[jszrules]

Running 10.9.4 on a 2012 MBP 15''. I'm trying to erase one of two partitions on a 1 TB MyPassport Studio (connected via USB) using Disk Utility. I keep receiving the error: "Volume erase failed with the error: POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Operation not permitted". This partition and the entire disk are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Verify Permissions reveals everything is OK. Any thoughts on what is causing this?

[P]

IIRC you have to delete partitions as root, which in effect means that you have to run Disk Utility as admin and then authenticate. Do you get an authentication prompt?

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by P 

IIRC you have to delete partitions as root, which in effect means that you have to run Disk Utility as admin and then authenticate. Do you get an authentication prompt?

Thanks P. I am the admin, and I never received an authentication prompt.

[Spheric Harlot]

Are you trying to erase the WD tool partition? Use WD's own management software for that (but make sure to use the latest version; older ones screwed up your drive when run under Mavericks!).

[P]

Ah yes, that could be it. The WD tool partition is not actually on the HDD, it is in the flash storage meant for firmware.

[jszrules]

Thanks, I'm not quite sure what is meant by WD tool partition? The partition whose data I am trying to erase is a 600 GB partition that I created a year ago. When I open then WD Drive Utilities application, it appears I only have the option to erase the entire drive, not one partition.

[ghporter]

If you only have one partition on the drive, why NOT erase the whole drive?

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

If you only have one partition on the drive, why NOT erase the whole drive?

As stated in the first post, there are two partitions. I only want to erase one of them. Thanks

[akent35]

Is there a way you can copy the contents of partition you do not want to erase to another drive, and then erase the entire disk? That might be your only option if the WD "software" is getting in the way.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by jszrules 

As stated in the first post, there are two partitions. I only want to erase one of them. Thanks

Appologies. I misunderstood (or didn't read thoroughly enough).

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by akent35 

Is there a way you can copy the contents of partition you do not want to erase to another drive, and then erase the entire disk? That might be your only option if the WD "software" is getting in the way.

Yeah, I can probably do that. Just wanted to see if there's a way to erase one partition on a multi-partition WD external drive before I head down that route. I guess not! Thanks

[akent35]

Originally Posted by jszrules 

Yeah, I can probably do that. Just wanted to see if there's a way to erase one partition on a multi-partition WD external drive before I head down that route. I guess not! Thanks

I actually tried a google search regarding your issue, but did not come up with anything that could help. Seems so strange that a piece of "hidden" software is preventing you from doing this. Never had such an issue with the Seagate drives I have always used.

Couple of questions:

1. How old is the external drive?

2. While Disk Utility is good for looking at disks, sometimes a more "robust" tool like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro is better. Do you have either of those? (By the way, Micromat, the company that makes Tech Tool Pro, is having a 25th anniversary sale, and you can get Tech Tool Pro for only $25. But, that deal ends in 1 day, on July 25th. Here is a link that can help you with that:

www.micromat.com

I depend upon Tech Tool Pro, and I strongly recommend it.)

3. Does Disk Utility show the other partition to be OK?

After you wipe off the drive and re-partition it, place a couple of files on each partition, and then try to erase one (or both, separately) of the partitions again. Would be interesting to see if you get the same error message.

Good luck!

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by akent35 

I actually tried a google search regarding your issue, but did not come up with anything that could help. Seems so strange that a piece of "hidden" software is preventing you from doing this. Never had such an issue with the Seagate drives I have always used.

Couple of questions:

1. How old is the external drive?

2. While Disk Utility is good for looking at disks, sometimes a more "robust" tool like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro is better. Do you have either of those? (By the way, Micromat, the company that makes Tech Tool Pro, is having a 25th anniversary sale, and you can get Tech Tool Pro for only $25. But, that deal ends in 1 day, on July 25th. Here is a link that can help you with that:

Micromat, Inc. - Leaders in Diagnostic Maintenance and Repair for Mac

I depend upon Tech Tool Pro, and I strongly recommend it.)

3. Does Disk Utility show the other partition to be OK?

After you wipe off the drive and re-partition it, place a couple of files on each partition, and then try to erase one (or both, separately) of the partitions again. Would be interesting to see if you get the same error message.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot for trying to research. I have also tried Googling with no success.

The drive is about 1.5 years old, however I almost never plug it in and run it. I just use it for storage/manual backups in case of a crazy emergency where both my Mac and Time Machine both happen to fail/be stolen simultaneously.

Thanks for the tip on Tech Tool Pro...I will look into it.

The other partition does look fine on Disk Utility.

[reader50]

Does your external have any other ports besides USB? This sounds like an enclosure firmware bug - something stupid that shouldn't happen. If the drive has Firewire or eSata ports, see if you can do the erase via one of those. Perhaps by a friends Mac if you lack those ports.

If you have another enclosure handy, you could also swap the drive out of the first enclosure. Or plug the drive in directly if you have a Mac Pro / PowerMac handy with internal bays.

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Does your external have any other ports besides USB? This sounds like an enclosure firmware bug - something stupid that shouldn't happen. If the drive has Firewire or eSata ports, see if you can do the erase via one of those. Perhaps by a friends Mac if you lack those ports.

If you have another enclosure handy, you could also swap the drive out of the first enclosure. Or plug the drive in directly if you have a Mac Pro / PowerMac handy with internal bays.

Thanks for that suggestion. Believe it or not, I did consider that. The drive has two FW800 ports in addition to the USB port. So I tried to use my FW800-to-Thunderbolt adapter, but received the same error message result as USB. Keep in mind, I can read the partition just fine. Just can't seem to erase it.

[akent35]

That USB, Firewire 800 "business" is what I also went through about 3 months ago, when my external 500 gig drive (Seagate mechanism) went kaput. Like you, the ports were fine. I replaced the drive with a 1 TB Seagate 7200 rpm drive, and things are good.

One other thing that could be helpful is that Tech Tool is somewhat easier to use than Disk Warrior in terms of analyzing/repairing your boot drive. During Tech Tool Pro's installation, you have the choice of installing an eDrive on a small partition (made by Tech Tool Pro) on your boot drive. Then, you can boot from that partition and repair your internal (boot) drive. For any external drive, however, you can just run Tech Tool directly from your boot drive.

[P]

Originally Posted by jszrules 

Thanks, I'm not quite sure what is meant by WD tool partition? The partition whose data I am trying to erase is a 600 GB partition that I created a year ago. When I open then WD Drive Utilities application, it appears I only have the option to erase the entire drive, not one partition.

WD Drive Utilities? Have you tried using the included Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities? If so, what does that application say when you try?

[P]

Originally Posted by akent35 

2. While Disk Utility is good for looking at disks, sometimes a more "robust" tool like Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro is better.

Tech Tool Pro and Disk Warrior are fine programs, but when you're trying to do something that Disk Utility does as well - like the partition commands we're talking about here - those programs just call the same tool that Disk Utility does. There is absolutely no difference between doing it from Disk Utility or doing it from one of those.

[jszrules]

Originally Posted by P 

WD Drive Utilities? Have you tried using the included Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities? If so, what does that application say when you try?

I haven't tried using any other software than Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility in order to erase the partition. I get the error when I click Erase... The WD Utilities application doesn't even seem to have an option to erase a single partition

[P]

Hm. Are you comfortable in the terminal? Sometimes the terminal application gives better error messages, but one can easily delete the wrong partition as well, so it's a bit dangerous.

The command is "diskutil". Type "diskutil list" to see your partitions with the identifier at the end of each line, and then "diskutil info id", with id replaced by the identifier for the drive you want information on.

Only if you feel comfortable... The command to delete a partition here is "eraseVolume", and the trick is that you can elevate your privileges by typing "sudo" first (so "sudo diskutil ereaseVolume id") followed by your password. PLEASE double check that you have good backups before doing this, though - if you type the wrong id, you delete the wrong partition.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by P 

Tech Tool Pro and Disk Warrior are fine programs, but when you're trying to do something that Disk Utility does as well - like the partition commands we're talking about here - those programs just call the same tool that Disk Utility does. There is absolutely no difference between doing it from Disk Utility or doing it from one of those.

That is not what I was getting at by suggesting either of these fine programs. The op needed a way of determining why he was getting the error message while attempting to erase the partition via Disk Utility. The two programs I mentioned can go "deeper" in analyzing the disk/partition than Disk Utility can. Also, to depend only on Disk Utility is not a very good strategy, because Disk Utility has its' limitations, especially on analyzing/repairing "problematic" disks/partitions.

[reader50]

This is an error that shouldn't happen. Either a bug in the enclosure firmware, or the drive is defective. I suggest removing the drive from the enclosure and testing separately. Test in another enclosure, in a MacPro/PowerMac, or with a drive dock.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by reader50 

This is an error that shouldn't happen. Either a bug in the enclosure firmware, or the drive is defective. I suggest removing the drive from the enclosure and testing separately. Test in another enclosure, in a MacPro/PowerMac, or with a drive dock.

Good suggestion about testing the drive in either another enclosure or a drive dock, but the op should also use either Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior to first analyze the drive for issues, and make appropriate corrections. Then, place some data on it, and test that.

[P]

Diskwarrior is a one trick pony: it rebuilds the file directory if it has been damaged. That is one very impressive and useful trick, but it has nothing to do with the partition maps, so it doesn't apply here.

Techtool pro has some relevance in that it can check the health of the actual disk mechanism. It would surprise me if that were the problem here, but sure, it is a possibility. I would still like to see what happens if the OP tries the terminal commands above, though.

[akent35]

DiskWarrior can also 1) repair disk permissions, 2) check all files & folders on a disk, and 3) test drives. Yes, Disk Utility can do some of that, as can Tech Tool Pro. And yes, in this particular case, based on what is known so far, Disk Warrior is probably not as helpful as Tech Tool Pro. But, you keep missing my essential point, in that one needs to have either or both of these additional, excellent tools for other needs that can arise, and for which Disk Utility is of little to no use.

[P]

Originally Posted by akent35 

DiskWarrior can also 1) repair disk permissions, 2) check all files & folders on a disk, and 3) test drives. Yes, Disk Utility can do some of that, as can Tech Tool Pro. And yes, in this particular case, based on what is known so far, Disk Warrior is probably not as helpful as Tech Tool Pro. But, you keep missing my essential point, in that one needs to have either or both of these additional, excellent tools for other needs that can arise, and for which Disk Utility is of little to no use.

I get that that is what you are saying, and my point is that it doesn't help the OP with the problem he asked about. Those two programs are good tools, but they have little to nothing to do with the problem at hand.

(Btw, when "repairing" permissions, Diskwarrior only calls Disk Utility. The Check Disk feature is the SMART status from Disk Utility but with some more details in the report and available for all drives, not just SATA/ATA. Useful, but there are free tools that give you even more details, and the software bundled by eg WD or Seagate gives you the same thing. Checking all files and folders only checks that a file matches the internal structure of its file format, when the format is documented. This is good information, but it will miss most file corruption events, as any file for which Diskwarrior doesn't know the format will not be checked, and even most corruption of a known file will not be detected by these tools. The only files where you can detect any file corruption are signed executables, and the OS checks them automatically when you try to launch them. ).

[akent35]

Originally Posted by P 

I get that that is what you are saying, and my point is that it doesn't help the OP with the problem he asked about. Those two programs are good tools, but they have little to nothing to do with the problem at hand.

Again, I understand that about the programs (although I still think both of them could help), but you are still missing my point. You did state that Tech Tool Pro could possibly be of assistance. So, getting Tech Tool Pro now will possibly help with his current problem, and also be useful in the future, whether they are problems can be possibly solved by Disk Utility, but more importantly for other issues that may arise, especially for those for which Disk Utility is useless.

Originally Posted by P 

(Btw, when "repairing" permissions, Diskwarrior only calls Disk Utility. The Check Disk feature is the SMART status from Disk Utility but with some more details in the report and available for all drives, not just SATA/ATA. Useful, but there are free tools that give you even more details, and the software bundled by eg WD or Seagate gives you the same thing. Checking all files and folders only checks that a file matches the internal structure of its file format, when the format is documented. This is good information, but it will miss most file corruption events, as any file for which Diskwarrior doesn't know the format will not be checked, and even most corruption of a known file will not be detected by these tools. The only files where you can detect any file corruption are signed executables, and the OS checks them automatically when you try to launch them. ).

Actually, even though Tech Tool Pro has a SMART status feature, Onyx can do the same thing, and it is free. In fact, I use Onyx to do that (plus other, useful things). But, Tech Tool Pro has plenty of other useful features that one can take advantage of, and that Disk Utility lacks. And, the file directory checking/fixing feature of Disk Warrior is the best. It saved my "bacon" once!

So, even though both Tech Tool Pro and Disk Warrior do some things that can be done by other software, each of them do certain things that are invaluable. Hence, they are both worth the investment. For those that want to rely on Disk Utility only, I say they are risking problems which Disk Utility (or Terminal Commands) cannot solve. Plus, remember that tools such as Onyx, Tech Tool Pro, and Disk Warrior have had (and will continue to have) stellar reviews. Plus, most Mac individuals strongly recommend having at least one program such as Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior, and a few recommend having them both.

[ghporter]

I think it would be important to find out why the OP's system won't let him erase that partition before trying a bunch of third-party software. If it's a glitch with either the enclosure or his OS, the third-party apps that call OS functions (like Tech Tool and others) to erase a partition still won't work. If it's the enclosure, the fix isn't more software, it's a new enclosure. If it's the OS, in my opinion that's a reinstall fix.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I think it would be important to find out why the OP's system won't let him erase that partition before trying a bunch of third-party software. If it's a glitch with either the enclosure or his OS, the third-party apps that call OS functions (like Tech Tool and others) to erase a partition still won't work. If it's the enclosure, the fix isn't more software, it's a new enclosure. If it's the OS, in my opinion that's a reinstall fix.

As long as the issue is either the enclosure or the OS itself, other third-party software will, most likely, not help with this issue. But, if it's something else, and also for future problems that are different, and for which Disk Utility is useless, then it would be wise to purchase such software. Also, even if it's the OS and a re-install is needed, it would still be useful knowledge to know if the disk/partition itself is still OK, and that is where Tech Tool Pro can come in handy.

[Spheric Harlot]

Also, vaccination and extra toilet paper will be useful for future situations, but not particularly helpful in the situation the original poster is facing.

[P]

Originally Posted by akent35 

Again, I understand that about the programs (although I still think both of them could help), but you are still missing my point. You did state that Tech Tool Pro could possibly be of assistance. So, getting Tech Tool Pro now will possibly help with his current problem, and also be useful in the future, whether they are problems can be possibly solved by Disk Utility, but more importantly for other issues that may arise, especially for those for which Disk Utility is useless.

Techtool Pro can possibly help, although I would consider it highly unlikely. Diskwarrior cannot help.

Originally Posted by akent35 

Actually, even though Tech Tool Pro has a SMART status feature, Onyx can do the same thing, and it is free. In fact, I use Onyx to do that (plus other, useful things). But, Tech Tool Pro has plenty of other useful features that one can take advantage of, and that Disk Utility lacks. And, the file directory checking/fixing feature of Disk Warrior is the best. It saved my "bacon" once!

All of this is true (although consider adding SMARTreporter to this list - it will check drives in the background, warn when a drive starts failing even if the manufacturer's setting is to not warn yet, and the basic version is free) but it doesn't help the problem the OP has.

Originally Posted by akent35 

So, even though both Tech Tool Pro and Disk Warrior do some things that can be done by other software, each of them do certain things that are invaluable. Hence, they are both worth the investment. For those that want to rely on Disk Utility only, I say they are risking problems which Disk Utility (or Terminal Commands) cannot solve. Plus, remember that tools such as Onyx, Tech Tool Pro, and Disk Warrior have had (and will continue to have) stellar reviews. Plus, most Mac individuals strongly recommend having at least one program such as Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior, and a few recommend having them both.

There are certainly problems that you'd need Diskwarrior or Techtool to solve - the point is that this is not one of them. Diskwarrior is completely orthogonal to this issue - Techtool might be able to diagnose, but not fix, the problem if it is in the drive firmware/hardware, but I consider that unlikely.

You come across as the guy recommending buying a spare tire, a jack and a high visibility jacket when someone comes in complaining that the car won't start. It is not bad advise - it is just not particularly relevant to the situation. Instead of this sort of general advise, try to solve the OPs specific problem.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Also, vaccination and extra toilet paper will be useful for future situations, but not particularly helpful in the situation the original poster is facing.

But, the toilet paper could be useful if the machine craps out, and vaccinations if a virus is introduced. But, I guess some folks don't want to be prepared for such events. Oh well, to each his/her own.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by P 

You come across as the guy recommending buying a spare tire, a jack and a high visibility jacket when someone comes in complaining that the car won't start. It is not bad advise - it is just not particularly relevant to the situation. Instead of this sort of general advise, try to solve the OPs specific problem.

And, you (and some others) come across as someone who can't take disagreement, or other opinions. Another thing is that you are definitely way off base in saying that I should try to help the op with his problem. The first post I made in this discussion was (right there in black and white):

"Is there a way you can copy the contents of partition you do not want to erase to another drive, and then erase the entire disk? That might be your only option if the WD "software" is getting in the way."

It seems logical that is helpful advice.

I also stated that I tried google searches for his problem (even specific to WD hardware), but with no success. At leasts the op appreciated that (I quote):

"Thanks a lot for trying to research. I have also tried Googling with no success. "

Other folks, though, did not understand that, I guess.

The next post by me was just stating the possibility that either Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior could help, as the original op had only tried Disk Utility to try and diagnose the problem.

Finally, the recommendation for Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro is if the issue is something else, and also for future problems. As it is, the actual problem, and associated cause, is still not yet known. Additionally, it does not seem (at least at this point) that it is an issue with the enclosure, as the op already stated (again, right there in black and white):

"Thanks for that suggestion. Believe it or not, I did consider that. The drive has two FW800 ports in addition to the USB port. So I tried to use my FW800-to-Thunderbolt adapter, but received the same error message result as USB. Keep in mind, I can read the partition just fine. Just can't seem to erase it. "

One more thing, although it is now too late, is that one could have obtained Tech Tool Pro for only $25 (pretty cheap toilet paper and vaccinations). If that is not helpful (trying to save people $$), I guess some folks around here don't value such assistance.

[Spheric Harlot]

This isn't about "disagreement".

This is about confusing the issue by recommending the purchase of tools that simply aren't relevant to solving the problem (not would they have prevented it).

You're in violation of the "on topic!" part of your signature, and people are pointing that out.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

This isn't about "disagreement".

This is about confusing the issue by recommending the purchase of tools that simply aren't relevant to solving the problem (not would they have prevented it).

You're in violation of the "on topic!" part of your signature, and people are pointing that out.

Man, even when it is in black and white, you still got it wrong! Up to this point, it is unknown what the exact cause is of the original problem, Since Disk Utility was not of much help, other possibilities were suggested. Tech Tool Pro has actually been mentioned by some folks as possibly providing assistance. Also, I never said that either Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior would have prevented the problem. Once again, you are making stuff up, and that seems to be a consistent trait that you possess. Show me where I stated that. I bet you can't.

Also, I have been posting on topic. You are the one that used inappropriate terms like toilet paper and vaccines. That has nothing at all to do with this. But, maybe such tools are foreign to you, from numerous aspects. And, the use of such inappropriate statements by you is, once again, typical. I guess that goes along with "Clinically insane". Got it!

[Spheric Harlot]

An inability to erase a partition is not an issue that could be prevented, not fixed, by DiskWarrior.

You admit this. Why are you fighting people who are telling you that the products you are advocating are not relevant to this topic?

Just accept it and move on.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

An inability to erase a partition is not an issue that could be prevented, not fixed, by DiskWarrior.

You admit this. Why are you fighting people who are telling you that the products you are advocating are not relevant to this topic?

Just accept it and move on.

Once again, it is there, in black and white. Yes, Disk Warrior most likely cannot fix this problem, although I would have used it to check out the directory structure of each partition. Also, others have stated that Tech Tool Pro could possibly help. It is not a fight. Just a difference of opinions. And, I also stated that for future problems, either (or both) of those products can help. I guess some folks like you would not have wanted to take advantage of getting Tech Tool Pro for only $25.

Also, I see where you could not state where I have ever said that either Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro could have prevented this problem. I suppose it's just another example of clinically insane.

Finally, you should make sure you have enough toilet paper, and get the necessary vaccinations. Or, maybe you don't believe in using such things?

In summary, stop making incorrect statements, don't make useless posts like the one about the toilet paper, realize this is just a discussion, and move on.

[ghporter]

The problem appears to be that either the OS has a fault that prevents appropriate access to this particular partition, or the enclosure has a fault that prevents it. Either way, I do not see how ANY product would "fix" or "prevent" the current problem. A FAULT is preventing jszrules from formatting his partition, not some user interface glitch. That means that a software product that's supposed to facilitate drive management WILL NOT help.

Whether it's an OS fault within jszrules' installation, or a hardware/software fault within the drive enclosure, the OP is running into a problem that is analogous to trying to unlock a door whose locks have been fused; no matter what kind of key or lockpick you have, the lock does not work and cannot work, and the problem can only be solved by replacing that lock. Here, it's a matter of determining whether it's the OS or the enclosure that needs to be replaced (with a reinstall of the OS being the "replacement" in that case).

If the computer was able to access all other partitions appropriately, then I'd go with the previous suggestion of taking the drive in question out of the enclosure and attempting to use some other external interface to erase the partition in question. There are a bunch of inexpensive USB-to-SATA adapters on the market, and I'd start with one of those before going anywhere else. This is not the least expensive approach, but it's simpler and more direct than starting with reinstalling the OS.

In any case, LET'S GET BACK ON TOPIC. What can cause this problem, and how to fix THIS PROBLEM. Not how it might have been prevented, nor what tool might be most handy for doing something else with drive management.

[Spheric Harlot]

Really, really lame that it took this long, but:

HAVE YOU UPGRADED THE DRIVE ENCLOSURE TO THE LATEST FIRMWARE?

There's a firmware update that just came out on June 26th…

WD Product Update

[akent35]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

In any case, LET'S GET BACK ON TOPIC. What can cause this problem, and how to fix THIS PROBLEM. Not how it might have been prevented, nor what tool might be most handy for doing something else with drive management.

Excellent idea! And, as long as folks like Spheric Harlot let it go and move on, we're good to go.

In any event, from what the op said earlier:

"Thanks for that suggestion. Believe it or not, I did consider that. The drive has two FW800 ports in addition to the USB port. So I tried to use my FW800-to-Thunderbolt adapter, but received the same error message result as USB. Keep in mind, I can read the partition just fine. Just can't seem to erase it."

it would appear that the enclosure is probably OK. Additionally, based on him just looking at it with Disk Utility, the other partition is ok:

"The other partition does look fine on Disk Utility."

What might help is the following:

1. Can the op still write to either partition?

2. If he tries to erase the other partition with Disk Utility, does he get the same message?

3. The op should install the latest WD firmware update, via the link provided above.

If the answers to 1) and 2) are both yes, then it most likely boils down to either the firmware update will fix the problem, or the drive is probably beyond repair. I guess it also could be an issue with the drive's firmware itself, but I have no clue what that really means, as I've never encountered such an issue. Drive problems I have had were more "cut and dry", per se. But, after doing #3, the op should then have a better idea how to proceed.

I recently had a "similar" problem, where all of a sudden, the external 500 gig hard drive I had could not be seen at all! That is, none of the partitions could be seen at all, and that was the case no matter what software I tried: Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, or Tech Tool Pro. So, I surmised that either the enclosure was bad, or the drive was bad (there are two Firewire 800 ports, and 2 USB 2.0 ports on that enclosure (via the small circuit board inside that enclosure)). Fortunately, I had a relatively easy (and reliable) way to test it. I had a Seagate 1 TB drive inside another enclosure that was working fine, so I swapped the two drives between the two enclosures. The 1 TB drive was visible in the first, "problematic" enclosure (from either the Firewire 800 or USB 2.0 ports), but the 500 gig drive (another Seagate one, which was about 5 years old) could not be seen in the second, "working fine" enclosure. I subsequently purchased a Seagate 1 TB drive, put it inside the original enclosure, and it has been working fine.

The remaining "quirk" is that the op's original WD drive mechanism is only 1 1/2 years old, and that he has not used it "too much". I guess it's possible for a drive to fail that quickly, but none of the Seagate drives I have owned have ever failed before 5 years of use.

Additionally, without the WD drive getting very much use, it just seems strange that all of a sudden, there would be issues with the ports on the enclosure. And, apparently he can still do some things with either partition. (I'm assuming those ports are made "available" via a small circuit board inside the WD case, similar to my situation).

[ghporter]

Shall we then allow the OP to respond, and not spend any more time debating issues that are probably off topic because we don't know what the OP has done yet? I like that idea a lot.

[akent35]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Shall we then allow the OP to respond, and not spend any more time debating issues that are probably off topic because we don't know what the OP has done yet? I like that idea a lot.

I think that is what we are trying to do. Also, remember that it has NEVER been stated (at least by me) that such additional software would have prevented the problem. So, let's just keep our statements accurate. That idea I REALLY like!