Nokia 1520 hard drive

Is anyone else having the issues with the cortana screen and search popping up and bouncing back and forth while trying to play a game?

Check that settings > touch > touch sensitivity is set to normal and not "high". If it is and you still have the problem, then you are plagued by the well-known 1520 hardware screen problem and you best option is to return handset to point of purchase for replacement or to Nokia Care for repair/replacement.

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I need help finding a replacement hard drive/IR sensor cable for my laptop.

I have a 17" Macbook Pro from September 2009, and the hard drive cable has ripped at the junction where the hard drive cable and the IR sensor cable meet.
My brother needed to use my comp to try to transfer stuff from the hard drive from his broken laptop to an external hard drive, and the cable ripped the second time he was fiddling with it.
Here are some pics:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2qmgjgx.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2i1gq5v.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/wqx838.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/f03xbb.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/23r0j5t.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/f4r6gh.jpg
When searching for "macbook pro unibody 2009 17" hard drive/ir sensor cable" it doesn't come up with any for the 17" but it comes up with a bunch for 13" and 15" and it seems like the 15" ones would work for my computer.
(Like the one in the picture on this page: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+2.53+GHz+Mid+ 2009+Hard+Drive-IR+Sensor+Cable/1520/1)
I'm having no success finding a cable that looks just like the one in my comp that's specifically for the 17" that goes to the hard drive AND the IR sensor. For example, all I've been able to find so far are things like this:
http://www.ifixit.com/MacBook-Parts/MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Unibody-Hard-Drive-Cable /IF162-015
which does not appear to be the cable I need, as it doesn't seem as though I could attach the IR sensor cable to it.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
~Cass
[I don't remember the exact OS I was at, but I'm pretty sure it's 10.6.something]

The dv7 notebook Maintenence & Service guide has the information that you need. See the illustrated parts list for the part number.
From the manual:
Supports the following double hard drive
configurations:
● 2 TB: (1 TB, 5400 rpm, 12.5 mm × 2)
● 1500 GB: (750 GB, 7200 rpm, 9.5 mm × 2)
● 1500 GB: (750 GB, 5400 rpm, 9.5 mm × 2)
● 1 TB: (500 GB, 5400 rpm, 9.5 mm × 2)
Hard drive (2, 2.5-in, SATA, does not include bracket, connector cable, Mylar shield, or screws):
1-TB, 5400-rpm, 12.7-mm 638974-001
750-GB, 7200-rpm, 9.5-mm 633252-001
750-GB, 5400-rpm, 9.5-mm 634250-001
640-GB, 5400-rpm, 9.5-mm 603785-001
500-GB, 7200-rpm, 9.5-mm 608218-001
500-GB, 5400-rpm, 9.5-mm 634932-001
320-GB, 7200-rpm, 9.5-mm 634862-001
320-GB, 5400-rpm, 9.5-mm 622643-001
Hard Drive Hardware Kit (not illustrated, includes bracket, connector cable, Mylar
shield, and screws) 665597-001
You can order the parts through the HP Parts Store online. You can save quite a bit of money by ordering the identical parts from another online vendor.
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

Nokia 1520 shortcomings and lack of proper support

I have been given a Nokia 1520 as a gift (after i had suggested i liked it). I have owned it for 3 weeks roughly and it's been a total saddening experience. Amongst the countless issues i am meeting are:
- The infamous oversensitive display issue. Can't type any sms or email straigth without having multiple characters repeated over and over. This also means that while i try to scroll the screen i happen to open unwanted apps or unwanted links in the browser or in newsreaders. Also, trying to select a tile to resize/unpin it, it most often results in opening it countless times before i actually manage to unpin.
- Lack of a keyboard allowing me to input Traditional Chinese with Pinyin (It was requested in 2011, ie 3 years ago).
- Timed stroke writing for chinese characters means that if you are too slow (as most westerners writing chinese are) you can't even write characters (maximum timing is 0,8 secs).
- Lack of any form of quick input like swiping or so. Multiple issues also at downloading languages for the keyboard. A nightmare.
- The OS won't allow users to select single words or place the cursor in a specific position inside a word. This can be done in some places but not everywhere.
- Bing Translator honestly sucks and there is a huge shortage of dictionaries and language related resources in the market (nothing comparable to Pleco or Hanping
- Lack of a decent notification bar and a LED telling people they got mail or messages or calls when the phone is muted. This caused me to lose two important jobs.
- Very poor/shaky reception for the phone and Internet. Where my Galaxy Note 2 works full broadband, the Nokia connection goes up and down or is none at all.
- I took the device to Nokia Support Centre in Taipei and the person in charge was a kid who not only didn't know anything about the, now well known, issues of the device but he also got very arrogant, talking carelessly and with a very bad attitude and claiming "people shouldn't buy phones without being able to use them" and "if you tried it before why you complain now?". Tested the phone for 2 seconds and he decided it had no issues, so apparently no chances to have the phone sent for a repair/substitution.
Is this the path Nokia and Microsoft are taking with Windows Phone?
I am so disappointed that i am considering reselling the thing and going back from where i came from, IE Android.
It's a shame Nokia hasn't learned how to treat users yet. I am particularly disappointed at the defective device and at the attitude of the part time, lazy, sleepy teenagers they use in Taipei to cover the service making customers run (or worse since some of those guys really push your patience far above the limits, maybe they don't like foreigners or they are scared at speaking English, whatever it is, it's very uneasy and unpleasant). I have never seen such a bad service for a such a malfunctioning device in my life. I have owned maybe 20 or more devices to date (including old Windows Phones) and never had so many negative experiences piled up all together at the same time
I just wish i had been given a device with some other OS rather than a device with a Beta version of an OS supported by part time staff.

This would appear to be a genuine issue with the 1520. Do not have one so could not comment
- Yes indeed i can grant you it's genuine. Haven't sent an email in the last 2 weeks. Just too frustrating.
I know there is several Chinese language settings but as I am not Chinese could not comment beyond this is not something Nokia could do anything about as it is a core OS issue and not a hardware/firmware one.
- Well, it's easy to see if you have doubts. Enter: Settings-Keyboard and go search for any form of input that says "Traditional Chinese with Pinyin (PinYIn is the romanization of chinese characters. You type say "Wo" and the chinese character for "I" pops up amongst other choices. This has been existing from day 1 in any decent keyboard. It has been requested at MS suggestion board 3 years ago. Is still to be implemented. I find it hard to think how they can sell these phones here (especially considering the relations between China and Taiwan and the fact they use simplified/traditional respectively). It's not only a mad marketing move, it's also politically sensitive. No one normal does that here, believe me.
There's several swiping keyboard shortcuts such as typing special characters or numerals (tap hold the 123 key and swipe to the desired character)
- Sure, then do one thing. Download any swiping keyboard on an Android device and then compare the speed at which you type and amend words. The WP keyboard is primitive. The fact you can't resize it combined with the screen oversensitiveness make it useless. Other Nokias are much much better, but you can't beat a real swipe keyboard, especially if you type as a profession. How can someone use such a keyboard on a device in 2014 is beyond me and and anyone else who has used an Android but even a Blackberry in old times. It's simply inefficient compared to anything else out there. Then we can argue on what we like or not but surely not on its lack of productivity compared to else (whatever else)
As long as the app does not use it's own code anywhere you want to enter text tap and hold to have the cursor appear and swipe to the location wanted.
- Then do a test. Take an email sent by someone else. Then go to the portion of text he sent you in the REPLY mail you are writing and try to select one of the SENDER's words. You'll see it's impossible. Then move down and try to select a single word of your reply. You'll see it can be done. Different menus pop up based on where you are or which app you are.
Same is TEXT PREDICTION. It works in some places, doesn't in others, even when you'd need it
Never used it, as far as I heard especially since tha latest (recent) update this got a lot better)
You don't. Try to be a foreigner permanently based abroad and the usefulness of these tools (Dictionaries, translators, etc.) will appear immediately, especially when you have to handle or even study characters based on ideograms. Now, Android (Which i insist in saying i don't like due to their philosophy), offers not only a good mobile translating app (including a function where you take a picture then just scroll your finger on the words you want to be translated and translation pops up in a moment) but if you don't like it you can also find a wide choice of tools (Pleco and Hanping being among them and their developers having no intention to expand on WP for now and some not even in the future). In this perspective, what for you is useless or secondary, for people like me (and other expats who do business and work abroad) is a killer application. Google got it. Microsoft and Nokia, it seems, don't.
Never understood the obsession with a notification bar when your apps and services all give up constant updates and notifications on their tiles. I would not want a blinking light on my phone ever. If you are unable to check your phone even once an hour that is really not the phone or OS problem. Don't try and pin your own negligence on the phone that just makes you look silly.
Let's try to be constructive. This OS must not be built based on what you as Blog Admin like or don't like. It has to be built to cater for a wide range of users. Now, you don't like that led because apparently your tiles make you happy. I, don't spend all my day watching tiles. I work too so the phone goes in standby and since it's permanently muted (no ring, no vibration), LED is key to understand when i get emails or sms' or other notifications. I am not asking a multicolour LED as in Samsung devices (which allow you to assign a colour and vibration combination to different accounts so you understand based on colour and vibration what is important and what is not; but at least a basic primitve LED telling people "Hey you got mail or SMS". If it's not a LED, a screen notification waking up the phone from standby would to as well. As far as i know it's not present. It was present in many Android devices as both standard or third party app since the very first basic versions.
So you use a Note2 and 1520 at the same time? this may well have nothing to do with the phone and it won't be the first time it turns out a WiFi router is actually at fault.
So what do you do? Go to Starbucks and tell everyone to stop using the free Wi-Fi because your Nokia 1520 needs a dedicated connection and i threaten to suit Starbucks for not letting the King have the whole bandwidth for itself?
Galaxy works fine. Nokia doesn't, especially when broadband gets weaker (Taipei has Wi-Fi also on Metro wagons and any restaurant or other outlet you may think of). Core point is everyone is there reading their content on their mobiles. I am there trafficking with settings and **bleep**. Ended up using my Galaxy which works fine.
Those are not Nokia owned nor operated stores, go complain to them
Let me explain you a basic of marketing so you understand when it's not the case to defend a brand beyond reasonable limits even when you administer their blog.
If i, as a customer, enter a BLUE SHOP carrying a big, huge, NOKIA brand with all people wearing Nokia shirts i (and the other 23 million users who almost stopped to buy Nokia in Taiwan) assume whoever is running it, is running it on behalf of Nokia (Officially or unoficially doesn't matter as they get the license to sell from Nokia in any case). So, if your licensee works good, people are happy and buy more; if the staff shows signs of laziness, arrogance, treating adults without respect, showing ignorance on device's issues (They didn't even know about the global issue of oversensitiveness or about keyboards...the phone was an alien in their hands), people RUN. And i did RUN.
If you combine the bad support with the fact that the device is actually malfunctioning and lacks a lot of basic functions that in 2014 are given for granted, i beg to think that the only users left once they try the phone for one or two weeks will be some Fans of the brand and a few people who need it to watch movies and take pictures but you don't need a phablet for that. When you sell a bad device and have an as bad support that instead of solving the issue denies it you are turning the market in a self-help environment where users get angered (And you can see how many there are about Lumias and 1520 starting to get on top of the list). So, as much as you and I may stay argue in your blog, i think that if this issue is not solved this OS doesn't have much future.
Finally, a phablet is a sophisticated device where screen size, hardware and software package combine to offer a certain experience that ranges from entertainment to work IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT (Not in your garden, in your living room or when you show off the device to friends to let them see all those useless tiles which you can't even interact with as they open when you want to resize them etc. due to the bad screen). It means the device must be ready and functional in your country or in mine or wherever you live. In this case, Galaxy and their cheap plastic trash got it right with the Note family. Others like HTC and Nokia are lagging behind and 1520 in this respect is not helping people who want to jump from Android to Windows Phone to make that jump.
Test the device simulating the job a professional user doess (typing mails all the time, text messages, interacting with web content, copy/paste, translating and sharing data, sending data to other apps in a snap), then multiply that for 7 days a week and then experience the frustration accumulating day after day. In my case, this is further amplified by the fact that i come from a device that has spoilt me allowing me to do things in a snap.
This phone, as is, is no game!

Wireless hard drives that are compatible with Wind...

Hi there,
I was wondering whether anyone knew of any wireless hard drives that are compatible with Windows phones, I currently have a Nokia Lumia 1020 and when researching on Internet I can only find ones that are compatible with IOS, Android and Kindle devices but not for Windows phones plus I've got unlimited data for 3 months which I really want to make use of. Your help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
RocknRollTim
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Found that the Seagate Wireless Plus was the best wireless hard drive for me and it's great.

N91 hard drive

i know this is a bit if a dumb question seeing as the phone has not been released, but does anyone have a clue what sort of hard drive this phone will use? i mean, if it is like a 2.5" one then it can be removed and replaced with a larger one right? even if its a 1.8" hdd this can be removed to. think about what you could replace it with, a 40gb hdd? that would be sooo cool

29-Nov-2005 02:30 AM Karim wrote: Well, you could always add a link... Nokia N91
Ah ha!! Excellent! linking in posts Thanks Karim for enlightening me. I hope you didn't mind my tongue in cheek joke about pic posting.
S.
History: Motorola MR30, Nokia: 7110, 7650, N70, N80, N82, X6 (32GB), Samsung Galaxy SII
Current: Samsung Galaxy Note3 Black

N91 Hard Drive Issues

Ok so last night I was installing music to my N91 via bluetooth. The phone shut off and shut back on and when it did everything that was saved to my hard drive was gone! All of my music, images, apps vanished.
I checked the hard drive and the memory used is 846mb but I have no clue what is being used.
Have there been any other issues like this and if so is there a solution?
Phones: N95 8GB NAM, N82, N81 8gb, N95-3, Pink N95-1, Pink N73, N75, N90
Nokia N810 and N800 Internet Tablets

21-Jul-2006
10:41 AM
micaradu wrote:
The memory is used by the music and everything else you put on it, but the FAT is corrupted.Actually when you want to see your files the phone reads this FAT(file allocation table) wich contains all the names sizes and types of the files u have on the hard drive.If this is corrupted your phone doesn't know what files it has on or if it has any.
Connect your phone in mass storage mode to the computer and the computer will see it as a removable hard drive.Then run a file recovery apllication, and, finally, after you get your files back, format the phone's hard drive.
This should solve it.
Keep me posted.
Cheers!
I'm actually doing that as we speak (or type). When I connected it I saw a folder with no name, just a dot (.). Don't know what that is but I get an error message when I try to open it.
I'm doing a scan and recovery. If I format the phone's hard drive won't that erase all of the data?
Phones: N95 8GB NAM, N82, N81 8gb, N95-3, Pink N95-1, Pink N73, N75, N90
Nokia N810 and N800 Internet Tablets

N91 Hard Drive Tools

I was reading the user manual/help files in the Help menu on the phone and I came across the Hard Drive tools section, I read that theres many options, such as Defragmentation and other useful disk utilities.
But, I've checked my Hard Drive and I only have one option and thats the Format tools.
Does anyone have all the options enabled or just the Format option?

Hi Liam, while it is true that formating the HDD with Windows is different than the format in the device that doesn't mean it will break anything. With TWO big exceptions:
1. VERY IMPORTANT. The N91 DOES NOT support NTFS file format. This is the normal file format for Windows XP. IT supports FAT32 so you have to formal in FAT32 and not NTFS. IF you format in NTFS the HDD will cease to work PERIOD! So be sure to format in FAT32.
2. Also I found out is that when you format using the N91, the HDD gets folders created, but if you use Windows no folders are created.
Finally, it should be noted that HDD get fragmented over time and can get some errors so using "Error checking" and "Defragmentation" from Windows (selecting properties then tools tab). So these are useful tools to improve the performance of the HDD.
640K Should be enough for everybody
El_Loco Nokia Video Blog

N91 hard drive dissapeared!

Hi folks
can any1 help me.i transfered some music files onto my n91 and now the hard drive doesnt work-it was a bit dodgy before (in message settings,when trying to change from phone memory to hdd it would keep reverting back to phone memory)but now theres nothing showing up on the gallery,all the games have dissapeared-it still shows in memory details that memory in use is 3327mb and 511mb free memory-ive not tried to reset as there are resent video and photo files that i don't wanna get rid of!!(also when trying to link it to pc it doesnt bring the drive up!)
Can any1 please give me sum advice!
thanks!

One thing you can try is to reset the phone using the instructions you can find in this post :
/discussions/board/message?board.id=smartphones&message.id=4007
However please be aware that doing so will wipe ALL the data from your phone such as information in your calendar, contacts and so on.
In order to save your data you can use the PC Suite application to save and restore the data from your phone - this software can be found here :
http://www.nokia.com/pcsuite
One thing to note is that as part of these diagnostics, you should NOT restore any backup or install any software on the phone as you could be putting the problem back onto the phone.
If this doesn't work then it's likely you have a hardware fault and you should approach your local Nokia Service Centre to get your phone fixed.
Hope this helps.
Please let me know how you get on.
Regards,
Edward

N91 Hard Drive Not Available

Hi I have a problem I go to transfer music suddenly there was a power cut of electricity when I wanted enter into the music player I have this message can not access to hard drive replace the battery cover I followed these instructions but not the phone blocks
I do an update still the same problem
Please help me

The n91 4GB wid firmware v2.10.013 does not have any hdd errors or problems becuase the firmware is stable if people who have n91 4GB wid firmware below v2.10.013 den dey are going to get a lot of hdd problems coz wen dey use format option on n91 it doesnt format da hdd properly n dat leaves it to faulty corruptions so hdd does not read correctly. so therefore your n91 8GB firmware v3.00.060 is the first firware for n91 8GB.
Try flashing it to other country variants eg instead of Euro1 try France. Euro 3. O2 network etc dey might have da fix for it.Message Edited by shayesta on 09-Mar-2007
02:11 AM
If you find my post useful then click on
Kudos!Nokia N96 (v20.050 / RM-247)
www.shaysoft.net | Competitions!

N91 splitting messages between hard drive and inte...

Hello.
I have a lot of messages that were taking up a lot of space on the internal memory and making the phone perform sluggishly. So under Messaging > Settings > Other > Save messages, I set it to save them on the N91. However, I feel it might not be so efficient du to the hard drive usage, as I also have several mailboxes set up which I regularly check hence increased drive usage = low batery.
However, if I then change the option to use the internal memory, messages are saved to the new location but my existing messages/mailboxes become inaccessible.
My question is, how can I move just, say my mailboxes and thlast wee or so worth of messages to internal memory, have that used for new messages, have the older ones saved on the hard drive but still have them accessible to me?
Thanks.
H.
Hussein Patwa
PatwaNet
Nokia 6630 on 3G (UK)
Nokia 6610i - UNLOCKED! YAY!
Currently looking for more cheap & new handsets - you never know when a spare can come in handy!

Ah thanks, but that is a shame. I do of course try to keep the numbers down, but due to circumstances I have to keep records of all correspondence (it's saved me several times already).
I do find it odd though that once you've changed the location of messages you can't see the ones in the original location even though they are still present. Is there no app or hack that can allow me to at leave move messages between the locations (and more importantly my mailboxes) to the internal memory? I suppose I could leave with changing the storage setting if I needed to look at older messages on the hard drive, but having to re-setup all the mxilboxes just because they become 'hidden' is a real pain.
Thanks again.
H.
Hussein Patwa
PatwaNet
Nokia 6630 on 3G (UK)
Nokia 6610i - UNLOCKED! YAY!
Currently looking for more cheap & new handsets - you never know when a spare can come in handy!

N 91 hard drive

u know i buy this n91 from singapore,and i m indian,i was also went 2 nokia warrenty support gallary in india,but thay wants indian warrenty,so wat can i do,
pls help me i have some problem in n91,i have just installed d software from pc suits n that time my phone got into hang up mode then its restarts this is happening time and again and finally i removed the battery from the phone to restart and again the problem continued, finally i gave up and after pls help me i have some problem in n91,i have just installed d software from pc suits n that time my phone got into hang up mode then its restarts this is happening time and again and finally i removed the battery from the phone to restart and again the problem continued, finally i gave up and after sometime the phone was showning the message "HARD DRIVE NOT AVAILABLE"
Dear Friend need ur help in this case
Thanks,
Dpak

hi
thanks for your reply
it is so kind of you that u replied me but the problem is that in tools menu when i go to hard drive it gives message that
Hard Drive not available
and on that screen only two option available help and exit other option as u said formate etc are not visible.
the problem started when i was insalling one theme and in that the phone was hanged and after waiting for long i had removed battery directly and started my phone and then i checked from that time hard drive was lost
after that the phone started restarting after receiving 4 to 5 calls.
i had tried *#7370# also but no effect today i had tried #Green3 option also but no effect
please help
thanks

Have Old Hard drive and want to move old data onto new hard drive in imac.

I am trying to get my files off of an old hard drive. I have it hooked up through a sata drive. I am able to access all the programs but for whatever reason I am unable to access any of the files, i.e- 1,00's of pictures, videos, music, and documents. Is there something else I need to do in order to get the files, or is it possible that all the programs could still be on it but the files are just missing? In the current Sata it only has two plugs but on my hard drive it looks like there is another place to plug something in.

Hello again Shadow,
The way I do this is to:
1) Install your new hard drive into your iBook
2) Get your iBook reassembeled
3) Place your old hard drive in your firewire enclosure
4) Insert your install DVD into your iBook and restart with the C key held down. When the installer launches, select your language in the first pane, click 'continue' and in the upper dropdown menu in the next page select Utilities > Disk Utility. After DU is open, select your hard drive from the list of volumes on the left (the very top one), and then click the 'Partition' tab to the right. Then select 1 partition (normal) and make sure that you have 'Mac OS Extended (journled)' selected in the lower section. Then click 'partition'
5)Quit disc utility, which brings you back to the installer. continue with your installation of OS X. In one of the first steps you will see a button on the lower left which says 'options' click on that and make sure that the option 'Installs OS X for the first time' is selected. It will normally be selected by default with a new drive.
6) After the installation, the Migration Assistant will ask if you would like to transfer your information from another mac. click yes then follow the instructions. but instead of using another mac, connect a firewire cable from your enclosure with your old hard drive installed. The installer will think that this is another mac and will transfer all of your account information and user files (everything!)from your old drive to your iBook's new drive. Just diconnect when it says to and complete the installation sequence.
You're done!
Check back again if anything is unclear.
Randy
Message was edited by: DesertSage

I was given the wrong macbook when I gave mine in for repair. I want to complain. Also, they wiped ALL my data off the hard drive. I want to complain to someone in authority. How?

I am extremely disappointed and angry with Apple service. I am a writer and booked three weeks in Spain so that I could finish my book. On the second day my laptop cut out on me asI was working on it, so I took it to Goldenmack in Cadiz. Not only was I given someone else's macbook when I went back to collect it, but then when I returned to the UK, the Apple shop in Brighton managed to delete ALL my data from the hard drive because I was unlucky enough to get a trainee on her first day. I have since learned she should not have deleted my data without even running a diagnostic. She told me she was going to 'restore' the drive. I took this to mean she was going to restore my work. But no! She erased the lot.
I complained and eventually was put in touch with a supervisor, who I was told had authority to resolve the issue. She said she would get the shop to phone me. That was ten days ago and I'm still waiting.
Ok so there's nothing I can do now to get back the three chapters of my book that I have lost and didn't back up, but the hard drive on this laptop is still faulty. I try to back up my work every time I use the machine but as soon as I attach an external drive, the whole thing shuts down. I can't use it any more as I can't risk losing any more work. This laptop is only just over a year old and this is just not acceptable, especially since I have really looked after it.
This is an appalling service I have encountered from Apple, and I am not going to ignore it. I have contacted the young chap whose laptop I was erroneously given, and the repair of which I paid for! (although I did eventually get a refund), to ask him if he had been given mine as well. He said he had been completely unaware that his laptop had been given to me and he is furious as he had loads of "sensitive material" on it." I have no idea in whose hands my laptop has been either, or indeed what damage it sustained while it was supposed to be in for repair.

Contact Apple Support:
http://www.apple.com/support/contact/
Apple - How to Contact Us:
http://www.apple.com/contact/
Be sure to refer to the repair ticket number.
Sounds like a terrible mixup.
Good luck & happy computing!

Iomega external hard drive either 'not found' by Time Machine or is now in 'read only' format

I don't know what's going on with my iomega external hard drive. Sometimes the HD is recognised by the computer; other times it isn't; if it isn't I can restore to an earlier back up via Time Machine app; but it's like the disk isn't writable.
Ten days ago, I had trouble backing up my iMac using Time Machine. After turning it off and restarting my external hard drive, it backed up successfully.
However, today I am trying to back up my files, and TM tells me it can't find the external hard drive. Nothing has changed -- I have been out of town this past week -- but somehow my HD now seems to be in 'read only' format. It does turn on, and I could restore my computer to an earlier back up.
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
Annoyingly, despite my HD not showing in Finder or on my Desktop (as it usually does), when I simply turn it off I get that warning message "The disk was not ejected properly".
Have tried verifying and repairing using Disk Utility, to no avail.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it. I'm guessing this would wipe the disk clean and I'd have to create the initial back up image all over again -- I'm reluctant to do this since this HD is my only back up and if it all goes tits up I'll be up that famous creek without a paddle.
Thoughts, suggestions, input all welcome and deeply appreciated -- thank you!

fzgy wrote:
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app can fix it, but they're expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and there's no guarantee it can do it.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.
That will erase it. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #5.
It sounds very much like the disk is beginning to fail, although it's possible there's a bad port, cable, connection or power supply (if it has its own).
I'd suggest getting a new one, and using it for your Time Machine backups; once you have a good backup there, reformat the old one (and select Security Options to write zeros to the whole drive -- if that fails, you know the drive is toast). Use it for secondary backups, per FAQ #27. If it has failed, get a second new one for secondary backups.

I need to upgrade my external hard drive, any suggestions

I have an iMac i5 quad core (2010 model), I have been using a Seagate Barracuda 250 GB 7200 RPM from an older iMac 20" G5 in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1 enclosure as my backup external HD. The enclosure has the Oxford 911 chipset and says that it supports up to 750GB.
Since I have been using Snow Leopard only I have used time machine to backup to this HD. Now, that I have installed Lion, and partitioned my HD on my computer to have both Lion and Snow Leopard OS, I need to get a larger external HD to install in my OWC enclosure to save money.
I was looking on the OWC website and found a SeaGate 2.0TB Barracuda Green SATA 6Gb/s 64MB, 5900 RPM for $90.00, or the 7200 RPM for $158.00.
I am not sure if my enclosure with the Oxford 911 chipset will support this drive, and also the specs for my enclosure says up to 750GB, and that probably rules out these drives anyway.
I could just keep what I have and use it as a back up of my Lion partition currently using 134 GB. Snow Leopard using 127 GB on my internal 1TB hard drive. Then, I could purchase the OWC Mercury Elite Pro 2.0 TB Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1 with the Oxford 934 chipset, 5900 RPM, and 64 MB for $150.00. Even thought this would be a little slower, is it worth paying $40.00 more for the 7200 RPM speed?
On my hard drive now I am only using 261 GB, so after I first back up both partitions on the 2.0 TB external HD, any other backups would not take as long to do. I have Super Duper, but right now it is not recognizing my Lion HD, and I have not backed up Lion to my current external HD yet since I want to get a larger external HD. When I get the new HD, I can partition it so that I can backup either Lion partition or SL partition using time machine, it that right? My current external HD is bootable, but I am confused about Carbon Copy or Super Duper, will that be saved on my external HD?
Thanks,
DaisyMay

DaisyMay wrote:
Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1
I would recommend not settling for less then USB 3 or hold out for Thunderbolt, if your machine is capable. Firewire 800 minimum.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 2.4GHz IntelCore i5 320 HD 8GB RAM ParallelsDesktop6.0

Nokia 1520 hard drive

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