Disk Utility won't allow Master Boot Record?

I can't believe it is not possible to use the disk with another file system.

Alberto you're right, but here's what Lacie answered:

[QUOTE]<a rel="nofollow" href="http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=16913829" target="_blank">Originally Posted by Runnernorth</a>

Hi, thx for your reply:-), just a quick question, do YOU think it's possible to make my 2big thunderbolt work as RAID0 in windows 7/64bit, or just as two independent drives......?

Kindly[/QUOTE]

hi, if you already have the disks RAIDed from OSX then you can't re-RAID them in Windows. The only thing you can do is set it to a RAID, volume scheme and file system that both OSes are able to detect.

Otherwise yes, if you haven't already set a RAID mode on another OS then the disks can do RAID 0 and 1 in Windows.

~mn, LaCie

I'll have a look at it Sunday, though I don't think it'll work (almost sure I've tried that) thx Alberto, have a nice weekend

:-)

Hello,

I have the same problem (meaning I would like to partition my LaCiE 3TBd2 drive with MBR instead of GUIT and the MBR option is always greyed out in Disk Utility andhence I cannot choose it).

I am wondering if you have resolved this already and how.

Moreover, I need it non-journaled, so this would be the second thing I need to resolve somehow.

Has anyone found a solution to this? I need MBR as well but cant select it

@Ictadam, the only solution I could find is use a different operating system. I formatted the hard drive at a linux box after all...

Found this and was so frustrated trying to partition a USB drive with an MBR. It's ridiculous that Apple doesn't provide this functionality that existed as far back as DOS and continues to exist in MS Windows, Unix (well...unix other than Darwin I suppose...), and Linux...

I suppose it's Apple's "But why would you be using any other computer besides a Mac, anyway?" mentality :-/

The partition table in an MBR (Master Boot Record) boot sector can only support disk drives up to 2TB.

The partition table in a GPT (GUID Partition Table) boot sector can support disk drives up to and beyond 2TB.

So, if you have a disk greater than 2TB you cannot have Disk Utility format the boot sector as an MBR type (i.e. MBR would be grayed out). If you must have an MBR formatted disk drive you will need to purchase a 2TB or smaller disk drive.

So let me clarify this.....

I cannot partition my drive with MBR because it is over 2TB. However, the only way to use my drive is with the MBR. So it is not possible to use my 3TB disk drive with both my mac and pc. Is this correct?

Background:

Bought a PC so I could run a work program. I need to transfer my files to my PC and would prefer to use the the drive for both computers. The drive does not recognize and connect with the PC, I suppose because the files are formatted for Mac. WD suggested partitioning the drive once and formatting it using exFAT and MBR. Obviously the MBR will not work. Is there another well to format this drive for both computers?

Thanks,

Tan: You can use all 3TB. Format the partition with exFAT and it'll work with both OSX and Windows just fine.

The 2TB limit is with FAT32 (technically it can go up to 8TB but some OSs don't support it) which also (because it's 32bit) can only support files up to 4GB large. exFAT is a 64bit system and can support a volume as big as 128 petabytes and files as large as 16 exabytes (which is a lot bigger than your drive 🙂

My Solution: Go to the TOP BAR and click "View" right next to "Images" and then "show all..."

On High Sierra it also needs the View menu in toolbar clicked and "Show all Devices" selected