I/O Errors

[BillyBoy]

Originally Posted by dnanian

I'm certain the "new version" is a red herring, Bill -- the problem here is a hardware issue. If the system's locking up and requiring FireWire to be unplugged, it's likely that a bad sector is causing the FireWire bus to lock (which hangs the I/O subsystem).

Try using Disk Utility to erase and zero the drive. Then, give it another try and see if that works.

Looks like you nailed it - I zeroed the drive and tried the clone again - worked fine this time. Many thanks!

Would you care to elaborate on how this could happen and why the drive passed a check with every utility I have with flying colours? (DiskWarrior, TechTool Pro, Apple Disk First Aid) How far can I trust this drive for backups now?