Unable to disassemble and repair the external hard drive

Hello,

And backups via Time Machine are no longer working properly

1- Time Machine cannot operate on an ExFAT volume - Only on an extended Mac OS volume

2- Under Mac OS X 10.6, there is no recovery partition (Recovery volume), so trying to boot with cmd and R does not help.

3- On Macs that have a recovery partition, it is intended only for repairing its own internal startup disk. No actions can be performed on an external disk.

Note: When the Disk Utility application on the Mac says it cannot unmount the disk, it is often because a task is incorrectly considered active.

=> However, it is still possible to reformat the disk. Repairing the volume requires unmounting the said volume (the partition on the physical disk). But completely redoing this partition should be possible by following these instructions:

- Launch Disk Utility from Applications / Utilities...

- Select the icon of the physical hard drive - not its existing partition just below and shifted to the right, but the physical hard drive itself.

This icon bears the manufacturer's name and indicates its capacity.

- On the right side of the window, click on the "Partition" tab

- Above the area where it says "Current", replace the word "Current",
(drop-down menu), with 1 partition, or more, if necessary

- At the bottom of the area click on "Options..."

- Choose "GUID Partition Table", and click OK to validate the choice.

- Then back in the main window, choose the format "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" or ExFAT, according to your preference.

- Give a title to this volume

- At the bottom of the window, click "Apply".

- From the menu bar, exit Disk Utility.

Best regards.

Always provide your system configuration in full - exact model of the computer, exact OS version.

Hello,

I’m not familiar with Macs, but since this is an external drive that also works on Windows, I suggest looking at the issue from that side..

-- I think your drive has defects, so start by testing it (on Windows)

I recommend HDtune to test your drive...https://www.commentcamarche.net/telecharger/utilitaires/11625-hd-tune/

Run the "Benchmark" test; it should give you a result like the image on the site, and then run the "Error Scan" test which takes a long time, overnight for example.. there shouldn't be a single red square.. Post both results as images here.

Hello,

To repair an external hard drive, you don't need to go through Recovery but directly from Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities folder)
If you have a Recovery, it's because you've upgraded your Mac to a higher OS, but which one?
In the meantime, read this document for formatting.

--
When it's urgent, it's already too late (Talleyrand)
When everything has failed, read the manual ;)

OK, the disk is "mounted" virtually in the system, so we don't format a mounted disk... It needs to be "unmounted" but due to the problems, that's not possible..

So the action on the disk is only possible (for me) under Windows..

Yes, of course it's still possible to load and install the HDtune program on the main disk of the PC.... And from there, test the external disk...

You should know that HDtune tests the disk intrinsically, based on its characteristics, it does not take into account whether it is partitioned or not, whether it is on MAC, Linux, or Windows, in EXT, FAT or NTFS format or not and it does not modify the contents of the disk..

So you can run the test.

Only afterwards, if the disk shows no faults, you can work on the compatibility issue between MAC and PC.

Alright, thank you very much! I'll take the test tonight, and I'll keep you updated.

Everything you need to know about external hard drives

--
When it’s urgent, it’s already too late (Talleyrand)
When everything has failed, read the manual ;)

Hello,
I ran the external hard drive test with HD Tune on my PC today.
Here are the screenshots:

- BENCHMARK TEST http://static.ccm2.net/www.commentcamarche.net/pictures/cHhJgKQft7oN1RyKUUnpxoktEkBhMmksBcHwB1i5fpWV2z6QaClO4id5sjgqvNAd-test-dd-externe-benchmark.png

- ERROR SCAN TEST
http://static.ccm2.net/www.commentcamarche.net/pictures/RNIIv8WpklKFOTMIG3LeOUZx6RpnjMCPhLeEvjALN4OIkAkxnpCFeYW8VQ0nBRgy-test-dd-externe-error-scan.png

That's it. Well, I admit that now I don't really know what to do...
If you have any ideas, ...Thank you!
Emilie

Re,

As for the screenshots... in fact, the culprit is indeed here, it’s the red squares which indicate blocks of defective sectors on the disk.

These defects cause numerous anomalies and slowdowns, both on MAC and PC..

Depending on the (lost) content of the defective sectors, the failures and consequences manifest differently ... But never for the better...

Reviving these sectors, you shouldn’t count on it... let's even say that their number will increase... The first urgency would be to try to save whatever can still be saved, from this disk to another... before considering throwing this disk away or putting another one in the case...

Here’s the assessment...

So what does this disk contain, do you have any precious files in it..?? are you looking to recover them..?? but in any case, you need to have another disk for the transfer... and don’t run this disk anymore in the meantime, you will worsen the situation..

OK... thanks for the compliments...! Yes, you can find anything in nature..

If you just bought it, the seller got a good deal and you didn't; it's highly likely that this disk had defects at the time of purchase... how old is it..?? Possibly, open the case and take a picture of its ID plate (of the internal disk)

It may also have fallen or undergone shocks of that kind..

You should have done this test at the time of purchase..

If it's not too old, you might be able to return it to the seller..?? Or ask for another one (that works) or a refund...

Based on the defective areas clustered at the top of the disk, it’s probably a disk that had another life before and was in a PC with Windows on it... which was then mounted in an external disk case...
This represents the place where Windows is installed and where there are numerous disk accesses that end up leaving marks and "User-ing" certain areas of the sectors... this is a summary viewed in foggy weather.

Incredible! I followed your tip, Francis, and I managed to create a score. Well, now I definitely don't want to mess things up, so I will follow your instructions step by step... What should I do?

It works! The external hard drive, formatted in ExFAT, works both on PC and Mac. And that's great! Thank you very much, I'll come back if I have a problem!

It's all the better for everyone...

If I am to believe the statements; MAC OS would be capable of reallocating damaged blocks that Windows cannot...??

I admit that I'm a bit surprised because it is the firmware of the disk that reallocates defective sectors, in areas reserved for this purpose by the manufacturer... and when everything is used up, it can no longer perform reallocation... and the disk remains like this, it's the beginning of its death... and that is what HDtune sees, defective sectors that can no longer be reallocated... Whether it's MAC or PC or something else.

I would be interested to see the HDtune test after formatting on MAC..?
And also to know how its new life will be in the next six months..??

I contest nothing, I am looking to learn.

I just tested this app on my internal drive and 2 of my external drives, including my LaCie Quadra which is used for Time Machine.

It tells me that 13 blocks have been reassigned.



I've been using it for Time Machine for quite a few years... I'll have to keep an eye on that :)

--
Always provide your complete system configuration - exact model of computer, exact version of the OS.

In Windows, it's CHKDSK that does this... but the miracle doesn't happen, the BAD sectors still exist... and keeping SMART up to date doesn't fix the sectors either...
The reallocation of defective sectors takes place in hidden tracks reserved by the manufacturer; managed by the internal "BIOS" on the disk's board... And, there is a quota.

https://www.howtoguides.org/Run-ChkDSK-on-Windows-10

A four-pin connector behind the disk allows you to connect a VT100 console, and with elementary commands (like Debug), it allows you to see these values and/or the list and also to perform some command sequences... its action remains etched for "eternity".

On the other hand, the marking of excluded sectors in a file allocation table is not guaranteed, it is not always interpreted by all operating systems, and as soon as you write something else over it or format it again, it's over, the exclusion no longer exists and you fall back into the list of "BAD SECTORS" with all the errors or various blocks that it entails.

In short... if we have serious or important data on this, I think it's a bit like playing with fire... You need to have everything backed up and permanently... because as ancient writings say, we do not know the day or the hour...