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Patition Failed: Input/output error

S

spellflower

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 7, 2005
236
16
That's what I got when I tried to partition my new WD MacBook HD.

I installed the drive, started up with the OSX Install Disc, and opened Disk Utility, selected Partition, 1 partition, and Mac OS Extended, then clicked "Partition," but no dice.

Does this mean that there's something wrong with the new drive?

I am installing the drive because my computer fell on the floor, and the old drive appeared dead. I took it to the Genius bar, and they successfully booted it using an external.

Thanks!
 
An I/O error usually indicates a bad drive or failing controller/cable. You should try returning the drive for a replacement.
 
I installed the drive in my girlfriend's MacBook, and tried to reformat it, but my install disc wouldn't work.

The disc in question is a Tiger disc (one of two).*

The Tiger disc didn't work, so I tried a Snow Leopard Disc.

That worked like a charm. I reformatted and installed Snow Leopard, and my girlfriend's computer is now running Snow leopard off of the new HD.

I'm writing this on my MacBook, which is using her HD, thus, hopefully, proving that the HD was the only thing that was broken in the fall.

Next, I'm going to switch the HD's back and see if they both work.

Can anyone explain what's going on?

Oh, one more thing:
The new drive is a 500GB, but when I was using my Tiger disc and it wouldn't format, it read it in TB. It read as 500GB on my GF's machine w/ the Snow Leopard disc, though.

*I was using a Tiger disc because my MacBook shipped just after Leopard was released, and my Leopard disc requires that Tiger be installed.
 
Wow! Nothing is ever simple!

Well, here I am, many hours later, and my MacBook seems to be doing just fine with the new HD, running Snow Leopard.

I'm guessing that the Tiger Install Disc was so old that it couldn't handle the new high capacity high speed drive (it's a WD Black).

I bet it would have worked if I just put the Snow Leopard disc in my machine, but I didn't think of it until the drive was installed in my GF's.

I'm just glad I figured that out before I sent the drive back!

Ok, now to bed!
 
Tiger can handle the same size drives as Snow Leopard. My guess, your disc was scratched.
 
Ok, that's possible, it has been kicking around since 2006. But I was able to startup from it when the new drive was in my machine- just not reformat. My GF's computer wouldn't even start off of the disc.

Could an Input/Output error have anything to do with the disc being scratched?

I'm running off of Snow Leopard right now, but in order to restore from my backup, I will need to install Leopard, and the only copy I have requires that I use the Tiger disc first.

I guess I should have made a copy of the disc before. Hopefully I'll be able to make a good copy now.
 
You can use Snow Leopard's Time Machine to restore from a Leopard Time Machine's backup.
 
Unfortunately, I know this from experience.

Last year, my HD failed and I replaced it. I decided to go ahead and upgrade to Snow Leopard, but when I did, I couldn't get my Time Machine Backup to work. It was very frustrating, but I finally found out that I could not install a Leopard backup onto a machine running Snow Leopard. I had to reinstall Tiger, then Leopard, then the backup.

After that I was sick of installing, and never ended up installing Snow Leopard, so now I'm back in the same place.
 
I just tried to install Tiger again.

When it showed possible drives to install on, the box was again blank, so I opened Disk Utility, and checked it out.

Again, it said that the drive was 3.6 TB when I know it's only 500 GB. Otherwise, it has the info correct.

Since the drive is already running Snow Leopard successfully, I'm pretty sure it's not broken.

Do I need to reformat it to get the install disc to recognize it as a target?

I stopped short of doing that because I don't want to end up in the same place I was when I started this thread. At least now I have a functioning machine, rather than a half formatted one.

But I would like to get my Time Machine backup installed.

I guess I'll try to do that now without installing Leopard, but like I said above, that didn't work last time.

I would be thrilled if someone could shed some light on what's going on here!
 
I've seen drives that read that size before. They always fail within a few months. My guess, the controller board is on its way out.
 
Input/output error

Hi Intell

Can I just clarify your last point, I have the input/output error while trying to partition a new drive and the size is also reading 3.64TB. Is that a problem with the hard drive (ie should I be sending it back?) or is the control board that you refer to a different component entirely.

Thanks for your advice.
 
The controller board in which I was referring to is the circuit board on the hard drive. You should send the drive back.
 
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