DU Can't Reinitialize/Reformat External Drive
in [Mac Systems]
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From: aRKay on 15 Jul 2010 20:42 In article <C864A8C1.60F82%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>, Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote: > One of my FW externals (used for SD! clone backups) suddenly began to behave > badly: Wouldn't always mount and/or to dismount. Finally, SD! began to fail > making clone backups: would go through the routine, but not complete the > backup, issuing various error messages. The SD! developer suggested shutting > down the Mac, powering down the drive, and rebooting. That seemed to work > for a while. But the condition continued to recur, and finally, I could no > longer use the drive for backups, the incidence of refusing to > mount/dismount became the norm, and the volume itself is inaccessible. I was having the same problems with SuperDuper with a new WD 500 GB hard drive in an external USB 2.0 drive and the same issue with an older Seagate 750 GB drive. The problems were solved by returning the WD for a Hitachi 500 GB drive. It worked so good I purchased another one to replace the flakey Seagate drive. It is interesting the WD hard drive that came in my iMac crapped out and Apple Care replaced it with a Hitachi drive. I now have all Hitachi drives and have no issues with the Time Machine or SuperDuper.
From: John Albert on 15 Jul 2010 21:22 RE: "I decided to reformat/reinitialize the drive. However, my repeated attempts to do so fail: After about 10 seconds of churning after I click the �partition� button, DU gives up and issues the error message: �Partition failed with the error: Could not unmount disk.�" I'm not sure my comments will be of any use or not, but anyway... When you attempted to re-initialize the drive, was it already "mounted on the desktop"? And, from that point, you opened Disk Utility and tried to do it? If that's correct, have you tried it another way: - Boot computer, attach Firewire drive, let it mount on desktop. - Drag the icon for the Firewire drive to the trash, let it UNmount (and the icon disappears from the desktop) - NOW open Disk Utility. You should see the presence of the drive in Disk Utility, but it won't be "mounted up" yet. You could at this point select the drive and click the "mount" button, but you DON'T want to do that. Leave it UNmounted. - Click once on the topmost icon for the external drive (this is the physical disk, not the volumes that are currently on it, which are listed just below). - Can you perform the desired operations on it now? - John
From: John Varela on 15 Jul 2010 21:28 On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:47:12 UTC, Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote: > After performing normal troubleshooting, these symptoms may indicate that an > SMC reset may be necessary: > > Fans > The computer's fans speed up quickly and remain at high speed. > The computer's fans run at high speed although the computer is not > experiencing heavy usage and is properly ventilated. > > Lights > The keyboard backlight appears to behave incorrectly (on Mac computers that > have this feature). > The Status Indicator Light (SIL) appears to behave incorrectly (on Mac > computers that have an SIL). > Battery indicator lights, if present, appear to behave incorrectly (on > portables that use non-removable batteries). > The display backlight doesn't respond correctly to ambient light changes on > Mac computers that have this feature. > > Power > The computer doesn't respond to the power button when pressed. > A portable Mac doesn't appear to respond properly when you close or open the > lid. > The computer sleeps or shuts down unexpectedly. > The battery does not appear to be charging properly. > The MagSafe power adaptor LED doesn't appear to indicate the correct > activity. > > System Performance > The computer is running unusually slowly although it is not experiencing > abnormally high CPU utilization. > > Video > A computer that supports target display mode does not switch into or out of > target display mode as expected. > A computer that supports target display mode switches into or out of target > display mode at unexpected times. Wow. A lot of the above corresponds to the symptoms I described in the csms thread "G5: Slow Boot,; Hangs when sleeping". I'll certainly bear that in mind if the symptoms recur. -- John Varela
From: Nick Naym on 15 Jul 2010 22:48 In article arkay-4778D8.19423715072010(a)5ad64b5e.bb.sky.com, aRKay at arkay(a)nospam.qsl.net wrote on 7/15/10 8:42 PM: > In article <C864A8C1.60F82%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>, > Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote: > >> One of my FW externals (used for SD! clone backups) suddenly began to behave >> badly: Wouldn't always mount and/or to dismount. Finally, SD! began to fail >> making clone backups: would go through the routine, but not complete the >> backup, issuing various error messages. The SD! developer suggested shutting >> down the Mac, powering down the drive, and rebooting. That seemed to work >> for a while. But the condition continued to recur, and finally, I could no >> longer use the drive for backups, the incidence of refusing to >> mount/dismount became the norm, and the volume itself is inaccessible. > > I was having the same problems with SuperDuper with a new WD 500 GB hard > drive in an external USB 2.0 drive and the same issue with an older > Seagate 750 GB drive. The problems were solved by returning the WD for a > Hitachi 500 GB drive. It worked so good I purchased another one to > replace the flakey Seagate drive. > > It is interesting the WD hard drive that came in my iMac crapped out and > Apple Care replaced it with a Hitachi drive. I now have all Hitachi > drives and have no issues with the Time Machine or SuperDuper. I would need to return the drive under warranty, and the idea of sending all of my personal data on a truck across the country to strangers doesn't sit well with me. -- iMac (27", 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD) � OS X (10.6.3)
From: Mike Rosenberg on 16 Jul 2010 09:23 aRKay <arkay(a)nospam.qsl.net> wrote: > I was having the same problems with SuperDuper with a new WD 500 GB hard > drive in an external USB 2.0 drive and the same issue with an older > Seagate 750 GB drive. The problems were solved by returning the WD for a > Hitachi 500 GB drive. It worked so good I purchased another one to > replace the flakey Seagate drive. I've seen so many people having problems with WD external drives that I advise my clients to steer clear of that brand. I haven't noticed their internal drives crapping out sooner than other brands, though. -- My latest dance routines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkxGQmTvctc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTajUBrlA6c
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