External drive repair: Disk Utily Image, dd_rescue, TechTool, or ... ?

I have a 1TB USB drive, HFS+, unjournaled, which just got horribly corrupted, I think from an unclean unmount. (Yes, I know, this is why journaling was invented, but since Apple and Microsoft both keep their journaling proprietary, it's not useful if you have to use more than one OS in your life
The drive has "bad extents", and can't be repaired by Disk Utility.
Disk Utility will let me create a .dmg from it onto another drive, so I figure I can at least do that and if it succeeds, use that image as the target for recovery.
Is this the right move? Should I use dd or dd_rescue instead for this purpose?

Disk Utility will let me create a .dmg from it onto another drive
I'm not sure how that will help you. It's not going to rescue anything that way that you can't just copy using the Finder, and will probably not succeed I'd think. You should try repairing with another utility first, such as [DiskWarrior|http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html] or [TechTool Pro|http://www.micromat.com>. If they can't help you, you'll need file recovery tools to get the data back off the drive. A few options are [Data Rescue|http://www.prosofteng.com>, [File Salvage|http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1] and Stellar Phoenix, none of which I have any experience with.
In the future, you need to keep data like this backed up if it is important. If you haven't lost any data this time, you're lucky, and it'll only be a matter of time before you actually do lose it.

Similar Messages

  • W7: Error creating Repair disk or image "...the parameter is incorrect (0x80070057)

    Initial cause of problem was trying to duplicate bootable SD card and it wrote it to C Drive system partition. Finally stumbled around and got system volume rebuilt and got it running again but Recovery partition got deleted in the process. I used W7 Recover/repair since Toshiba options seemed to be to overwrite everything (backup was month old, so wanted to avoid restoring since system files and data were still "there". I can use Toshiba program to make Repair, Recovery and Image copies. However, I cannot use W7 Backup program to make a Repair disk or Image backup. I get the error message: "System Repair disc could not be created  The parameter is incorrect (0x80070057)"
    I suspose the next thing to try would be to run System file checker  since W7 sees a problem that the Toshiba utilities do not detect. Is there any "risk" of running the system file checker (sfc.exe), which also changes permissions on all system files.
    I would like to correct any lurking system file problem, but also don't want to take a step backward trying to correct it. I have a W7 Windows disk.
    Would appreciate suggestion.... leave alone and trust Toshiba image/recovery DVD I've made, try to correct it or leave well enough alone and hope it doesn't bite me later when I need to do a recovery.  Thanks....  

    Hi! I just got to add my 2 cents! Very nice replies and good information. Nice work Jerry and eagle!
    Dokie!
    Just one small problem the link has a down load manager. I'll let eagle explain that?? My advise is not to use a down load manager period! If you scroll down to the bottomof the page, you will be fine.
    I Love my Satellite L775D-S7222 Laptop. Some days you're the windshield, Some days you're the bug. The Computer world is crazy. If you have answers to computer problems, pass them forward.
    Attachments:
    Capture48.JPG ‏297 KB
    Capture49.JPG ‏146 KB

  • 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

  • External Drives, CDs & Disk Images Won't Mount

    I am having some weird issues with my G5. I recently did a fresh install of Leopard on a brand new hard drive and everything was running smoothly. I copied a bunch of settings from another drive to keep my information intact on the new install and I didn't notice any issues. I have now started to notice that after about a day of leaving the G5 on, it no longer mounts disk images, CDs or external hard drives OR if it does in fact mount them, it takes FOREVER to do so. This also causes Disk Utility and System Profiler to crash or take a long time to start.
    I don't know if this helps at all, but two new hardware additions to the machine were an internal bluetooth adapter (for use with the new Magic Mouse) and more memory. Both have been working correctly so I don't know that either is the cause of this problem.
    I've tried a bunch of random things to see if I can get something to work again - fixing permissions, verifying disks, etc., but the only thing that really works is a restart. Everything stops working again about a day after the restart though.
    Has anyone else encountered this sort of problem, and if so, do you have any suggestions for how to fix it? Any help would be appreciated!

    So I think I may have something to show from Console regarding an external drive that took forever to attach:
    12/2/09 3:34:42 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 387
    12/2/09 3:34:42 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x819000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:34:42 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x819000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:34:52 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 387
    12/2/09 3:35:02 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 387
    12/2/09 3:35:02 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 387
    12/2/09 3:35:02 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x819000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:02 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x819000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:24 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 181
    12/2/09 3:35:24 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x80ec00 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:24 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x80ec00 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:34 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 181
    12/2/09 3:35:36 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 379
    12/2/09 3:35:36 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 379
    12/2/09 3:35:36 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x81de00 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:40 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 18245
    12/2/09 3:35:40 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 18245
    12/2/09 3:35:40 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x81a000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:40 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x81a000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:44 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 181
    12/2/09 3:35:44 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x80ec00 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:44 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x80ec00 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    12/2/09 3:35:50 PM fseventsd[40] callback_client: ERROR: d2fcallbackrpc() => (ipc/send) timed out (268435460) for pid 18245
    12/2/09 3:36:00 PM fseventsd[40] client: 0x81a000 : USER DROPPED EVENTS!
    Any clue as to what this is?

  • 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.

  • 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.

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

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

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

  • External Drive: The Disk You Inserted Was Not Readable By This Computer

    I have a 2TB Western Digital external drive that I've been using for a year or two as my backup for my Aperture libraries.  Been working fine until now, I get the "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer."  Clicking "Initialize" takes me to disk utility with no usable options.  Whatdoido?!
    Did my laptop just become illiterate?

    I had this exact issue with my external harddrive, I scrolled forums and did what they said and nothing, then I just happened to be in the app store and thought I would search for data recovery, a few came up and only a couple had ratings so I looked at Data Rescue 3, its £40 so I went ot their website for the trial version, downloaded and installed that, tried it and rescued a random file (limits obvioulsy on the trial verison) and it worked so paid the £40 and am currently saving all my files to another external harddrive.
    Try out the trial first and if it works on one file i reccomend the the full program!
    Good Luck!

  • Most reliable external drive for booting and imaging

    Hey everyone.
    I'm looking for an external drive to boot from and create/distribute Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and maybe a couple iMac images. The hard drives range from 200-500GB maximum capacity. I'm assuming I need a firewire hard drive. The more reliable the better .

    Im not sure i quite understand.
    Are you saying you have external hard drives already or are they internal?
    because basically my suggestion is this;
    DIY. Get a firewire Sata enclosure, and obtain Sata drives for it.
    heres what i recently got and it works marvels for me:
    FW400 Case:
    http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004
    very similar to the macpro drive sleds, a sled pops out screw in the drive slide it back in no cables to mess with plug it in and your good to go.
    HDDS:
    i picked up a 7500AAKS 750gb, a 5000AAKS 500Gb from newegg.com
    they also have extremely cheap 250Gb drives for under 90$
    thinking of doing that for a future project, cant go wrong there!
    goodluck! andhope that helped!

  • Booting MBP from SATA external drive/hard disk

    I have an external SATA HD 120GB portioned in to 4 partitions. It is in an ICY BOX SATA house. Connected direct to the MBP via an USB cable. No external power supply.
    I have cloned the OS from the MBP to one partition on the external disk (using SuperDuper!).
    I can see the external device in the System preference window ‘Start-up Disk’ I can select it, but it refuses to start up from it. When I do a restart it starts up from my internal HD.
    If I hold down the Alt key at start-up I do not see the external HD.
    I also have an other non SATA disks connected via FireWire with a cloned version of my OS and here I have no problems.
    Any suggestions as to how to be able to boot form the external SATA disk?
    Thnaks

    In Disk Utility/Partition/Options we can read:
    - GUID Partition Table (GPT) "to use the disk to start up an Intel-based Mac".
    - Apple partition Map (APM) "to use the disk to start up a PowerPC-based Mac or to use the disk as non startup disk with any Mac".
    At http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2006/tn2166.html we have very important secrets of the GPT:
    - Any Mac running Mac OS X 10.4 and later can mount GPT-partitioned disks.
    _ Intel Macs can boot from GPT. By default, the internal hard disk is formatted as GPT.
    - While Intel Macs can boot from GPT and APM, Apple only supports booting Mac OS X on these machines from GPT. Apple's GUI tools, like the Installer, will prevent you installing Mac OS X for an Intel-based Mac on non-GPT disks.
    Many posts In this forum telling ius that it is mandatory to format disks GUID partitioned to boot MBP.
    But, in other forums there are some opinions about APM too:
    . http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2006061610374449
    . http://www.macfixitforums.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=Forum38 "How to make a triple-boot service drive"
    . http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&Itemid=42&func=view&cat id=7&id=786
    We are discuss the boot capability of external drives and I wish someone can clarify this question to isolate software (include cloning software) or hardware problems.
    MacBook Pro 2 GHz   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

  • Persistent Logon for Airport Attached External Drive with 'Disk Password'?

    I am using an Airport Extreme with a USB attached external hard drive. The drive is setup to require a 'disk password'. On the XP and Vista machines I have on the network, once they are setup to add the network drive, they store the password and whenever you boot up the Airport attached external drive is available. However on my iMac and MacBook, you need to click on the Airport Extreme in the SHARED tab under FINDER and then 'CONNECT AS" and manually enter the password to access the drive. Is there anyway to get the drive to log on 'automatically' using the 'disk password' method from the iMac? It seems a bit strange that Windows offers this persistent log on option, but not the MacOS 10.6.2???
    The reason I have a 'disk password' is that I don't want guests to my wireless network... friends and relatives who visit, to have access to the Airport attached shared drive.

    you can't; try using accounts although I don't like the function of accounts.

  • 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.

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

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

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

  • 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

Maybe you are looking for