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http://www.box.net/shared/static/uu1g1bexf2ovkn36smnv.jpg

And what does it mean - exactly?

And - although I strongly suspect it's not the drive's fault and also that there isn't one - anyone know how to return drives to their original geometric state after they've been silently corrupted?

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  • I have no idea. The capacity is shown as a negative value. Perhaps that has something to do with it. But I suspect this question will attract a few viewers, so hopefully someone will have a good answer. +1 :) Aug 20, 2011 at 14:34
  • Thanks - I was hoping for that as well ;( but then I have about 200 corrupted hard drives, SSDs, SD cards and USB flash drives pending receipt of that good answer!
    – jonny
    Mar 11, 2012 at 8:04

1 Answer 1

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It looks like the partition table might be corrupted somehow. You can try to create a new one, but that will remove all the data from the disk. I don't know how or if you do that in Palimpsest (the application you're using), but in gparted, it's easy. Just select the drive and choose "Device > Create new partition table". I'm using a Norwegian translation, so it might not say exactly that, but you'll find it.

From your screenshot, I think that should do it, but it is an assumption. And in any case, make sure you have backups before you try anything.

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    In Palimpsest (called Disk Utility in the default Ubuntu install), you can create a new partition table by selecting the "Format Drive" option. In the dialog box that comes up, select advanced options and select the type of partition table you want to use. Aug 20, 2011 at 18:30
  • Formatting my devices doesn't seem to return the corrupted CHS values to their original geometry. Neither do hdparm ATA Secure/Enhanced Erase commands or zero-filling, for that matter.
    – jonny
    Mar 11, 2012 at 7:43

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