Disk Utility Stalls During Format

There are certain Seagate large drive models that are not compatible with Macs. Check with Seagate to see if the model you have is one of these.

What you need to do, however, when formatting a new bare drive is to partition it before formatting. Do the following:

1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Also check the SMART status in the DU status bar. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is bad (if you are using a Firewire enclosure, there will be no SMART status information.)

3. 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, if supported.) 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, if supported.) 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.

That is absolutely not normal, unless you choose one of the security options like zero out data, 7 pass erase or 35 pass erase. If this is not the case then I would take the drive back because it certainly looks like it is damaged.

I have the same problem, and trying to fix it through the partition system does not work either. I read all the posts here about the Seagate SATA 7200.9 drives not working, but I have a ATA 7200.9. The drive formats just fine in windows with seagate tools, and my ibook reads all the disk information, and will even scan all the sectors and zero out the data. Still, every time I try to initialize or partition. Disk Utility beachball's. I tried a program called Drive Genius, but all that does chug away, getting nowhere. It seems hard to believe that there are models of Seagate Drives that are incompatible with OSX. Help would be greatly appreciated.
My Seagate's Model# is ST3250824A, Part# is 9BD033-303.

Actually there are several models of Seagate large format drives that don't work with OS X.

I would first call Seagate tech support to determine if there's a jumper setting or some other thing that's required to make the drive work. Otherwise, you may need to get a different model.

Update: I booted from the OS X disc, and ran Disk Utility from there, and it partitioned just fine. Interesting that it needed to not have the system loaded to format a USB External.

This is exactly my problem. I bought an Ultra HDD enclosure with the 250GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 - ST3250824A / 3.5" / 7200 / 8MB / ATA-100.

The iMac recognized the drive immediately, and brought up Disk Utility. Below is what it shows for the description. When I selected the Partition tab and simply tried to format the new drive as one single partition, DU hangs and never comes back. I look in DiskUtility.log and see that the partitioning shows having been started, but then DU does not respond any more and I end up killing it.

Kappy, do you think this is a Seagate problem or Ultra problem? Is there any other diagnosis I can do before calling them?

Thx.

------------

Disk Description : ST325082 4A Media
Total Capacity : 232.9 GB (250,059,350,528 Bytes)
Connection Bus : USB Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported

------------

Jun 11 14:13:11: Disk Utility started.

Preparing to partition disk: “ST325082 4A Media”
Partition Scheme: Apple Partition Scheme
1 partitions will be created

Partition 1
Name : “Backup HD”
Size : 232.9 GB
Filesystem : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Creating Partition Map

iMac G5 2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I don't know, but it could be a problem with Disk Utility. Do you ever repair your hard drive and permissions? If not, I'd give that a try. Of course it could be the enclosure. Does the enclosure use the Oxford 922 chipset or some other chipset? I would not recommend using an enclosure that did not use the Oxford chipsets.

I'm gonna guess you just got the same rebate combo I just got from Tiger Direct and you had the same problem I did. I would have to say the "problem" is with the enclosure because I tried this whole scenario with a 120GB Western Digital and I had to use the same process. I also tried replacing my Disk Utility from the one on the CD, no dice. And yes, I repair my disk permissions often.

1: Plug in the enclosure to power and USB.
2: Turn the computer off.
3: Hold the 'C' key while you turn on the computer.
4: I usually hold the 'C' key until the optical drive engages, then I'm sure that its loading from the CD.
5: When it asks you what language you want, pick yours, assuming English here.
6: On the install screen, look up to the menu bar at the top of the screen and pick the Utilities option, then Disk Utlity.
7: Click the drive from the list at the left, then go to erase. Pick a format, name, OS9 thingy, and hit erase. It should work like they say it should.
8: Reboot Normally.

If this doesn't work or you get lost, just post again. Again, its most likely the enclosure. It must be cheap, cause Tiger Direct pretty much gives it away, and Ultra's Support page consists of a user forum.

Good Luck and Happy Formatting

I'm sad to see others with the same problem. I have a 40GB Travelstar disk in a generic USB housing that I use when I'm travelling around. Earlier today I cleared all the files off it, and thought I'd take the opportunity to reformat the disk (I really don't know what I hoped to achieve from this pointless bit of housekeeping). Anyway, Disk Utility hung the same as it did for you. I tried again via the Partition tab, but same result. Luckily I have an iMac running 10.3, and that allowed me to reformat without any problems. So... it's not the disk and it's not the enclosure, but I'd guessed that much already.

As an added bonus, last week I tried to use Disk Utility to erase the free space on my 120GB internal disk (another pointless exercise). After half an hour, my 55GB of free space had completely disappeared, and Disk Utility had hung. When I rebooted, I found an invisible folder called "Recovered Files" in my trash containing a 55GB temporary file. I deleted that, and quickly ran DiskWarrior.

I think it's time to face facts here. Disk Utility 10.5.5 is a lemon.

Well that would make sense I suppose, since the older version on the disk. However, I did try running the CD's version (10.5.1) when I had OSX loaded and logged in normally and had the same problem. It was only when I had the computer booted from the optical that it worked, I don't know if the installer sees yet another version of disk utility, or if there is just a bug somewhere.

Thanks for the suggestions. Before I try anything, I thought I would repeat a comment I got from "trevor" in MacOS Hints forum since I posted there as well last night. Also I have not repaired any permissions at all, and will have to research if this enclosure uses Oxford chipsets.

Trevor says this: "Set the hard drive jumper to master, not to slave. Since it is the only drive connected to that USB to ATA bridge, it should be jumpered as either master, or if the ATA drive supports it, as 'Sole Drive'."

My jumper is set to SLAVE. It seems that your suggestion maverick mimics the bootstrapping process - bypassing the internal HD which then lets the enclosure HD be primary.

Thoughts?

iMac G5 2GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, Pengueen!

Trevor is right on the mark, regarding not having a single drive on any bus jumpered as slave. Externals are normally set to master, or "single' if it's a Western Digital drive.

Gry

Well first off let me say, the two drives I tested in my enclosure were a Seagate and a Western Digital. The Seagate set to master, the WD set to Master/Single. Both failed to partition/format while the OS was running. External enclosures on Mac Laptops is not my area of expertise and I am out of technical explanations for you all, but I know what I tried, I know what worked and what failed and that is what I've told you. I wish I could shed some light on the reasons why this is the way it is, but I'll be content to say that somewhere something is broken, and there is a work-around for it. 🙂

Have a pleasent night.

I had the same problem with Disk Utility. I have a USB-attached ATA hard disk enclosure (from Bytecc, some generic electronics brand). At first I had a 30GB Hitachi Deskstar in it. I tried using Disk Utility to "erase" and it would stall with the progress meter at just 1 or 2% done. I gave up and used my Windows PC to securely erase that disk.

Then I put a 120GB Seagate 7200.7 drive in the enclosure and tried to use Disk Utility to create an HFS+ partition. It stalled and did nothing for hours on end. I tried it several times thinking it would work if I kept the MacBook from entering sleep mode, or if I booted using the OS disc and ran Disk Utility from there, etc. Nothing worked, same freeze-up every time.

Then I got my wife's Powerbook G4 running OSX 10.3.9 and ran Disk Utility from there. It was immediately able to create an HFS+ partition (it took about 30 seconds).

So either Disk Utility 10.5.6 or the USB or filesystem drivers in the 10.4.7 kernel have a serious bug Apple needs to fix.

I was having the same problem with a BUSLINK 80 Gig USB II drive. After reading this I disconnected it from my MacBookPro running 10.4.7 and conected it to my iMac running 10.3.9 and it worked like a charm. Looks like Apple has a wee bit of an issue.