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How do I erase disk using Firewire connection

I have a MacBook Pro, using Yosemite OS. I do not have an original start-up disk, and I want to erase the hard drive via connection to my desktop mac with firewire. They two computers use the same Operating System. When I first went into Disk Utility and tried to erase the hard drive, I receive the error message "Couldn't unmount disk" Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 19, 2015 7:39 PM

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Posted on Mar 19, 2015 7:48 PM

Do both computers have FW ports? Do you have suitable FW cable? Depending upon what you are trying to accomplish by this exercise you may be able to do it without using both computers, but you haven't provided adequate information. You should also check if your model can do a Full Internet Recovery: Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery. If so, then if you need to erase and install Yosemite you can do so as follows:


Install OS X Using Internet Recovery


Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


  1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
  2. After DU loads select your newly installed 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.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Mar 19, 2015 7:48 PM in response to jwq426

Do both computers have FW ports? Do you have suitable FW cable? Depending upon what you are trying to accomplish by this exercise you may be able to do it without using both computers, but you haven't provided adequate information. You should also check if your model can do a Full Internet Recovery: Computers that can be upgraded to use OS X Internet Recovery. If so, then if you need to erase and install Yosemite you can do so as follows:


Install OS X Using Internet Recovery


Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


  1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
  2. After DU loads select your newly installed 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.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

How do I erase disk using Firewire connection

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