I formatted my USB to ExFat and now it is read only and I cant erase it in disk utility. I even tried booting with command + S and doing it from there with no luck. Something about being unable to map thre partition but my big issue is the usb being read only, even tried to change its permissions with my Windows PC.
MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14
Can the Windows PC write to the USB drive?
Did you select the physical drive to erase instead of just the volume? In Disk Utility you need to click on "View" and select "Show all devices" before the physical drive will appear in the left pane of Disk Utility.
Another option is to try writing zeroes to the beginning of the drive to destroy the partition table. Sometimes macOS gets confused when it encounters something unexpected.
Edit: If this is a USB stick, then it could just be a compatibility issue with the Mac and the USB stick. I've found Macs can be very picky about the USB sticks used.
Can the Windows PC write to the USB drive?
Did you select the physical drive to erase instead of just the volume? In Disk Utility you need to click on "View" and select "Show all devices" before the physical drive will appear in the left pane of Disk Utility.
Another option is to try writing zeroes to the beginning of the drive to destroy the partition table. Sometimes macOS gets confused when it encounters something unexpected.
Edit: If this is a USB stick, then it could just be a compatibility issue with the Mac and the USB stick. I've found Macs can be very picky about the USB sticks used.
If you can not reformat/initialize the USB it has had a critical failure— buy another and throw that one in the trash.
tmeni001 wrote:
So theres absolutely nothing that can be done? It's a 128 GB drive.. just tossing it seems silly
Read only seems more silly.
If you can not r/w or format/initilize the drive it is the end of the road for that drive. Full stop.
<unable to map thre partition>
All drives fail, it is repeated over and over, just a matter of time. Some drives are dead out of the box brand new.
My only recommendation, try a different brand name 128 GB drive and see if it last longer.
So theres absolutely nothing that can be done? It's a 128 GB drive.. just tossing it seems silly
Can't format USB drive on Mojave
