10-15-2008, 10:16 AM

A few months ago I bought an external drive (WD 5000AAV External Media) and formatted it using the Mac file system (Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S2167)). Now it crashed, and I think what got corrupted is the main directory structure.

I tried DiskWarrior, but that program crashes soon after it starts repairing the drive.

As a next step to figure out what can be done, I would simply like to read every sector on the drive - irrespective of file system - to see if it is physically damaged. Anyone any idea how to do that?

Or other suggestions on how to repair the disk (with data recovery)?

10-15-2008, 02:25 PM

If Disk Warrior crashes, then I'd say your WD drive is irreparably damaged and you need to consider data recovery.

However, Techtool (I think it is) has - or had - a system whereby it 'masks' damaged sectors by overwriting them and then making them unusable. You lose any data on those sectors, but can continue to use undamaged ones. Whether it would do that for the directory structure is another matter. This function may not be available for OS X but I'd suggest you research it.

10-15-2008, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Jos Elkink

A few months ago I bought an external drive (WD 5000AAV External Media) and formatted it using the Mac file system (Mac OS X 10.4.11 (8S2167)). Now it crashed, and I think what got corrupted is the main directory structure.

I tried DiskWarrior, but that program crashes soon after it starts repairing the drive.

As a next step to figure out what can be done, I would simply like to read every sector on the drive - irrespective of file system - to see if it is physically damaged. Anyone any idea how to do that?

Or other suggestions on how to repair the disk (with data recovery)?

The best tool to diagnose and possibly repair the drive is from Western Digital themselves. Although it can't recover your data, it will at least tell you if the drive has bad sectors and whether or not it can be repaired.

If it turns out the drive is defective, the software tool will say so and give a code. The code is what the tech support staff at WD will ask for in order to issue a RMA and replace the drive. (If it's still under warranty)

Go to the WD web site and download their latest diagnostic tools for your drive. The tools are free.

Data recovery is another matter. If the drive has sustained damage and can not be repaired, software recovery of data is almost impossible. Your only recourse is to use a professional data recovery service such as "On Track" but that can be very expensive.

Regards.