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:
- Mac OS Extended partition: Will not mount. I can see it greyed out in Disk Utility. The entire drive will not unmount.
- 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.
This appears to work fine, and I am able to use it for Time Machine now.
My question now is: How could I have accomplished this in OSX? I know some people will say maybe the drive is going bad. For this question, let's assume it's ok.

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Disk Utility Cannot Be Opened Because Of A Problem

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Disk Utility cannot be opened because of a problem.
Check with the developer to make sure Disk Utility works with this version of Mac OS X. You may need to reinstall the application. Be sure to install any available updates for the application and Mac OS X.
Process: Disk Utility [342]
Path: /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app/Contents/MacOS/Disk Utility
Identifier: com.apple.DiskUtility
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: DiskUtility-2980100~37
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [131]
Date/Time: 2010-08-21 18:44:20.863 -0400
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.4 (10F569)
Report Version: 6
Interval Since Last Report: 2359004 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 75
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 5
Anonymous UUID: 93489452-CA67-4296-AA9A-2228E825BA2F
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 0
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Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/PlatformHardwareManagement.framework/Versions /A/PlatformHardwareManagement
Referenced from: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ServerFoundation.framework/Versions/A/ServerF oundation
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Reinstall Disk Utility from your Snow Leopard DVD. If your DVD does not install 10.6.4 then use the Combo Updater to update back to 10.6.4.
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Download the shareware utility Pacifist from VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Use it to extract a fresh copy of the missing item(s) from the file archives on your OS X installation DVD. The file archives are in the /System/Installations/ folder (use Go to Folder option in the Go menu of the Finder.)
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My HD needs to be reformatted according to Disk Utility, but even when I use an external device for startup, Disk Utility cannot reformat the HD

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Hi
Thanks very much for your reply. We have been starting up from a backup (USB) drive and use the disk utility that is on the backup drive so the internal (problem) HD is not being used for anything (except for wanting to repair it). Still Disk Utility cannot reformat or repair the drive. I have also run Onyx but it tells me everything is OK on the drive.
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Disk Utility cannot repair startup volume, and where's my AppleCare cover?

Hi all,
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Is the hard drive covered under AppleCare?
I don't want to purchase any more software to fix the disk, i.e. Alsoft's DiskWarrior, unless it can be delivered instantly and will work on these problems?
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Thanks for that.
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If I were to call AppleCare while at work, without the serial number, would they be able to locate my agreement and sort out a repair? APP was bought with the machine and I assumed it would've been registered at that time, but the website says I have no agreements...? Anyone got their phone number?

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It sounds like you may have multiple problems, but none of them are likely to be caused by malware.
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http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/baddns.php
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/hackedrouter.php
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(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com, in the form of buttons allowing for donations. Donations are not required to use my site or software.)

I think I goofed when running disk utility, and unmounted at the end and restarted. Now I can't get the disk to mount. What am I missing?

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Disk utility won't let me resize Time Machine partition

My Time Machine is a 400GB partition of a 1 TB external HD. There is another 600GB partition that is empty. In Disk Utility I was expecting a dot/divider between the two partitions so that I could resize them. It is not there and and when I select the TimeMachine partition is says 'This Partition will not be modified'.
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bobwild wrote:
My Time Machine is a 400GB partition of a 1 TB external HD. There is another 600GB partition that is empty. In Disk Utility I was expecting a dot/divider between the two partitions so that I could resize them. It is not there
what do you mean? what's not there? the divider? that can't be. please explain exactly what you are seeing in disk utility. first, you can only increase the TM partition using DU if it's the upper partition when viewed in DU. if it's the lower one then you can not increase it with disk utility. secondly, the other partition should be deleted, not just empty. you can delete it using the minus sign in the partition tab in DU. then grab the lower right end of the TM partition and drag it all the way down to cover the free space left by the former 600GB partition. then click "apply".
and and when I select the TimeMachine partition is says 'This Partition will not be modified'.
Can I re-size ( increase) the TimeMachine partition? or do I have to delete and recreate?

Disk Utility not functioning properly, unable to format disks

Installed Mountain Lion last week and am now trying to format a flash drive, but Disk Utility no longer has the ability to do anything at all. I can open it and look at my disks, but that's all I can do. All functions have essentially been locked out. Help!

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
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Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take the action that isn't working. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
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Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

RAID 5 and Disk utility problems - wrong volume size for formatting

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Disk Utility, Cannot repair permissions

After finally getting Disk Utility to run successfully, without crashing, it says that all the modifications it found cannot, or will not be repaired. ***??
I am almost tempted to re-install tiger so I can get my Macbook run smoothly again. I have been getting alot more beachballs, and sometimes I get horizontal tearing.

I don't have any ready answers for you on that. There are lots of performance related discussions going on here. You'd probably be best served by bringing this issue into one of those threads or starting a new thread.
But some things to check:
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Is Leopard recognizing all of your hardware correctly, and in particular is it seeing all the memory you have installed? Select About This Mac from the Apple Menu. See how much memory it says you have. Click on More Info to enter the System Profiler to see the details on what's known about all your hardware/software setup. Does anything look fishy?
Are you running any third party software that might need a Leopard upgrade?
Basic maintenance when the computer is not acting the way you like is to:
Reset Parameter memory (PRAM) -- the place the computer stashes copies of certain settings for quick access: To do this, shut down the computer. Locate the Apple-Option-P-R keys. Hold down all 4 of those keys and keep them held down. With your 3rd hand, press and release the power button. Keep those 4 keys held down. You will hear the startup chime, and about 10 seconds later you will hear a second startup chime. You can now release those 4 keys. The system will continue to boot normally.
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--Bob

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Hey guys,
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Here are some images:

Sorry I should have also included the following:

Disk utility cannot repair HD

Hello,
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I repeated the process more then once, but the result was always the same.
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Solved by myself...Initialised HD and fully restored from Time Machine, all problems disappeared

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Do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
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Disk Utility Cannot Repair

About one month ago my system at startup was acting odd, the menu items in the top right corner were missing and Disk Utility would not repair the volume, DiskWarrior was real slow in trying to repair the volume so I decided to Erase the Drive and install the OS fresh.
Well this morning at startup after the progress bar I was faced with a black screen with with writing. I started from the install Disk and tried Disk Utility, it could not repair the volume. Keys out of order and missing items were what I saw. I tried Disk Warrior, it was able to repair the volume, hardly any errors shown, no long report for those familiar with DW. However when I went to restart I ended up with the startup you see the 1st time you start your Mac, looking for registration etc after the Welcome video.
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Any Ideas what can be causing this. DW is set to check the HD's SMART status and has never found a problem, the computer is used primarily for email and internet access. It is the G4 that is having these issues.
450 MHz PowerMac G4 40 GB HD 1.12GB SDRAM 700 MHz eMac 40 GB HD 768MB SDRAM iMac 266 MHz 96MB SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.5)

I don't do hardware
Try looking in "do-it-youself" repair.
EDIT: To find drives that would be right you can look at OWC
-mj
[email protected]
Message was edited by: macjack

Disk Utility : Cannot set burn speed

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+++++++++++++++++
You are CERTAIN that the DVD you tried had not already been burned to?
Message was edited by: F Shippey

Disk Util cannot unmount ext HD to format or partition

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