http://www.totalrecall.com/
C. Use data recovery software to attempt to extract data off the drive.
_Here are a few examples:
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
http://www.macintosh-data-recovery.com/
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
Long term the question is, is this a physical issue with the computer/drive or a software issue (formatting)?
Completely erasing the drive would be the way to tell. If you attempt to erase the drive and are unable to, this would suggest a physical issue with the drive, its connection to the logic board, or the logic board itself.
If you can erase the drive then this is probably just a software issue. Formatting of the drive broke down for "X" reason. There are many, hard shut downs, power outages, micro power surges, force quitting applications 100 times a day, etc.
Either way, maintaing regular automated backups is our safety net: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1553
I hope that helps and best of luck to you.

Hard disk failure and replacement

got
hello, i own HP-G6-2005AX.My problem is that my hard disk is creating problem, the system does'nt boots up, when i contacted HP customer care, they told me to run hard disk dst test, the test took 3 hrs and gave result as failure.
i am posting its screenshot as well..they told me to send that snapshot to them, and that my harddisk will be replaced, i wanted to ask that this hard disk(Toshiba), is very slow and not good,(this gave me problem in just 8 months), while my another hp laptop with samsung hard disk installed is working still fine..!
so if it is being replaced can i get it replaced it with samsung one..?..(i can give difference in price)..or can i get same hard disk of 1TB...(older one is 500GB)..?
thank you in advance..

Here are the specs for you HP Pavilion g6-2005ax Notebook Computer. Under warranty service, HP will replace the hard drive with a comparable drive of their choice. That is to say that HP will replace the drive with what is in stock at the service center and is at least as large as the original drive. HP will not accept money for an upgraded hard drive under warranty replacement.
Hopefully you created your personal set of HP Recovery Discs when you first setup your computer. If you failed to create this set of discs or a comparable USB Recovery Flash drive, you will need to request HP Recovery Discs for your computer as well.
Please send KUDOS
Frank
{------------ Please click the "White Kudos" Thumbs Up to say THANKS for helping.
Please click the "Accept As Solution" on my post, if my assistance has solved your issue. ------------V
This is a user supported forum. I am a volunteer and I don't work for HP.
HP 15t-j100 (on loan from HP)
HP 13 Split x2 (on loan from HP)
HP Slate8 Pro (on loan from HP)
HP a1632x - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6130y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6320y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240
HP p7-1026 - Windows 7, 6GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6787c - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240

Problem with USB External Hard Disk Drive

I have similar problem with hard disk MK6025GAS in Sweex casing connected via USB as Raistlfiren in this post but I am not sure if it has something to do with kernel. The problem is that when I plug the hard disk via USB it is not even shown with in /dev/ or by fdisk -l. I had similar problems with the drive before but it was always shown in /dev.
I got same output from dmesg as Raistlfiren in the post before
# dmesg | tail
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] ASC=0x0 ASCQ=0x0
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense Key : 0x0 [current]
Info fld=0x0
I was browsing net for a lot of time to find a solution but nothing helped a lot. The problem is closes to the one described on Gentoo Forum
I can see that it is recognized by computer since it is shown with lsusb
# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 13fd:0540 Initio Corporation
# lsusb -d 13fd:0540 -v
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 13fd:0540 Initio Corporation
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x13fd Initio Corporation
idProduct 0x0540
bcdDevice 0.00
iManufacturer 1 Initio
iProduct 2 MK6025GAS
iSerial 3 0010100500000000
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 32
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0xc0
Self Powered
MaxPower 2mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk (Zip)
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
bLength 10
bDescriptorType 6
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
bNumConfigurations 1
Device Status: 0x0001
Self Powered
From the beginning I though and I still think that the partition table is screwed up but the programs like TestDisk and fixdisktable work only with disks shown in /dev/
Additionally, I have checked the content of /var/log/kernel.log
Sep 16 22:03:58 hramat kernel: usb 1-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
Sep 16 22:03:58 hramat kernel: usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Sep 16 22:03:58 hramat kernel: scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Sep 16 22:03:58 hramat kernel: usb-storage: device found at 5
Sep 16 22:03:58 hramat kernel: usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access Initio MK6025GAS 2.23 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: usb-storage: device scan complete
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] 117210240 512-byte hardware sectors: (60.0 GB/55.8 GiB)
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 86 0b 00 02
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sdd:<6>sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense Key : 0x0 [current]
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: Info fld=0x0
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] ASC=0x0 ASCQ=0x0
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Sense Key : 0x0 [current]
and /var/log/errors.log
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 16 22:04:03 hramat kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 16 22:07:35 hramat kernel: INFO: task async/0:3957 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
Sep 16 22:07:35 hramat kernel: "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
The only thing I understand from these logs is that the disk is blocked, therefore not listed in /dev.
Assuming the newer kernel problems I could try to use some older live linux CD to see if that would work. I am also thinking of connecting this hard drive directly to my laptop, using live linux CD and maybe check the output of hdparm. Is there anything else I could check or try?
Thank you for any help or suggestions
Matej

Thank you nTia89 for response. Sorry for not providing enough information.
I believe the problem is not system dependent. I have dual boot with windows and there the disk has also problems. However, I do have Arch32 with Kernel 2.6.30, using Gnome. hal and dbus are also running.
I did not tried to connect the disk to the computer directly, I will try it today.
Yesterday I have used SystemRescueCD 0.4.1 with Kernel 2.6.22. I wanted to see if it will be recognized by the system and placed in /dev/. Yes it was. This means that the problem highlighted in Gentoo forum can be true, but it doesn't solve my problem. I have tried to connect the drive several times to Arch and it was not shown in /dev/sd*, in SystemRescueCD it was placed as /dev/sdb. Now I am sure that the partition table is screwed up.
So I have started to play with the drive in SystemRescueCD with TestDisk and FixDiskTable but without success.
% fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 1530 12289693+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 1531 6672 41303115 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 6673 12161 44090392+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 6673 11908 42058138+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 11909 12161 2032191 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Disk /dev/sdb: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 57231 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table
Manufacturer disk geometry: Heads: 16; Cylinders: 16383; Sectors: 63; Logical Blocks (LBA): 117210240
TestDisk found only Linux partitions with 43Gb while disk had only one 60Gb partitioned with FAT32/NTFS.
Also recognized 64 heads, 57231 cylinders and 32 sectors (same as from fdisk -l), which obviously differs from manufacturer disk geometry.
testdisk.log:
Thu Sep 17 19:09:26 2009
Command line: TestDisk
TestDisk 6.8, Data Recovery Utility, August 2007
Christophe GRENIER
Linux version (ext2fs lib: 1.40.2, ntfs lib: 9:0:0, reiserfs lib: 0.3.1-rc8, ewf lib: none)
Using locale 'C'.
Hard disk list
Disk /dev/sda - 100 GB / 93 GiB - CHS 12161 255 63, sector size=512
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57231 64 32, sector size=512
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB
Partition table type: Intel
Interface Advanced
New options :
Dump : No
Cylinder boundary : Yes
Allow partial last cylinder : No
Expert mode : No
Analyse Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57231 64 32
Current partition structure:
Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55
Ask the user for vista mode
Computes LBA from CHS for Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Allow partial last cylinder : Yes
search_vista_part: 1
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Search for partition aborted
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Search for partition aborted
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
simulate write!
write_mbr_i386: starting...
Store new MBR code
write_all_log_i386: starting...
No extended partition
Analyse Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Current partition structure:
Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55
Ask the user for vista mode
Allow partial last cylinder : Yes
search_vista_part: 1
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
NTFS at 8956/63/32
heads/cylinder 255 (NTFS) != 64 (HD)
sect/track 63 (NTFS) != 32 (HD)
filesystem size 24579387
sectors_per_cluster 8
mft_lcn 1024141
mftmirr_lcn 1650676
clusters_per_mft_record -10
clusters_per_index_record 1
NTFS part_offset=9392094720, part_size=12584646144, sector_size=512
NTFS partition cannot be added (part_offset<part_size).
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34129 1 1 75201 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=69896224, size=84116272, end=154012495, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34632 2 1 75704 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=70926400, size=84116272, end=155042671, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34668 0 1 75740 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=71000064, size=84116272, end=155116335, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34673 1 1 75745 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=71010336, size=84116272, end=155126607, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34699 2 1 75771 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=71063616, size=84116272, end=155179887, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 34708 2 1 75780 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=71082048, size=84116272, end=155198319, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 36338 0 1 77410 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=74420224, size=84116272, end=158536495, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 36367 0 1 77439 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=74479616, size=84116272, end=158595887, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 36401 2 1 77473 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=74549312, size=84116272, end=158665583, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 36414 2 1 77486 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=74575936, size=84116272, end=158692207, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 37949 1 1 79021 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=77719584, size=84116272, end=161835855, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 37955 1 1 79027 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=77731872, size=84116272, end=161848143, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 37989 1 1 79061 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=77801504, size=84116272, end=161917775, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 38404 0 1 79476 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=78651392, size=84116272, end=162767663, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 39636 2 1 80708 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=81174592, size=84116272, end=165290863, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 41263 1 1 82335 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=84506656, size=84116272, end=168622927, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 41266 1 1 82338 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=84512800, size=84116272, end=168629071, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 41660 0 1 82732 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=85319680, size=84116272, end=169435951, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 42898 0 1 83970 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=87855104, size=84116272, end=171971375, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 43244 1 1 84316 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=88563744, size=84116272, end=172680015, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 44870 2 1 85942 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=91893824, size=84116272, end=176010095, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 44930 2 1 86002 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=92016704, size=84116272, end=176132975, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 46961 0 1 88033 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=96176128, size=84116272, end=180292399, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 47312 0 1 88384 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=96894976, size=84116272, end=181011247, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 48393 2 1 89465 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=99108928, size=84116272, end=183225199, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 49633 2 1 90705 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=101648448, size=84116272, end=185764719, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 50767 1 1 91839 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=103970848, size=84116272, end=188087119, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 51150 1 1 92222 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=104755232, size=84116272, end=188871503, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 51941 1 1 93013 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=106375200, size=84116272, end=190491471, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 52759 0 1 93831 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=108050432, size=84116272, end=192166703, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 53069 1 1 94141 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=108685344, size=84116272, end=192801615, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 53768 0 1 94840 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=110116864, size=84116272, end=194233135, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 54287 0 1 95359 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=111179776, size=84116272, end=195296047, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 54493 2 1 95565 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=111601728, size=84116272, end=195717999, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 54861 1 1 95933 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=112355360, size=84116272, end=196471631, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 54890 2 1 95962 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=112414784, size=84116272, end=196531055, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 54953 2 1 96025 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=112543808, size=84116272, end=196660079, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 56330 1 1 97402 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=115363872, size=84116272, end=199480143, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 56334 0 1 97406 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=115372032, size=84116272, end=199488303, disk end=117211136)
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/320, s_mnt_count=31/34, s_blocks_per_group=32768
recover_EXT2: boot_sector=0, s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 10514534
recover_EXT2: part_size 84116272
D Linux 57203 0 1 98275 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
This partition ends after the disk limits. (start=117151744, size=84116272, end=201268015, disk end=117211136)
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Check the harddisk size: HD jumpers settings, BIOS detection...
The harddisk (60 GB / 55 GiB) seems too small! (< 103 GB / 95 GiB)
The following partitions can't be recovered:
D Linux 34129 1 1 75201 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 34632 2 1 75704 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 34668 0 1 75740 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 34673 1 1 75745 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 34699 2 1 75771 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 34708 2 1 75780 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 36338 0 1 77410 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 36367 0 1 77439 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 36401 2 1 77473 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 36414 2 1 77486 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 37949 1 1 79021 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 37955 1 1 79027 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 37989 1 1 79061 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 38404 0 1 79476 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 39636 2 1 80708 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 41263 1 1 82335 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 41266 1 1 82338 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 41660 0 1 82732 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 42898 0 1 83970 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 43244 1 1 84316 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 44870 2 1 85942 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 44930 2 1 86002 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 46961 0 1 88033 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 47312 0 1 88384 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 48393 2 1 89465 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 49633 2 1 90705 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 50767 1 1 91839 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 51150 1 1 92222 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 51941 1 1 93013 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 52759 0 1 93831 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 53069 1 1 94141 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 53768 0 1 94840 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 54287 0 1 95359 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 54493 2 1 95565 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 54861 1 1 95933 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 54890 2 1 95962 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 54953 2 1 96025 27 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 56330 1 1 97402 26 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 56334 0 1 97406 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
D Linux 57203 0 1 98275 25 16 84116272
EXT3 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 43 GB / 40 GiB
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
simulate write!
write_mbr_i386: starting...
Store new MBR code
write_all_log_i386: starting...
No extended partition
Interface Advanced
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB
Partition table type: Intel
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB
Partition table type: Intel
New options :
Dump : No
Cylinder boundary : Yes
Allow partial last cylinder : No
Expert mode : No
New options :
Dump : No
Cylinder boundary : Yes
Allow partial last cylinder : No
Expert mode : No
Analyse Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Current partition structure:
Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55
Ask the user for vista mode
Allow partial last cylinder : No
search_vista_part: 0
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdb - 60 GB / 55 GiB - CHS 57232 64 32
Search for partition aborted
Results
Can't open backup.log file: No such file or directory
interface_load
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
simulate write!
write_mbr_i386: starting...
Store new MBR code
write_all_log_i386: starting...
No extended partition
TestDisk exited normally.
fixdisktable first output:
% ./fixdisktable -d /dev/sdb
Getting hard disk geometry
cylinders=57231, heads=64, sectors=32
end_offset: 2147482624
FfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSs
EXT2 partition at offset 56832, length=(41072.398 MB) 43067531264
Sectors: start= 111, end= 84116382, length= 84116272
Hd,Sec,Cyl: start(3,16,0) end(28,31,41072)
Done searching for partitions.
Nr AF Hd Sec Cyl Hd Sec Cyl Start Size ID
1 80 3 16 0 63 32 1023 111 84116273 83 (Interpretted)
1 80 3 16 0 63 224 255 111 84116273 83 (RAW)
1: 8003 1000 833f e0ff 6f00 0000 3183 0305
2: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
3: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
4: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
Do you wish to write this partition table to disk (yes/no)? no
fixdisktable second output:
% ./fixdisktable -d -r -v /dev/sdb
Getting hard disk geometry
cylinders=57231, heads=64, sectors=32
end_offset: 2147482624
FfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSsNnBbUuFfEeSs
NTFS partition at offset 17483776, length=(17592186043512.582 MB) 184467440727622 49216
Sectors: start= 34148, end=36028797017147916, length=36028797017113768
Hd,Sec,Cyl: start(43,5,16) end(16,12,2096265)
Done searching for partitions.
Nr AF Hd Sec Cyl Hd Sec Cyl Start Size ID
1 80 43 5 16 63 32 1023 34148 -1850199 07 (Interpretted)
1 80 43 5 16 63 224 255 34148 -1850199 07 (RAW)
1: 802b 0510 073f e0ff 6485 0000 a9c4 e3ff
2: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
3: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
4: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
Do you wish to write this partition table to disk (yes/no)? no
This string "FfEeSsNnBbUu" was repeating there for longer time and it was most probably related to debugging or a verbose mode of fixdisktable
As I have mentioned I will try to connect the disk directly to the computer and see what will happen.
Shall I try to correct the disk geometry to the one specified by manufacturer? Is it possible?
Any suggestions?

Cant copy files from a crushed hard disk

Hello,
I use macbook pro (bought few months ago from the US) with 10.6.3 OS. I had a 500GB hard disk and had MacOS and Windows 7 installed through Parallel's Plesk.
Few days ago, the computer frooze and i had to reboot. Once i reboot, i got the flashing folder with question mark logo. Googled and found out that my hard disk may have crushed. I replaced it with another 500GB hard disk.
Now this is what happened:
1. I installed MacOS again on the new hard drive
2. Got a SATA disk connecter and connected my old drive, MacOS recognized the disk and the two partitions were opened with errors. The main partition where i have all my files were there. I actually was able to get most of my files.
3. I used migration wizard to move all my settings, applications to the new hard disk but i failed to migration the /users folder. It keeps saying calculating... and never finishes.
4. I tried to copy files manually but it seems like all files are locked! I could not change the file permissions.
I googled and found out a software called testdisk to repair partitions, followed all steps but failed. I kept getting message that the partiion table is corrupt or resource busy. I run pdisk and get the following error message:
pdisk: No valid block 1 on '/dev/rdisk1'
pdisk: No valid block 1 on '/dev/rdisk0'
Partition map (with 2048 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk2'
#: type name length base ( size )
1: Applepartitionmap Apple 15 @ 1
2: AppleDriverATAPI Macintosh 456689 @ 16 (892.0M)
3: Apple_HFS MacOSX 3632472 @ 456706 ( 6.9G)
4: Apple_Free 4 @ 4089178
Device block size=2048, Number of Blocks=4089182 (7.8G)
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
Anybody has an idea how i get my /user folder contents as i have all my mails, saved passwords, application settings gone! A big headache to manually fix them all?
Farshid

Googled and found out that my hard disk may have crushed. I replaced it with another 500GB hard disk.
If this drive physically died, then it would have been covered under the warranty, since the machine is only a few months old. However, that does not sound like what happened.
2. Got a SATA disk connecter and connected my old drive, MacOS recognized the disk and the two partitions were opened with errors. The main partition where i have all my files were there. I actually was able to get most of my files.
3. I used migration wizard to move all my settings, applications to the new hard disk but i failed to migration the /users folder. It keeps saying calculating... and never finishes.
If you're able to mount this drive, then it wasn't physically damaged and did not need to be replaced. In the future, you need to verify that the disk is dead before spending the money on replacing it!
In order to repair the drive, you can try Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. If Disk Utility is unable to repair it, try [DiskWarrior|http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html] or [TechTool Pro|http://www.micromat.com>. I'm not sure what this "testdisk" software is, I've never heard of it.
If these three utilities are not able to repair the drive, there's no repairing it. Your only choice will be to use a data recovery tool, like [Data Rescue|http://www.prosofteng.com> or [File Salvage|http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1]. If those don't work, you'll have to pay the big money for a data recovery service.
Of course, all this could have been easily avoided. You MUST have backups of any data you don't want to lose! If you had a backup, you could have simply erased the hard drive and restored from the backup. For the future, see my [Mac Backup Guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/backups> for assistance getting started with backups.

MacBook Pro hard disk upgrade shows question mark folder

I recently bought a 1TB hard disk for my teenaged daughter's MacBook Pro.
I formatted it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the existing drive. I even made sure to create the recovery partition.
I restarted while holding the option key and chose the new drive. It booted fine so I checked in System Preferences to make sure it was selected as the boot device.
I opened the case and swapped the drives. Put it back together and restarted only to see the question mark folder!
I tried booting while holding the option key and now I get the choose a network prompt.
I am desperate and hate the thought of disappointing my daughter. It used to be that I was her hero who could fix anything now I'm the guy who asks too many questions and doesn't put enough money on her debit card. Granted she busts her butt getting awesome grades and I was upgrading her drive so she could continue her video yearbook for her school. So I shouldn't complain but it would be great to be her hero again.
BTW, I am not a newbie to the tech world but I don't do nearly as much in the Apple arena as I do in the PC world. Then again I've been a senior tech in the industry sine before IBM had a PC. In fact, my first real work was on a 6502 processor that used the same machine code as the Rage of the day, the Apple ][. All that to say I usually can find my way around a problem but this one has me stumped.
I appreciate any assistance offered.
Thanks,
Thom

I tried to reboot with the option, command P. And R keys pressed. I heard the ding several times it still showed the question mark! I also tried the shift option and it only displayed the network selection. Also I tried to press C so I could boot from USB and it didn't work either.
If I cannot get this to work I fear my only other choice is to use a FireWire enclosure. This isn't a good option as my daughter does mostly movie work and iMovie has this terrible "feature" that forces all movies to be stored in one place. It sure would be handy if it allowed movie projects to set the storage location individually. I suppose I could simply move all the movies to the drive and try to find a way to point all iMovie projects to the external drive.
Unfortunately, my daughter is one of those Mac users who isn't savvy enough to use anything but the default settings. Heck I've tried to explain to her that she ought to get rid of the big files once she has done her work. That's why her drive is always full.

The iMac doesn't recognize my external hard disk

My iMac doesn't recognize my external hard disk. The iMac also keeps a DVD inside. It doen't throw it out despite "eject".

Sounds like you might need to make that call. In the meantime here are a few of things you could try that may help:
To eject the disk try a restart holding down the mouse button - hopefully it'll eject.
If you are running either Mountain Lion (10.8) or Lion (10.7) try booting into the Recovery HD:
Restart holding down Command+r. At the screen with 4 choices choose Disk Utility and then select Macintosh HD and click on repair disk. If it fixes anything click on repair disk again until you get a clean pass. Restart as normal from the Apple menu.
If you are running an earlier OS you would normally carry out this process by putting the grey restore disk that came with your Mac in the Disk drive and restarting holding down the C key. Choose your language and at the next screen from the menu bar select Utilities>Disk Utility and then follow the above instructions (I realise you won't be able to do this if you have a disk stuck in the optical disk drive).
Try an SMC and PRAM reset: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3603
Try a Safe Boot: Restart holding down the shift key until you see a grey progress bar. Once it's booted restart as normal from the Apple menu.
If none of this helps, I guess you need to make that call. Good luck.

I have the latest Mac Air 13" and I have a Seagate 500MB external hard disk I cant copy or Cut any files on the hard disk and I cant even delete any files. I have the settings as Read and Write in the get info tab. Please help

I have the latest Mac Air 13" and I have a Seagate 500MB external hard disk I cant copy or Cut any files on the hard disk and I cant even delete any files. I have the settings as Read and Write in the get info tab. Please helpand also note that my hard drive was formatted on a Windows 7 Laptop.

thats the problem, its in MSDos (Fat) or NTFS for Windows.
Options.....
1. offload all that data on the HD onto your PC, THEN format the HD in EXFAT for use on BOTH PC and Mac for read/write.....then reload all (or as you need) that data back onto the HD
2. get another HD, and format it for Mac OSX extended journaled.
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
Maximum file size: 4GB.
Maximum volume size: 2TB
You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
Maximum file size: 16 TB
Maximum volume size: 256TB
You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT))) (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB
You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
EXFAT (FAT64) ------Can read/write from both PC and Mac
Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
Not all Windows versions support exFAT.
exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
Maximum file size: 16 EiB
Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

Time Machine backup created on Mac with a large hard disk. What happens when restore to MacBook Air with small SSD drive?

What if a Time Machine backup was created on a Mac with a large hard disk, e.g. 500GB iMac - and I buy a new MacBook Air with a small SSD hard disk e.g 128GB. What happens when I need to use the larger Time Machine file to set up the new MacBook Air? What happens to all those files that can't fit on the smaller SSD drive?

It is not the HD size, but rather the size of the data it contains. If you right-click your 500GB drive and select "Get Info" you can see how much is actually being used.
Naturally if you are using more space than the new drive has, then you have to make some choices about what you want to keep and what you want to keep archived.
I don't know what options are available but you may simply have to do a manual restore of files you want, in groups.

G5 Tower doesn't see SATA hard disks...a TOTAL mystery...

Hi All--
I was having some serious HD corruption & start-up problems with my 2 original HDs. 2 weeks ago, I bought a 1.5 TB Seagate internal Barracuda. Disk Util took a coupla tries to properly format & partition it, but I was finally able to create 5 HFS+ (Journaled) partitions. (At this stage, my goal was to create a new Boot Disk so I could run Disk Warrior on the corrupt drives since DU wasn't able to--bad b-tree Nodes--and also have a quick data-dump area in case the original HD got recognized, as it occasionally did).
At first, everything on the new Seagate (new Boot Drive) was fine. But...Disk Warrior locked up once while fixing permissions (and/or repairing the disk--I forget)...and my poor computer hasn't recognized any SATA drive since (new Seagate nor two original HDs. When I try to boot them I get broken folder icons, Prohibitory symbols, or the command-line errors superimposed on the gray startup screen (mach_kernel stuff?).
(One thing I noticed when I was booted from the OS X install disk was that the Log said that the 5 new ("now "unfindable") internal Seagate drive partitions were "inaccessible" becasue there was no Open Firmware path.) At one point, I also had to reconnect one of the HD's power connectors to the motherboard (near the PCI-X slots) since it came loose when I was installing/removing my Soundcard to test the sys w/o any peripherals. (A BIG bonk on the head to Apple for its ridiculously difficult PCI, RAM, and hard-disk mounting on the G5--just ask the stressed Motherboard PC board, the open/unprotected Hard Disk underbellies (and my skinned knuckles) about it.
Sorry for this next part which is WAY convoluted, but I want to be as specific as possible to see if I can get the help I need:
• The orig Superdrive (Sony, DW-Q28a) will ONLY boot and/or read my orig OS X install DVD. After some OS upgrade or another, about a year ago, it now spits ALL other CDs/DVDs out--so no booting from Disk Warrior or anything else. (I have an external USB DVD drive (Sony), but it is, or course, not bootable with a PPC.)
• Here's my MAJOR workaround to get some kind of working system: Bought a 1.5 TB USB Seagate Free Agent external HD. I unplugged the Superdrive (IDE) and plugged in a 4-year old IDE HD from my old G4 (running 10.3.9). I copied all data from my external LaCie Firewire HD to the FreeAgent. Unhooked the IDE HD, put the Superdrive back in & booted off the Install Disk. Erased/formatted/partitioned the LaCie FW HD and made it a boot drive. The FreeAgent is for data storage. (This is nutty as ****, though: my giant G5 tower is a giant motherboard for 2 external HDs...it's like Connecticut & New Jersey running an inaccessible New York City!)
• I bought Data Rescue 3 (still waiting for disk in the mail)--and just like DU & Disk Warrior, it doesn't even see the 2 SATA HDs.
. Replaced 3.6v PRAM battery.
• I have done every single "recommended" action: command-line fsck -y, "mac-boot", "reset-nvram", "set defaults", "reset-all". I have tried boot+Option, Single User Mode, Safe Mode, cmdOption+PR, shiftOption+CommandDel...you name it, I've done it.
Most of my data was backed up, but there are still a number of things I want off the 2 original HD's.
Can someone puh-LEASE help me? I have been tearing my hair out for 4 weeks, and my wife and kids miss me!
Thanks for bearing with me, and thanks in advance,
Nick

No you do more than everything, and more than enough. I was only saying WHY and the purpose behind 'zapping pram' thing. If the drive shows up in System Profile properly, and shows in Disk Utility as 1.5TB SEA.... you are done.
OF is my choice as quick, simple, and more thorough set of commands.
I worry about Seagate firmware. When they bought Maxtor, they seem to have lost their chef and chief cooks, that cook up firmware. Their SATA doesn't live up to their Cheetahs, that is for sure, and have had issues with iMac G5 firmware and Mac.
WD is very popular on Mac Pro, very much so, whether Black Caviars, 10K VelociRaptors, and most important: compatible.
Even on PCs, defrag tests show even current Barracudas takes much longer than any other make. And I've seen people try to zero their drives and take 10x longer (trouble with the small write I/O).

Thinking about upgrading my Powerbook G4 hard disk to 160GB

I am thinking about upgrading my powerbook G4 hard disk to 160GB, or even larger if possible...
I have checked the macsales.com website and found this seagate 160GB, is it a good choice? Can anyone suggest a better deal or a better choice...?
but I also notice one thing... it says that any powerbook model prior to 2003 might not support the any hard disk over 120G....
So I am wondering is my powerbook G4 15inch 1.25GHz SuperDrive model able to have a 160GB hard drive...?
Thanks a lot!!!!!

The 1.25Ghz Powerbook came out in fall 2003, so if what MacSales says is true, then it should work.

Choice of hard disk

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