Installing new HD says "Partition Failed Input/Output Error".

Do not use WD Blue drives. They are mostly not compatible. You can use WD Black. But a better choice would be a Seagate or Hitachi drive. Here's a good choice 250GB 2.5" Seagate Momentus 5400.6 5400RPM 8MB SATA 9.5mm Notebook Drive or 320GB 2.5" Seagate Momentus 5400.6 5400RPM 8MB SATA Notebook Drive.

In order to possible get the drive you have to work you will need to do this (and for all new drives:)

Drive Preparation and Installation

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 Utilities menu.

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. 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.

7. After formatting is done quit DU and return to the installer. Install OS X.

The installer disc will have the version of OS X it installs on the label of the DVD. Exactly what computer model do you have? Do you know what OS X version was installed on your old drive.

You've provided no information helpful to getting your problem resolved. If you have using a MacBook, then it is an Intel model. It came with a special version of Tiger. But failing to recognize the drive correctly means a number of things. Importantly, it means the drive is jumpered or configured to work on a newer model than yours. The drive must be reconfigured to work in your computer. This may or may not be possible with a WD Blue drive.

You can only upgrade the OS by purchasing a newer DVD - Leopard, Snow Leopard, or Lion. And, your computer must meet the system requirements of each:

Leopard System requirements

You must have a Macintosh computer with:

• an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor
• a DVD drive >built-in FireWire
• at least 512 MB of RAM (additional RAM is recommended for development purposes)
• a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
• at least 9 GB of disk space available, or 12 GB of disk space if you install the developer tools

Snow Leopard General requirements

• Mac computer with an Intel processor
• 1GB of memory
• 5GB of available disk space
• DVD drive for installation
• Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
• Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.

Lion System Requirements

• Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
• 2GB of memory
• OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
• 7GB of available space
• Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.

Software won't change anything. You are dealing with hardware.

I'm having the same problem with my new HD (WD 500G) with installer disc that reads Mac OS X Disc 1. Did you ever find a solution to your problem?

Kappy! (Or others, of course...)
Can I request a bit of follow up? (If recollectionn serves correctly, you were in on my last question about my HD dying -- thanks for all your help!)

So, yes, my HD died. I'm still sporting the iMac 7,1 -- 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 24" -- just yanked it last night and installed a 500gb Seagate (ST3500312CS) -- can't imagine the possibility that I missed anything in the installation process -- not particularly rocket science...

I have same problem detailed here when I use my original OS Install Discs which are installing OS 10.4.10 (Tiger?). I have the Snow Leopard Upgrade disc for 10.6.3 but I don't think that works as a boot disc.

Is there something I need to do to the HD to jump it?
Do I need to get newer install discs?
Something else entirely?

Hi, in case it is of help to anyone else out there, with the help of this forum I've just successfully replaced the hard drives on two 2006 White MacBooks used by my children.

For the 1st White MacBook, I bought a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400 RPM SATA Mobile Internal Hard Drive and attempted to install the original discs (OS X Tiger 10.4.6). This produced the error message "Partition Failed Input/Output Error" which brought me to this forum. I followed Kappy's really helpful directions above for Drive Preparation & Installation but still got the same error message. I then switched to a Snow Leopard install disc, again followed Kappy's directions and this worked pefectly.

For the 2nd White MacBook, I followed Kappy's directions including buying a 320GB 2.5" Seagate Momentus 5400.6 5400RPM 8MB SATA Notebook Drive and this worked first time with a Snow Leopard install disc.

I've a separate copyof iLife 09 which I then put onto both MacBooks without any problem.

Many thanks Kappy!

Hi Rigger Spanner,

I just want to say thank you SO much for taking the time to post that (last year!) I had exactly the same problem today and your solution worked. I thought I needed to use the old install discs first too, and was getting this error. Working from the Snow Leopard disc killed my panic, and I'm zeroing the new drive now. Won't post again unless something comes up- I just want to say thank you!!

Nicole