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External HD Problem in Snow Leopard

I wasn't sure where to post this problem. I'm using SL and I'm trying to format and partition an external hard drive. I get this type of message each time:

Partition failed with the error:

POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory.

After this happens I have to use Windows to initialize the hard drive otherwise my Mac will never see it again. I have tried different formatting/partitioning options but it all ends up the same.

Does anyone know anything about this problem?

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Sep 6, 2009 8:33 PM

272 replies

Nov 8, 2012 6:16 AM in response to Don Barthel

I concur with you. Having had a hard drive that stopped working, I sent it back under warrany. It was returned to me saying that one of the voltages from the power brick was too low to keep the disk working properly. The power brick was able to keep the lights working. The new power brick worked for many year after that until evenually the disk itself failed. So your suggestion is a good one.

Allan

May 1, 2013 6:55 AM in response to stevesse

Holy Cow! This actually worked for me! I was about to scrap the drive and buy a new one, but this actually got me going again, now I just need to restore my data, but the disk was unusable until this solution!!

Thanks Steve!

stevesse wrote:

Here was the error message:
"POSIX reports: The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory"

I solved in this way using Disk Utility:
- I partitioned in 2, one extended/journaled and one fat-dos
- I formatted as usual

Maybe a lucky shot, maybe not.

External HD Problem in Snow Leopard