Partition falied Input/Output Error

This is one more voice in the wilderness documenting an identical problem on my computer. I have no Tiger install CD so I am stuck until Apple comes up with a resolution I guess.

i have same problem with my internal disk Hitachi ATA for PowerBook g4 12" booting from 10.5 Install DVD.

timerino

To try to solve this problem, I bought a new FireWire hard drive from dabs.com. It only cost me 20 quid, and works like a dream. Hard drive partitioned in Leopard, and Time Machine backups managed for each Mac on one partition each. The only difference I can pinpoint is that the new hard drive enclosure required me to set the HDD into Master Mode before inserting it into the enclosure. I noticed that the old one was set to slave mode. Could this be relevant?

I just did this and it worked just fine, ending three weeks of not being able to use my drive. Since I already own Parallels and Windows XP, it was only a matter of figuring out how to attach the drive in Parallels and format the drive in Windows. After that I was able to open up the drive in Disk Utility and reformat it, changing it from NTFS to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Presumably I likewise could have hooked up the drive to a Windows machine and done the same thing.

For those who have the option of hooking up their drive to another computer, or have Parallels, this is a fine workaround. The fact that this workaround solves the problem proves that this is a Mac OS 10.5 problem, and not a hardware problem. Here's hoping Apple will solve this in 10.5.1.

This worked for me also. Got a budget RAID 1 external hard drive (2 Western Digital 500GB drives inside the case). Couldn't format it in any way (tried all the different possibilities - GUID, Apple Partition, Master Boot Record...) on Leopard. Pulled out the Tiger Install DVD, it worked. Now using it for my Time Machine backup disk. The bad news is since Tiger's DVD doesn't have an option to partition with a GUID, I can't boot from the RAID drive.

If anyone has trouble making this work with the Tiger DVD, it may be an Intel/PPC thing. I got my formatting to work on a PPC running the Tiger DVD.

Some problem here with Bigger disk 1Tb but I've resolved downloading LaCieUpdateTool_1.4.2 from LaCie website, after Firmware Upgrade all Ok, without errors. Hope this help.

I've had this problem twice now. First time had to download MacDrive 7 on windows machine. Then format it there. This process works. MacDrive is trial for 5 days only. Then later I wanted to make that drive 2 partitions. Can't do on Leopard on Intel Mini so back to windows and MacDrive. Works there. This is bug either in Leopard or Intel Mini hardware I suspect. Did not try the Tiger disk that came with my Mini. Does it have a Disk Utility on it that works under Leapard?

Hi Guys

I have the exact same problem, with my new macbook pro and an existing thecus N2050 external drive configured as a mirror. It worked fine on xp and i was able to mount and copy data over to the mac no problem.
Now its time to repartition for use as a time machine backup device and bam, no ability partition.. seems happy to erase for hours with zeros ok, so at some level connectivity is ok.

Not particularly impressed with this ;-(

I would be inclined to say that the bug is in Leopard. Using a Mac Pro here and I too have the same issue with a new Duo Pro 1TB drive from Simpletech. Input/output errors when I try to format. Used macdrive 7 on an old windows machine and was able to format properly. Though now every time I reconnect to the mac pro it tells me the drive is not initialized. I run the Initialize and all the previous data does appear as before. Kind of scary, never sure if the initialize is going to work. I'm returning the drive until Apple can provide us with a fix.

I had the same problem with a Iomega 160G USB 2.0 hard drive, then I tried using MacDrive 7 and it now works like a charm. Only problem is, you need a PC to make your hard drive work like you'd expect it to. Hopefully Apple will fix it soon.

Folks,

I had the same issue. I'm running 10.5.1 and received a new backup disk (USB 2.0) just for Time Machine Backups. I plugged the drive in and time machine recognized it but said that it needed to format it first. I waited for about 10 minutes and it did nothing. I had to force quit time machine and then tried partitioning via the Disk Utility. After 5 unsuccessful attempts and getting the Input/Output error I was fed up. I went back to my Tiger Install Disk and booted the machine from that. Within the Tiger Boot Utility, I used the Tiger Disk Utility to format my new USB drive. It formatted in 30 seconds. Now life's great again and I am using it for Time Machine.

Definitely a bug in 10.5.1.

Hope this helps!

To whom it shall concern (Apple maybe?):

I purchased a 1TB SimpleTech Duo Pro drive, and was completely unable to use Disk Utility to format it (I got the same "input/output error" everyone has been on about).

It is quite interesting that such an obvious bug would have gotten past all of the Apple regression testers, as well as the external Apple developers that are testing the OS with their own applications.

However, I am optimistic that Apple will have this fixed post haste, just in time for the MacWorldExpo before anyone embarrasses Apple at the show.

Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of having an Intel version of Tiger, so I am stuck for now.

Stuart

I have two external harddrives. Both are quite new.
- 160 GB WD: formats like a charm.
- 80 GB Fujitsu Siemens: gives "input/output error".

I've tried formatting the fujitsu-drive on both my powerbook g4 ppc and on a new imac intel, both running 10.5.1 and both gives the same error with that drive.

Formatting it on windows 2000 however, works like a charm. I've also formatted it to HFS+ using MacDrive 6, but MacDrive6 can't make it case-sensitive. This seems to be a bug in Disc Utility on Leopard. It's disappointing that it hasn't been fixed yet.

Dear Sir:

I am not a licensee of Mac Drive 6, but spoke with Apple Care this weekend, and they were willing to assist me in getting a Tiger DVD such that I could attempt that as a potential resolution, or to assist me in formatting the drive by dropping it off at an Apple facility to be formatted.

V/R,

Stuart

Dear Sir:

One additional notation: I just noticed that MacDrive 7 (and I believe as well MacDrive 6) is available in a fully functional trial version. Thus, when I have time later I will attempt this as a manner to become functional with my drive.


V/R,

Stuart