Warning! You must back up all of your data before reformatting a hard drive because the formatting process deletes all data.
Verify Your Process
You should first verify that you are running Disk First Aid correctly. You cannot repair the boot volume (the startup disk) with Disk First Aid. In other words, if you are started up from your hard drive, Disk First Aid cannot repair the problems with the hard drive until you restart your Macintosh computer from another startup disk. For Disk First Aid to be able to repair a volume, make sure you are starting up from any one of the following disks:
- The Disk Tools floppy disk which came with your computer.
- A bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM which contains your current system software (correct System Enabler) and utility programs.
- Any other bootable disk (floppy or hard) from which you can start up your computer and run Disk First Aid.
Disk First Aid also cannot repair a disk on which it is located (basically, it cannot repair itself), or any disk on which File Sharing is active.
Run Disk First Aid
1. Start up from the Disk Tools disk or CD-ROM.
2. Open the Disk Tools disk or the Apple Macintosh CD. Apple Macintosh CD users should open the Utilities Folder.
3. Double-click the Disk First Aid icon. Select the main hard drive's icon at the top of the Disk First Aid window.
4. Click Verify. Disk First Aid checks your hard disk for any potential problems. If it finds a problem, click Repair. It attempts to fix the problem.
5. When you are finished verifying the hard disk, choose Quit from the File menu to return to the desktop. If you get a message that states that Disk First Aid cannot repair the problems with your hard drive, you should reformat it.
Reformatting Using Apple HD SC Setup
1. Locate the Apple HD SC Setup application icon on the Disk Tools disk or CD-ROM and open it.
2. If the "volume name" or the SCSI ID number shown does not belong to the hard disk you want to initialize, click the Drive button until the hard disk you want to initialize is the selected hard disk. The internal hard drive should be ID 0. Remember, you cannot initialize your current startup disk or the disk on which the Apple HD SC Setup program is located.
3. When the SCSI ID number (and name, if any) of the hard disk you want to initialize is shown, click the Initialize button. A dialog appears in which you must confirm or cancel your decision to erase all the data on the drive.
4. Click the Init button to initialize the hard disk. A message displays to update you on the initialization process. If a message reports that initialization failed, begin the process again.
5. In the dialog box that appears asking you to name the disk, type in the name you want and click OK.
6. Click Quit when the message reports that initialization was successful.
7. If initialization fails, you should have your hard drive checked by an authorized Apple Service Technician.
Non-Apple Hard Drives
If you have a non-Apple hard drive, you will get a message that says, "Unable to find a suitable SCSI drive". The use of Apple HD SC Setup is supported for Apple hard disk drives only. HD SC Setup does not update the driver software on or reformat non-Apple drives. If you are using a non-Apple hard disk drive, you must use third party formatting software to reformat the drive. If you have a question about a specific third-party hard disk or driver version, contact the vendor.
It is important to note that the hard disk drives sold by Apple in some Macintosh computers have different firmware than the drives sold by various third-party vendors, even though the manufacturer of the mechanisms may be the same.
This firmware contains information that lets HD SC Setup determine the type and size of the drive it is reading. If HD SC Setup does not understand the information in the firmware of a third-party drive, it will not access the drive in any way.
CAUTION: A/UX USERS
If you purchased a hard disk with the A/UX operating system installed on it, DO NOT initialize that disk; doing so erases A/UX. Refer to the instructions that came with the A/UX operating system before you proceed.
This article was published in the "Information Alley":
Volume II, Issue 9, Page 10