Cannot format "WD My Book" external drive

I cannot format my Western Digital My Book 750GB external drive with Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I have booted the computer with the Leopard DVD and used Disk Utility. I cannot repair the drive because I get an error. I cannot delete the partition because I get an error. I cannot format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) because I get an error.
I can only format the drive as FAT. It's like the drive will not accept anything being done to it except formatting in FAT.
Anyone know what's going on? Thanks!

Yes same issue here I had to format in dosFAT (not happy about it but only choice it would allow). Then when I went to turn on Timemachine it said I had to reformat the disk in order to use it - I told it to go ahead and it did it (not using the disk utility though) so I checked the format with Disk Utility to see what it formatted it as and it says 'Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)'. That's good enough for me.
It may just be a case of the Disk utility having an issue with it from it's original format. I should have tried to reformat again from there to see if there was a difference but I'm happy enough it's working.

Similar Messages

ITunes can't see my music on My Book external drive

HI
Have just had to have the hard disk on my Powerbook G4 replaced and am now trying to restore contact between iTunes and my music library that lives on a My Book external drive (set up, formatted and updated over many months by this Powerbook).
I have changed the settings under iTunes Advanced Preferences to point to the music folder on the My Book, but the Library stays empty. I can access and play (using Finder) all the music files on the external drive, I just can't get iTunes to see them. Dragging and dropping doesn't work and though I've tried to Import the files the menu won't allow me to choose them (or the folder).
Any thoughts? Please!!

I don't know if this will help, but I'd suggest you update to iTunes 6.0.5. That will run on 10.2.8 and is much more current and complete. You'd also want QuickTime 6.5.2. Worth considering, anyway.
Another thing to try would be to delete the iTunes library and library.xml files in your user -> Music -. iTunes folder to make sure you start clean and then try the Add To Library command again. You might want to use Disk Utility to verify the external drive, just to make sure that there aren't any drive errors (doubtful since you say that the tracks will play through Finder, but worth checking).
Hope this helps.

500GB WD My Book external drive won't sleep!

I recently bought a 500GB WD My Book external drive. I formated it as Mac OS Extended and ran a complete backup of my Mac and other external drive. Now the activity light blinks non stop and the drive stays running even though its not being accessed. I've also checked the security of my network thinking maybe somebody on the outside was getting access. I don't get it. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Open the Spotlight pane of System Preferences and add that drive to the list of locations not to index if it isn't already there.
(26811)

Cannot mount any firewire/USB external drive after software update 10.5.4

After the last software update on 10.5.4 it did not complete the installation, and get stuck at the last step of running installation script for hours. So I have to restart the computer, and it restarted fine. Then I use Disk Utility to check my hard disk, and discovered some file system inconsistency error, so I repaired it (in target disk mode by another Mac). After it is repaired, the file system passed with no error.
But ever since then, I cannot mount any external firewire drive or USB drive. I cannot use Time Machine to backup my disk. I think my firewire and USB ports are fine because I can restart my iMac in target mode and connect to my MacBook via firewire, so the hardwire ports are functional, except that it seems 10.5.4 cannot detect or mount any external drive after the failed software update.
Does anyone encounter similar problem? How can I fix it? I have my disk backed up by TimeMachine but I cannot restore it if it won't let me mount my TimeMachine disk. Is there any other way other than completely reinstall 10.5 from scratch?

first, you should try reinstalling 10.5.4. download the [combo update|http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx1054com boupdate.html] and run it. If that doesn't fix the issue, you can use full system restore from TM to go back to a time before the troubles started. to do that boot from the leopard install dvd, once past the language screen go to the Utilities menu at the top and choose "restore from backup".

Question about Formatting Buffalo USB 1TB external drive for use with Mac Book Pro Mountain Lion HD

Hi there, Have Mountain Lion HD operating system (not sure if it is 10.8 or 10.8.1. or 10.8.2) and have a Buffalo USB 3.0 1TB hard drive. When go to utilities to try and format with Mac OS extended, following 3 files show. DriveNavi. exe, Slm.exe and Mac. The option to left click and erase menu is not there. Or at least not as shown in all the help videos.
It is USB connection so will take ages but want to use drive to store video footage and also partition to back up Time Machine. ( travelling in South America and no other Ext Drive option available too buy) how much space should i assign to Time Machine when partitioning? Is there anything else i need to think about? as new to formatting. Any thing else i can do to make process of transfering footage to Buffalo quicker?
Final question is if it is finally reformatted am i going to have to spend so long accessing footage from hard drive when back home and editing that it really is not worth if, and i should just write this off as an inappropriate purchase, and try and buy more memory cards and not bother with transfering/storing? Thanks in advance for time spent trying to assist.

Use Apple's Disk Utility in the Applications/Utilities folder to format the drive.
The programs on the drive given to you by the manufacturer is likely backup software (or malware) and essentially worthless, it will be wiped when you format the drive.
I do NOT advise you partition that drive for TimeMachine, rather I advise you not to use TimeMachine at all for your purposes because TM is just a backup, not a bootable drive.
Rather do this.
Get another hard drive that is equal to or slightly larger than your boot drive.
Format the drive in Disk Utiltiy > 1 Partition, option: GUID, Format: OS X Extended journaled, click Erase and move the slider one spot to the right and click Erase. This will take some time as it's going to map off any failing sectors it can BEFORE you lay data on the drive corrupting it.
Next, pay for and download Carbon Copy Cloner, use the default settings and simply clone internal drive to the external drive. this will also take some time the first time.
Next use Disk Utility to Repair Permisisons on both drive. Now reboot the machine and hold the option key down, you can select the external drive clone to boot from!!
You can update the clone the same way by using CCC, but it doesn't take as long, only copying changes.
This is better than TimeMachine as a bootable clone is bootable in case your internal drive fails to boot the machine.
Use the first drive for storage and be very gentle with it while it running, like you should do for all hard drives as they are subjective to shock damage.
The objective with the clone drive is you keep it safe, and not carting it around where it can be more subjective to damage like the other drive will be.
Remmeber you need 2 forms of hardware backup at all times.
Most commonly used backup methods

Cannot copy files to/from external drive

Hi All,
Bit of a cry for help. I run an iMac 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 10.7.3 and I'm having some serious problems with an external drive. Some history first - I have a large iTunes library (~3Tb) of everytype of media which I stored on an external NAS (iomega StorCenter) with no problems - then this NAS started to report a drive error with imminent failure. I purchased a new DAS (Western Digital) drive and moved all my content from the NAS to the DAS and everything was ok. Then I started to get errors through iTunes about cannot find the file and cannot read the files - and then I couldn't access anything on the drive. At this time I thought this was a different problem because I was running preview Mountain Lion, or there was an actual fault with the disk. After investigation, and coughing out for Data Rescue 3 I found that somehow the entire file structure had been corrupted and all my files had been orphaned. So at this point I had one dying NAS drive and one DAS which wasn't usable and no space to recover any files to.
So - next step was to purchase another external drive (and returned the WD) - this time I went for a G-Raid 4Tb (non-thunderbolt) drive and I've been in the process of recovering files from backups and iTunes. I've had no problems until today when yet again I've started getting errors and now I have problems copying files to/from this G-Raid drive.
Technical details - OS-X 10.7.3 - G-Raid 4Tb formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) - currently showing 1,163 folders and 15,452 files.
Symptoms - using finder drag and drop copy a file from the g-Raid to desktop results in 'The operation can't be completed because the item 'xxx' is in use. - 'The operation can't be completed because one or more required items can't be found (error code -43).' and the copy fails.
Using the cp command I get a 'Resource Busy' error.
However, this is not for all files - I've managed to copy all my books back to the desktop ok, when a couple came up with the above error I tried again and it copied successfully.
I have run Disk Utility - here are the details :-
- 4TB G-Tech - Verify
Verifying partition map for “G-TECH”
Checking prerequisites
Checking the partition list
Checking for an EFI system partition
Checking the EFI system partition’s size
Checking the EFI system partition’s file system
Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
The partition map appears to be OK
Volume (Media) - Verify
Verifying volume “Media”
Checking file systemPerforming live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 24190)
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 24784)
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume bitmap needs minor repair for under-allocation
Checking volume information.
The volume Media was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Media”
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Couldn’t unmount disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Media”
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Couldn’t unmount disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Media”
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Couldn’t unmount disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Media”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 94)
Checking catalog file.
Invalid sibling link
Rebuilding catalog B-tree.
The volume Media could not be repaired.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
and it's just got worse - in getting the info for this post I no longer have access to the drive.
This is the second time this has now happened on two different directly connected drives (USB and Firewire) - which means the problem is elswhere. I've a stack of errors in the system.log file
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** /dev/disk1s1
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 1 - Preparing FAT
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 2 - Checking Directories
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 3 - Checking for Orphan Clusters
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: 0 files, 201632 KiB free (403265 clusters)
May 10 17:52:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending attach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
May 10 17:52:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac usbmuxd[29]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x100781000): IPv4
May 10 17:52:39 Neil-Cattons-iMac iTunes[747]: _AMDDeviceAttachedCallbackv3 (thread 0x1180fc000): Device 'AMDevice 0x7ffe6d2d04a0 {UDID = f398e56f8aa95276585e0c5f74544bc24dda99bd, device ID = 58, FullServiceName = fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.}' attached.
May 10 17:52:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:52:46: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
May 10 17:52:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending detach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
May 10 17:52:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac iTunes[747]: _AMDDeviceDetached (thread 0x1180fc000): Device 'AMDevice 0x7ffe6d2d04a0 {UDID = f398e56f8aa95276585e0c5f74544bc24dda99bd, device ID = 58, FullServiceName = fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.}' detached.
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in _copyFile:error (2) opening 0.directoryStoreFile
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in recoverIndex:Unrecoverable error: could not recover path index (0.)
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (Normal) DiskStore: Rebuilding index for /Volumes/Media
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in CIMetaInfoCreate:Tried to create index when index already existed
May 10 17:53:49 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:01: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
May 10 17:54:01 Neil-Cattons-iMac login[1000]: DEAD_PROCESS: 1000 ttys000
May 10 17:54:05 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:35: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
May 10 17:54:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending attach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
May 10 17:54:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac usbmuxd[29]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x100781000): IPv4
May 10 17:54:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:50: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in _copyFile:error (2) opening 0.directoryStoreFile
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in recoverIndex:Unrecoverable error: could not recover path index (0.)
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (Normal) DiskStore: Rebuilding index for /Volumes/Media
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in CIMetaInfoCreate:Tried to create index when index already existed
May 10 17:54:51 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:55: --- last message repeated 5 times ---
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 238d0016, actual seed is 7fdcc233
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 2f760017, actual seed is 1befd79f
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 255a0018, actual seed is 41a7c4c9
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 292e0019, actual seed is 6b68079a
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 2263001a, actual seed is 4e6afb66
May 10 17:55:01 Neil-Cattons-iMac kernel[0]:
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** /dev/disk1s1
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 1 - Preparing FAT
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 2 - Checking Directories
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: ** Phase 3 - Checking for Orphan Clusters
May 10 17:52:16 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.diskmanagementd[1057]: 0 files, 201632 KiB free (403265 clusters)
May 10 17:52:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending attach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
May 10 17:52:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac usbmuxd[29]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x100781000): IPv4
May 10 17:52:39 Neil-Cattons-iMac iTunes[747]: _AMDDeviceAttachedCallbackv3 (thread 0x1180fc000): Device 'AMDevice 0x7ffe6d2d04a0 {UDID = f398e56f8aa95276585e0c5f74544bc24dda99bd, device ID = 58, FullServiceName = fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.}' attached.
May 10 17:52:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:52:46: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
May 10 17:52:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendDetachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending detach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _BrowseReplyReceivedCallback got bonjour removal.
May 10 17:52:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac iTunes[747]: _AMDDeviceDetached (thread 0x1180fc000): Device 'AMDevice 0x7ffe6d2d04a0 {UDID = f398e56f8aa95276585e0c5f74544bc24dda99bd, device ID = 58, FullServiceName = fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.}' detached.
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in _copyFile:error (2) opening 0.directoryStoreFile
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in recoverIndex:Unrecoverable error: could not recover path index (0.)
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (Normal) DiskStore: Rebuilding index for /Volumes/Media
May 10 17:53:40 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in CIMetaInfoCreate:Tried to create index when index already existed
May 10 17:53:49 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:01: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
May 10 17:54:01 Neil-Cattons-iMac login[1000]: DEAD_PROCESS: 1000 ttys000
May 10 17:54:05 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:35: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
May 10 17:54:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac com.apple.usbmuxd[29]: _SendAttachNotification (thread 0x7fff799da960): sending attach for device fc:25:3f:7e:2a:19@fe80::fe25:3fff:fe7e:2a19._apple-mobdev._tcp.local.: _GetAddrInfoReplyReceivedCallback matched.
May 10 17:54:38 Neil-Cattons-iMac usbmuxd[29]: _AMDeviceConnectByAddressAndPort (thread 0x100781000): IPv4
May 10 17:54:46 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:50: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in _copyFile:error (2) opening 0.directoryStoreFile
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in recoverIndex:Unrecoverable error: could not recover path index (0.)
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (Normal) DiskStore: Rebuilding index for /Volumes/Media
May 10 17:54:50 Neil-Cattons-iMac mds[39]: (/Volumes/Media/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/5E86681D-E756-465C-925C-A631D78C3A46)( Error) IndexCI in CIMetaInfoCreate:Tried to create index when index already existed
May 10 17:54:51 Neil-Cattons-iMac fseventsd[15]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd/fc007480d049964a (Invalid argument). mount point /Volumes/Media/.fseventsd
May 10 17:54:55: --- last message repeated 5 times ---
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 238d0016, actual seed is 7fdcc233
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 2f760017, actual seed is 1befd79f
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 255a0018, actual seed is 41a7c4c9
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 292e0019, actual seed is 6b68079a
May 10 17:54:55 Neil-Cattons-iMac Finder[147]: ISGetIconFamilyFromStorage: seed mismatch for 2263001a, actual seed is 4e6afb66
May 10 17:55:01 Neil-Cattons-iMac kernel[0]:
I'm now out of ideas and when I got in touch with G-Tech support I got "Unfortunately the drive seems to have been corrupted. You can try to retrieve the data using third party data recovery software such as Data Rescue 3. You can find the software at a discounted rate at the following page:http://www.thedatarescuecenter.com/gtech-data-recovery-software.html If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask."
any help/advice/pointers very much appreciated as I really don't want to have to start recovering again :-(
Thanks all.

Hi Ncat,
I might have had similar problems with yours. Finder stuck at 'Not Responding' while I boot my Macbook Pro with external HDD plugged in, my macbook heats up considerably maybe because it keeps trying to access the external disk. And Finder can only proceed after I unplugged my external hard disk.
So what I did was:
I rebooted my macbook into recovery mode (by holding cmd+R before / during the booting chime
I used the Disk Utility from there (instead of from normal booting)
Then I proceed to with 'Repair Permissions' and 'Repair Disk' for each and every partition of the external harddisk, and also my internal hard disk.
Rebooted after everything's done, and now it seems to work.
I hope that it will work for you

New to Mac...Need advice...MBP and My Book external drive

I'm new to Mac. Getting my MBP 2.4GHz/15" in tomorrow and this will be a migration from the Windows world to the Mac world for me. So I need some advice.
I received my My Book Pro 500GB external HDD in today and have a friend's MacBook running the current version of OS X to do any work I need to do to this HDD.
I'm going to have Windows XP Home available via Boot Camp and Parallels (depending on whether I need to run natively or not) in case that matters.
Here's what I have in terms of data:
- about 2GB of data files (Word, Excel, etc.)
- about 6GB worth of photo files
- about 85GB of home movies that are in .avi format at this time
I'm a little overwhelmed with all that I've been trying to digest regarding this move and just found out my laptop will be here tomorrow. I thought I had some extra time but that hasn't turned out to be the case.
What doesn't make sense to me right now is how to get my data over to my new machine, move what isn't critical to have on the laptop's HDD out to external, and how to figure out which file system I'll need on this external drive. My laptop will be partitioned with 30GB available to Windows and the other 130GB for Mac. Do I need to format this external drive with the Mac file system only? Or do I need to leave some space formatted FAT32 in case I need some overflow on the Windows side? Will the Windows environment be able to see any of the Journaled space on either the internal or external drive? I assume not.
I'm so confused right now, I can't even put anything down but these fragmented thoughts. Hopefully somebody knows where I'm at and can give me some advice.
Thanks-
John
MacBook Pro 2.4GHZ Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Start with Switching from Windows to Mac OS X and Basic Tutorials on using a Mac.
Since I don't have an ICBM (Intel-chip-based Mac), I can't help with the external HD stuff. However, you should be aware that file system formats and partition mapping schemes are two different things.
OS X requires the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) file system formatting—applies to both PPCs and ICBMs. Details on file system formats are in http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/FileSystem/Artic les/MacOSXAndFiles.html
ICBMs the GUID Partition Table scheme. Details on partition mapping schemes are in http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/universalbinary/universal_binary_tips/chapter_5_section10.html
Whether or not you can use both the Mac OS Extended and FAT-32 formats on separate volumes, I'll leave to the other experts.

How can I format or erase an external drive connected to a wireless router

I am working with a mac mini running OS X 10.7.4. The mini is connected to the internet via a linksys router. I have an external drive connected to the router. The router is listed under the shared list in Sidebar. If I select the router in the sidebar the external drive is displayed as a folder. Is there a way to have this external drive treated as a drive and not a folder? I would like to be able to erase/format the drive from my mini. I know that I can connect the external drive to the mini and perform the erase but I would like to know if there is a way to do it through the router.
thanks for the help

It is not usually possible to do this with router connected
hard drives. Routers with this capability basically have
its own OS, usually some minimilistic form of Linux or
propriotary RTOS, that actually interface to the drives
and runs the file server. This in itself prevents any
"outsider" from formating the attached drives. Much in the
same way that you cannot use Disk Utility on one Mac
to format a network connected volume on another Mac.

Has Anyone Used the WD My Book External Drives for Time Machine?

I'm thinking of getting the Western Digitial 1 or 2 TB My Book (Pro Edition 2 or Studio Edition) External Drives for use with 2 MacPros. Has anyone used these and could I use them with Time Machine? Would I have to reformat them for Time Machine?
Thanks!
Ashley

You may, and probably want to format them, even if not TM use, I would anyway. Not everyone is happy with MyBook Pro and TM.
I buy bare FW devices and add disk drive of choice, or just use OWC
http://www.macsales.com/firewire and works well.
FW800 is also better on the new Mac Pro
http://www.barefeats.com

My Book External Drive

I was given a new My Book Studio external drive that I would like to use with Final Cut Express to keep my media files on when I'm editing. It has backup software with it which I don't need as I use time capsule. Should I jut not install the software or erase it and just use it as any other external drive or will it create some problems of which I am not aware? It's the 1T version and has never been out of the box.
Thanks,
D

Hi frog71
For how you want to use the WD you won't need to install anything from them.
However you will want to Erase the drive and set the *Partition Map Scheme to GUID Partition Table* and the *Format to Mac OS Extended* using Disk Utility. (See: Disk Utility > Help)
Or open the > [WD Knowledge Base FAQ|http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?p_faqid=3865&p_created=1258601352&p_sid=UR_c_6Oj&p_accessibility=0&p_red irect=&p_srch=1&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19j bnQ9MTg1LDE4NSZwX3Byb2RzPTIyOCwyNjAsMjI0JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0zLjIyNCZwX2N2PSZwX3Bh Z2U9MQ!!&p_li=&ptopview=1] > click on the "Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6 (Leopard, Snow Leopard)" and follow the instructions.
Dennis

Cannot open Lightroom Catalog on External Drive

Please excuse the screen name. I tried so many when registering but they were all taken so I was pretty sure this one would be available.
I am migrating from a PC to a Mac Laptop.
I copied my entire photo drive to an external drive which is what i will use with my Laptop. My catalog and photos are stored on this external drive and when I try to open the catalog, I get the following Error:
Lightroom cannot launch with this catalog. It is either on a network volume or on a volume on which Lightroom cannot save changes. But I have no problem opening an image in Photoshop so I know the files copied over in a readable format.
Ideas?

Hi
I've just moved from a PC to a Mac as well and is having the same problem as the original comment:
"Lightroom cannot create a catalog named “AATKM82011” on volume “/Volumes/FreeAgent GoFlex Drive/AATKM82011” because Lightroom cannot save changes to this location."
I do understand moving the file(s) (which I have several files in this external drive) to my internal HD...so my question would be, that my external drive can not be accessed (written) unless I reformat the drive? Is this the only way for me to use this drive or is there any other way that anyone can suggest?
Thank you in advance for the help.

Format an Ethernet Connected External Drive from PC to Mac System

Hi there, apologies for my ignorance however after suffering Windows PCs for 35 years I have finally changed over to 2 iMacs and loving it.
I have a new model WD 1 TB (MsDOS formatted) external drive attached to my router via ethernet.
My iMac (imac7,1 a running OS X 10.5.2) recognises the external drive as a "PC Server" fine and I can access it from Finder and copy files to it.
Unfortuneately NEITHER Disk Utility nor Timemachine recognises its existance.
I believe I may have to format the drive for the Mac system. However how can I do this if Disk Utility does not recognise it as a drive? Is there some utility available that allows me to format an Ethernet attached PC drive to the Mac system.
Thanking you in advance

Time Machine can't use a NAS drive even if it's formatted with a GUID partition map scheme and HFS+ Journaled. Apple dropped support for network drives before they released Leopard last year.
Apple does support their own Time Capsule device and network backups to Leopard Server running Time Machine Server.
There's not much point in formatting the drive at all if you ever plan to be able to connect to it with a PC.

Need help to "recover" a Western Digital "My Book" External drive (1 Tb)

I recently attempted to re-format a WD external drive from "MS-DOS (FAT)" to " MAC OS Extended (Journaled) - using the "Erase Free Space" option in the Disc Utility App. After it ran for several hoursI elected to "Skip" the erase function and it continued to run for several more hours. (9+hrs - indicating "skipping") I then powered down the drive- probably a big mistake! Subsequently, the drive refused to mount (if that's the right term) - it's icon no longer appears on the Desktop - and the light indicator on the drive displays a solid illumination top-to-bottom with no "pulsing", as it does when operating properly.
Is there any way to "recover" this drive ? I still need to reformat it to "Mac OS Extended" (Happily, all the files were transferred to a second external drive prior to attempting the above procedure.)
Any advice, suggestions, or guidance on this problem will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your response - it's a WD Model "WD10000H1CS-00" - purchased from Costco. I installed it initially without formatting it for MAC and am using it for video capture (Final Cut) - but have learned that it needed to be re-formatted for MAC, as it was natively delivered in MS-DOS (FAT) format and I didn't know enough to change it when I installed it initially. It worked OK in that format and I probably should have left it as it was - but was trying to "tune" my editing system. . . So now it's only useful as a boat anchor for a very small boat!
(BTW - we have a daughter in Lyndeborough - liked your NH "weather report")

How do I format a new lacie external drive to work on a mac and pc?

i have a new lacie external drive. I want to partition it into 2 parts, one to use in Macs and the other in PCs.
How do I do this in Disk Utility?
thanks!

Click on the entire drive in the Disk Utility's sidebar, then on the Partition tab, and set it up. Format one partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the other as MS-DOS.
(84527)

Was able to transfer itunes music from an external drive to a computer, but cannot listen to it without external drive being connected. There are "!" next to the transferred music.

Was able to transfer itunes music from external drive to computer, but they won't play. There are "!" marks next to all transferred songs and a message reads "Unable to locate songs". How do i get the transferred songs to play without having the external drive connected.

Select a single song with a broken link, press CTRL+I to Get Info, cancel when asked to locate the track and take a look at the Summary tab. Post back where iTunes is looking for the file. It begins file://localhost
Where is it really?
Please post back both paths so that I can make suggestions. Full paths please, exact spellings, you can replace your user name with <User> if needed.
tt2

Cannot format "WD My Book" external drive

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