How to unlock a locked drive?

Question

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

How to unlock a locked drive?

Partial output from diskutil list:

/dev/disk5

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: FDisk_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk5

1: 0xEE 1.0 TB disk5s1

Partial terminal session:

Macintosh:~ harv$ diskutil mount /dev/disk5

Volume on disk5 failed to mount; if it has a partitioning scheme, use "diskutil mountDisk"

Macintosh:~ harv$ diskutil mountDisk /dev/disk5s1

Volume(s) mounted successfully

Macintosh:~ harv$

Disk Utility can't do anything with this disk.

Drive Genius sees the drive, but says it must

be unlocked before I can initialize it.

How do I unlock it?

Thanks,

Harv

Mac Pro (Early 2008), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 8, 2012 5:15 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,707 points

Jul 8, 2012 5:17 PM in response to harv47

Try:

Fix Permissions for a Locked Drive

Open Terminal in the Utilities folder. Paste the following commands at the prompt. Press RETURN after each. The first command will prompt for you to enter your admin password. It will not be echoed to the screen. After entering your password press RETURN again.

sudo chflags 0 /Volumes/*

sudo chmod a+rx /Volumes/*

killall Finder

An alternative is to download BatChmod and use it to fix the permissions.

Reply

Answer 2

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

Jul 8, 2012 6:41 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks, Kappy. Here's the terminal session:

Last login: Sun Jul 8 20:34:44 on ttys000

Macintosh:~ harv$ sudo chflags 0 /volumes/*

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss

or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your

typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.

Password:

Sorry, try again.

Password:

Sorry, try again.

Password:

I DO know my admin password. What's going on here?

Will this work better if I log in as admin?

Harv

Reply

Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,707 points

Jul 8, 2012 6:42 PM in response to harv47

You should be logged in to your admin account.

Reply

Answer 4

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

Jul 8, 2012 6:58 PM in response to Kappy

That was the next thing I tried. The commands ran without

errors.

Now I can see the disk under FireWire in the System report,

but Disk Utility can't do anything with it. And Drive Genius no

longer sees it.

Any other suggestions?

Reply

Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,707 points

Jul 8, 2012 8:32 PM in response to harv47

What do you mean by "Disk Utility can't do anything with it?" Have you tried repairing the drive or repartitioning the drive?

Reply

Answer 6

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

Jul 8, 2012 10:07 PM in response to Kappy

Attempt to verify disk5s1 gives:

Verifying volume “disk5s1”

Verify volume failed: Unrecognized file system.

(It's grayed out in the disk list.)

Attempt to do anything with its parent drive

shows every choice grayed out.

See screen caps below.

Reply

Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,707 points

Jul 8, 2012 10:23 PM in response to harv47

That drive is configured for Windows, not Macs, which is why DU can't do anything with it. You need to do this:

Drive Preparation

1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) 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 Security 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.

Reply

Answer 8

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

Jul 9, 2012 6:33 AM in response to Kappy

Thanks, Kappy.

Here's the latest situation:

Reply

Answer 9

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Jul 9, 2012 8:05 AM in response to harv47

I'm seeing Partition Map Scheme: Unformatted. It should be GUID Parition Table. You have to go back in and enter that.

See this article from Pondini

http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

Reply

Answer 10

Kappy

Level 10

361,707 points

Jul 9, 2012 11:46 AM in response to harv47

Did you repartition the drive per Step 3? If so and you still are having this issue then I would contact Newer Tech's support to see if they have a solution.

Reply

Answer 11

harv47 Author

Level 1

27 points

Jul 10, 2012 8:26 AM in response to Kappy

Here's the current situation. Repeated attempts to erase and re-partition have left

the drive as shown here.

Note the Write Status is now Read/Write, and the Format is now Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

So we're making progress.

However, attempting to erase the drive gives this error:

It's repeatable. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Harv

Reply

Answer 12

WZZZ

Level 6

13,220 points

Jul 10, 2012 9:16 AM in response to harv47

That error might mean the drive itself or the chipset in the enclosure is failing or failed. (Partition Map Scheme is still showing up as Unformatted.)

Reply