New HD installed. System profiler says "Writable:no"

I physically put in a new Samsung 750 gb HD. Mac recognized it. Whew.
But it will not let me copy anything to it nor use it as scratch disk.
Computer friend said "Must format it. Find instructions in 'disk utility' or 'Mac' help."
Sadly, no such instructions.
Advice from the knowledgeable?
Thank you.
Any opinions on Samsung drives?

Hi-
In "Erase", name your drive. Check "Mac OS Extended Journaled", and click "Erase".
The drive will be ready to use.
If you want to split the drive into partitions. in "Partition", create the partitions, name the partitions, select Mac OS Extended Journaled, and click "Partition". The new volumes will be ready for use.
Erasing and partitioning both format the drive
Please read What is a Mac OS Extended (journaled) volume?

Similar Messages

I have an aluminium Macbook Pro 15" from around 2009 currently running 10.5.8. Apparently I need to be on 10.7.2 to get into iCloud. System Profiler says my machine is Core Duo, but also says it has 2 cores - can I run 10.7.2 on this machine?

I have an aluminium Macbook Pro 15" from around 2009 currently running 10.5.8. Apparently I need to be on 10.7.2 to get into iCloud. And I can only run 10.7.2 on a Core 2 Duo machine or above? System Profiler says my machine is Core Duo, but also says it has 2 cores - can I run 10.7.2 on this machine? Any feedback welcome.

Read Lion's general requirements.

System Profile says LCD

I have a mid-2009 MCP 13". It is supposed to have an LED monitor (and judging by the brightness and battery life, it must have one), but the System Profiler says that it has an LCD monitor. Does anyone know why this might be? I'm running 10.7.
On a separate note, does anyone know the contrast ratio of that display?
Thank you!

LCD is "liquid crystal display" and that describes the layer that contains the acutal pixels. LCD displays nust have some technology for backlighting the pixel matrix for viewing. Older displays used something call cold fluorescent backlighting. Somewhere before the Unibody MBPs were inroduced, the backlighting was changed to LEDs or "light-emitting diodes" to reduce temps and offer better lighting with lower power demands.
So LCD and LED refer to two different parts of the total display assembly. Yours is perfectly normal.

Serial Number in About This Mac and System Profiler says "System Serial#"

I recently had my hard drive and motherboard replaced under warranty.
I wanted to check the expiration of my warranty so I could buy AppleCare before my year is up. I went first to About This Mac, and then to System Profiler - both of them say my Serial Number is "System Serial#" - any ideas on how to get my real serial number displayed?

How strange! I'm not sure if this will show anything different, but you can also try to get the serial number via Terminal. Just open the Terminal application and copy in this command:
ioreg -l | grep IOPlatformSerialNumber

I have a new computer with a new lightroom install. wont import - says could not be read?

I have a new HP Touchsmart with a newly installed lightroom 4 but it wont import any photos from a card. Just says files could not be read?

bkillen39-
What kind of card is it?
here is a few threads that might tackle your question in the meantime....:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4555511
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/864371
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4451395
-janelle

LaCie no longer recognize, system profiler says "Unknown Device". Help?

I've used an external LaCie drive for about a year to handle Time Machine. Yesterday morning when I started up my iMac wouldn't mount the LaCie. I tried both firewire plugs, restarting, resetting the firewire bus - my iMac can no longer see the LaCie drive. However, if I take my external to another iMac, the drive shows up and works just fine. If I take a working external from another iMac, it cannot be recognized by my iMac. Any help would be appreciated!

I had a similar problem with my LaCie drive.
It turned out that the problem was an intermittent fault with the power supply. I had contacted LaCie technical support here in the UK and was advised how to test the power supply:
"leave it plugged into the mains socket, power switched on and hold the power supply (black oblong box) to your ear, it should be silent, if the power supply is making a noise, mine made a quishing sound, chances are the power supply is duff"
Once confirmed back to LaCie technical they asked me to return the faulty power supply and 2 weeks later a new working replacement was delivered. My drive now works perfectly.
I'm not sure if this will go some way to solving your problem but it's worth checking this out.

FW400 not listed in System-Profiler

How can i update the Port, that i can connect my Projekt-Mix.

Can you paste what System Profiler says about FW here?
Do you have any other fW 400 devices?
Are there any other FW devices plugged in?
FireWire Bus:
Maximum Speed:          Up to 800 Mb/sec
OEM ATA Device 00:
Manufacturer:          NewerTech
Model:          0x0
GUID:          0x30E002E0001558
Maximum Speed:          Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed:          Up to 800 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
OEM ATA Device 00 Unit:
Unit Software Version:          0x10483
Unit Spec ID:          0x609E
Firmware Revision:          0x110
Product Revision Level:
Sub-units:
OEM ATA Device 00 SBP-LUN:
Capacity:          931.51 GB
Removable Media:          Yes
BSD Name:          disk5
Mac OS 9 Drivers:          No
Partition Map Type:          APM (Apple Partition Map)
S.M.A.R.T. status:          Not Supported
Volumes:
Leo2:
Capacity:          931.39 GB
Available:          215.98 GB
Writable:          Yes
File System:          Journaled HFS+
BSD Name:          disk5s3
Mount Point:          /
OXFORD IDE Device 1:
Manufacturer:          OWC Mercury Elite Pro AL
Model:          0x0
GUID:          0x1D202009202C0
Maximum Speed:          Up to 800 Mb/sec
Connection Speed:          Up to 800 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
OXFORD IDE Device 1 Unit:
Unit Software Version:          0x10483
Unit Spec ID:          0x609E
Firmware Revision:          0x102
Product Revision Level:          3.AA
Sub-units:
OXFORD IDE Device 1 SBP-LUN:
Capacity:          465.76 GB
Removable Media:          Yes
BSD Name:          disk2
Mac OS 9 Drivers:          No
Partition Map Type:          APM (Apple Partition Map)
S.M.A.R.T. status:          Not Supported
Volumes:
OSX8:
Capacity:          465.64 GB
Available:          357.53 GB
Writable:          Yes
File System:          Journaled HFS+
BSD Name:          disk2s3
Mount Point:          /Volumes/OSX8
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer:          Unknown
Model:          Unknown
Maximum Speed:          Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed:          Unknown

Firewire 400 gone from System Profiler

Hi everyone.
I've just come across a problem with my Dual 2Ghz G5. It appears that the 400 firewire bus has stopped working both back and front and it has also disappeared from System Profiler. The listing under firewire in SP still shows 'up to 800Mb/sec' for the 800 bus but I'm sure there used to be a separate listing for the 400 bus which is no longer there. Am I mistaken ?
I was trying to connect a G4 Sawtooth through firewire to update some photographic files I recently discovered had become corrupted when restoring from Time Machine a while back. ( Another subject but TM seems to have caused a lot of niggling problems after the restore - I think I'm gonna revert to Super Duper again ).
Anyway, with the G4 in FWmode I cannot get either of the FW400 ports on the G5 to recognise it. I can't test it on the FW800 port as the G4 doesn't have one... ( that works - see old post .)
Can they both burn out simultaneously ?
Geographically they are quite a distance apart, are they both serviced by the same PCB or something like that ?
Is it a software thing ? ( the 800 still shows up )
All wisdom greatly appreciated,
Cheers, L2K8

Hi DaddyPaycheck.
Well that has to be the fastest response ever. Thanks.
I unplugged the machine, as per instructions, and left it for an hour or so while I went to the supermarket.
I also borrowed a friends laptop to test the FW ports. The system profiler says the same as before incidentally.
Good news, the G5 picks up the laptop in FWmode so the ports on the G5 are working. Here's the weird bit though. The laptop will pick up the G4 in FWmode and the G4 will pick up the laptop in FWmode in the other direction so the ports on the G4 are working in both directions. However, it takes several attempts to eject the FWmode drive from the desktop of the laptop and I have to force it through Disk Utility.
Meanwhile, the G4 and the G5 will still not recognise each other.
This is beginning to sound similar to the unresolved problem I had a few months back involving a PCI FW 800/400 card. I'm going to go back and check the earlier posts and try the whole combination thing with the PCI cards removed.
Cheers,
L2K8

New RAM installed but System Profiler still seeing old RAM

Hi
Recently put in a new hard drive after the last one failed. The new RAM, equaling 3GB, was installed on my iMac C2D 24" BEFORE the failure. I got it back from the shop today and checked to see if the RAM was still recognised. The System Profiler is showing 1GB or RAM, 512 in each slot, and the serial numbers match the RAM that came with the computer originally.
I'm running Snow Leopard and haven't noticed anything running slow. Is this just a glitch in the matrix?

So you are saying the original DIMMs are there plus the ones you added, all were recognized before the repair but only the Apple-supplied after the repair.
Just trying to keep all of this straight in my mind.
In that case, you might try removing the DIMMs you installed and reinstalling, one at a time and see if they are recognized. If they are not, then they may have gone bad for some reason, who knows why, and it is time to look at the warranty you have from the people from whom you purchased the DIMMs.
If it was someone like Crucial or OWC (macsales) they are really good about their lifetime warranty.
If the warranty is lifetime, contact the supplier and see what the process is for replacement.
It is strange that both would work, and then fail. But stranger things have happened with computers.

2007 Intel Imac, installed a new Hdd. Started up with the install disc but it doesn't find my Hdd when asking for a destination volume to install the Mac OS. The Hdd is recognized in system profiler. Any ideas?

2007 Intel Imac, installed a new Hdd. Started up with the install disc but it doesn't find my Hdd when asking for a destination volume to install the Mac OS. The Hdd is recognized in system profiler. Any ideas?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
The hard drive is not formatted, and it must be formatted in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" in order to install OS X.
Close the OS X installer, and go to Utilities menu (on the menu bar) > Disk Utility. Then, format your hard drive in "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as Format > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html Finally, close Disk Utility and install OS X

New 1GB Chip not seen in System Profiler

Hello all.
A friend of mine just recently installed a new 1GB RAM chip into his PowerBook G4 1Ghz. According to system profiler he has 256MB installed in one slot and the other was empty. So he went to install the new one and removed a 256 MB chip from the bottom panel and inserted the new 1GB chip. After booting back up it still says 256MB and the other slot is empty.
Here is what we see:
SODIMM0/J25LOWER:
Size: 256 MB
Type: DDR SDRAM
Speed:PC2700U-25330
SODIMM1/J25UPPER:
Size: Empty
Type: Empty
Speed:Empty
So here's the ultimate question. If the LowerDIMM is the one under the laptop, why does it still say 256MB.
Also, is there a memory slot under the keyboard on this model? I am unfamiliar with it and all the sites I've seen cover this bottom slot.
Thanks to all who read, research and/or reply.
-Phantom27

Hi, phantom. If I understand your post correctly, there has never been any RAM in the slot that System Profiler calls the upper one, so that slot should appear empty. If a 1GB module in the lower slot is read as a 256MB module, it probably isn't the right RAM for the Powerbook. Aluminum PBs are notoriously choosy about RAM: it really has to be right. Dependable brands are Samsung, Hynix, Crucial, and the higher-priced Kingston line. Kingston's "Value RAM" line generally doesn't work. If you use Crucial's online RAM selector to choose the right RAM for your model, Crucial will guarantee that it's compatible and functional. No matter what RAM you buy or whom you buy it from, always be sure to get a lifetime warranty of serviceability and compatibility with your Powerbook and an assurance that there will be no "restocking fee" or other ripoff charges if you find that it doesn't work.
In short, using cheap no-name RAM in an Albook usually doesn't work, and is more trouble than the small cost saving is worth.

New drive doesn't show in System Profiler

I put a Seritek 1S2 SATA controller card and a Hitachi 500GB SATA drive into my Gigabit Ethernet G4 450 Dual Processor box yesterday. I cloned my boot drive onto the new SATA drive and rebooted from it without incident. And it's a pleasure to see the words "395 GB available" in the Finder window!
Later I went to System Profiler to see if the new hardware was there. It did indeed show the Seritek card, but the drive didn't show. Under Hardware>Serial ATA, it says no information available. This is not a big deal, I suppose, just a curiosity. Does SP not see the drive because it is connected via the controller card? It does show up in Disk Utility.
Another anomaly- SP showed the computer as having a single CPU. I opened Activity Monitor, which showed two CPU windows, but one was blank- no activity.
I rebooted and the second CPU reappeared in SP and AM.
Curious. Any comments on what is happening here?
BC
395 GB Available

I was thinking you must have a GigaDesigns cpu upgraded and that was why the 2nd cpu is "MIA" in SP, but no, normal G4/450DP.
Do you have any version of CHUD installed?
I like to zap the pram, or reset-nvram from within Open Firmware, just to be sure that the device tree is updated to reflect hardware configuration (affects memory, PCI, even disk drives).
As long as it is working, "don't fix what ain't broken" sometimes, like firmware updates for SeriTek etc if not needed or essential (for say OS update or disk drive).

PS CS4 upgrade install hangs while checking system profile

System is a Core 2 Duo 6700 with 4GB, XP2 Pro SP3.
Installing PS CS4 upgrade over CS3.
Downloaded file unpacks OK, but when running Setup the Checking System Profile bar gets to about 90% the PS Setup window flashes up for barely a second, then the install hangs, ie no further progress with the Checking System Profile (left if for 20 mins or so).
I've downloaded and run a new CS4 upgrade file from Adobe store. No change.
I've added SP3 (was on SP2), no change.
Any one seen this or have any ideas?
Thanks!

@Ender
I've been dragging through the installer mud for CS4 ever since a sunny summer day in 2007, so I clearly know some of that stuff... ;-) And sorry to say so, it's simply not the off-screen dialog problem in most of these cases (which a look at the installer logs would very likely confirm). We can discuss this further off-list, if you feel like it, so shoot me a mail to mylenium|-|at|-|mylenium.de. I sure would like to get to know some of the Photoshop-Aliens a bit better (as someone rooted in the video, compositing and 3D world) :-D
@Mike
Simply move them all out of the way or rename them and see what happens. The installer will create the folders again if needed and if e.g. you still need to run CS3, simply renaming/moving them back to their original state will still work (as long as you don't touch any folders related to licensing or shared core functions such as Anchor Service or Linguistics). If you're not feeling adventurous, then call support, they will provide you with more detailed explanations and hold your hand ;-)
Mylenium

System Profiler will not recognize installed hard drive if drive is in use by VMWare

System Information will not recognize installed Hard Drive (Boot Camp) when in use by VMWare.
I work in IT for a School District and I am creating a Script that system information about the computer. I am testing this on a Mac Pro with two internal hard drives. One drive is Mac OS 10.8 and the other drive is a Boot Camp Drive that is used by VMWare Fusion.
When I run System Information via the GUI or system_profiler via Terminal, both drives show up just fine. However, if I launch VMWare Fusion and run Windows from my Boot Camp drive, then run System Information via the GUI or system_profiler via Terminal, the Boot Camp Drive is no longer listed as an installed drive.
Example:
In the Terminal, I enter the following command.
system_profiler SPStorageDataType
Then it returns this information.
Storage:
    Lion Client:
      Available: 217.84 GB (217,836,306,432 bytes)
      Capacity: 639.28 GB (639,275,270,144 bytes)
      Mount Point: /
      File System: Journaled HFS+
      Writable: Yes
      Ignore Ownership: No
      BSD Name: disk0s2
      Volume UUID: CCB501BF-AF24-30E7-A938-5A4E52DF14D7
      Physical Drive:
          Media Name: WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0 Media
          Medium Type: Rotational
          Protocol: SATA
          Internal: Yes
          Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
          S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
    BOOTCAMP:
      Available: 255.58 GB (255,575,560,192 bytes)
      Capacity: 319.79 GB (319,790,510,080 bytes)
      Mount Point: /Volumes/BOOTCAMP
      File System: NTFS
      Writable: No
      Ignore Ownership: Yes
      BSD Name: disk1s2
      Volume UUID: D4B39D4E-E244-403C-AE4D-4D58397130DE
      Physical Drive:
          Media Name: WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0 Media
          Medium Type: Rotational
          Protocol: SATA
          Internal: Yes
          Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
          S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
Then I launch VMWare, which uses the Boot Camp drive. The once again run the same command from the Terminal Command and I get this.
Storage:
    Lion Client:
      Available: 213.39 GB (213,392,244,736 bytes)
      Capacity: 639.28 GB (639,275,270,144 bytes)
      Mount Point: /
      File System: Journaled HFS+
      Writable: Yes
      Ignore Ownership: No
      BSD Name: disk0s2
      Volume UUID: CCB501BF-AF24-30E7-A938-5A4E52DF14D7
      Physical Drive:
          Media Name: WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0 Media
          Medium Type: Rotational
          Protocol: SATA
          Internal: Yes
          Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
          S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
The Boot Camp Drive is no longer listed.
I assume this is due to the the fact that the drive is "In Use" however is seems odd since the Mac drive is also in use and it appears without problem. I assume there is no "fix" for this, I was just wondering if someone may have an explaination why?
Also, I do realize that I can query the various interface types like system_profiler SPSerialATADataType to get all the properly installed phycial drives, but then I would have to query all possible interface types, isolate only devices containing Volumes, then consoldate the information to just the information that I need. I was hoping for a cleaner query.

Thank you for your response.
VMWare may be the cause, but the actual issue I am having is with Apple's System Information. I anticipated resistance from VMWare if I went to them with a question about an Apple software issue (even though VMWare software is part of the equation). I was trying to avoid the inevitable finger pointing game. I thought I would try with Apple Forums first since the issues presents itself within the Apple Software. However, you are correct that VMWare may have an explanation on why Fusion might be interfering with System Information. I will check with them next.
To answer your question. Yes, In most cases I do use Fusion to run Windows side-by-side with the Mac OS. However, that is not always the case. There are a few reasons why I have it setup using a Dual Boot configuration.
One, in some cases, due to the intense programs I occasionally run (graphic applications), I prefer to simply boot straight into Windows via Boot Camp so I may allocate all hardware resources to Windows. Additionally, some graphic applications like to have direct access to hardware and the extra layer of the VM environment can cause problems when an application is trying to directly access specific hardware like a graphics card.
Second, I often use either side, both Mac and PC, for testing. There is an advantage to not having to rely on the Mac OS to run Windows. If, for whatever reason, my Mac becomes unstable due to testing, I can still jump right into Windows to do work if necessary.
Third, I love the Mac OS, but I work in a PC centric organization. If there is a "problem" with my system, it is too easy for other system admins to say, "it's because it's a Mac". Having the definitive separation of the OS's allows me to prove that the Mac OS is not a factor.

I own an imac 2011 running osx 10.6.8. I want to the new airport extreme. but it says in the system requirements that it needs osx lion 1.7.5 or later. would it work with my older osx 10.6.8?

i own an imac 2011 running osx 10.6.8. I want to buy the new airport extreme but it says in the system requirements that it needs osx lion 10.7.5 or later. would it work with my older osx 10.6.8?

In order to set up and install the new AirPort Extreme:
Setup and Administration
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5 or later and AirPort Utility 1.3
Mac with OS X Lion v10.7.5 or later and AirPort Utility 6.3
would it work with my older osx 10.6.8?
Yes, if you set up the new AirPort Extreme using the guidelines above. The 10.6.8 Mac will be able to connect to the AirPort Extreme, but it will not be able to make any configuration changes.
Only the devices listed above can be used to set up and make any changes to the new AirPort.

New HD installed. System profiler says "Writable:no"

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