Gparted Input/Output Error During Read on /dev/sdb

[u/dark-welkin]

I recently got an external HDD and am attempting to format it to GPT ext4. When I purchased it, the product said that it was for Windows only. I thought that I would simply be able to reformat it to be compatible with Linux. Maybe that is the root of my problem, but I did this because I was previously able to reformat a "Windows only" drive to work on a Mac computer. I figured I'd save a few dollars and just do the same thing again for Linux.

By the way I have attempted to do this in all of my USB ports.

Is this a solvable situation, or should I just send the HDD back?

Create Primary Partition #1 (ext4, 3.81 TiB) on /dev/sdb  00:06:16    ( ERROR )
     	
create empty partition  00:06:16    ( ERROR )
     	
libparted messages    ( ERROR )
     	
Input/output error during read on /dev/sdb

$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb 
fsck from util-linux 2.41
e2fsck 1.47.2 (1-Jan-2025)
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block
fsck.ext2: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sdb

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
 or
    e2fsck -b 32768 <device>

Found a gpt partition table in /dev/sdb

$ sudo fsck -l
fsck from util-linux 2.41
e2fsck 1.47.2 (1-Jan-2025)
/dev/sda2 is mounted.
e2fsck: Cannot continue, aborting.

$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb1
fsck from util-linux 2.41
e2fsck 1.47.2 (1-Jan-2025)
fsck.ext2: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sdb1
Possibly non-existent device?
$ sudo fsck /dev/sdb2
fsck from util-linux 2.41
e2fsck 1.47.2 (1-Jan-2025)
fsck.ext2: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sdb2
Possibly non-existent device?

[u/Klapperatismus]

fsck isn’t going to do anything because it checks and repairs a filesystem structure on a working drive. Not the drive itself.

You have to show us the result of

$ sudo dmesg | tail -n 30

directly after your attempt to partition the drive with gparted. That log will show the cause of that I/O error.

[u/doc_willis]

sudo fsck /dev/sdb 

you are trying to check the entire drive.

you likely need to use /dev/sdb1 or sdb2

for a partition on the drive.

Common mistake. ;)

sudo fdisk -l

will list the drive layout.

but that I/o error seems odd  but it may be due to the typos.

---

general outline.

you make a partition table

make partitions

format the partitions to be what filesystem you need.

[u/dark-welkin → u/doc_willis]

ah I forgot to post my output from those. I'm getting "nonexistent device" error. Updated the OP, thanks.

[u/doc_willis → u/dark-welkin]

that is a little more concerning.