Cannot unmount disks

Hi:
I have been reading the post here in the Mac Pro forum for about six months and this is my first answer (and my first problem with my MP)
In short, the problem I am having is that Carbon Copy Cloner, wich I have been using for cloning my start up disk to a second internal HD without any problem since I bought my MP, has stopped doing so. The message “can not unmount disk“ shows up. Can not unmount in Disk Utility neither. So, I can not clone my disk as my normal security routine. Rebuilding start up disk´s directory (wich I do before every week clone) with DW4 is not longer possible, nor even booting from DW4 cd. This started happennig after my first system freeze and the installation of a 3rd HD in bay 3 (the same day and in that order) After freeze I repaired with Maintenance, then I installed the HD.
Any help will be very, very wellcome.
(and excuse for my english, guys.)
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Hi The Hatter:
I do appreciate very much your help in this matter. I have learned a lot reading your answers to another peolpe´s questions.
To the point:
MAINTENANCE is a system maintenance and cleaning app. I switched to it from ONYX. Take a look at it at:
http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/maintenance.html
I am sure you know well this app, but maybe I wrote its name in a funny way. I do my cleaning tasks with MAIN MENU as well. Wich one is the best, in your opinion?
I do boot from my clone disk every week. From it I repair the directory of my “main“ disk. Then I restart and boot from my “main“ disk and clone it (using CCC) to my Back Up HD. I do reuild the directoy before cloning following a recommendation I found in Bombich´s forums. This is about not to cloning a already “deffective“ system. When this problem appeared I booted from DW cd as a last option procedure.
You are right!!! I would be doing better with a Emergency Partition. I have been lazy on this point.
Until now, I thought that running maintenance scripts and cleaning with MAINTENANCE (or ONYX) and rebuilding directory before cloning to another HD would keep me safe.
Know I believe that to be safe the best I can do is not to have a computer and move to a deep, fresh and green forest.
So. Wich is your maintenance and back up procedure, Hatter? I am stilI learning and am sure that it would be a good thing to know how do you keep your machine safe.
(But think about the forest, Hatter... Think about it...)
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.10)

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Error "cannot unmount disk"

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Here's the readme...sorry, don't know what we're looking for, so the whole thing:
Read Before You Install Mac OS X
Read this document before you install Mac OS X. It includes information about supported computers, system requirements, and installing Mac OS X.
For more information about Mac OS X, visit this website: • www.apple.com/macosx/
For the latest information about using Mac OS X, connect to the Internet and open Mac Help. To open Mac Help, click the Help menu in the Finder and choose Mac Help.
For information about the support available for this product, see the AppleCare Software Services and Support Guide included with Mac OS X.
System requirements
You must have a Macintosh computer with: • a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor • a DVD drive • built-in FireWire
• at least 256 MB of RAM • a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported
by your computer • at least 3 GB of disk space available, or 4 GB if you install the developer tools
If you see a message in the Installer that you do not have enough disk space to install Mac OS X, you can deselect items to save space. To deselect items, click Custom Install in the Easy Install panel.
Updating your computer’s firmware
You may need to update your computer’s firmware. It’s best to update the firmware before installing Mac OS X. If you haven’t started the Mac OS X Installer, check the Apple Software Updates website to see if there are any firmware updates for your computer:
• www.apple.com/support/downloads/
If you don’t do this, you may see a message that you need to update your computer’s firmware when you start the Installer. To update the firmware, you will need to quit the Installer and restart your computer using your current startup disk, then check the Software Updates website.
If you have problems with your computer after installing this version of Mac OS X, you might need to update the firmware even though you did not see a message when you installed the software. Check the Software Updates website for recent firmware updates for your computer.
Starting installation
To start installing Mac OS X, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon:
You can also start installing Mac OS X by inserting the Install DVD and restarting your computer while holding down the C key, or by selecting the Install DVD as your startup disk using Startup Disk preferences.
Quitting the Installer
If you need to quit the Installer before you click Install in the Easy Install or Custom Install pane, choose Quit Installer from the Installer application menu, then click Startup Disk to select a startup disk for your computer.
If you have already clicked Install, wait until installation finishes.
Advice about hardware compatibility Installing on a Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White)
If you have a Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) that came with an Apple SCSI hard disk, do not choose UNIX File System (UFS) as the format for the destination disk.
Installing on a computer with a third-party SCSI card
If you have a third-party SCSI card installed in your computer and you cannot start up Mac OS X, attach a disk drive or terminator to one of the card’s ports. If you continue to have problems, try removing the card. Contact the manufacturer of the card for more information about using the card with Mac OS X.
Installing on a computer with a third-party video card
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When you install Mac OS X, you can erase the destination disk you select. In the “Select a Destination” pane of the Installer, click the Options button. Select Erase and Install then choose a format. In most cases, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Important Do not choose UNIX File System (UFS) unless you need to work with this format. If you choose UFS, Mac OS 9 and all Mac OS 9 applications must be installed on a Mac OS Extended format disk to use them with the Classic environment.
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Installing optional software
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Locating the Installer log
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Reinstalling Mac OS X
To reinstall Mac OS X, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and double-click the Install Mac OS X icon, then follow the onscreen instructions. When you see the “Select a Destination” pane, click Options to select how to install Mac OS X:
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If you have an existing Internet service provider (ISP) and you’re installing Mac OS X for the first time, you need to enter your Internet connection information when installation finishes. Be sure to have the information available. If you have problems connecting to the Internet, contact your ISP to make sure you have the correct information.
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If you cannot start up your computer, insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and restart your computer while holding down the C key. Choose, Choose > Open Disk Utility, then click First Aid to repair your disk.
If you have problems starting up your computer and you have devices connected to your computer such as FireWire drives, USB printers, or external displays, try disconnecting them before starting up again.
Upgrading your applications and other software
For best results with Mac OS X, look for versions of your applications that are built for Mac OS X. Check the Mac OS X website for information about available applications:
• www.apple.com/macosx/
If you cannot find Mac OS X versions, upgrade to the latest Mac OS 9 version to use with the Mac OS X Classic environment. Check with the manufacturers for the latest updates.
Using POP email accounts and On My Mac mailboxes in Tiger and Panther
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© 2005 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FireWire, Macintosh, Mac OS, and Power Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Corporation, used under license therefrom.

Problems Restoring Erasing Drive: Cannot Unmount Disk

I just intalled an SSD in my macbook pro, and would like to use my old hard drive as a storage disk. When i boot into the ssd (mountian lion) and try to erase the old disk it says it cannot unmount the disk. i have also tried booting off an external disk (also mountain lion) and i get the same problem. Any ideas would be greatly apprectiated.

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Calle:
I would like to erase a partition that I have on my 30gb internal harddrive.
Do you have more than one partition on the HDD? I suspect you have only one since the HDD is only 30 GB.
Your computer is now 8 years old, as is the original HDD. The average life of these drives is 3 to 5 years, so your HDD is well past old age. You may be getting the error messages because your drive is failing.
cornelius

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Hello! I recently purchased a used Mac Mini (specs provided below) from a friend, and I am starting the process of erasing all of his old data. The Mac Mini has two hard drives, MAC HD1 and MAC HD2. Only one of the hard drives was being used, MAC HD1, and had OS X Yosemite installed on it. I did some research and found out that to erase the first hard drive I needed to create a bootable USB, which I did using DiskMaker X and a 64 GB thumb drive (only one I had over 5 GB). That process was successful, and I then restarted and pressed ALT on my windows keyboard upon startup. I selected to boot using my thumb drive, and that seemed to work fine as well. I then selected Disk Utility and chose MAC HD1 from the choices on the left side. However, when I try to erase, I get an error that says "Volume Erase Failed with this error: Couldn't unmount the disk." Then when I try to unmount from the menu above I get "The disk
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Side Note:
If this changes anything, my friend did say he was using the Mac Mini for a server of some sort, but he thought he turned it off already.... Anyways, just giving extra knowledge I know about the problem.
Specs:
Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MM41.0042.B03
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the Lion Installer ( OSINSTALL.MPKG ) does more then only check for the CPU.
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Disk utility can't unmount disk

Hey there,
A few days ago, my mac began to start up incorrectly; with a black screen right from the beginning.
I ran the disk repair with the disk utility program and it told me, that my hard drive couldn't be repaired. So I booted the mac in recovery mode and tried to erase the hard drive. After a while, an error appeared, telling me "cannot unmount disk".
I tried to "force unmount" via terminal, but that didn't work as well.
Does anyone has any tips for me, before I'm going to the apple support.
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It sounds like the hard drive is failing. The only real advice here is to make sure you have a good backup. If it's under Applecare, Apple will replace the drive but you'll probably lose your data. The other thing you can do is replace it yourself if you're outside Applecare. Look up the specific procedure for your model at ifixit.com.

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I tried to erase using "zero out data" and received this message: "Secure Disk Erase failed - Secure Disk Erase failed with the error: Couldn't unmount disk".
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HT1526 I'm trying to delete files from the trash and an .InProgress file in Time Machine that cannot be moved to the trash. I cannot unmount the TM disk either. If I use the chflags -R nouchg command, I get a "Resource busy" message. Any suggestions?

I've got one or maybe two problems. Time Machine routinely crashes and there is a file in the TM folder that is an .InProgress file at the end of successful backups. Can't delete it, even using various sudo commands in Terminal. These come back with a "Resource busy" message.
Similarly, there is a Microsoft Office alias in my trash that will not delete, again including various delete or Terminal commands. Also "Resource busy"
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Mike

I'm not sure I can be very helpful since I was doing a lot of things and ultimately the problems went away. But one thing that definitely seemed to help was to shut down, restart, do something, shut down again and repeat. So with a clean start, try to move the file to the trash. If that works, shut down restart and look to see if it is still in the trash. Empty the trash. Shut down if it appears to empty and then restart. It seemed sometimes that the computer was doing what I wanted then something was overriding this and restoring. The shutdowns immedately after I could do something but before it engaged an override operation seemed to keep this from happening.
Sorry to not have more to offer but...

Disk Util cannot unmount ext HD to format or partition

Computer: MacBook Pro Retina 13" latest model. All updates have been applied.
I have a 1TB WD external harddrive. It has 2 partitions (1 FAT32, 1 Mac OS Extended). This drive was working properly until one day it stopped mounting.
Problem:
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- FAT32: Mounts in OSX but will not unmount. I can access FAT32 partition via Parallels (Win7).
Bigger Problem: I'm cannot re-format or re-partition the drive. Disk Utility provides an error that the drive cannot unmount.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I made a mistake in the original post. I CANNOT access the FAT32 via Parallels because it will not unmount from OSX.
This is how I fixed it....
Booted up my Windows laptop and used Computer Management to delete both volumes (partitions).
Re-partitioned as 1 partition (ex-fat) and formatted.
Booted up MacBook and used Disk Utility to re-format as Mac OS Extended.
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Could not unmount disk

I am trying to do a clean install from Snow Leopard DVD disk to Macbook Pro. The computer stopped responding and after a restart I got a gray screen with a folder and ?. I have tried 3 different hard drives that have all been used in this MacBook Pro and all installed with Mountain Lion.I have zeroed out one hard drive using Disk Utility and I continue to get failed install. I cannot repair, partition, or erase any drive: Could Not Unmount Disk error on the computer using Disk Utility. I did all repairs using a separate iMac's Disk Utility. The computer is late 2009 Intel MacBook Pro. Please help

pkj0192 wrote:
The computer stopped responding and after a restart I got a gray screen with a folder and ?.
All that says is the firmware can't find the bootable OS it was assigned to. Which you obviously erased.
Hold the option/alt key at boot gives Startup Manager, which you then can select a new/other OS to boot from and set it as the startup disk in System Preferences.
I have tried 3 different hard drives that have all been used in this MacBook Pro and all installed with Mountain Lion. I have zeroed out one hard drive using Disk Utility and I continue to get failed install.
I assume you have used the 10.6 Disk Utiltiy and selected the ENTIRE drive, format Option: MBR and MSDOS, then click Erase and Security Option Zero All Data, and then go back to Partition 1: Option GUID and Format: OS X Extended J?
This rebuilds the GUID and EFI so it's for 10.6 version and removes all partitions on the drive, including the hidden RecoveryHD partition.
I cannot repair, partition, or erase any drive: Could Not Unmount Disk error on the computer using Disk Utility. I did all repairs using a separate iMac's Disk Utility. The computer is late 2009 Intel MacBook Pro.
If you have the drives hooked up to the iMac, Spotlight might be trying to index them thus they can't be unmounted. So have Spotlight ignore everything, turn it off basically.
You can force unmount a drive in Terminal.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Are you using the 10.6 white retail disk? Because that's what you need to boot/use on the 2009 MBP, not the iMac's 10.6 disk as those contain machine specific drivers for the iMac only. Don't format the drives on the iMac unless it's also 10.6.
Since your issue appears on three drives, either there is a problem with the machine/cable or perhaps a bad 10.6 disk or wrong methods being used each time.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Help needed with delete of bootcamp partition, error message 'Couldn't unmount disk'

Hello all
Sorry if this issue has been repeated elsewhere, I did search but there wasn't a discussion relating to my specific issue.
When we bought the iMac a couple of years ago, my husband partitioned the hard drive to run Windows via Bootcamp. Having got used to the Mac and experiencing the frustration between having to reboot to access each partition I have decided to restore the Mac to factory settings and install Parallels 8 so I can continue to use Office and Coreldraw).
So having backed up all of my files, I started the Mac up holding the 'Alt' key and then loaded the Recovery HD mode followed by Disk Utility. I then selected Bootcamp and erased all data from the partition. [Note: there are 2 files left which it won't allow me to erase through this method]
I then selected the main drive and the tab 'Partition', from the layout I then selected Bootcamp and clicked the minus button. I get the message confirming which partition I am about to delete and hit remove. I then get the error message 'Partition failed: couldn't unmount disk'.
I would be very grateful for some help please? I am not the best techy person but happy to give anything a go.
Just to mention there is nothing left on the Mac that I want to keep, therefore if there is an easier way than having to delete the partition then happy to hear it.
Thanks
Tara

Hello Tara,
Are you using Filevault?
https://kimmo.suominen.com/blog/2013/03/file-vault-volumes-cannot-be-resized/
Also see the last few posts here...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3894449?start=15&tstart=0

Error: Could not unmount disk

Hi: I am having a problem with an external HD (WD 750 GB Caviar Black) housed in an OWC enclosure and attached to my PowerPC G5 running OS X 10.4.11. The only use the drive has seen is trying to create a clone of my primary HD onto a partition on the external using a highly respected application dedicated to this purpose. For some reason yet uncovered, every cloning attempt has stalled the application and hung up my system. That aside, what is happening now is that I cannot even leave the ext. HD powered on and attached to my G5 as within minutes of booting up, my system slows down and becomes unresponsive. Detaching the ext. HD frees my system up instantly.
The last time I ran Disk Utility on the external, it passed verification and I was even able to run DiskWarrior on it and restore the directories to perfect order. But now, even after booting up from my original Mac install disk, although the external shows up in Disk Utility and I'm able to verify it just once (and it passes), any attempt after that to erase it, repartition it, verify it again, results in the error message: Could not unmount disk. Eventually I get the spinning beach ball and have to detach the drive. The drive does not make any unusual sounds and I have to put my ear to it to hear it at all. At one point, on boot up, the blue light on the enclosure continued to flicker for a very, very long time and the drive refused to mount altogether. But it hasn't done that again. I've read that when a drive won't unmount, it can mean that there are open files on it.
Anyone have any ideas as to whether it sounds like a problem with the enclosure or the drive and any suggestions as to what I might try? I have tried connecting it via eSATA, FireWire and USB (all from the same enclosure) and the results are the same.
Jack

Here's an update. Received the new enclosure. Before I transferred the drive into it, I unplugged the internal cables from the old enclosure that were connected to the drive and then reattached them. Also, I noticed that one of the cable plugs was not perfectly seated on the circuit board, so I pushed that in a bit. Heard a tiny click.
Using the old enclosure, the drive mounted quickly and I was able to Zero Data on it and erase it using Disk Utility. Was not able to Zero Data on it before. Would hang every time.
Thought I would try a different cloning app than the one I had been trying to use and this time the transfer did not stall. The estimated time, however, was about 6 1/2 hours which I thought was way too long to transfer 190GB via FireWire 800. The transfer rate started at 4.5MB/sec and went up to 9.5MB/sec. So I thought I would try the new enclosure and see if that was faster. I stopped the operation, erased the partition and transferred the drive to the new enclosure.
Tried the same cloning app that worked in the old enclosure and this time it stalled shortly after starting to copy files. Erased the drive and tried the original cloning app that had stalled using the old enclosure. It stalled using the new enclosure also. Erased the drive and tried the Restore function in Disk Utility and that went through. Took 4 hours. Attempted to boot up from the backup that Disk Utility created but I got the circle with the diagonal through it and it just hung there, with my fans running at top speed. Finally had to power down manually.
I'm thinking maybe it's the drive that's malfunctioning. It is still under warranty. Even though I'm not able to boot from the backup partition Disk Utility created, I'm wondering why it was able to transfer 190GB of data when the other two, well respected cloning applications stalled.

Cannot Unmount Internal HD

Hi Guys,
I had a problem booting my computer up a while ago (it would just sit at the white apple screen with the loading wheel) so I removed the internal HDD and backed it up to my desktop computer using a USB adapter hub. I then completely erased the drive. I followed multiple forums on how to create a bootable USB flash drive with Lion, so I did so. I then booted up my computer while holding the Option key, and selected the flash drive (which had the OSX Lion Installer App on it from the mounted installESD.dmg file).
I'm now stuck yet again trying to reinstall Lion on my hard drive. I am in disk utility, and I cannot unmount my internal drive, which means I cannot reinstall lion to it. When I run the reinstaller it tells me that there was an error, and I need to reboot the app, which does nothing.
What i would really love to do is completely erase my internal hard drive (even though I thought it was already) and install Lion onto it from the bootable USB flash drive.
I have an '09 MacBook Pro. I've gone to SmallDog twice with my laptop and they told me that they cannot do anything or that I should do it myself to save money.
And help would be greatly appriciated. Thank you!!
-Julien

There should be a simple explanation. Many background programs on your Mac, including Spotlight, access files on all formatted volumes connected to the computer; most of these programs are designed to allow an in-use volume to be unmounted without causing issue, but one notorious counterexample is the iTunesHelper background process. iTunesHelper coordinates iTunes' interactions with the rest of your computer, and may be using files on your iMac's hard disk, preventing you from unmounting the volume.
If iTunesHelper is running in the background, it's probably causing your issue, so you can just kill it (quit) from Activity Monitor. Search Spotlight for it, or open your /Applications/Utilities folder - you should see Activity Monitor near the top of the list. In the list of processes you see, find and select iTunesHelper and click the "Quit Process" button up top.
Now try running Drive Genius's Defrag again. It should be able to unmount your internal drive and run the repair normally. Just remember to leave your iMac alone while it's defragging! You don't want to accidentally interrupt the process.

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