Disk write failure

when i go to update the song on my ipod it does 2 or 3 then says disk write failure disk could not be read or written to
does anyone know whats going on

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301267
When you sync your iPod with iTunes, iTunes may display an error message that reads:
"Attempting to copy to the disk <iPod name> failed. The disk could not be read from or written to."
When you update or restore your iPod, you may see this error:
"Firmware update failure. Disk write error."
These errors can happen with any iPod.
These errors can occur anytime iTunes can't read information from or write information to the iPod. Here are some things that can cause this.
Outdated operating system software
Make sure you have the latest updates for your operating system, which may include improvements for device connections. For example, many USB and FireWire improvements have been included in Windows Service Packs.
Computer needs updates
Make sure you have the latest updates available for your specific computer model (or components for home-built PCs). These are usually available for download on the support website for the maker of the PC (or component). Many USB updates are listed as "Intel chipset" or just "chipset" updates on PC manufacturer's support and download websites.
Software interference
Some software can interfere with iTunes, making it unable to write files to your iPod. For example, antivirus software that scans all files on connected disks can cause one of these errors. Think about what software you have installed, and try disabling any add-ons that might be interfering with iTunes. Check your suspected software's documentation or contact the software maker if you need assistance with disabling the application.
Damaged files
If one of your music files or photos is damaged, iTunes may display one of these errors when transferring that file to the iPod. If you identify a file that is causing the error, try deleting that file and reimporting it from a backup file or from the original source. You may be able to repair files by repairing the disk (see the solutions in the next section).
Damaged disk structure
These errors can also appear if the format of your computer's hard drive or your iPod disk is damaged.
Windows users, search the Help system in Windows for chkdsk to get more information on checking and repairing the disk structure.
To repair an iPod disk—Restore the iPod or iPod shuffle using the latest version of iPod Updater. Warning: Be sure to back up your data before restoring an iPod. The restore process cannot be undone. All of your songs and files will be deleted.
Corrupt iPod photo Cache
If you're getting the error when transferring photos to an iPod photo, try deleting the iPod photo Cache and then starting the photo sync again.
Lost connection
Make sure that the connections from your computer to the iPod are snug and do not wiggle or come loose during transfers. For example, if you use the wrong size dock for your iPod, it can put strain on the connectors and cause a bad connection.
Hardware failure or non-compliant hardware can cause these errors. This could be an issue with iPod hardware or with the cable or dock you're using, but more often it's an issue with the USB or FireWire card or interface in your computer. Some USB and FireWire interfaces just don't work very well. If you isolate the issue to the USB or FireWire interface in your computer, you may want to try a different port, get the computer serviced, or replace the card or interface with a better one.

Similar Messages

Firmware failure. Disk write error.

I have gotten this new iPod shuffle, and I have installed the latest itunes, however when I try to install the latest software for the iPod I get "firmware failure. disk write failure." I get the same thing when I try to restore it. I cannot get windows or iTunes to recognize the iPod. Windows views it as a mass storage device, and it is completly oblivious to iTunes. Any suggestions as to what I can do? I have tried everything 3 times or more from the support pages.
I cant seem to contact any other type of support. Every time I try to use the chat section it tells me to enter a valid serial number...
wow.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
JP

Okay, this probably isn't what people want to hear, but if you have the dreaded 'Disk Write Error' failure, it doesn't necessarily mean your iPod is hooped.
Bought my Shuffle 1G yesterday. Brought it home, installed what I needed to (very little, as mine is the second Shuffle in the house). Anticipated problems, as my father's 512M Shuffle took three days to get working properly. I found myself pleasantly surprised to find that mine worked first shot, no muss or fuss. Funk-tacular!
Or not. Thingy worked fine all last night and this morning, but fell flat on its face when I plugged it in this afternoon. It didn't freeze solid (at first), but it refused to take in any more songs, and the ones that were loaded into it seemed to be draining out of the memory like water from an uncorked bathtub -- every time I managed to get Itunes to notice my little white headache, more memory reported as empty, though Thingy still refused to take in any songs (unable to read, or some such windows nonsense). Every time I tried to restore -- regardless of the update version, of which I tried three -- I saw the error mentioned in the title.
I'll delete about five hours of experimenting, hair-pulling, swearing, failing, wall-punching, and generally despairing over my iPlop purchase. Tried all five Rs to no avail, as well as formatting through windows. Nada.
I wish I could tell you exactly why it's working now. I can't; I got lucky. I downloaded iPod update (1-10-2006) and Itunes (6), wiped the system as clean as I could of old iPod and iTunes software (uninstall, erase folders, empty Recycle Bin, basically everything short of taking Windex to the hard drive). Reinstalled the Ipod software from the CD, reinstalled and updated iTunes and iPod update, then for a lark decided to try for the fifteenth time to reinstall Thingy. Holy crap, it worked!! After a momentary freezeup and the requisite restore to fix it (a result of my yanking the stupid thing out of the port at the wrong time), Thingy is working fine.
The moral? Don't despair, it can be fixed! Try everything more than once, get the latest software, start from scratch -- right from the CD in the iPoop box -- and keeping banging your head on it as long as you can stand it. You might be surprised!

Does anyone know how to solve: "Firmware update failure. Disk write error"?

Hi all,
Here is the list of all what went wrong and where I am now:
1. My Ipod worked well
2. I wanted to update it, you know, the normal thing with Itunes
3. Every time I tried, my computer froze. I was unable to add only one song (both automatically and manually).
4. I took my external drive (where my music is) at work and tried again: same result.
5. I decided to run the Updater I have on the CD that came with the Ipod.(2005-02-07; I usually avoid the newer version, having had once a problem when putting a newer version of Updater).
6. The Updater was unable to operate any action on my Ipode (I don't remember the messages now).
7. Like I tried what I describe here above like a hundred time. I decided to format the Ipod with Windows (My Computer, right click on the Ipod, format).
8. It did and now I have only the famous folder with an exclamation mark on my Ipod.
9. Now when I am running the Updater, it says it cannot Restore the factory settings giving this message "Firmware update failure. Disk write error".
I would appreciate any help because, during the last 2 hours, I read and tried all I found on the Support Help here on the Apple web side without any result yet.
Thank a lot for your answer

Hi Cyrille,
Have you looked at Knowledge Base Document #301267 on "Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod or "Firmware update failure" error when updating or restoring iPod?
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

"firmware update failure. disk write error."

i get this when i use the ipod Updater after clicking "restore"... this thing is giving me a headache. Also get the previous mentioned "cannot read from or write to disk" error when using itunes after a couple downloads. i followed the steps in the link to those issues and ran some updates on my PC and still the same. HELP

Have you read both
For Firmware update failure. Disk write error please see
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301267
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300836

Restore fails with "Firmware update failure. Disk write Error" message

I am going totally bonkers with this one. My Shuffle stopped working suddenly.
My iTunes was not able to read the contents of the iPOD and there seems to be a corrupt filesystem. After reviewing various posts, I have tried the following with little success:
1. Tried Restore using the Updater tool that came with the Shuffle (2005-09-23). I kept getting the "Firmware update failure. Disk write Error"
2. Downloaded the new updater tool (2006-03-23) and tried restore again. I got the same error message again.
3. Tried formatting using Windows format, it is not able to complete the format
4. Tried chkdsk. Get an error message saying "CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives."
5. Tried connecting it to a different computer and tried pretty much the same steps. Similar results.
I am using USB 2.0 both on my current Thinkpad as well as the other computer I tried with.
I am totally clueless and am not sure how to go about fixing this one. Though there have been lots of posts about this, I haven't been able to find a solution that works for me. Any thing else that I may have missed out which I can try?
Thanks,
Kris
Thinkpad Windows XP Pro

hiya!
just checking. have you worked through the possibilities from this document yet?
"Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod or "Firmware update failure" error when updating or restoring iPod
given that you're connecting to a laptop, we'd better check on this possibility too:
iPod not recognized when connected to Windows laptop over USB
... and even though you aren't using a Toshiba, this technique might be worth a try (if all else fails):
iPod not recognized correctly on Toshiba laptop
love, b

Formatting failure, disk write error

my 1 and 1/2 year old ipod 20G went into vulcan mind warp, the screen froze up displaying english and other language choices. i have down loaded the most recent update, june of 06 and tried to restore the beast, but half way through the update i get "formatting failure, disk write error". does it ever get better i have tried this restore several times but half way through the down load it dies. how do you get the software to down load to the pod and get the thing back to working order.

thanks for the help. it did not seem to be a fire wire issue as the kids use the same port and wire on there nanos, so i plugged into the ports in the back of the new (2month old) dell computer. the computer did not see the ipod so i plugged it back into the front ports, ran updater, and it ran all the way through, updating the ipod and telling me to pug into an external power source for firmware to update. this is further then i have been able to go in getting the ipod working again. hope it works when i take it off the charger.
thank you
jim c.

Backup fails for a Hyper-V guest with VSS Writer failures using DPM 2012 R2 - Hyper-V guest has Oracle application installed,

I am trying to backup a VM which before it had Oracle installed backed up with no problems. It is a Windows 2008 R2 server which sites on an 8 node Hyper-V 2012 R2 cluster (with CSVs). I am using DPM 2012 R2 to run the backups which have been
successful for the last few weeks but then Oracle was installed and the backups have failed since then.
The job fails and a large number of VSS writers go into a 'Failed' state with the 'Last Error' showing as 'Timed out'. I then get 4 popups appear each referring to a 'temporary' drive which appears briefly in Disk Management with a RAW file system.
These pops say "You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" (where
X: is replaced by the drive letter assigned to each 'temporary' drive).
The System event log is populated with a large number of warnings with Event 51, Disk, stating "An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk<number>\DR<number> during a paging operation". There are also a
few warnings for Ntfs (eventid 57) stating that "The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur."
Prior to these warnings there are 5 other warnings for partmgr (eventid 58) stating "The disk signature of disk
<number x> is equal to the disk signatuire of disk <number y>" and 4 errors (eventid 1, VDS Basic Provider), "Unexpected failure. Error code: 490@01010004".
There is a script which is run to stop the Oracle application on the server and if this is run then the backups will complete successfully. We have been troubleshooting this by running a certain amount of the script and seeing which part affects the
backup and it seems that if the Weblogic (wls_reports) service is stopped then the backup will succeed but if it is running then the backup will fail and the above symptoms occur.
Another point which may help is that there is a pre-production server which resides on a Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V standalone server, has the same scripts and installation of Oracle but backs up without any issues.
I have experienced VSS writer failures before with VM backups but I have not seen this before. It is not intermittent and I can find no work around to alleviate the problem of having no backup (except stopping this service or shutting the server down,
but as it is a production server this is not practical).
If anyone has experienced this before or have any suggestions / advice it would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris
I have exactly the same issue.
2008 R2 Server running Oracle
6 node 2012 R2 Hyper-V Cluster with CSV
Exact same errors and popup "format disk" message.
DPM2012 R2
I also have some other VM's on the same cluster which do back up through DPM
The only difference I can see is the server which has the issue has a legacy network adapter.
Production server so cannot make any changes until later but will add new adapter and report back.
Interesting about the Weblogic service, may test this also.
Cheers
Kev.

Nano, Disk Write error. Please help

I tried updating and restoring my ipod nano with the iPOD Updater 2006-06-28, but it keeps saying Firmware update failure. Disk write error. I don't know what to do anymore, it seems like nothing is working. Thank you for any help.

See this troubleshooting article.
"Disk cannot be read from or written to" error syncing iPod in iTunes.
See also this : iPod not recognized on a laptop.
You may not have a laptop, but try the steps anyway if you get nowhere with the first link.

Atomic disk writes using Java, is it possible??

Hi, I need to do atomic disk writes using Java, is that supported/possible? And if, how is it done?
With a atomic disk write I mean that if I write to a file all information should be written or none at all, not just some of the data. (In case of a program crash or other failures in the computer)
/Fredrik

you can store all the information in an object..and when you are sure you have all you need, you write all the data in one step to a file...
but there is never a 100% guarantee.. you can check after the writing process if the size is correct or such things..

ORA-12571-TNS: PACKET WRITER FAILURE

Hi All,
am using oracle 6i and facing this problem when am connecting Forms to Database..
Error Encounterd:ORA-12571-TNS: PACKET WRITER FAILURE.
Plz help.
Regards,
Neha

this error usually network problem..... i googled it found some solutions try
his is usually due to an improper sqlnet.ora setting. Here are some possible causes and remedies:
** Loose network cables. This error has been observed when there was a loose cable connection to the SCSI disk array (on an Oracle Parallel Server system). Related errors were also subsequently noted in the NT event log.*
** IP address conflict (Oracle 9.0.1).*
** Authentication services. One solution is to edit the sqlnet.ora file and change the line:*
SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES= (NTS)
to
SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES= (NONE)
After saving the updated file, he was able to hit the retry button on the install and the creation of the database succeeded.

IPod problem - firmware update error. Disk write error.

I need your help! Ime just bought a new iPod 60 GB photo (with color display) but when I connected it for the first time to my PC (with Windows XP Home Edition SP 2) using USB 2.0 I got the message: iPod not readable. This iPod needs to be reformatted for use on your PC. Of course I decided to do that. The system had launched iPod updater. It asked me if I wanted to update or restore iPods software however the operation update was inactive (grey). So I choosed restore. Then a new window appeared: Firmware update error. Disk write error. On the iPods display a normal menu was replaced by exclamation mark. I tried to reset iPod, updated iTunes and iPods updater to the newest version and nothing. It still doesnt work. A folder with ! mark comes up. I try to restore once again and it says: Firmware update error. Disk write error.
Please help! What should I do to solve my problem? I want to add that my iPod is properly recognized by the computer system.
Unfortunately, its rather impossible to give back my iPod to the store. It was bought in the U.S.A. and I live in Poland.
Adam

b Firmware Update Failure Possible Solution
-- Disconnect the iPod
-- Right click on "My Computer"
-- Select "Manage"
-- Select "Device Manager"
-- Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
-- Right click on "Enhanced PCI to USB Host controller"
-- Click on "Disable"
-- Click "OK" to accept changes
Run the Updater software (Start==>Run==>iPod) and wait till it says to "Plug in an iPod to update it"
Plug in the iPod and wait (for a long while). It takes awhile because you are now running at USB 1.1 speeds. When it finally shows up, do the "update" or "restore", which ever you were trying to do.
You can try to re-enable the "Enhanced PCI TO USB Host controller" after you are done running the Updater software and try to copy your songs and pictures to the iPod. This may or may not work. If not, revert back to USB1.1.
See: Dirk Brewer, ""Firmware Update Failure", please help" #1, 11:01am Jul 23, 2005 CDT
Also see: http://forums.ipodlounge.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94075
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300836

"Do Not Disconnect!?" "Firmware. Disk Write Error" ???????? Help Please

Ok, heres the deal. I restored my ipod...but now it contiunes to have a "! in a triangle shape" sometimes refferes to as a "sad ipod" Well ive read the Whole Freakin Apple Site tryed the "5 R's" they say to try and others but still the same thing. And as a resul of Restoring My ipod mini it will not connect to itunes. It continues to say "Do Not Disconnect" on the ipod mini screen.(This is very very annoying) Then in itunes it will say "ipod updater" or something or that sort...(now get ready this is the biggest twist) so i click update....wait a sec as it connects..then it says...(ok here it is) "Firmware. Disk write error"...all at the sametime my ipod is displaying on its screen "Do Not Disconnect".........well im baffled so if anyone can please help me...i would repay them with my life....Im literaly dieing without it.
ipod Mini Windows XP Pro

“Firmware Update Failure” Possible Solution
-- Disconnect the iPod
-- Right click on "My Computer"
-- Select "Manage"
-- Select "Device Manager"
-- Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
-- Right click on "Enhanced PCI to USB Host controller"
-- Click on "Disable"
-- Click "OK" to accept changes
Run the Updater software (Start==>Run==>iPod) and wait till it says to "Plug in an iPod to update it"
Plug in the iPod and wait (for a long while). It takes awhile because you are now running at USB 1.1 speeds. When it finally shows up, do the "update" or "restore", which ever you were trying to do.
You can try to re-enable the "Enhanced PCI TO USB Host controller" after you are done running the Updater software and try to copy your songs and pictures to the iPod. This may or may not work. If not, revert back to USB1.1.
See: iPod not recognized correctly on Toshiba laptop

Disk write error, can't see iPod in usb port, could not format or restore

I have had them all folks. I won this schuffle in a golf tourney with closet to the hole, I wish I could take that shot back and shank one. In short the iPod new sw releases are crap. Here is what I did:
Plugged the ipod in a usb port in the back of my desktop to restore, would not restore from the high speed usb's in the frt of my Gateway, why? who knows.
I did not update the ipod when it asked me to upgrade after the restore, however, I did upgrade iTunes to version 6.0.1.3.
This config seems to be working, I can go into the ipod, delete the songs that are there and use the autofill and it has worked several times now. Prior to this I would get a disk write error, could not see the ipod in the usb, yada, yada, yada.
Apple has a serious problem with the latest sw as is evident from this forum. If I helped one person out with this post I am thankful as I am a tech kinda dude, not too much and have played with this, reinstalled the sw, faced east and chanted to Mecaa while rubbing the side of my machine, to no avail.
While I type this email message it's still working, put a pound in the till folks. This is a first kids, have not been able to do this several times in a row without some sort of error.
It's all trial and error, hope this helps some of you, let me know.
Out - Dj
Windows XP
Windows XP

hiya!
hmmmm. okay, if you're connecting to a Toshiba laptop, let's check up on this possibility:
iPod not recognized correctly on Toshiba laptop
otherwise, here's a good place to start with that error message:
"Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod or "Firmware update failure" error when updating or restoring iPod
love, b

MSI 975x disk boot failure

I have been having a problem lately with a 975x having disk boot failure once in a while. The system has 2 drives and a dvd writer. It's about 2.5 years old also. When this happens it doesn't see any drives. I've cleaned the filters, fans etc and sometimes during this it'll start working. Once it finds the drive it boots just fine and works fine. I don't think it's a drive as it can't find any of them.
This happens intermittently, and there is no pattern to what gets it working again. The case is well ventilated. I have 4 gig DDR2, the drives are SATA, core 2 duo 2.13 ghz.
I'm thinking the mother board is starting to go bad on me.
Does anyone have any other ideas?
Also if I change the board what is a good one in the newer models so I won't have to change a lot of other hardware?
I've not kept current on the advances in mother boards the last few years

Well I spoke too soon.
It did it again today. It started with a not responding message and on reboot it did not detect any drives the first time. In the bios it said none in all positions also. After Another reboot it identified the WD drive but not the Seagate drive. After sitting about 2 hours I rebooted with the Seagate drive unplugged and it came up just fine. I then put in 2 more drives and plugged in the Seagate drive and it worked just fine.
Any other ideas?
Do you think my suspecting a flaky MB is wrong?
Also whats a good MB for the hardware I have?

Disk Utility failure to erase/initialize

I have a 1 TB WD MyBook Studio Edition. I sent this drive to a firm that does video conversions (from film to digital). Drive returned with expected (good) results, but now I can't write anything onto the drive - says I can only read. So I copied all files on the drive to another disk, then used Disk Utility to initialize. First Aid tab action buttons are all greyed out. Erase tab shows default format as MS DOS. I changed to Apple Extended (Journaled) and pressed OK. Process starts, but fails after a few seconds with error "Write Failure". Now disk won't mount when I attach it - only Disk Utility "sees" drive, but fails each time I try to Initialize/Erase.
What's up, and how do I correct?
Thanks

If you haven't fixed this yet, you may be able to use Disk Utility to completely erase and reformat the disk.
Click the top line of the drive, then the Partition tab. Click +1 partition+ (or however many you want) under *Volume Scheme*, then Options at the bottom. Select GUID for an Intel Mac, +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac. Setup the partition(s) you want to use on the Mac as +OSX Extended (Journaled),+ then click Apply.

Disk write failure

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