Disk not readable - now programmes freezing

I recently used a new GoFlex Seagate external HD and had problems with it from the outset - perhaps I didn't format it correctly for mac. Statered getting 'disk is not readable', eventually sorted the disk out with disk utility so I can use it but kept getting the disk not readable alert even if the disk was not inserted. I've zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC, now not getting the disk alert but the compter keeps freezing. It only happens in some programmes, usually in Lightroom 4 which I use 90% of the time. I have to do a force shut down, then it'll work fine for about 30 min before freezing again. Seems fine if I just use it with Chrome.
Many thanks for any help you can give.

Weird.
You did some good troubleshooting. How stable does it feel when you boot the computer to safe mode?
Also sometimes stability issues can be user specific, so maybe its not the program itself causing a problem or the operating system. But maybe something else like start up items, or your user cache and plists may need to be troubleshot.
There was something I had seen from Apple about how to do safe mode and what it is lemme see if I can find it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564
this will show you how to create a new user to test with. The instructions are for 10.6 but the steps are the same.
Lemme know how it goes!

Similar Messages

"Disk not readable...", Verify & Repair fail, Zero Out, HFS+ still fail

First, a time machine error came up saying the volume could not be found. Tried disk verify, disk repair (in disk utility) restarting, reconnecting, but to no avail. On restarting, computer says "Disk was not readable by this computer." I then Zeroed out all the data and reformatted the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). TM worked for most of the day until tonight when another error message came up saying that the next backup failed because it required 168GB, but only 49GB was available. Yet I had done virtually nothing since the last backup the hour earlier. I clicked "Back up Now" to try and get it to maybe re-evaluate the situation and maybe do the backup, but instead, I get the error that I got before - "The volume could not be found" (or something to that effect). Upon restarting, I again get "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer".
Is there something I am doing wrong? What can I do to fix this, or prevent this from happening later?

Alias7 wrote:
"Disk Utility stopped verifying "disk2s1" because the following error was encountered: Filesystem verify or repair failed" In the details box, it says:
"Verifying and Repair volume "disk2s1"
Invalid node structure
Invalid B-tree node size
Invalid node structure
Invalid B-tree node size
Volume check failed.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed."
This is what the error message was before, and is what it is now.
You had these sorts of errors, then zeroed-out the drive, now you have them again?
There's only one conclusion: your drive is failing. They don't always just crash and burn.
Note that the volume name should be "Time Machine", but Disk Utility sees it as "disk2s1" for some reason.
That's it's internal name to OSX. Use +System Profiler+ (Apple menu, +About this Mac,+ then +More Info.+
Look in the sidebar for FireWire or USB (whichever it is), select it, and you'll see disk2s1 listed as BSD name.
Time Machine Buddy seems to freeze most of my other widgets (can't type in calculator, can't delete Time Machine Buddy). It doesn't seem to do anything either, It just sits there saying "Backup Status" and "Messages" but no messages, just "....".
That's not normal, if you've had a successful backup recently, or one currently in progress.
An earlier post had a similar problem, because somehow he didn't have permission to read his own system log. From the Finder menubar, select Go, then +Go to folder,+ then type /var/log
That should list, among other things, system.log Double-click it. If nothing shows in the center portion, post back and we'll fix it.
But your main problem is an unreliable drive.

External Disk Not Readable by OSX after Setting Drive Letter in Windows 7

My external hard drive, which was previously formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), contains all of my purchased music. I have this external drive connected directly to my iMac via USB. My iTunes in OS X points to this drive.
After installing Boot Camp, I was able to read this external hard drive in Windows 7, but I changed the drive letter used in Windows 7 from E: to G:. Bad idea, apparently...
Now when I boot into OS X, I can no longer read the drive (although I can read it in Windows 7 just fine). I get the error message:
"The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." [Initialize] [Ignore] [Eject]
When I use Disk Utility to attempt to Repair Disk, I get the following error:
"2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Verify and Repair volume “disk2s2”
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Starting repair tool:
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: ** /dev/disk2s2
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Invalid BS_jmpBoot in boot block: 000000
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Volume repair complete.
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
2010-11-24 08:43:41 -0800: Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
I've searched for this issue in these forums and on the web and have not yet found a solution.
Is there any way to repair this external drive so that I can again read/write to it in OS X (WITHOUT losing my music)?
Thanks!

I had this exact problem. I bought a 1 TB My Book, formatted it with Disk Utility, and completed a successful backup. I also had some home videos on it and was using about 40% of the drive. One day, about a week later, I had the same "disk unreadable" message and soon panicked. Tried everything, but finally spent $100 for Disk Warrior and I was able to get my videos off, but it wasn't able to fix my drive, DW said I didn't have enough memory.
I reformatted and put my videos back on, but now will use a different drive for backups, so if it fails again I only lose my backups.

Need help with Mac & PC not recognizing external drive (disk not readable)

I am having trouble getting my computer(s) to recognize my Seagate External Drive.
Have tried on my MacBook, iMac, 2 Mini's & my roommate's PC and all reveal the same issue: The Disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
MacBook/iMac both are working off of Leopard
Both Mini's are on Tiger
It won't show up in finder, rendering it unobtainable. I need to get the information if at all possible off of this hard drive (very important!!) so any help I can get would be greatly appreciated!
It allows me to go into disk utility where it shows up with this information:
Name : ST316002 3A Media
Type : Disk
Partition Map Scheme : Master Boot Record
Disk Identifier : disk4
Media Name : ST316002 3A Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : USB
USB Serial Number : 3LJ07T540000
Device Tree : /PCI0@0/USB7@1D,7/@4:0
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No
Location : External
Total Capacity : 149.1 GB (160,041,885,696 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 4
Partition Number : 0
And it is in the "about this mac" section with this information:
Seagate Mass Storage:
Capacity: 149.05 GB
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk4
Version: 0.00
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Seagate
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: MBR (Master Boot Record)
Product ID: 0x0500
Serial Number: 3LJ07T540000
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Vendor ID: 0x0bc2

Additional info:
on the disk4s1 info in disk utility, this information is seen:
Name : disk4s1
Type : Volume
Disk Identifier : disk4s1
Mount Point : Not mounted
Connection Bus : USB
Device Tree : /PCI0@0/USB7@1D,7/@4:1
Writable : Yes
Capacity : 149.0 GB (160,022,790,144 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : No
Can Turn Owners Off : No
Can Be Formatted : No
Bootable : No
Supports Journaling : No
Journaled : No
Disk Number : 4
Partition Number : 1
so it looks like a whole lot of no's that need to be turned around! I can't understand why it won't be read by either Mac or PC with all of this, or how I can fix it

Disk Not Readable? What!

Aloha all. I searched for info in the Tiger forums, as well as here before posting, but came up empty so I'm gonna start a new topic. Here goes...
I copied a bunch of songs (all legal downloads, & imports from my personal cd collection) and burned them to a DVD disk, which is an option from iTunes. Burning went smoothly, not to long, etc.. I then re-inserted the disk later in the day, and got "disk is not readable, would you like to reformat, yadda, yadda. My question is why would a disk that was burned on my mac not be readable on the same mac that burned it? Part two. Is there a way to fix this bizarre behavior?
I did a little experiment and did the same procedure using OS9 on my son's G4 and it worked fine. Any info, tips, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Mahalo in advance, JB

Anyone?

Disk not readable

I found a post with this same problem but no one responded. Thought I would try again. I have a CD-R of grandson's baseball photo's. When I insert the cd I get the message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer". It was created on a Windows computer. I might understand if it said I needed a certain application to open it. Any suggestions out there?

There could be several different issues that cause this problem.
Many of the softwares for CD and DVD burning have different functions and many don't have those functions at all.
Software for burning should have these features.
You have the option to create
DATA
AUDIO
VIDEO-TS
Besides this the software should also give the option to create your project for
PC ONLY
MAC ONLY
PC OR MAC Compatible
Most good softwares will
Read the project
Compress (If need be)
Write the project
And last but not least
VERIFY
Verify closses or finalizes the project.
If the project was burned on PC only that could be the problem,
If the project was burned on entry level software without these options, the settings could have been set wrong.
If the project was not Verfied that could also be the problem.
Lastly if the project was burned on media that your computer is not capable of reading.
I suggest you get a friend with a PC to try it out, and if he or she can play it on a PC then have them reburn the project with good Media, and Good Software.

Hard disk not readable by this computer

I have 2 identical WD2500JS HDD in my Mac Pro. Both worked fine for sometime, but now I'm greeted with an error message every time at boot up and the 2nd drive isn't usable/mountable/readable at all.
The drive appears in the Disk Utility as "Media" and Disk Warrior can also see the drive, but I'm unable to see any partitions, it's size, repair it, etc..
Disk Utility and Disk Warrior claim S.M.A.R.T is not supported on the drive, not sure if that matters (the other disk correctly supports it).
I'm not sure what I can do to recover the data on the disk or if the disk is permanently damaged.
Thanks for your help.

Sorry to hear. TechTool Pro 5 does an excellent media scan job. And it should be a warning to make backups more often, and more sets, two or more.
TTPro also has pretty good SMART test suite (Intech Speedtools probably has the best), though SMART "ain't" that smart.
I replace drives every two years or so, use the older drives for backups.
First I'd pull them, put them in FW case for SATA drives, and give that a shot. And you'll need disks to recover to, to replace them (even if you repair or are able to zero out or 7-way write - OS X tools are not that hot for mapping out bad sectors).
Disk Jockey is $500 but does full sector copy (no computer needed).

I have a app store card that i scratched to hard ant the code is not readable now what should i do

is there aanything i can do to get the code back

Yeah there's a bunch of discussions about this. Contact iTunes. Have your card at the ready, you'll need it. Here's the full details:
http://www.apple.com/hk/en/support/itunes/store/giftcard/

The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer. (when putting ipod into mac) help,. now have no music on my ipod

the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer. (when putting ipod into mac) help,. now have no music on my ipod. how do i sort this out?

- Verify the file and disk formats on your camcorder and on your friend computer whether they support what you want to do. Also, if you are using a specific application to do the task, you may need to verify an application whether it supports the file format (e.g. MPEG4, Apple Intermediate Codec).
- Verify the device cable type whether Mac OS X 10.4.x supports.
- Verify the device compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4.x.
- Check an available firmware or driver for the camcorder that has developed after Mac OS X 10.4.4.
- Try diagnosing and repairing local hard disk and camcorder's drive directory.
- Verify disks permissions issue.
- Verify whether the disk is TOO warm or cold to read.
- If every troubleshooting does not solve the issue, consider to reformat the camcorder drive.
You may try suggestions by Dale Weisshaar: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1206250

External Hard drive "not readable", does not show up in Disk Warrior either. Help me, please!

I have a 500gb G Drive Slim that is almost brand new. I accidentally pulled the cord out when it was connected, and now when I try to open it, it says "not readable by this computer." This is what I see when I go into disc utility:
I called G Drive, and they told me to download Disk Warrior 4. I did, and this is what I see when I open it:
My hard drive doesn't show up...i'm not sure if i'm doing something wrong but I just paid $100 dollars for this and I'd really like some help. I read the manual and it wasn't helpful at all.
Please help me!

Make sure it's format is Mac OS Extended (Journeled).
To check it's format, plug in the External HDD and search Disk Utility in the spotlight. Click the External HDD and go to the Partition tab. If it isn't Mac OS Extended change it and format it.
You shouldn't need any of these external applications to use it. I have one and use it like a flash drive.

Unable to read usb memory stick + "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"

Hi Everyone,
Today I was tryign to use a brand new memory stick 8GB-Samsung PNY on my Mac Book Pro. (Mac OSX 10.7.5)
1. I do not see this drive in the Finder.
   2. Diskutil could detect the drive.
   3. I was trying to put ubuntu image file on the drive from the terminal uitility and I have this error message in a dialog box:
      "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"
4. Clicking on initialize helps me realise that the drive is detected. But I do not have a clue on how to proceed from here. I am new to Mac and its file system formats.
The same issue happened with my 500GB external Western Digital Hard Drive. I was reading on forums that WD got some issues with Apple is trying to resolve. I expected to not have this road-block with another brand but it happened with my memory stick. Now I was forming an impression that something should be done to external storage devices inorder for me to use them Mac OSX.
Kindly enlighten me and help overcome this issue.
Thank You

Thank You OGELTHORPE.
I erased the memory stick and formatted to "Mac OS Extended(Journaled)".
I attempted once again to use the "sudo dd" command from termial trying to copy the Ubuntu image file to the memory stick.
The operation termainates with the same message
      "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"
The termainal message says some bytes got transffered in so many seconds. It looks like this operation is being terminated in the middle.
Have any suggestions and work arounds?

HP Laserjet P1102w by USB "The disk you inserted is not readable by this computer"

My HP Laserjet P1102w used to work fine with OS X10.10. Then it started saying "The disk you inserted is not readable by this computer" whenever I switched it on, but the printer still worked. This morning it didn't. I uninstalled the printer, but can't re-install it - it isn't listed when I click "+". I have tried a different USB cable, and a different USB port - same message. The HP website does not provide a downloadable driver, as far as I can see. What do I do? (The wireless connection to the printer stopped working ages ago. The printer still works with our two PCs via USB.)

Hi Shapley,
Repairing the disk permissions can be done as following:
1. Open the the Applications folder.
2. Go to the Utilities folder.
3. Double-click on Disk Utility.
4. Select the hard drive containing the boot volume.
5. Go to the First Aid tab and select Repair Disk Permissions.
Note: This process may take several minutes depending on the Mac and amount of permissions that need to be repaired. The Progress Log will indicate when the process has been completed.
Next reboot your Mac and try plugging the USB again.
If the same persist, a such may also happen due to a conflict with the HP Smart Install feature which is Windows Based only and being wrongly read by the Mac, in order to resolve a such a Windows based PC will be required. any laptop should meet the purpose, the printer will be installed automatically by connecting the USB.
Next update and install the latest firmware below:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=bi-115794- 2&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&os=4158&product=4110396&sw_lang=
Next follow the HP Smart Install Control Utility below: Select the Printer and follow the on-screen steps to disable the feature for the printer.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=lj-129224- 1&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&os=4158&product=4110396&sw_lang=
NOw plug the USB back to your Mac and check for any difference
Please let me know of any change,
Shlomi

External Hard Drive - "The disk you inserted was not readable"

Yesterday I bought a Seagate FreeAgent 500 GB external hard drive and I ran disk utility and had it erased and formatted for my iMac. Then I put all my video files and movies on there to free up some space on my main computer hard drive. The FreeAgent external hard drive showed up on my desktop right under the main hard drive and it was working fine.
Today I downloaded and installed Boot Camp and then installed Windows XP Home Edition. After I was done, I went back to OS X and now there's no icon for the FreeAgend external hard drive on my desktop and instead a windows pops up saying "Disk Insertion-- The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" and my only options are "Disk Utility", "Eject", and "Ignore".
So I can't access my external hard drive now but I don't want to do the "erase" option on Disk Utility to reformat it since I have all my video files on there now.
I don't know what to do-- please help!!

Contact Seagate for tech support.

My external LaCie drive gets an error message "the disc you inserted was not readable by this computer." The only options offered are "ignore" or "eject" Disk Utility sees the disc but does not give a repair option. What can I do?

When I plug in my external LaCie drive I get an error message "the disc you inserted was not readable by this computer."
The only options offered are "ignore" or "eject"
Disk Utility sees the disc but does not give a repair option.
What can I do?

The good thing about mac-centric resellers such as OWC, is they have people on staff that can answer questions without you buying things first. They also have how-to information, and instructions are included in many of their products. I saw a link to watch a DIY video in one of their pages; an example of a RAID (with its own power supply) is shown on their drives page. Also a few in there, with no power supplies, for less money.
If I were looking to backup and perhaps also have a partition for a system clone, I'd consider something like one of these: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Some ideas on the RAID backup methods appear in google search, some of the pages are ideas and concepts; and the better ones also warn about using RAID for the only backup plan.
Oh, OWC has live chat. Haven't tried it, nor have I bought anything from them. I have what appears to be two products from them, but have not used either. One is in a box as-new, but has only USB2.0 ports & my Macs needed FW400/800. It has been said their RAM is a good way to upgrade, too. But I can't confirm!
A 'RAID-ready' unit for backup may be more versatile for just that, but I have not checked into these details. I use single HDDs in powered enclosures, and usually manually make backup clones to FW drives, of bootable OS X systems. Some of the OWC raid-ready use eSATA ports so that may not be viable for a computer without them.
The unused in-box external drive I have is like the base model in the link above. However mine is USB2.0 (maybe) and won't boot my older Macs due to hardware variance; and my preference would be for FireWire options, these models do offer that. But the one I have does not. Dual 500GB HDDs, and they could be used in tandem as a RAID. That would be a choice set up in software. I'm not sure and not interested enough to read up just now.
My backup method is not automatic, or a moving backup plan, if I don't get a move-on and make full system clones. I do make copies of photos and documents the manual way, to USB external drives; and occasionally backup to DVD or CD media. And USB flash, that helps to move files between computers without need to use file sharing via wi-fi. {Like Why fly? Walking is better exercise unless one is a bird. Squawk!}
https://www.google.com/#q=raid+backup+mac
Depending on the ports in your Mac, you may be able to use other cables to attach between a backup or externally enclosed hard disk drive with multiple partition and bootable clone in one of them. Not sure about the Thunderbolt, and where that is the main port, adapters are required to access other devices, as allowed.
Anyway, I am going on and on, yet not really saying anything.
My ideas would not be all that interesting to follow as a backup
plan when matching available newer hardware to task, but you
can get some into better ideas if you are not in a rush. Get a
good setup and then look into more an betterer stuff.
Good luck & happy computing!

External HDD: "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"

Hi,
I have an external drive with important data on it (there is a backup, but there is also some non-backuped data as well...). I cannot access the external drive because I receive a "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" message connecting it. I was wondering, if you have some advice on how to get my data back?
I have a WD Elements 2 TB (about 2 months old), I am using is with an iMac, latest Snow Leopard. The drive used to work all fine. Now, I receive a "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" every time I connect it. Same thing happens if connected to my MacBook Pro.
What happened?: I was copying files to the external drive. I the middle of it, I received a message complaining I that assumedly ejected the drive by pulling the USB cable out instead of properly ejecting it software-side (I did not do this). The drive symbol was gone. Now, I plug the drive out an reconnected it. The drive symbol showed up again. I continued copying files on the drive, but after some 30 seconds, I received the same error message again. One more time, I disconnected and reconnected the drive - this time to another USB port. The drive showed up, but I was not able to copy files on it (I am using muCommander, it just kept showing 0kb progress). I restarted the Mac. Since then I am getting the "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." The drive symbol does not show up anymore.
I was googling the problem: in one forum there was a suggestion to click "initialize drive" and than to "repair" in DiscUtility. I clicked initialize drive and the drive is shown in DiscUtility, but "repair" and "verify" are greyed out. I read more posts on it, one posts suggested NOT to click initialize because that means format in Mac OS language (btw: ***, why is it not called format).
That is the situation at the moment. What is the best - if there is - way to get my data back? DiscWarrior?
I very much appreciate your advice!
Daniel

"Initializing" a drive has been normal computer terminology for decades. "Formatting" generally referred to the high-level preparation also called "erasing." None of this is "Mac OS language."
Disk Warrior will not likely fix the problem you have. DW can repair a damaged directory, but your error suggests an even worse problem of directory corruption. I suggest you try using DW if you have it. Visit the Alsoft site to determine the limitations and usage of the version you have. It may not be able to boot your computer depending upon what version of DW you have and how new your computer is.
If you have no success with DW then see the following:
Basics of File Recovery
Files in Trash
If you simply put files in the Trash you can restore them by opening the Trash (left-click on the Trash icon) and drag the files from the Trash to your Desktop or other desired location. OS X also provides a short-cut to undo the last item moved to the Trash -press COMMAND-Z.
If you empty the Trash the files are gone. If a program does an immediate delete rather than moving files to the Trash, then the files are gone. Recovery is possible but you must not allow any additional writes to the hard drive - shut it down. When files are deleted only the directory entries, not the files themselves, is modified. The space occupied by the files has been returned to the system as available for storage, but the files are still on the drive. Writing to the drive will then eventually overwrite the space once occupied by the deleted files in which case the files are lost permanently. Also if you save a file over an existing file of the same name, then the old file is overwritten and cannot be recovered.
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Disk not readable - now programmes freezing

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