External drive crash, disk utility unable to repair

I have a 250GB LaCie external disk. I use it to store files that I use with Final Cut. Unfortunately I had a Final Cut crash while the disk was running (or maybe it was the external disk that crashed). This has caused my disk to cease operation. Mac OS recognises it and suggests a repair but disk utility cannot repair it. Is there a way I can recover any of the files from the external disk?

Disk Warrior is known to work much better. http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/index.html

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Format External Drive with Disk Utility, Make it Windows Compatible

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

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

Disk utility unable to repair disk. What next?

Disk utility unable to repair disk. What next?

I encountered the same problem. After verify disk, I got the message to repair the disk. But it was unable to complete the repair. Rather than purchase Disk Warrior, I tried something else.
What I did was reinstall the OSX (this iMac is still on Leopard). I backed up everything, naturally, before doing the reinstall. I chose the "Archive and Install" option, along with "Preserve Users and Network Settings". This method moves existing files to a folder named "Previous System" and imports existing user accounts, network settings, and home folders into the new OSX.
After the successful reinstall, I ran Disk Utility. It checked AND repaired Permissions. It verified that the disk was fine and no longer needed repair.
If this didn't work, my plan "B" was to reinstall the OSX again, this time with the "Erase and Install" option. Fortunately, I didn't have to go to plan "B".

Disk Utility unable to repair disk

My IMAC started to freeze up for a couple of minutes while running Word for Mac 2004 and Entourage. Microsoft tech support suggested running rebuild database for Entourage. Rebuild database did not execute citing I/O problem. Ran Disk Utility from Install Disk and it was unable to repair one volume after repeated attempts. Also tried ckfs but that found no errors. Some posts recommend Disk Warrior or other recovery software. Any suggestions before the trip to the Genius Bar?

Disk Warrior repaired the disk on its first pass. Disk Utility confirmed the repair. No symptoms any more in Word for MAC and Entourage 2004. Still could not rebuild database. Will back up to be safe.

Disk Utility Unable to Repair External FireWire Hard Disk

Hello all.
This is the External FireWire Hard Disk that has been giving me problems for days, it is a Backup/Clone Disk of my sis's Mac mini Core Duo, and may explain why it was so hard and took so much pain to copy some of the data out, at times it failed to mount, and I manage to rescue some data after using Disk Warrior, but Disk Warrior was also unable to replace it with a new directory.
Anyway, so I (was able to) mount the hard disk, and I was successful in erase and reformating it.
But when I (try to) repair it with Disk Utility's First Aid, this report is what I get:
(The usual 'Checking...' text lines, text in BOLD indicates RED colour text)
Checking HFS Plus volume
Checking Extents Overflow file
Checking Catalog file
Checking Catalog hierarchy
Checking volume bitmap
Volume Bit Map needs minor repair
Checking volume information
The volume Untitled could not be repaired after 3 attempts
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Then a window dropped down from the top says:
First Aid failed
Disk Utility stopped repairing "Untitled" because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit
(OK Button)
I guess this hard disk is really a gone case?? I am quite OK just to replace it with a brand new one... maybe all the trouble I had in the beginning is because I may already have a faulty backup drive to begin with???
Thanks and cheers

Hi Kappy,
I knew there was something about "not mixing" PPC and Intel versions of dealing with the external drive.
The drive was originally prepared on an Intel Mac mini Core Duo. But it should also mount normally on a PPC mac as an external hard drive right?
Here's the sequence of events:
1. Tried to boot from the Back Up/Clone Drive of the Mac mini Core Duo, through my MacBook Core 2 Duo, but failed to boot up
I had to shut down the MacBook (prolonged Bluescreen)
2. When I reboot the MacBook, and tried to mount the ext drive as normal, nothing happens, I knew something was wrong
3. Able to reach the vendor, use the Mac mini again to erase and reformat the drive, then check with DU, everything is OK
Clone with SuperDuper
After that check again with DU, not everything is alright, there are errors.
4. Brought the drive home, try to mount on my iMac G5, nothing happens.
I did a check on this forum, and the reply was that I should be able to use Disk Warrior 4 (Universal) on a PPC to fix an Intel-based ext drive. I was very specific and detail in my post/question
5. So anyway, I have no other option, I ran Disk Warrior 4 from my PPC iMac G5 and scan the ext drive, trying to fix it.
It reported the drive is too damaged to be replace with a new Directory, but gave me a Preview Mode. I use this to copy some data out.
But not sure if the data is OK or not.
6. After that, I was able to mount the drive in my iMac G5, so I just use DU and erase and reformat the drive, with Zero Data
7. Ran DU again, and that's where I am now, at the very first post, getting error messages that I cannot fix the drive
Thanks and cheers

Big flaw in Leopard regarding External Drives and DISK UTILITY

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

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

Questions regarding setup of new external drive in disk util?

Hello I just got a new HD and external enclosure i will be using for storage. The Drive is a 500gb seagate sata in an Thermaltake max 4 enclosure that is hooked up via usb to my macbook.
Now I have a few questions about how to best to format the drive for use. As this is my data drive I plan to be able to use it on my linux box by mounting it as HFS+ if needed for some rare occasion(ex: macbook breaks and goes in for repair) since this is my only mac.
So the main question is what should I chose as a partition scheme for this new drive?
Is the default Apple Partion Map ok? will linux be able to read it as HFS+(MAC OS Extened(Journaled)) using that scheme. I wont be booting of this new drive so thats not an issue. Also my linux pc's(older boxes) don't have the EFI bios that GUID uses supposedly if that makes a difference.
The last question is do i need to have the Mac OS 9 disk drivers checked when creating the partition? I don't think I need as I don't have OS 9.
I guess the best thing would be if anyone here has any experience using an external drive on both mac and linux using HFS+. How did you guys setup your drives?
Thanks

Hello I just got a new HD and external enclosure i will be using for storage. The Drive is a 500gb seagate sata in an Thermaltake max 4 enclosure that is hooked up via usb to my macbook.
Now I have a few questions about how to best to format the drive for use. As this is my data drive I plan to be able to use it on my linux box by mounting it as HFS+ if needed for some rare occasion(ex: macbook breaks and goes in for repair) since this is my only mac.
So the main question is what should I chose as a partition scheme for this new drive?
Is the default Apple Partion Map ok? will linux be able to read it as HFS+(MAC OS Extened(Journaled)) using that scheme. I wont be booting of this new drive so thats not an issue. Also my linux pc's(older boxes) don't have the EFI bios that GUID uses supposedly if that makes a difference.
The last question is do i need to have the Mac OS 9 disk drivers checked when creating the partition? I don't think I need as I don't have OS 9.
I guess the best thing would be if anyone here has any experience using an external drive on both mac and linux using HFS+. How did you guys setup your drives?
Thanks

Change the partition of an external drive using Disk Utility?

I wish to change partition scheme, sizes, in an external drive. All the partitions are MacOS extended (Journaled) and they map, according to the layout in Disk Utility, as follows: Partion 1, 2, 3,4 where 1 is at the top and 4, the bottom. I want to make partition 2 larger, so I decreased partition 1 by half. Now the layout is 1 a, 1b, 2,3,4., where 1b is now free space. Disk Utility will not allow me to increase the size of partition 2 by dragging the corner. Which of the following options (if any) will allow me to increase the size of partition 2, without erasing the data, using Disk Utility:
Select partition 2 and manually writing a new value in the size box, equal to the present partition’s size plus the free space?
If I delete partition 1 completely, will I then be able to increase the size of partition 2?
If I delete partitions 1, 3, and 4, will I then be allowed to increase the size of partion 2?
Is there another option?
Thanks
(Actually, partition 3 is an eDrive, a data recovery utility created by TechTool Pro 7, so I don’t really know how it’s formatted.)
OS10.9.4, MacBook Pro, SeagateHD 1.5TB USB drive.

You cannot re-size the existing partitions in such a way that you can take the space from a shrunken partition and add it to another partition. Disk Utility cannot do that. If you have an existing partition that lives above another partition, then you can delete the lower partition in order to expand the upper partition into the freed up space. This concept applies to any additional partitions that are below another partition. Disk Utility can do this. You can resize down, but not up, except when creating new partitions. You would need third-party software such as iPartition 3.4.3 to accomplish that feat.

Problems formatting external drive with Disk Utility

Hi all
I'm having some odd troubles with using Disk Utility to format an external hard drive. For some reason, it is giving me all sorts of errors and problems.
Currently, it will let me format the drive in MS-FAT, but won't let me copy certain files to it (it gives an error code). I'm currently trying to re-format the drive in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) but the status bar give me the following error and continues to do its 'pondering' instead of giving me a progress bar:
!http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5019/picture2csm.png!
It is currently sitting like that, not doing anything (not even going unresponsive).
What am I doing wrong here?
Cheers.

Wait, scratch that, it suddenly started working again.
For some reason, I had to partition it, with one partition a Mac OS partition and the other an MS-DOS FAT... hey ho, no idea.

Using Disk Utility to Erase an external drive freezes Disk Utility?

When I use Disk Utility to Erase an external drive, Disk Utility freezes indefinitely and the action is not performed.
How do I fix this?

To use it on your MBP you need to set the OPTION when you partition it so that it will be the Intel GUID partition scheme, then set the partition(s) you want.
If it is hanging or failing, that can be caused by bad sectors where the partition table has to be written. You might need to zero the drive. If you have a PC, then use Maxtor's tools to reformat and test the drive.
PPC Macs use one partition/format scheme, IntelMacs use another, and Windows a 3rd.

Partition a 1.5TB external drive in Disk Utility.

I just purchased a Seagate FreeAgent USB 2.0 1.5 Terabyte external hard-drive. I typically partition my external hard-drives into two volumes; one about a terabyte and the remaining 330 GB or so for misc. stuff. I opened disk utility and attempted to format it is using mac os x extended (journaled). After a few seconds in, i receive an error "file system formatter failed". The only way to bypass this is to select only 1 partition volume scheme under format MS-DOS (FAT). My question is will i lose any features or functions formatting into this MS-DOS scheme as opposed to MAC OS X extended (journaled)? I will be backing everything up to this drive, mostly music.
Also, assuming i stay with the MS-DOS format and i avoid manually backing things up, will Leopard accept to setup TIME MACHINE using this format?

I just bought the exact same drive. I couldn't format it at first either. It's a known issue by Seagate, they talk about it on their web site at:
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=209311&NewLan g=en&Hilite=Freeagent+Desk
Before I tried their solutions I decided to try going direct to partitioning for fun...and it worked! It appears that when you partition in Disk Utility you can specify the format at the same time. I made 2 partitions, a 897.45GB and a 499.37GB partition. I chose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for the format.
It has worked for me so far. . .

Why is there large used space after erasing external drive with disk utility?

I just used disk utility to erase a 2 TB external hard drive. After erasing it, it shows that the disk has 12 folders, 62 files, and 852 mb of used space. I thought the "erase" function is supposed to format the disk? Where does the large used space come from?
By the way, the disk used to formatted as a windows disk. I suspect it has something to do with it but have no idea what. Any help is greatly appreciated!

HI - i do not think this is purely metadata. (though it could be with your windows disk with such small used memory) i have a 1TB macbook pro drive that i have tried to reformat
METHOD 1 (recommended by advanced Apple Techy) - select hard drive (not partition) select mac os (journalled) and press 'apply' - "this will format drive removing all data. it is always best to work with the drive and not partition, if you are formatting an entire drive."
result at end - drive still shows single partition 999GB WITH 668GB USED
METHOD 2 (after response from Apple techy) - select hard drive and mac os (journalled), press secure erase and select 'write zeros' takes 12 hours
result at end - drive still shows single partition 999GB WITH 668GB USED

Disk Utility Unable to Repair Permissions

Hi there
I'd recently noticed my Mac was starting to run a little slow so I thought I'd run the Verify Permissions in Disk Utility and I got a warning message:
'Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired'
I also got several permission errors relating to my airport which were fixed ok but not this one for Remote Management. Is this anything to worry about?
Thing is I've never used the Remote Management App and am a little paranoid that my mac has been compromised in some fashion. I know macs a pretty immune to malware and viruses but not completely invulnerable. Is this something I should be worried about or am I paranoid over nothing?
Ta in advance
John

Is this anything to worry about?
No. Click here for more information.
(53303)

Problem Erasing external drive with Disk Utility

I've just purchased some Western Digital My Book Pro 1Tb firewire drives. They come pre-formatted for Windows. When I try to initialize them, Disk Utility returns a failed message & the drive then disappears from the desktop. It is still visible in Disk Utility. I can reformat as a FAT partition but not as a Mac partition. I tried connecting the drive to machine running Tiger and was able to format as a Mac partition. Is there a problem with Disk Utility in Leopard?

I have seen some behavior like this a few times before. When this happens I go to my Linux box and dd a bunch of zeros to the beginning of the drive, this will blow away any partition tables and such.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=100k
This writes 50MB of zeros to the raw device "sdb" (this may be different depending on your system)
I've tried to dd from MacOSX, but for whatever reason it's painfully slow.

Something's wrong with my hard drive, and disk utility can't repair it...

Lately my MacBook Pro has been running really slow, so I ran Disk Utilities to see if it could fix it. However, when I ran it, the following is what I see. Would someone help me interpret what's going on? Thanks.
Verify permissions for "HD”
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/load_hdi" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskManagement.framework/Versions/A/Resources /DiskManagementTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/Locum" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versions/A/Resources/runner " has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/readconf ig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/writecon fig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/authopen" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/OwnerGroupTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/at" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/atq" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/atrm" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/batch" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chfn" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chpass" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chsh" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions verification complete
Verifying volume “HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Incorrect number of file hard links
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.

Two things. First for the permissions check, reinstall the 10.5.2 COMBO update and repair permissions. That should fix things. Alternatively, search these forums for ACL, sort by date, and read the responses and the article Apple posted three months ago: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306925
Second, for the *Incorrect number of file hard links* error, follow smithrj's advice. If DU can't repair the disk, you'll need something stronger, such as DiskWarrior.
BTW, please update your *My Settings* profile info. It still shows that you're running Tiger.

External drive crash, disk utility unable to repair

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