Cant access HDD to format

I have a hardrive of unknown origin or history that I would like to use as a back up or slave.The problem is that I cant access it in order to format.
The unit is a Samsung 10 GB drive.I have run the Samsung diagnostic which identifies it and reports that it is healthy.We have tried different configurations(slave,master,etc.) and varied OS (Windows.Linux) but still cant read it and allow formating.
I vaguely remember a discussion about the difficulties of reformating a drive if it had been partitioned by particuliar programs.Is anyone familiar with this problem and is there a work around available?Thanxz in advance.

 

Hi Zethz,

If the Samsung utilities "see" it OK, then you may have to use those to partition and format it. It could have a Dynamic Drive Overlay that may make it "invisible " to ordinary utilities.

Last time I looked Samsung had several utilities for different models. Some utilities only report on the health of the disk, others partition and format (you will probably need to remove the current partition/s).

Some info if you are interested:
http://www.pcguide.com/topic.html

Matt
PS to be on the safe side, you may want to remove your current HDD and set the Samsung as "Primary master" until you get it partitioned and formatted, so you don't risk losing data on your current drive.

 

Fdisk

you need to run fdisk before you can format a new drive. every drive must have at least 1 partition.

 

Thanks Matt,will see if Samsung has additional utilities to access HDD.
Sparrow........At the expense of being called a smart butt..you cant fdisk what you cant read

 

Kinda ..... Maybe ..... but .....

I've run into a few problem drives that seem to defy normal fdisking. Usually, slaving them (jumpered as slave, not CS) to another computer will permit one to FDISK and delete dos and non-dos partitions, but my failsafe has always been to use Partition Magic which will clear about anything, including some of those almost impossible to purge RAID thing-a ma-jiggies, drive overlays or any kind of drive compression.

 

zethz, I don't see where you have ever said you tried to fdisk the drive. Have you? If so, did fdisk recognize the drive? If not, you'll need to check the bios settings. If no joy there you're left with going for the manufacturers install software or using some 3rd party tool to install the drive.

Partition Magic or Disk Manager are the good ones.

 

Yes, I usually try Partition Magic and one time when I was having trouble, ran PM. Before it loaded it said it found a damaged "Partition Magic" partition and repaired it. Sometimes though I have found the only thing that will see/read the drive is the manufacturers utilities. Also, I have had the manufacturers utilities "see" the drive when the BIOS couldn't (sorry Rockster, I've talked about these in other threads, probably boring for you , may help someone though).

If the drive manufacturers utilities can't read the drive, after different configurations (master, slave, cable select), I will formally pronounce it "dead"

I have (still) not tried using "fdisk /mbr ", but a low-level (zero) format is a sure way to clear the settings (rubbish?) in the Master Boot Record.

Matt

 

Matt -
Not boring me at all - no apologies ever needed. I'll take all the wisdom I can get. Usually FDisk will get em all, but ........ we've all run into some exceptions along the way. And FDISK /MBR is usually a must on problematic drives for starters.

 

Yes.......Had already tried to fdisk,we also used the procedure mentioned by Rockster ( jumpered as slave) on a seperate machine.My next move will be to check with Samsung for utility and if that doesnt work out will see what Partition Magic can do.
Its not imperative for me to ressurect this drive, just taking it on as a challenge and learning experience.Would be kind of nice to have a clean spare drive lying around though
Want to thank for all the positive input so far.

 

Better late???

I know it's late, but in problems like this I've found that if linux installs I can go back and fdisk the drive with no problem. If not, there's a hardware problem.

 

Hey

If you have tried to fdisk the drive, if so then find out the make and model of the mainboard and look for an apropriate BIOS update that will recognise your disk drive. Also changing the cable may help, sometimes they go a little duff.


John