Disk Utility Not Formatting External USB Drive

Question

Level 1

0 points

Disk Utility Not Formatting External USB Drive

Hello,

I recently upgraded to Leopard. Around this same time, my company purchased two, 1 Terabyte USB External drives for my coworker and I in the graphics/web development department. They arrived this morning and we were very excited.

My problem is that I cannot get Disk Utility to erase/format the new, external USB TB drive for use with my MBP. Disk Utility fails almost immediately with the following message:

"*Disk Erase Failed*
Disk Erase failed with the error:
File system formatter failed."

The options I'm choosing for the Erase are:
Volume Format: MAC OS EXTENDED (i've even tried the 'journaled' version too)
Name: TB

As soon as I hit 'Erase' I get the error message I listed above. The volume never mounts on my desktop and does not exist. I can see the drive itself in the System Profiler, so my Mac sees it, it just can't format it! I've also made sure all my permissions were repaired, so I'm just a little confused as to why this simple task keeps failing?

Is there some additional, esoteric step that I'm missing?

My coworker was able to get his disk to work because he did NOT have Time Machine turned on yet. When he connected his new TB drive, Time Machine asked him to format/initialize the disk and he of course said "ok." I had Time Machine set to use my OLD external USB drive and it's been working great. As of this writing, my coworker is a happy camper. I, however, am not. I'm not blaming Time Machine, just noting the differences between my coworker's experience and my own. Since the volume is not currently mounted on my machine, I can't format my disk the same way as my coworker has done using Time Machine, since Time Machine doesn't see the volume.

My fear is that the manufacturer (whom I've also contacted and am awaiting their response) will throw this back to a software problem....and the folks on the forum here will point their fingers and say 'hardware problem.' Ah, the eternal struggle.....who to blame? 😉

Any help or additional troubleshooting tips are greatly appreciated.

MBP 17", Mac OS X (10.5.1), Fantom Drives 1TB External USB drive

Posted on Dec 12, 2007 9:56 AM

Reply

Answer 1

cstick Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 12, 2007 12:06 PM in response to cstick

An update:

I found the "Log" button in the top right hand corner of the Disk Utility window. Here's what the log shows.

2007-12-12 11:23:31 -0500: Disk Utility started.

2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Preparing to erase : “MBP Terabyte”
2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Partition Scheme: Master Boot Record
2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: 1 volume will be created
2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Name : “MBP Terabyte”
2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Size : 931.5 GB
2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Filesystem : Mac OS Extended

2007-12-12 11:27:16 -0500: Creating partition map.
2007-12-12 11:27:19 -0500: Formatting disk1s1 as Mac OS Extended with name MBP Terabyte.
2007-12-12 11:27:20 -0500: Disk Erase failed with the error:

File system formatter failed.
2007-12-12 11:27:20 -0500: Erase complete.
2007-12-12 11:27:20 -0500:
2007-12-12 11:27:21 -0500: Disk Utility failed during an unspecified action with the error:

File system formatter failed.
2007-12-12 11:27:21 -0500: Erase complete.
2007-12-12 11:27:21 -0500:
2007-12-12 11:27:21 -0500: Erase complete.
2007-12-12 11:27:21 -0500:

Reply

Answer 2

Dec 16, 2007 8:50 PM in response to cstick

I had the same problem twice now and after much searching here and Google the only thing I found that works is to download a trial version of MacDrive 7. Install it on a Windows machine and format the drive there. The trial is good for 5 days only. Be sure to decide how many partitions you want because if you try to repartition once on your Mac it will render the drive unuseable again and have to partition it again on your Windows machine using MacDrive. You can use the default setting in MacDrive for formating it. I can't believe Apple can't do what MacDrive has done. I believe Apple released Leopard too early and or wants you to buy a drive already formatted for Apple.

Reply

Answer 3

dechamp

Level 4

3,495 points

Dec 17, 2007 12:22 AM in response to cstick

It looks like you are using the default "Master Book Record" partition type. I'd suggest that you could use the options while creating the partition and use APM.

Others have noticed that Tiger defaulted to APM, but Leopard does not.

Reply

Answer 4

cstick Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 18, 2007 2:21 PM in response to dechamp

Sorry for the late update.

I was able to get around the problem by:

- Open Time Machine, unselect my current backup disk. (Old USB Drive, 120GB)
- Plug in new Terabyte drive, have Time Machine ask me if I want to use this as my backup drive.
- Select 'Yes'
- Time Machine informs me that I need to format the drive, I select 'Yes'.
- Drive formats with NO PROBLEM using Time Machine.
- Time Machine performs full backup overnight to new external drive.
- Business as usual.

I'm not suggesting this as the BEST solution for everyone, but my particular situation was ideal for this solution. I was planning on replacing the old 120gb drive anyway with the terabyte drive, so it worked out well.

My only gripe is, why didn't Disk Utility format the drive? Dechamp, thanks for the info on the "Master Book Record" but I'm not sure where I set those options. Plus, I'm working just fine now, so I don't want to upset the delicate balance. 😉 Even if your solution works Dechamp, I still want to know why Disk Utility failed on a very simple task, when Time Machine had no problem formatting my new drive.

Still love my Mac, though. Thanks for the responses.

Reply

Answer 5

BobP1776

Level 3

698 points

Dec 18, 2007 3:37 PM in response to cstick

cstick,
In Disk Utility, in the column on the left, there are two lines for your drive. The upper line is the hardware description. Select that. In the info at the bottom, look for Partition Map Scheme. That's the way the drive is divided up to hold one or more formatted volumes -- each of which will look like a separate "disk" to the OS.

What you want there is GUID for an Intel-based Mac and APM (Apple Partition Map) for a PowerPC-based Mac. If it is wrong, you can use Disk Utility to repartition the drive -- typically as just one partition which includes the entire drive.

The second line for your drive in the column on the left bears the name of your drive. That's a formatted volume sitting in one of the drive's partitions. Select it and the info at the bottom will show how the volume is Formatted. What you want is Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). If that's wrong, it can be corrected by selecting that format when you Erase the drive with Disk Utility.

(If your physical disk is partitioned into more than one logical drive, there will be more than one such line -- each bearing the name of the formatted volume in each partition.)

MBR is a type of partitioning used in the Windows world.

Even though Time Machine claims to have done the right thing, it is worthwhile checking the partitioning and formatting in Disk Utility so that you don't run into problems as the you start putting stuff on that disk.
--Bob

Reply

Answer 6

dechamp

Level 4

3,495 points

Dec 19, 2007 12:32 AM in response to cstick

I think the problem boils down to having to change the partition type. Leopard Disk Utility didn't offer you the proper format for TM as the default, but to be fair, it didn't know what you were going to use the drive for. You had probably already told Leopard not to use it for TM. If you plan to share a drive between a Mac and PC, then the MBR method works well.

On the other hand, when you chose to use the new drive for TM, Leopard was smart enough to know that it would need to partition and format the drive using settings that are compatible with the purpose. So, no MBR, and either AFP for PPC processors or GUID for Intel processors.

That option button in Disk Utility Partitioning is pretty subtle and caused me a problem when I first formatted an external drive I was going to use for Leopard. I didn't notice that the drive was AFP, and Leopard refused to install to it until I noticed a reference to GUID in the error. Google helped bring me up to speed. My Intel mac required me to change the option to GUID and all went well from there.

Reply

Answer 7

Mar 3, 2008 11:52 PM in response to cstick

Wow... talk about a round about... I followed your advice... however... I stopped the Time Machine Back up after it started. At that point TM reformatted my HD and I could then go back in with Disk Utility and do a clean reformat... ***?! Add to the fact I live in Seoul Korea and don't speak Korean. I knew the technician at the store was formatting it with Fat32 which I KNEW was wrong... however I thought Disk Utility would take care of me... anyway... glad I found this post.

Daryn

Reply

Answer 8

Mar 3, 2008 11:53 PM in response to Daryn Labier

Is it possible to give you guys points for helping me?

Reply

Answer 9

LukeD

Level 4

3,144 points

Mar 4, 2008 12:11 AM in response to Daryn Labier

This is the best, and only, way to format an external hard drive, which is courtesy of Kappy.

Extended Hard Drive Preparation

1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.

4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.

6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.

Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

Reply

Answer 10

Apr 14, 2008 12:37 PM in response to cstick

Partition failed with the error:

Resource busy

I've tried everything. It's been suggested that I format the drive with a 10.4 boot disk, but my macbook didn't come with one.

Any suggestions?

Reply

Answer 11

Apr 15, 2008 7:03 AM in response to John Stalzer

Hello,

1) open terminal
2) type: diskutil list

to identify the BSD name of your hard drive, it might be disk1 or disk2 or higher

3) type: sudo lsof | grep <diskn>

where diskn is disk1 or disk2 as you will discover

4) if it didn't return the same prompt and came up with some running processes or services using your hard drive, just kill them ALL and try again

I had the same problem like yours with a 2.5-inch internal SATA hard drive, and this worked for me, after tons of Resource Busy (16), finally i was able to erase it in terminal by typing:

diskutil erasedisk HFS+ Macintosh\ HD disk1

Reply

Answer 12

Apr 16, 2008 3:55 AM in response to Hazem Malek

Thanks!

I'll let you know if it works, I gave the drive to one of my buddies at work to see if he can format it. I called apple and they told me it was a bad usb port [I don't yet believe it.

I'll try your solution when I get it back.

John

Reply

Answer 13

Apr 17, 2008 4:39 PM in response to John Stalzer

bump. I am having this EXACT same problem.

Reply

Answer 14

Apr 17, 2008 4:53 PM in response to powermixx

Hey I just got my problem solved. I have a MacBook Pro with 10.5.2. trying to format external Drive 1TB, in Disc Utility, I noticed in the "Partition" tab an "Options" button (lower middle). I opened it and it was defaulted to DOS!!!! When i changed it to "GUID Partition Table" and proceeded, it worked beautifully. Hopefully this helps someone else...

Message was edited by: powermixx

Reply

Answer 15

gerbablo

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2008 12:19 PM in response to powermixx

I had the exact same problem and repartitioning the drive with the option changed to GUID worked. I was then able to reformat with the "erase"tab even though I probably didn't need to.

Thanks Powermix!

Reply