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How to fix “fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error” Ubuntu?

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I am trying to format a 1.5TB external hard drive in Ubuntu and I am getting the following error message through fdisk in the termainl.

fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error

I then tried doing it through disk utility and get the following error message:

Error creating file system: helper exited with exit code 1: Error calling fsync(2) on /dev/sdg1: Input/output error

In disk utility the drive shows “unknown 1.5 TB.”

I have made sure the drive is unmounted and I tried erasing the disk which was successful but now I am unable to format it.

I tried doing it in windows 7 and get an input/output error there as well.

Thank you for any assistance you can give.

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to How to fix “fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error” Ubuntu?

Clarifications

Exit code 1

In reply to How to fix “fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error” Ubuntu?

Generally points to a corrupt Master Boot Record so you’ll need to repair that before attempting to Format any Partitions.

Col

Reponse To Answer

In reply to Exit code 1

Thank you for the response.

How would I go about fixing the MBR in Ubuntu? I did a quick google search and found a lot about dual booting windows 7 with Ubuntu which I don’t think I need. This is just an external drive for media.

Have you tried GParted?

In reply to How to fix “fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error” Ubuntu?

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

Reponse To Answer

In reply to Have you tried GParted?

I installed gparted but my external drive is not showing up as a device. I’ve tried having mounted and unmounted and it is still not showing up.

What else can I try?

Are you sure that the drive is actually working?

In reply to How to fix “fdisk: unable to read /dev/sdg1: Input/output error” Ubuntu?

Hit it with it’s makers Testing Utility and see if there are any problems with it.

Col

Reponse To Answer

In reply to Are you sure that the drive is actually working?

I will try that.

I’m assuming I’ll have to boot into windows for that instead of Ubuntu right?

Reponse To Answer

In reply to Are you sure that the drive is actually working?

No Windows it works from a Boot Disc.

You can always use the Ultimate Boot CD as well it has most of the makers testing Utilities on it and it can be downloaded from c net.

Sorry but at the moment I can not post a direct link as the post just disappears. 😉

Col

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