LaCie 4TB stuck on Erasing HD in Time Machine

I tried to select disk for for back up in Time Machine Preferences and it said it had to erase the LaCie in order to reformat it I guess and it’s stuck erasing. It’s been at the half way mark and hasn’t moved at all. The SSD isn’t registering the in finder anymore either. The light on the Ext. drive is flickering like it’s working, but there is no progress. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared if I force quit or restart my computer I will ruin the external HD or something. Any assistance would be very much appreciated!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Oct 12, 2023 1:35 AM

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Oct 12, 2023 4:42 AM in response to Popproxxx

I don’t know what to do. I’m scared if I force quit or restart my computer I will ruin the external HD or something.


It shouldn't... but the symptoms you describe suggest it may have already failed. Erasing a disk should only take a moment or two: Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support


If Disk Utility is stuck and unresponsive, force-quitting the app is justified. Restarting the Mac will accomplish the same thing, but Disk Utility's apparent unresponsiveness will probably prevent the Mac from shutting down anyway. So, you might as well force ** to quit: How to force an app to quit on your Mac - Apple Support

Oct 12, 2023 5:21 AM in response to Popproxxx

Even if it were to "ruin" your external drive, you still have the data on your Mac.


It'd be a bit of a hassle, but drives fail all the time and the fix is to get a new one and backup immediately. The chances of you losing data during the time interval of having no backup is remote if your Mac is operating normally.


As it stands, you don't have a backup anyway ... what's to lose? Inaccessible backup data ... ???

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LaCie 4TB stuck on Erasing HD in Time Machine

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