While Apple's Drive Setup is lacking in certain areas, it is still a fully functional utility, and, for the average Mac user, remains one of your best bets to help insure your Mac runs as stable as it can.
This section will discuss the uses and features of Apple Drive Setup v1.7.3, the latest version shipping as of the writing of this article. If you don't have the current version, you are strongly advised to download it for free from Apple, and to update your disk drivers as a precautionary measure. The current version can always be found at the Apple Utilities FTP site.
You should use Drive Setup in combination with current versions of other utilities to insure your Mac remains stable and efficient (see: Preventative Maintenance for Macintosh for more information)
Drive Setup is a utility that creates and maintains the underlying structure and format of your hard disk drives and other media. It has built-in testing and formatting functions, as well as the ability to update and reconfigure your hard drives and removable media to be compatible with both Macintosh and DOS-Windows computers.
Drive Setup is responsible for creating the basic structure upon which your Volume Directory, and the visible files and folders it displays, will be kept and maintained (see: Caring for Your Macintosh Directory and Rebuilding Your Macintosh Desktop for more information).
This platform or volume structure can be easily damaged if you are experiencing crashes or freezes, power outages, electrical surges or SCSI conflicts and termination issues, and can become worse over time if proper preventative maintenance and repairs are not made regularly. Your drive itself can also become damaged over time, due to simple everyday use or from defective, substandard manufacturing techniques and materials.
Drive Setup is a simple setup utility, intended for use with new drives, but can be your first line of defense, if it is all you have at hand. Users experiencing advanced difficulties with volume format errors, such as those created by power outages, hard-crashes, freezes, SCSI conflicts and more, are strongly advised to purchase a more-advanced drive utility from a third party (see: Third Party Disk Drivers and Utilities).
Drive Setup can also be used to mount and unmount volumes during troubleshooting routines, or during emergency events.
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 Apple is quite kind when it comes to this application, and provides both a Read Me file, an online Help manual or Apple Guide, and the ever-helpful Balloons. They adequately discuss most, but not all of the finer points of using Drive Setup. We'll cover them all again, in a little more detail for your curiosity and benefit. |
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In the main 'Drive Setup' display window, you will find a list of all properly connected and powered drives and disks. Virtual disks or disk images will not be displayed. Zip and Jaz drives, and many other types of removable media drives will be listed as '<not supported>'. The window below the drive list will tell you the available options and status of the selected (highlighted) drive. Drives with more than one volume will display the names in a comma-deliminated list. Not all volume names can be displayed because of the small size of the window. Unfortunately, the window cannot be resized. |
The drive interface type, Bus Address, ID Address and Logical Unit Number are also displayed. This is very useful when you are ready to install a new drive, since you need to find and designate an available address.
Never install a new drive without first using Drive Setup or a like-utility to find an empty address.
Failure to find an empty address in advance of installation leaves you at severe risk of creating a SCSI conflict or termination issue that may result in catastrophic and permanent damage to your hardware, software, firmware and data.
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Most Functions and features of Drive Setup are accessible from the Functions Menu. Some are hidden a little deeper, and we'll discuss those at each section. ('mouse-click' on any 'Function' in the image to the left to jump to that section) |
Selecting this option opens a new window, which presents two possible options for extra functions while reformatting a hard drive or other media.
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Unfortunately, most people overlook these options, and do not perform either function, and thus don't do as complete a job as may be required to assure a stable drive format structure, free from defects that can lead to file corruption, lost data, crashes, freezes and more.
If you are certain of your drive's physical integrity, you may leave these options unchecked (default setting). |
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If you are installing a brand new drive, you should select the option for 'Low Level Format' to help insure that your drive structure is properly written. It will erase data to a "lower level" of the drive media, making for a more complete job than a simple erasure. |
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If you are trying to reinitialize a drive that has been involved in crashing, hosting files found corrupted, or has been involved in a SCSI conflict or power outage, you should also choose the option to 'Zero All Data'. This will write zeros to the disk during the format process, and will help to better erase any old data from the drive. You should also choose this option if you are installing a used drive of unknown origin or history. |
When in doubt as to which options to use, choose them both. It will take longer to format the drive, but at least you won't have to wonder.
However, as noted in the introduction, Drive Setup is a very simple utility, and may not perform as complete a job as may be required for a badly damaged or defective drive. We advise the use of third party drive utilities in these cases (see: Third Party Disk Drivers and Utilities for more information).
Please note, you do not have to use third party disk drivers in order to use third party media testing and repair functions. You may still use Genuine Certified Apple Disk Drivers to insure maximum compatibility with your Macintosh OS.
To initialize the drive using these options or setup custom partitions, see the section titled, 'Initialize...'
(Back to Functions) (Jump to 'Initialize...')
The driver installed by Drive Setup contains the information needed by the Macintosh to identify what kind of drive or disk is installed, and how it is to be used. It is installed automatically when you initialize the drive, or when you upgrade the Operating System.
It can store information like security features, password protection, write protection, read protection, mounting instructions and more. Since Drive Setup is a very simple utility, few of these features can be employed via this utility, and what few there are will be discussed in other sections. You will need to employ other third-party utilities to gain more functions via the disk driver.
Once your drives are configured and formatted, the Update Driver function is probably the feature you will use most often from Drive Setup on a stable Mac. It is incredibly simple to use, and should be used
Before you update any driver, however, make sure you have backed up all of your critical data, if possible, just in case there is a problem with the update. It is also a good idea to quit all other running or open applications (except the Finder) to prevent any conflicts. It is not necessary to be running with all of your System Extensions 'OFF', unless you have virus protection or other security software installed and running.
| To use the 'Update Driver' function, simply select (highlight) the target drive in the Drive Setup display window, here demonstrated as 'IBM+'.
Next, select the 'Update Driver...' command from the Functions Menu. |
You will then receive a message indicating success. . . |
| . . .and another instructing you that the driver will not be available until you next restart the Macintosh. . . |
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. . .press 'OK', and that's it. Repeat the process for as many drives as you require, then quit Drive Setup and restart the Macintosh to use the new drivers.
Once you have volumes connected to your Macintosh, you may be able to install additional features to enhance function, access, behavior and security.
Drive Setup v1.7.3 only allows limited feature enhancement, but for many users, it is more than they likely need.
To use custom features, simply select the target drive in the Drive Setup Display window, and select 'Customize Volumes...' from the Functions Menu.
The following dialog will be displayed:
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The volumes you selected from the 'Display Window' will now appear in the 'Customize Volumes' dialog box.
The 'Volume Settings' section will allow you to change two features on the selected volumes. |
This feature will attempt to test the selected disk or drive, and inspect it for bad blocks and damage to the media. If it finds damaged areas, it will attempt to first move any data written there to a safe portion of the disk. It will then attempt to repair, or map-out (disable) the damaged blocks. This procedure is known as 'Scanning and Reallocation'.
Data found on bad blocks may be permanently damaged. Some third-party utilities might be able to repair such files, but you are better off restoring them from a known-good backup.
Please note: The 'Test' feature found in Drive Setup is not the best possible test available, performing only a simple read-only operation, and does not execute a sufficient number of variables to give absolute assurance of stable media structure. You may use it with reasonable confidence on a brand new drive, but it will likely fail to detect problems on older or badly damaged drives. If you are experiencing power outages, frequent crashes, corrupt and lost data, or have discovered SCSI conflicts or termination issues, you should use a more advanced third-party disk utility (see: Third Party Disk Drivers and Utilities for more information).
Please note, you do not have to use third party disk drivers in order to use third party media testing and repair functions. You may still use Genuine Certified Apple Disk Drivers to insure maximum compatibility with your Macintosh OS.
To test a disk using Apple Drive Setup, first disable any disk sleep or screen-saver utilities, then simply select (highlight) it in the Drive Setup Display Window, and select 'Test Disk...' from the 'Functions Menu'. . .
Press 'Start'. . .
. . .and upon completion, you will receive a message indicating success or failure. If it succeeds, you may use the drive, but, with only limited confidence due to the limited nature of the test feature of Drive Setup. If it fails, you will need to use a more-advanced third party disk utility to attempt a better repair.
Use this command to rescan your computer for connected drives or volumes. It is useful when you insert a new disk into a removable media drive, or turn on the power to an external drive after Drive Setup is already running.
Note: All SCSI devices, unless specifically and otherwise noted by the manufacturer, must be powered 'On' at the time of Startup, and must remain powered 'On' (or in 'sleep' mode) for the duration in which your Macintosh is left running. Failure to power SCSI devices 'On' prior to Startup, or turning SCSI devices 'Off' while the Macintosh is running may cause permanent damage to all SCSI devices, including your computer.
There are no other special precautions for using this feature.
Use this function to mount volumes that do not 'Automount on Startup'. Examples of this are hidden volumes, some removable drives like SyQuest and Orb, etc. If the selected (highlighted) drive is already mounted, this option will be "greyed-out" (unavailable).
You may also need this feature if you accidentally or intentionally drag a volume to the Trash (unmount a permanent volume).
There are no special precautions for using this feature.
Use this function to eject removable media disks. You cannot eject permanent drives or volumes with this feature, and it will appear as "greyed-out" (unavailable) if such a drive is selected (highlighted).
There are no special precautions for using this feature.
The primary function of Drive Setup is to initialize a drive and ready it for data and application storage. To initialize a drive means to erase the Directory structure that contains all of your data.
If you initialize a drive or volume, you will erase all the data contained on it.
Some volumes are located on drives that contain more than one volume. If you select such a volume in Drive Setup, you will have actually selected the entire drive and all the volumes it contains, and if you then initialize it, you will erase all the data contained on the entire drive.
If you need to erase only a single volume of a drive that contains multiple volumes, use the 'Erase Disk...' function in the Finder's Menubar under the 'Special' menu.
Use the 'Initialize...' feature of Drive Setup with extreme caution.
You should quit all open documents and running applications (except the FInder), and disconnect your Macintosh from the Internet or network connection. Disable any virus controls or security software during this procedure.
If you have only one hard drive or Startup Volume on multiple drives, you may need to Restart from CD or Emergency Disk to use the Drive Setup Initialization feature. In order to use the latest version (the one on your System CD may be out of date), you may need to copy Drive Setup v1.7.3 (or later) to a floppy, Zip, RAM Disk, or other mountable disk.
To initialize a drive, simply select (highlight) it in the
Drive Setup display window. . .
. . . and you will see a message that says "This Disk can be initialized."
If the selected (highlighted) drive cannot be initialized, you will receive a message. . .
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. . . that explains why it cannot be initialized, and the 'Initialize...' button will be "greyed-out" (unavailable).
You may need to close open documents or quit applications running from the selected (highlighted) drive to continue.
Note: such a warning is an indication that you may be about to erase the wrong drive! be sure you have selected the correct drive before you continue!
After you select (highlight) the correct drive, access the 'Functions' Menu, select 'Initialization Options...' and select the appropriate options.
Once you have selected the correct options, press the 'Initialize...' button.
You will now see a new dialog displaying the drive information for the target drive.
If you are satisfied with the settings, press the 'Initialize' button. (click here to jump to final step)
If you are not satisfied with the default settings, press 'Cancel' to cancel the operation and select a new drive, or press 'Custom Setup...' to access more options in the 'Custom Setup Window'.
The 'Custom Setup' window is where you can alter the
(You may enjoy the help provided by Balloons at this stage)
In the following example, we will format the drive titled 'IBM+' (single volume) into four partitions (four volumes).
Step One
Select the correct number of partitions (in this case four).
In the example above, we have been given a default setting of four partitions of
equal size and the format type Mac OS Standard (HFS).
Step Two
If you are not satisfied with the format type, you can use the popup menu indicating
the type to select a different format, such as 'Mac OS Extended' (HFS+),
or 'MS Pro DOS' (Windows format).
In the example below, I have chosen 'Mac OS Extended' (HFS+) for the second
partition (untitled 2).
Not satisfied with the size of the second partition ('untitled 2'), I can change the
size by typing a new number in the highlighted (shown in blue) 'Size:' box,
as demonstrated below:
IMPORTANT: In the example above, note the fifth area at the bottom of the
partition map titled 'Extra'.
This space was created inadvertently by altering the size of another partition.
This space will not be formatted, and will be rendered unusable by and invisible
to the Macintosh Finder after initialization.
Unless you are an advanced user, and have a purpose for such an unformatted
partition, you must correct the situation now by resizing the partition directly
above the area titled 'Extra', in this example 'untitled 4'.
To eliminate an 'Extra' partition, you may either
As you can see, I have used the space allocated to 'untitled 4' to absorb the 'Extra'
space, and you will also note that I've changed the format of the fourth partition
(untitled 4) to 'Mac OS Extended' (HFS+).
In the image above, I now have
Now is the time to make some notes about each partition, recording the size, format type and name of each volume, so that after initialization, you can assign each one to the purpose and priority you designated to it (see: Partitioning Your Hard Drives and Partition and Volume Configurations for more information).
Now that I am satisfied with all my settings, I press the 'OK' button, and receive a new 'Initialize' confirmation window.
You can see that I have:
If anything is incorrect, I could repeat any step made to this point,
or I could press the 'Cancel' button to safely abort the initialization function.
Now satisfied with the settings, I press 'Initialize', and receive the final warning.
This is your last chance to abort the procedure. The warning makes it clear that the disk you have chosen will only be recognizable as a startup drive for a PowerPC computer (assuming you are working on a PowerPC, not an older Mac).
This does not mean that an older Mac would be unable to read such a drive, such as via network. This warning is in place to advise you of reformatting removable disks that you may wish to use as Startup disks on older Macs.
Since I use this drive on a PowerPC, and have no concern that another computer can use it as a Startup Disk or not, I am ready to proceed by pressing the 'Initialize' button one final time.
If you are concerned with being able to use the drive as a Startup Disk in an older Mac, or have second thoughts about erasing your data, you still have a chance here to 'Cancel' the function.
Depending on the 'Initialization Options' you select, the size of the drive and the speed of your processor, the actual operation may take a few seconds to a few hours. Upon completion, you will be given a message of success or failure.
If successful, locate your new volumes, all labeled as 'untitled' and 'untitled#'. Rename each, designate its purpose according to its speed-priority and assign a custom icon of your choosing (optional).
Before you install data to the new volume(s), verify that the size and format is appropriate to your purpose via the 'Get Info' window (select the volume icon and press the Command-I keys).
If you chose the wrong format, or would like to change your mind now, you do not have to repeat the Drive Setup Initialization procedure. You may use the command found in 'Finder: Menu: Special: Erase Disk...' to re-erase the disk and select a new format type.
If the volume has less space than you anticipated, total the final sum of all volumes on that drive, verify you made no selction errors, then see the article, HFS or HFS+. Which is Best for Me?
If unsuccessful, you may try again using more complete 'Initialization Options'.
A second failure message indicates severe damage to the disk or drive. Use a quality third-party disk utility to test and repair, if possible (see: Third Party Disk Drivers and Utilities for more information).
Q: Should I use Mac OS Standard (HFS) or Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format?
Q: How many partitions should I use, and why?
Q: Can I use Apple Disk Drivers with my security software?
Q: How often should I use the features and functions of Drive Setup?
Q: Apple Drive Setup returned the message "Initialization Failed...", but I can still see my volume(s) on the Desktop, and they appear to function normally. I tried to initialize it a second time and got the same message. What does this mean?
Q: I've installed a new hard drive, but it isn't recognized by Drive Setup (can't see it in the Display Window)
Q: How can I determine which of the physical drives listed is fastest and slowest?
Q: How can I tell which volume will be the fastest and which are slowest on a single drive?
Q: I've already formatted and partitioned my drive, but I failed to note the order of the names, and now I've renamed them. How can I tell which one is fastest, and which is slowest?
Hopefully, this article has revealed to you all the mysteries of Drive Setup. If any questions remain, please feel free to ask. If you have any great tricks or tips for using Drive Setup, please feel free to contribute.
Article last revised on: 15 August 1999
Author: Frederico
Editor: WebClub '99
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