If I use the "noromupdate" option for setpatch, this doesn't happen?
Probably because without the rom update it is not able to access a single block above 4GB, so it just stays quiet.
I've also done some calculations, and the block it seems to be having problems with on each partition is right in the middle/centre block - file system header/rdb possibly?
File system root block. RDB is in the first block of the entire HDD and if it could not read it, you would get the insert-disk animation.
You should install Boingbag 1 and 2 and make sure that the latest FastFileSystem is installed in HDToolbox.
Bye,
Thomas