Why is Disk Utility so fast?

Hello,
I formatted a 250 GIG drive (with the write zeros option) and it only took about 2 hours. Wow. Thats fast. In the past I used OS 9's "Drive Setup" utility and it used to take much longer. For example, the last time I formatted a drive with OS 9's Drive Setup utility it took about 18 hours (with the "zero all data" option on an 80 GIG drive) . Why is it that Tiger's Disk Utility can write zeros so quickly?
Is it doing the same job? Is it as thorough as OS9?
Is it maybe because my computer I am using is a few MHz faster? Or is Tiger's Disk Utility just simply faster?
I would like to hear that the days of waiting 20 hours or more for a "zero all data" erase are gone now that we have Tiger. That would be nice. However I am not sure if Tiger is doing as thorough of a format as OS 9 did. Maybe Tiger is cutting some corners somewhere. Should I maybe first format the drive in OS9 and then format it a second time in Tiger for the best format or would that be unnecessary?
Maybe I should ask, why was OS9's Drive setup so slow when formatting drives? Was it doing something that Tiger is not doing?
PS. In both OS9 and OSX, I chose the "zero all data" option (which I suppose is called "write zeros" in Tiger). In Tiger I chose write zeros once (not 7 times and not the 35 times option).
Thank you.

Thanks Cornelius and Gulliver,
Gulliver, yes, this is a new hard drive I installed into my blue and white G3 350 MHz using the 1S2 Firmtek Seritek SATA controller card (I installed this card into the faster video slot sacrificing 10-15 % video performance for the sake of faster hard drive performance - a much better use of PCI power that many, if not most, users would agree). Maybe this is why my hard drive is so fast. I then moved my video card to the next slot over. Its not as fast with the video but the video speed loss is virtually unnoticable for my desktop publishing work. For video games I might notice it a little but I don't play much video games on this machine.
The new hard drive is an Hitachi T7K250 SATA hard drive. Thanks Gulliver for your comments. By the way, my G3 did not come with OS 9.2.2. It came with 8.5 (bought in 1999) and since then I have upgraded to 8.6, 9.2.1, 9.2.2, 10.1, 10.1.5 and 10.4 and 10.4.6 (the latest). Lots of upgrades! - all very worthwhile.
I still always choose to include the OS9 drivers when I erase and prepare a hard drive for a Mac OS - even thought I am not sure if will not use the OS 9 drivers - I do this anyways because I read that adding the OS9 drivers does not take up any significant room on the hard drive - and you never know when you just might need to install OS9 for some reason one day.
And yes, I have upgraded the firmware - a necesssary step in order to install any version of OSX on a G3 B&W.
One other point. I didn't even install OS9. I only have OS 10.4.6 Tiger on this blue and white G3. It is not necessary to install OS 9 - it is only optional.
Because I don't have a licence on this computer for OS9, I will instead be installing OS8.6 onto a separate hard drive on this computer (not the hard drive that I have Tiger on) - a challenge that lead to many posts about a month ago on Apple Discussions. - mostly to do with how to boot back into Tiger after working in 8.6. (OS9.2.2 works well with OSX - OS 8.6 is a little trickier.) If anyone is curious about this you might need to check out my other posts about this from a month ago. Basically, you might need to use startup disk manager that was originally intended for OS9 that some say does work in 8.6 - or drag the OS8.6 finder out of the OS8.6 system folder after using 8.6 hoping the computer will look next to the OS 10.4 startup. Or - if all else fails, to boot up from the OS 10.4 CD with the "C" key pressed at startup - and then change the startup disk to OS10.4 and reboot into OS10.4. not sure which solution will work best - I will soon find out.

Similar Messages

Why Does Disk Utility Say "This Partition Can Not Be Modified"

I've got an external drive with three partitions. I want to expand the first partition. (It's a backup of my internal drive and it isn't big enough anymore.)
All partitions are Journaled. All verify okay. The disk's partition map is GUID.
Disk utility will change the size of the 2nd and 3rd partition, but when I click on the first partition, the one I want to expand, it says "This partition can not be modified."
I've tried making another partition smaller, but that doesn't help.
Does anyone know why? Or what I can do about it? (Can I delete that partition, make another one smaller and then create a new bigger one?)
Many thanks in advance.
Steve

Thanks, guys.
I ended up taking one of the existing partitions, making it smaller and then adding a partition of the size I needed -- created out of the space freed up. I also erased the original partition that I couldn't change and Disk Utility now says I can make it smaller, but not bigger.
Bottom line in my case -- all partitions except the first could be made smaller. But none could be made larger. (Maybe the first one couldn't be made smaller because it was full?). That caveat -- 'you can make 'em smaller but not larger' -- is not mentioned in the help file, but that's what I saw.
Make sense?
Thanks again,
Steve

Why does Disk Utility keep breaking my partition table?

I have two drives in my Mac Mini - the original drive it came with, and a SSD drive. I dual boot from the SSD drive and it is fine. On my original drive, I still have the original Lion install, but I would like to add a NTFS partition for use by windows. The problem is that every single time I have Disk Utility try to do something to it, like delete a partion, it breaks the partition table. It does delete the partition, but then it goes and sets all the partition types to 07 (Microsoft BAsic) instead of AF (Apple HFS). Then Disk utility will claim the disk is broken and can't mount the partitions anymore. I have to go in with gdisk to set the partition type back to AF and it will start working again. BTW, gdisk claims the partition table type is hybrid MBR, even though windows is not installed on it. Diskutil thinks it is GUID. I did create a partition on it from the windows side once if that means anything.
Now what I want to do is resize the HFS partition, but I am deathly afraid that DU will break something that isn't as easy to fix.

I repaired permissions because I reinstalled Epson drivers, and reinstalling Epson drivers has given me a permissions problems in the past which was cured by running permission repair. As it is an easy prophylactic step to take, I did it again.
It may not be needed, but that is not the issue, which is why, when the permissions are indicated as repaired, are they not.
Other previous posts on this issue suggest that these indications of permissions not being repaired should be ignored, so the report made by Disk Utility is simply a programming error.
Disk Utility needs some work if it is going to respond to usage by a typical average user this way.

Why does Disk Utility repair permissions not run?

I'm trying to verify and/or repair disk permissions on my RAID0 array but the utility only briefly flashes the progress bar and does nothing.
Logs show a whole lot of nothing:
2011-09-28 17:00:44 -0700: Disk Utility started.
2011-09-28 17:00:52 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:00:53 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:00:54 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:00:54 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:05:29 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:05:30 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:05:30 -0700:
2011-09-28 17:05:30 -0700:
Each time is an attempt at clicking on verify or repair.
Any idea why that is?

Turns out this is a Lion issue and only happens on RAID arrays. Apple is looking into it.
For anyone with the same issue, the command line version of disk utility does work, i.e:
diskutil repairPermissions /

Why is Disk Utility "Permissions" only enabled on system drive?

Hi,
Shouldn't Disk Utility's "Verify Permissions" and "Fix Permissions" be enabled for all mounted volumes? Including disk images? Same with "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk".
I'm seeing them enabled only for the system drive.
Thank you,
Don

Shouldn't Disk Utility's "Verify Permissions" and "Fix Permissions" be enabled for all mounted volumes? Including disk images?
When Apple (and some third-party) software is installed, data is written in the Receipts folder incuding file permissions. Disk Utility uses this information to verify and repair permissions. There is no such information for other files or drives.
Same with "Verify Disk" and "Repair Disk".
They should work for other drives.
I'm seeing them enabled only for the system drive.
Are you using an administrator account?

Internal hard drive/repair: SMART status; Disk Utility, Tech Tool & More

machine: 12" PowerBook 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 (Aluminium) with 80GB internal HD
internal hard drive (original): Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series HTS541080G9AT00
hard drive firmware: MB4AA5AJ
ATA version: 6
ATA standard: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 3a
I have monitored the SMART status etc. of my internal drive with smartmontools for some time. Occasionally, I would see an error or a failed self-test but later testing always succeeded and things did not seem to be problematic.
At the beginning of this week, I started to see a lot of failed self-tests (though some still passed), a rising number of bad ("pending") sectors and reallocation attempts (though no reallocated sectors) and various other errors. The computer seemed to have trouble reading from the disk at times and Carbon Copy Cloner reported two I/O errors when cloning (a later clone succeeded). fsck showed errors although running fsck -fy repeatedly seemed to resolve them.
The Apple hardware tests initially reported an error (2STF/8/3:ATA-100 ata-6-Master) but I hadn't realised I should disconnect peripherals before running it so I did that and repeated the test which found no issues. I ran the extended test a total of three times with no errors.
As I continued to have problems, I booted from my clone and had Disk Utility wipe the drive by writing zeros to it. (I thought trying to get it to write everywhere would either finish the drive off or force it to reallocate the bad blocks. As I understand it, in normal use, the drive won't reallocate the blocks unless it can recover the data in the hopes of reading it at a later time.)
I then continued monitoring the disk using smartmontools. At this point, short self-tests succeed but extended self-tests "disappear". They don't fail, they simply vanish. They begin and smartctl shows the test in progress but then no error or result is logged - it is as if the test was never run. The first time I did this, I got an error saying the SMART attributes could not be read but subsequent tests do not trigger even an error. Short self-tests continue to pass.
There are now (according to SMART) zero bad ("pending") sectors but zero reallocated sectors, which seems odd. The raw read error rate fluctuates (zero one minute, many thousands a while later) although I am not sure it did not do this before.
Disk Utility claims the disk does not support SMART status even though smartctl clearly shows it does. Disk Utility claims the volume is "OK".
I ran Tech Tool Deluxe 3.04 from CD and 3.1.1 from my clone. In both cases, I ran all available tests on the drive. No problems were found.
I am seeing some problems even while booted from my clone - yesterday, the system froze completely and I had to force a shut-down by switching off the power (fsck then found a minor error but repaired it). Just before this happened, I was unable to mount a disk image and was trying to rectify the situation when the system froze. It is possible that the errors fsck corrected were implicated in the freeze, rather than caused by it, since Disk Utility found and repaired similar errors for the other two clones I have (on different partitions of my external drive - yes, I know this is sub-optimal).
Here is some current output from smartmontools:
---output: smartctl -q noserial -a disk0---
smartctl version 5.38 [powerpc-apple-darwin8.11.0] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series
Device Model: Hitachi HTS541080G9AT00
Firmware Version: MB4AA5AJ
User Capacity: 80,026,361,856 bytes
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 6
ATA Standard is: ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 3a
Local Time is: Sat Jul 3 20:28:52 2010 BST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 645) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 55) minutes.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 RawRead_ErrorRate 0x000b 100 100 062 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail Offline - 0
3 SpinUpTime 0x0007 142 142 033 Pre-fail Always - 2
4 StartStopCount 0x0012 097 097 000 Old_age Always - 5793
5 ReallocatedSectorCt 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 SeekErrorRate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 SeekTimePerformance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 PowerOnHours 0x0012 039 039 000 Old_age Always - 26720
10 SpinRetryCount 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 PowerCycleCount 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 4168
191 G-SenseErrorRate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
192 Power-OffRetractCount 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 201877487644
193 LoadCycleCount 0x0012 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 2209599
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 141 141 000 Old_age Always - 39 (Lifetime Min/Max 16/46)
196 ReallocatedEventCount 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 194
197 CurrentPendingSector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMACRC_ErrorCount 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 2138 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
PoweredUpTime is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.
Error 2138 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26716 hours (1113 days + 4 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
10 51 00 09 4f c2 a0 Error: IDNF
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
b0 d6 01 09 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.500 SMART WRITE LOG
b0 d5 01 09 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.300 SMART READ LOG
b0 d1 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART READ ATTRIBUTE THRESHOLDS [OBS-4]
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART READ DATA
b0 da 00 00 4f c2 a0 00 08:30:04.000 SMART RETURN STATUS
Error 2137 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 28 18 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 40 sectors at LBA = 0x04989518 = 77108504
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:37.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:30.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
Error 2136 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 21 1f 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 33 sectors at LBA = 0x0498951f = 77108511
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:30.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
Error 2135 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 22 1e 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 34 sectors at LBA = 0x0498951e = 77108510
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:22.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:13.500 READ DMA EXT
Error 2134 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26682 hours (1111 days + 18 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
40 51 28 18 95 98 e4 Error: UNC 40 sectors at LBA = 0x04989518 = 77108504
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC PoweredUpTime Command/Feature_Name
25 00 80 c0 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:16.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 94 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.700 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:14.100 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 40 93 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:13.500 READ DMA EXT
25 00 80 c0 92 98 e0 00 1d+01:30:12.100 READ DMA EXT
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBAof_firsterror
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 4 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26717 -
# 5 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26716 -
# 6 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26715 -
# 7 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26714 -
# 8 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26697 -
# 9 Extended offline Completed: read failure 10% 26692 75071682
#10 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26687 -
#11 Extended offline Completed: read failure 10% 26676 77108511
#12 Short offline Completed: read failure 40% 26663 296917
#13 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26657 -
#14 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26646 296918
#15 Short offline Completed: read failure 70% 26645 296905
#16 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26644 296910
#17 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 26644 296910
#18 Short offline Completed: read failure 40% 26643 296916
#19 Short offline Completed: read failure 20% 26643 296909
#20 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 26620 -
#21 Short offline Completed without error 00% 26618 -
Warning! SMART Selective Self-Test Log Structure error: invalid SMART checksum.
SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENTTESTSTATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
---end output---
Self-tests 1-8 were all run after I erased the disk. The others were run before I did so. Not listed are the extended self-tests I've started since erasing which, as I say, have simply disappeared.
The checksum error regarding the log is normal for this disk. At least, I've got that error ever since I started using smartmontools for monitoring so I assume it is normal. (I installed this version of the software in about April 2008 and have used it since.) Also, starting offline testing has never succeeded on this disk (I think I checked into this at the time but can't quite remember - this is not new, anyway).
Questions
how should I interpret all this? (Why does Disk Utility say SMART is not supported while smartctl clearly shows it is at the same time? Why do the extended tests simply vanish? Is the drive definitely dying?) I do not want to replace the disk unless I absolutely have to because I understand that replacing disks in 12" PBs is no small matter and cost is an issue. I do not want to replace the machine unless I have to because cost is an issue and, also, I really like this computer and have no idea what I would want in its place, even if expense were no obstacle.
if it isn't clear whether the drive is dying or not, is there some further strategy I can use to establish this?
if the drive is dying, is a machine of this age worth repairing and, if it is, under what circumstances is it worth doing so? For example, it might be worth doing if you can do the job yourself, but that might be quite impractical for non-expert (not to mention, inexpert) users.
if there is a hardware problem (which I obviously think is very, very probable at this point), is it definitely a dying hard drive? (I've seen people write ominous things about disk controllers etc. which I gather are more serious - or less repairable - than a "mere" dying disk.)
what questions should I be asking you and what are the answers to those questions?!
Many thanks for your patience in reading this far.
- cfr

The 12" PB internals are a bit more complex, for PB's. If you don't want to replace the hard drive yourself or pay someone to install it, you could always get an external firewire hard drive, and use it to boot from and for general usage. Would have to be firewire, since the PB won't book from a USB device. One example of what you could get is a 160GB external hard drive: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MS4U5160GB8/ . All the choices with that case are listed here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
Have you called any Apple Authorized Service Providers to see what they would charge to install a drive for you? Whether you bought it or they supplied it? You can find a local one in the US at http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/

Disk utility hangs MAC G4?

Why does Disk Utility hang when starting? ~ Doug

Hi, Doug.
A little more detail on how you are launching Disk Utility on the stated "G4" would help. Some more details about the specific G4, and the problems that may have led to you attempting to run Disk Utility on it would also be useful.
Try running steps 1-2 of the Procedure specified in my "Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption" FAQ.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

DIsk Utility will not recognize my drive to erase.

Hello,
I am trying to erase my hard drive to install a new OS. I will be installing either OS 8.6 onto the 12 GIG ATA internal hard drive - the original hard drive.
I am using an OS 10.1 installer CD.
(I thought that DIsk Utility would be a better hard drive formatting utility than OS 8's drive setup utility.)
I first started up from the OS 10.1 installer CD and it first takes me through a few basic questions about the language (I chose English) and then a licencing question and I clicked agree. When it asks me which volume I would like to choose, both of my hard drives are shown but they are greyed-out (dimmed). When I hover over them with the mouse pointer, a small message appears to the left that says something like:
"This hard drive is dimmed because the CD installs all the languages"
This doesn't seem to make any sense. I was booted form the CD.
Why can I not use this installer to erase my hard drive?
This is a retail version of OSX with a white label. It came with two disks: OS9 and 10.1. The symptoms described above happened with the 10.1 disk. Next I will try OS 9. However I would like to know why my DIsk Utility on the OS 10.1 CD didn't show my drive as available. Any suggestions why the hard dirves were grayed out?
Thanks

Thanks Lau for you comments.
I need to install os8 because I need to run some old apps and I am using my os 9 for another computer I have.
By the way, the HFS+ file system was suuported from OS 8.1 and after and so that is not an issue. Good idea though.
And so I am back at my original question. It would appear that my OS X install disk doesn't like my blue and white G3's internal 12 GIG ATA drive and so I cannot format it with OSX Disk Utility. I would like to know why but for now I will just use OS 9 or OS8 drive setup. And so I have two choices: OS9 drive setup or OS8.5 Drive setup. Does it matter which I use? In other words is one better than the other? I will be later installing OS 8.6 onto this drive - and maybe OS 9 in the far future. I will try OS9's drive setup first.
Yes, and so this is my most immediate question at this point:
is there a difference between OS8.5 drive setup and OS9's Drive setup? (in terms or formatting a drive to install OS 8, 9 or even X maybe one day?) I will be using HFS+.
And then my second question is my original question which is why doesn't my OS 10.1.5 Disk Utility select my 12 GIG ATA drive? (its greyed out - dimmed?)
Thanks

Emac disk utility not detecting ibook hardrive in Firewire mode

ok so i got this ibook g3 (800 mhz version) with no os on it so i hooked it up to my emac via firewire and booted the ibook in the firewire mode. i go into the emac disk utility to format the drive and its not there. i tried booting my emac in fire wire mode and the ibook finds the Emacs drive as a bootable drive. i tried booting the ibook from the drive but all that happed was getting the apple logo with the loading thing below it. i think the ibook is unable of booting since its 10.5.2. so any reason why the disk utility on the emac isnt finding the drive or is it a bad drive?

thanks for the help, i'm pretty sure its a bad drive or a lose connection now, i used my emac restore disk with 10.3 on it and was able to find the disk drive with a disk in it on the ibook in TDM but not the hard drive. guess im going to have to do the 20+ screw surgery on it to put in a new hard drive/look at the connection. i should just save and buy a macbook lol

Disk Utility hangs while initializing internal hard disk in Core Duo iMac

I have a 20" Core Duo iMac. Recently the internal hard drive crashed ("invalid B-tree node size" or something reported when Disk Utility tries and fails to repair it). I have all my data on an external hard disk used as a Time Machine volume, so recovery is not my issue. Initially I picked the write zeroes once security option and chose to erase the internal hard disk. Realizing this would take too long, I clicked on skip, and Disk Utility appeared to hang. I quit and restarted Disk Utility, and chose the "don't erase" security option, but when I go to erase the drive it appears to hang while at the "partitioning" stage and doesn't seem to get any further. There is motion in the progress bar, but no additional progress after about an hour. Disk Utility shows the disk but no volumes underneath it (whereas immediately after the crash, it showed an unmountable volume labeled "disk0s2").
Why would Disk Utility be taking so long and not making any progress? How can I reformat this disk if Disk Utility is not able to? Incidentally, I am running the Disk Utility that comes with OS X 10.4.8, since that is the OS X version on my portable hard drive that I booted from. I also tried using Drive Genius to initialize the hard disk, but it also appeared to hang with no progress.

It is possible the drive has failed, but to be sure start by turning off the computer. Wait five minutes. Then do this:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Be sure to boot from the OS X installer DVD, not a backup clone.

Disk Utility can't mount internal disk but tells me use First Aid?

I have a Western Digital internal 500 GB hard drive that has failed. At first, Disk Utility did tell me it was damaged but still was able to mount it - giving me partial use. I also ran Disk Warrior and was able to salvage some files.
My good news is that Western Digital is replacing it, no problem. However, I have to send this one back and I want to erase the contents. But now Disk Utility cannot mount it at all and give me this cryptic message: "The Disk, WD500, could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and then retry mounting."
My question is, how can I run First Aid when Disk Utility cannot mount it. (I tried booting from my Install disk and running it from there.) S.M.A.R.T status says, failing. All the usual options such as erase, partition, repair are not available, though the drive shows up, in bright red.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
Anyone know of a way for me to simply erase this drive before having to return it to WD.

Hello Noodle-head;
Disk Utility cannot mount it at all and give me this cryptic message: ...
So you're having a HD mounting problem, Hmm.
I have tried selecting both. Neither gives me any options.
If the HD shows up in the Disk Utility App then there's a way to toast it.
Whoa! ... Now if I can just find out what a magnetron magnet is...
Don't bother because the only magnets powerful enough to scrub data from a drive platter are laboratory degaussers or those used by government agencies to wipe bits off media. That's the reason why the Disk Utility App has a '35 Zero-Pass Security Erase' option.
So you have two choices ...
Your first choice is to just send it back and don't worry about it. I doubt that WD will try to access your data unless you want them to. It's very expensive to retrieve data on a dead/dying HD. All they will probably do is verify that the HD is dead/dying & send you a replacement.
Your second choice depends upon your knowledge of Unix, if you have more than one Mac, plus if you have a Windows PC.
Let me know if you want to 'toast it' or not.
Later ...
Buzz

Disk Utility strange behavior

I have 3 drives on my Mac Pro
“HD 2” is declared SMART “failing” with Disk Utility.
It is “VERIFIED” and passed using TechTool Pro 5.
After this I went ahead and rebuilt volume structure with TechTool and did a complete surface scan, both were successfully completed. No bad blocks.
I went again to Disk Utility and again same “failing” messege. All other 2 drives SMART “verified”.
My question Is:
Is my hard drive “HD 2” failing or is it not failing ? If indeed It is not failing why is Disk Utility giving me a diferent messege then Tech Tool ??
How can I fix this ?
Message was edited by: bandu2

Can the drive send Disk Utility one message and a different one to tech tool ??
No. The drive merely provides information to the software that interrogates the SMART data provided by the drive. The software in turn can then choose to report that information however it wishes even if the software reports it incorrectly. But the drive is simply the messenger.
There are potentially lots of differences in how manufacturers design the SMART information reported by their drives. Some report all the SMART data while others select a subset of the information. This is usually determined by how much they will price the drive. Less expensive models usually have less SMART data reported (or none at all.) It's also up to the manufacturers to provide the statistical information that helps determine when a drive is supposedly failing. SMART software then interrogates this information directly from the drive's firmware and then reports something to the user. DU merely reports if the drive is "Verified" or "Failing." Other software may give more extensive reports. However, unless you actually know what the data means then it's pretty useless information. Most of us wouldn't have a clue as to how to interpret the SMART data reported by a drive. And drive manufacturers have no interest in telling us about how SMART is implemented on their products. Consequently most SMART software knows how to interrogate the drive and how to report the data, but not tell you what that data means.

Disk Utility: new disk image takes forever- computer unresponsive-HELP!

Hello,
I'm using Disk Utility to create a "new disk image from folder." The folder is on one Lacie exernal usb drive, and the target location is another Lacie usb drive (150 GB free).
The folder is 55GB. After 3+ hours, the activity window still shows "creating image" though the progress bar has changed from blue to pulsating blue/white stripes and I have the spinning beach ball of death.
Computer is unresponsive and the only way to terminate is to press the pwr button until everything shuts off.
Why is disk utility hanging like this? (or does it take more than 3 hours to create an image 55GB in size?
I've had no issues with previously creating images, though these were all 15GB or smaller.

USB takes forever....the reason I got a Firewire Ext. Drive.
It's soooo much easier to make a clone doing the following.....
I like the free demo of SuperDuper to make clones. It's free, Tiger and Leopard ready and is easy to use. If you buy the full version you can do incremental backups.
You should use Disk Utility to do a Disk Repair, as shown in this link, booted up on your install disk, before you make a clone of it.
I then partition my external disk, in Disk Utility, with a partition that is the same size , actually a tad bigger, as my system disk. I then use SuperDuper to clone my system disk over to that partition.
With a clone on an external FireWire drive (USB drives are not bootable on PPC Macs but are on some Intel Macs) you can bootup on it to do your repairs or just run your Mac anytime you have trouble with your main drive. Be careful, there are a few external FireWire drives out there that are not bootable on PPC Macs. Check the drive's manual to be sure.
 DALE

Disk Utility 10.5.1 on AGP and MacBook Pro intel

I started up Disk Utility on my AGP, it showed "estimated 1 minute", After about 30 minutes the scan was still said "estimated 1 minute" and the blue bar had not moved. So I hit the red button to close/quit and then the window came to life and showed the scan detail and the blue bar started moving. Of course I canceled the quit and the Disk Utility completed the job. Estimated times for repair are not even close on the AGP, Results listed below.
On my MacBook Pro, the Disk Utility was fast and no problems,
Both machines gave the exact warnings and errors. see report:
Repairing permissions for “The System”
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.
Permissions repair complete

Good Morning,
Honestly this is a known issue. Disk Utility is acting really "Odd™" under Leopard when it comes to time and speed.
I'm sure it will be corrected with either a hotfix or in 10.5.2.
Hope this helps! 
David

Disk utility is for different version than OS X

Hi. I updated my OS from Leopard to Snow Leopard. The OS version is now 10.6.8. But when launcing my disk utility I get an error message saying that "the version of Disk Utility cannot be used with current Mac OS X version. You have a Disk Utility version 10.5.8."
Does anyone know why the Disk Utility did not get updated with OS update and how to update it manually?

If you moved Disk Utility from the Applications -> Utilities folder, it might not get updated. The same is true with any prebundled applications, or installed applications. Many are coded only to work from their preinstalled locations. If clutter is an issue, use Aliases, the Finder sidebar, and Dock to make shortcuts to these programs. http://www.charlessoft.com/ Pacifist lets you extract software from installers, and then running the appropriate combo update from* http://www.macmaps.com/jaguarleopard.html over the existing system (10.6.8 combo over a 10.6.8 system will ensure any Apple software is up to date if it is in its prescribed folder.

Why is Disk Utility so fast?

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