Petras12
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone

Q: Cannot erase my disk with USB installer

Hello, couple days ago my Mac would open, because when I turn it on I had a progress bar running and after it just shuts down. I had this once before and I know that i have reinstall mac.  I also have BOOTCAMP and it is working fine. Tried to reinstall Mac OS x with recovery, but I could't unmount disk. Decided to make clean install, backed up all my info through BOOTCAMP, prepared USB with Mavericks (did that before, so I know it should work), but after I select OS x based system I go to installation. I go to disk utility to erase my "untitled" disk with mac os and i get this error. "Volume erase failed, Couldn't open disk" (look first picture). Tried to erase the whole HDD but it says that it cannot unmount.( picture 2). Also my Mac OS X disk is grey. It gives error when i try to repair it or to verify. (picture 3) I am using MBP '13 Mid 2010. 2.4Ghz.
I would really appreciate any help, because the last thing I want to do is to buy new HDD or SSD. Thank you a lot!
I3.jpg2.jpg4.jpg

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Jul 22, 2014 4:14 AM

by Petras12,Solvedanswer
Petras12 Petras12
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone
A:

After a while my bootcamp disk also appeared grey, as an untitled in the disk utility in the USB installed. After that I could erase the main disk. that I tried 200x times, but probably hdd realized that it is time to give up doing ********. The thing that I didn't do anything different from what I tried before. Thank you anyway, now it is erase disk and after I hope it will let me to install new OS X. Appreciate your help!

Posted on Jul 23, 2014 2:48 AM

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Petras12

Q: Cannot erase my disk with USB installer

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  • Helpful answers

  • by MrHoffman,Helpful

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Jul 22, 2014 5:55 AM in response to Petras12
    Level 6 (15,637 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 22, 2014 5:55 AM in response to Petras12

    Have a backup of any data you care about here, as mistakes in any of the following sequences or commands can delete your data, and try the following options:

     

     

    Key among all of these is booting from a disk other than the one that you're targeting for erasure.

  • by Loner T,Helpful

    Loner T Loner T Jul 22, 2014 6:04 AM in response to Petras12
    Level 7 (24,855 points)
    Safari
    Jul 22, 2014 6:04 AM in response to Petras12

    In addition to MrHoffman's suggestion, open Terminal in the installer, and

     

    1. diskutil list

    2. fuser /dev/<DiskNameThatYouWantToErase>

     

    If 2 returns a process id list, you can run ps -fp <process id> to see who has files open.

     

    You can also use lsof, if available.

     

    If no process has it open, it may indicate a hardware issue, that can be tested for using Apple Hardware Test.

  • by Petras12,Solvedanswer

    Petras12 Petras12 Jul 23, 2014 2:48 AM in response to MrHoffman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 23, 2014 2:48 AM in response to MrHoffman

    After a while my bootcamp disk also appeared grey, as an untitled in the disk utility in the USB installed. After that I could erase the main disk. that I tried 200x times, but probably hdd realized that it is time to give up doing ********. The thing that I didn't do anything different from what I tried before. Thank you anyway, now it is erase disk and after I hope it will let me to install new OS X. Appreciate your help!