cant erase mac disk the operation couldn't be completed. timed out

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cant erase mac disk the operation couldn't be completed. timed out

Good morning everyone,

I am trying to reset my iMac back to its factory settings but I am getting an error message when I try to erase the HDD. The message is "cant erase mac disk the operation couldn't be completed. timed out". I was able to unmount the HDD OK. My iMac is only three months old, but is running erratically.

Now, I consider myself highly skilled in using the apps on my iMac but I have no idea what is happening inside the device. Bit like cars, I can drive them OK but have no idea what is under the hood!!

Can anybody please suggest a solution for this in language that a 5 year old (my technology age) might understand?

Many thanks....Scotty

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jul 14, 2019 5:38 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,802 points

Jul 15, 2019 5:42 AM in response to Scotty M

You installed CleanNyMac, this is considered malware for MacOS!!!!

please locate the developers instructions to uninstall and get rid of it. Mac OS is EXTREMELY secure and does not require or benefit from using any third party maintenance utilities such as anti virus, cleaning or any other type of Maintenance apps!

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Answer 2

Scotty M Author

Level 1

54 points

Jul 16, 2019 6:38 PM in response to Old Toad

Old Toad,

First, sorry for confusing your comments with rkaufmann87's.

Also, I seem to attached the wrong EtreCheck Report my previous post (I linked to the correct one on DropBox). I have re-run EtreCheck and the report is attached.

Under Major Issues, there is 'Runaway process - A process is using a large percentage of your CPU'. I notice that the Top Process by CPU is 'Other processes 207.98 % (?)'. I assume that this is the runaway process.

In Activity Monitor I also note that there is a process '127.0.0.1:50266' running that doesn't seem right.

You'll see from the new EtreCheck report that I actually have 16GB of memory but still a 5400rpm drive. It shows that my Virtual Memory position was:

Physical RAM: 16 GB

Free RAM: 102 MB

Used RAM: 7.94 GB

Cached files: 7.96 GB

Available RAM: 8.06 GB

Swap Used: 0 B

Is it normal to have 7.96GB of cached files? Can this affect performance, given it is indicating only 102MB of Free RAM?

This might all be meaningless but it makes me feel like I am doing something!!😉

Hope this helps.

Cheers...Scotty

EtreCheck Report 170719

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

210,853 points

Jul 17, 2019 10:56 AM in response to Scotty M

The fact that you have no Swap Used tells us that you don't have a memory problem. However, you've installed and run CleanMyMac which is considered akin to malware by most of us around here. Uninstall it according to the developer's instructions: How to Uninstall CleanMyMac X - MacPaw.

One should never use any "cleaning", "optimizing" or "speedup" apps on a Mac. They just aren't needed. The same goes for anti-virus apps. There are no known viruses for Macs and the apps aren't designed to detect malware or adware. For those use Malwarebytes

When done removing CMM boot into Safe Mode an then reboot normally.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.

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Answer 4

Scotty M Author

Level 1

54 points

Jul 17, 2019 5:46 PM in response to Old Toad

Old Toad,

thanks for the reply.

I've had it drummed into me, by both you and rkaufmann87, about CleanMyMac. I get the hint!!😉 That said, I'm not sure how it got on my device. It certainly wasn't deliberate on my part. It has now been fully removed.

I wonder if you could still clarify for me

What the process '127.0.0.1:50266' is;
why a process (unnamed) was using 208% of CPU;
why I couldn't erase the HDD, regardless of whether this was necessary or not; and
why my device won't shut down when I select to shut it down (I need to press and hold the power bottom to shut down)?

Is this all due to the fact that I had the bloody CMM app installed?

Cheers...Stuart

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,802 points

Jul 14, 2019 6:48 PM in response to Scotty M

Scotty, MAC OS does not need to be erased and reinstalled like MS windows!!!! Please use the Mac App Store, download app the free version of EtreCheck, run the report and please post the report. We can then look for obvious issues on your Mac.

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Answer 6

Old Toad

Level 10

210,853 points

Jul 16, 2019 9:19 AM in response to Scotty M

It was rkaufmann87 that mentioned CleanMyMac. My report comments follows:

You're starting out at a disadvantage having only 8 GB of RAM and an 5400 RPM drive. Any software that requires system resources will affect the system performance.

There are a number of orphaned files that should be removed with the Clean up feature of Etrecheck.

Also you have a Seagate external drive and you have Seagate software installed. It's really not needed and usually is a hindrance to efficient system managing of the EHD. Uninstall according to the developer instructions.

You also have one EHD that is formatted case sensitive. That can cause problems down the line because sometimes an app when editing a file will keep the same extension but change it to all caps or lower case. That definitely will mess up a Photos or iPhoto library. Save the files and reformat OS X Extended (journaled) and not case sensitive.

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

210,853 points

Jul 15, 2019 2:00 PM in response to Scotty M

Read this user tip: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community

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Answer 8

Scotty M Author

Level 1

54 points

Jul 16, 2019 12:28 AM in response to Old Toad

EtreCheck Report

I've attached the EtreCheck report but I suspect you've already read this given your comment about the CleanMyMac software (which, clearly, we installed by accident). I have deleted it now.

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