Impossible to erase or partition internal HD - input/output error

When I tried to reinstall from the Install CD
the HD doesn't appear in the destinations volumes
The disk appear with Disk Utility, verification is ok
but impossible to erase or partition the disk
(input/output error).
I tried to recreate a partition from another macBook as Target
but Disk Utility doesn't allow me such operation.
Any idea?

Hi BDAqua, thank you for your answer
I try to explain better:
I have two MacBook. I connected them with a firewire cable and I restarted the one which gives me problems holding T pressed. I then opened Disk Utility on the MacBook that's working properly and I performed a verification on the target disk (the one that gives me problem).
Verification (which resulted ok) was he only thing I could perform on the target disk.
I did run I Hardware test holding D, and even in the Verbose mode. Both says everything is fine.
In this very moment I'm running another Hardware Test and keeping an eye on it as you suggested.
I'm suspecting a massive hardware problem too since:
- the partition of the disk appears grayed out in disk utility (like if is not mounted)
- the installation dvd doesn't find a location to install the system
Could be the Hard Disk or could be anything? what do you think?

Similar Messages

  • Trying to erase hard drive, but get "input/output error". What does this mean? What can I do to erase my hard drive so I can reinstall?

    Hi all,
    My computer a few days ago wouldn't start up, would just stay at the gray loading screen forever. So as a result I tried to reformat the hard drive and reinstall, but I can't reinstall, until I erase the hard drive, but when I try to erase the hard drive it says the erase failed due to an input/output error. What does this mean? What can I do to fix my computer?

    The startup drive is failing, or there is some other internal hardware fault.
    Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.
    Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional — ask if you need guidance.
    If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
    Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
    Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.
    *An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

  • Disk Utility "Input - Output error" when attempting to erase Hard Drive

    Hope that someone can point me in the right direction.
    I bought an external hard drive for Windows a year back and loaded music onto it. I realized that I my MAC wasn't getting "Read / Write" privileges for the External Hard Drive, so I decided to try to Partition it and make it into a FAT readable device. It erased all data from my hard drive, but Disk Utility stopped the process and displayed an "input - output error".
    Consequently, I can't initialize the external hard drive to make it usable on my MAC.
    Can anyone point me in the right direction so I can "reformat" my external?
    Thanks!

    Hi all,
    I'm having similar issues on a white macbook (2006 model). I ran into some trouble with it about a month ago, when on booting up, it showed only the folder with a question mark. Booting up from the original grey install DVD worked, so I thought the problem was most likely a faulty hard drive.
    It's only after having this problem, that I came across this recall for possible faulty hard drives, that Apple offered:
    http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/
    Doh! Too late?
    So, I got onto ebay and picked up a deal and received my new hard drive yesterday. I swapped out the original 80GB with 320GB, only to find the same input/output error described by the OP, here (also in a couple of other Apple discussion posts - see below).
    Disk utility shows the new hard drive to be 2.3TB in size! Should be 320GB - but, this is also what others have described. See e.g.,:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16090313#16090313
    I've run the extended testing from the CD (holding down 'D' on boot-up) and it reported no problems. Also, similar to others experiences:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16081818#16081818
    So, what can the problem be?!?!?!?!?
    In this post, JMPC suggests it has something to do with the size of the new internal hard drive....groan.....:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16145560?tstart=0#16145560?tstart=0
    Can anyone confirm this?

  • External Drive Disk Erase Failed with the Error Input/Output Error

    I have 2 hard drives in an external FW800 enclosure that I am unable to format. When I go to initialize the drives in Disk Utility, I get the following error message: "Disk Erase failed with the error: Input/output error."
    The drives show up in Disk Utility, but I can't repair them (that option is grayed out). Disk Utility correctly ID's the manufacturer of the drives (Maxtor), their size (200gb each), so it's obviously seeing that the drives are there. But it won't let me format them.
    The drives are new, by the way; they don't have any data/files on them. I have Disk Warrior, but the drives don't show up there to be repaired -- probably because they aren't formatted yet.
    After looking at other posts, I tried switching the jumper settings around on the drives -- from Master/Slave to cable select and back again, but it didn't help. I also tried doing a zero erase (even though the drives are new), zapping the PRAM -- again, no help.
    One question I had is whether this could be a bad FW800 cable? The cable is new -- it came with the enclosure, which is an OWC Dual FW 800 enclosure. Other than that, does anyone have any other thoughts about what's causing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Matthew

    SOLUTION!!!!
    I had the exact same problem. I have the original 20 GB hard drive that came in my Powerbook G4 550MHz and a couple of years ago I traded up for a 60 GB drive and bought a FW/USB enclosure for my original drive to use it to backup my important files. I hadn't backed up in over a year (shame on me!) and I decided maybe I should erase the drive and start from scratch. It was connected via USB.
    At that point DiskUtility gave me the exact same Input/Output error. I tried partitioning the drive into 1 or more partitions but came up with the same error. I couldn't figure out what was wrong so I decided to startup in OS 9.2.2, I did that and let it start up, then plugged in the hard drive and it gave me the standard "This disk is unrecognizable, do you want to eject or erase?" so I clicked Initalize. It worked!
    Just make sure you choose the MacOS Extended option when initializing out of OS 9 (instead of the MacOS Standard option) so it can be read and viewed in OS X.
    If your computer is too new to be able to boot from an OS 9 folder on your drive or an OS 9 CD, then see if a friend or a local library has older computers that are running OS 9 or can boot from it. If not let me know and you can send me your drive and I'll reformat it.
    Kind of crazy...I haven't used the OS 9 partition on my HD in YEARS...was even thinking about erasing it since I don't use any Classic applications anymore...good thing I didn't!
    Nick
    Powerbook G4 550Mhz   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

  • Input / Output Error when creating GUID Partition on External Drives

    I've been trying to setup an install of OS X on an external device and therefore need to partition them to the GUID Partition Scheme.
    I've tried it with my iPod and an External Hard Disk Drive and no matter what I do, I get the error:
    Exited with Error: Input / Output Error
    Thats all I get. I can partition them with either of the other two choices, but of course those wont let me boot an Intel Based Mac.
    The External HDD is USB 2.0, the iPod I've tried both USB and Firewire, and have not had any luck. I know it can be done, but am not sure why I'm having this problem.
    Any suggestions?

    I'm having the same problem. Trying to format an external drive with the GUID scheme fails.
    # diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ Test GPTFormat /dev/disk1
    Started erase on disk disk1
    Creating Partition Map
    error writing partition map: Invalid argument (22)
    Partitioning encountered error Invalid argument (22) on disk disk1
    I've tried this on my Intel MacBook and on my PPC Mac Mini. Tried using a generic USB2 flash disk and also an iPod shuffle. Always the same error.
    Is GUID broken on external drives?

  • I had a problem with the hard disk on a 2010 macbook pro. Replaced the hard disk with an Hitachi 1TB and when I tried to erase and format It fails with input/output error. Any help much appreciated!

    I had a problem with the hard disk on a 13" 2010 macbook pro. Replaced the hard disk with an Hitachi 1TB disk but when I tried to erase and format, it fails with input/output error and at other times saying unable to allocate memory. Any help much appreciated!

    Zap the PRAM and Reset the SMC, then try again.

  • Partition of hard drive fails permanently, "Input/output error" on format

    Hello!
    I have a serious problem on my flat-panel G4 15" 700 MHz (it’s a used machine, bought it on eBay): After the pre-installed system was running nicely for about a month, today I turned it on and got the infamous "broken folder"/prohibitory sign... Alright, I thought, I may have to repair permissions or fix my OS X installation using the system CDs (10.3). But I was wrong, it is impossible to repair the permissions, I couldn't even format the hard drive! Then I get the error "Input/output error", consecutively. I reset everything, PRAM, PMU, formatted the drives in Target Mode, tried to install Mac OS X on an external drive (Can’t be installed on my Firewire-connected drive). No chance.
    Is there a possibility this may be due to a hard drive controller error (ATA)? I can’t think of anything else... Any help would be appreciated!

    That was my second guess, however, I swapped the hard drives (with an almost identical model) et voilà - same error as before. Now I examined the internals of the machine and found a single wire of the IDE cable seems to be broken, I’ll exchange the cable and let you know if that solves the problem.

  • I get more and more "input/output error" I erased and reinstalled

    I am getting more and more "input/output error" on a multitude of subjects . I cannot repair the problem even though I have done a complete erase and instal.
    I have a core duo intel based unit with 4 GB ram running 10.6.7.

    It sounds like your hard drive is failing. If you haven't already done so, back up as much data as you can, then take the unit to an authorized service provider for testing.

  • Can't acces to internal laptop hard disc - input/output error

    Sometimes when I use my i can't acces to any file on my hdd and i get input/output error when i type commands in console(i even can't halt or reboot). This is used to happen suddenly after few hour of work in one session (not always, it happend three times during last week)
    When i get this error the hdd control led  is on (I have ibm x60s with ssd hard disc, and normaly this diod only blink sometimes, bbut when i get this error , diod is  the whole time floodlite. I didn't any similar problem in google so i posted it here.

    Welcome to the forums.
    Not exactly alot of info to go on here. Try reading up on the "How to post" article on the wiki.
    As for the trouble at hand. With the limited info given, I'd say start off with running some health checks on your disk (smartctl, fsck,...).
    Last edited by Gcool (2012-03-29 05:23:32)

  • External Hard Drive not Readable & Input/Output Error?

    I was using my OWC 300gb external hard drive for a while and it's worked great. I had a bunch of files on it, but I recently transferred everything to another external HD I have, which worked fine, so I could erase this 300gb one. I can't remember what happened, but somehow my Macbook doesn't recognize this hard drive. I think erased everything and then unplugged it without ejecting it first. Anyways, nothing is on the the drive anymore and I get this error message:
    "The disk you inserted was not readable by your computer"
    This pops up when I restart my Macbook. When I try to use Disk Utility, it greys everything out on the partition and Disk Repair tabs. On the 'Erase' tab, it will allow me to select Erase, but then gives me the error:
    "Input/Output error"
    Does anyone know how to get my Macbook to see my drive (so I can start to partition it)? For some reason only Disk Utility acknowledges it's there, Finder won't.
    Anyone have any tips of what it is or what I can try? I did try to use my OS discs booting up holding C, but that doesn't work either.

    Hi there. Everyone is saying on these forums that the hard drive is failing...suck. I went and bought a new when I got input/output error and found that the new one showed the same input output error, making it impossible to partition the disk. Then the guy in the apple service center told me the new one was bad too, after having seen the code that came up related to my new scorpio 250 GB drive. Instead of sending it back, I took it out and installed the old one..however this time with a slihtly more of pressure on the tape holding down the hard drive cable between the hard drive and the circuit board. Amazingly, this time it didn't even show any hard drive at all! Then I understood what was wrong. It was exactly what was indicated an "input/output errror"! ..the cable was broken. I bought a new cable, well the Powerbookmedic sold it as new but it was an old working one that arrived. Immediately, after change of cable the old hard drive and now also the new 250 GB works perfectly! I remember that some interesting symptoms prior to all hard drive problems appeared, such as not being able to start up properly, strange blue screens, flipping question marks etc. I remember that shaking the comp occasionally worked to get it going. No wonder, shaking occasionally made it work and i believe the damaged cable maybe changed position and started conducting. The cable is very sensitive and probably should not be taped down so hard as the first service center guy at apple had done with mine when he fixed it the comp a few years ago. Polymers/plastics bent heavily become fragile/brittle with time and are specially sensitive under pressure/bent. Note that my old damaged cable still conducted and showed the hard drives but didn't work fully. I hope this will help someone, it took me 2 month to figure out..

  • Restoring .dmg image from external to Mac HD in Disk Utility: "Unable to scan image (Input/output error)"

    Hi guys,
    So I've got a problem with restoring the image backup I did (using Disk Utility) of my 500GB HD on my MBP which was acting weird or maybe even crashed a few months ago. After creating the backup image and putting it on my external device, I installed Mavericks back to see if everything was alright (mainly the HD) and everything seems okay.
    I did try restoring the backup image through disk utility before installing mavericks (thus erasing everything again on the HD) AND after. But nothing..
    The whole process starts fine and then it starts scanning the image when after maybe a good 10-15min in I get a message that says that it was unable to scan the image. I tried verifying the disk(s), everything came out "OK". Also tried scanning it through Images > Scan image for Restore... with the same results.
    While searching I've seen people getting messages like "Unable to scan filename.dmg (Invalid argument)" and "Unable to scan filename.dmg
    (Internal error)" but none have (Input/output error)
    The screen grab is below.
    I also came across something about using terminal/commands but I'm not that savvy with it, especially considering that those there had issues with either mounting or trouble finding the image.
    I've also tried moving the backup image to a different external device 2TB and also the desktop because I read it may have to do with the format of the externals or maybe free space. But THEN I would get a message saying
    "The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "Mac HD Backup.dmg" can't be read or written. Error code -36"
    Fyi ALL my externals are HFS+/Journaled and the backup image format was compressed.
    I REALLY don't know what to do next. Was it the wrong move to create a dmg image? Have I lost everything? Is there still a way out?
    If anyone can help, THANKS!
    2012 MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.9.3)

    Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider. You may have to leave the machine there for several days.
    Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional—ask if you need guidance.
    If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
    Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
    Apple also recommends that you deauthorize a device in the iTunes Store before having it serviced.
    *An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

  • Input / Output error for new HDD on MacBook Pro 5.5

    Hi there,
    New to Apple Support Communities
    I have a problem with a MacBook Pro 5.5 Intel Core 2 Duo
    Original Fujitsu 160GB HDD crashed and I replaced it with a Hitachi 250GB HDD.
    Hitachi 250GB drive is partitioned to GUID Partition Scheme but when I try to format the drive in Disk Utility to Mac OS X Extended Journaled, I keep receiving an Input / Output error. I tried even erasing the drive and I get the same error.
    I also tried using Diskutil in terminal window and I get Input / Output error.
    I talked with a guy in work who knows about the Mac and he said the drive could be locked in which the Mac can't unlock to format the drive.
    There is nothing wrong with the drive at all. It works perfect. I'm at a loss as to why the Mac won't install the OS X 10.5.7
    I've looked at many Mac support sites for problems / solution but no solution
    Could someone who has experienced this before please help to resolve my problem.
    Regards,
    DTreacy

    Hi there,
    An update on the MacBook Pro 5.5 problem.
    Mac OS X seems to only install when the HDD is connected to the laptop as a USB drive.
    When I put the drive back into the laptop, it won't boot to the OS.
    The mount is /volume/Macintosh_HD.
    I even tried reformatting the drive but got an error that it could not unmount the drive. I tried a force unmount which worked but the drive disappeared from the disk utility.
    My only way to get the drive back was to connect it again as a USB drive and again I was able to install the OS again.
    Can some help to resolve the problem. How can I make the drive boot to the OS when it is connected as an internal drive
    Regards,
    Dtreacy

  • I am in mavericks disk utility recovery mode as my mac book will not boot up & stays only on the grey apple screen. When I verify the disk I get open error5 :input /output error on Syst stuck on 1 minute pouring out over 50 error messages & still counting

    I am in Mavericks disk utility recovery mode as my mac book pro will not boot up & stays on the Apple grey screen . When I verify disk permissions I get
    Open error 5:"input/ output error" on syst with over 50 of this messages & still counting . Disk Utility says 1 minute
    But this has been going on for over 10 mins .
    I can not verify disk or repair disk .
    I have tried to reinstall mavericks operating system but it says my hard drive is locked which is very strange .
    Does anyone know what is going on here ?
    My system looks like it has been totally corrupted . Thanks Andrew

    Could be. The "lock" isn't actually looking for a password.
    WARNING: This will completely erase the ENTIRE hard drive.
    What you would need to do is boot to recovery > disk utility > select the MAIN drive on the left side > partition > change partition layout from CURRENT to 1 PARTITION > ensure on the right side it says Format : Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) then push APPLY.
    Then if it will allow us, close the windows until you see the 4 options popup again and select "Reinstall Mac OS X" select the Mac HD and you should be good to go!

  • External HD - Input/Output Error

    I had external drive that was not mounting or appearing on Disk Utility. The drive was out of warranty so I went ahead and changed the casing.
    1.The drive appears on Disk Utility but still does not mount. DU only shows the root and not the volume.
    2.Connecting it via USB tells me the drive is 298GB and appears as Maxtor 5000DV v0.1.00.00 Media. I connect it via Firewire 400 and it DU shows it as 128GB Maxtor.
    Any help on what's going on here? DU also won't let me First Aid, Erase, or anything else on it. After I try to Erase it,Partition it, or anything it gives me "Input/Output Error".
    10.5.2
    Maxtor External (Actually a Seagate inside)
    G5
    Thanks for any help!

    Adding:
    What is the point of "Restore" and how is it used exactly?
    Thanks!

  • Help -- backup data with disk utility, input/output error.

    My problem started when my MacBook Pro computer (with OsX) froze.  When I restarted, the startup screen stayed on for a long time.  Now, the startup screen stays on for a few seconds and then shuts off.  I do NOT have a recent backup of my data.  I have tried the following:
    Went onto the recovery partition, used Disk Utility.  When I verified the disk, it said it needed repair.  When I tried to repair the disk, it said it could not be repaired.
    I then tried to copy a disk image of the hard drive onto my external hard drive, but it says there is an "input/output error" and won't allow it.  How else can I backup files on my computer at this point?

    Had issue partitioning 2TB my passport drive, got input/output error while using disk utility.
    Here is what I did to get my external disk back
    In Disk Utility
    1) Try to use erase option first, it failed
    2) Try to partition the disk, failed as well.
    3) Then try erase option again, then ...   it worked !!

Maybe you are looking for