Reformat WD My Passport Ultra for Mac Not Working

Question

Reformat WD My Passport Ultra for Mac Not Working

My Passport Ultra was previously used on my Windows 7 PC. I have since reformatted it on my PC just to get all the info off of it.

I want to format it to work on my Macbook Pro for Time Machine, so I looked into how to do that. It told me to open the Disk Utility, and to choose the drive and then choose 'Erase'.

However, the 'Erase' button is greyed out and it will not let me erase it.

Again, the drive has already been formatted on my PC, so it is blank.

Is there maybe a way to format it for a Mac on my PC??

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 13", 2.9 GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB

Posted on Aug 1, 2016 7:42 AM

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Answer 1

Csound1

Level 9

60,153 points

Aug 1, 2016 7:46 AM in response to fenderplayer22

You can not use a PC to reformat a drive for a Mac, take a screenshot of Disk Utility with the drive connected, so we can see what you see.

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Answer 2

Aug 1, 2016 7:50 AM in response to Csound1

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Answer 3

Csound1

Level 9

60,153 points

Aug 1, 2016 7:56 AM in response to fenderplayer22

What is on the WD Unlocker partition?

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,636 points

Aug 1, 2016 7:57 AM in response to fenderplayer22

This is a virtual 36MB CD Image. From OSX Terminal, post the output of diskutil list with the WD connected.

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Answer 5

Aug 1, 2016 7:58 AM in response to Csound1

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Answer 6

Aug 1, 2016 8:01 AM in response to Loner T

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,636 points

Aug 1, 2016 8:12 AM in response to fenderplayer22

Have you looked at

https://support.wdc.com/product.aspx?ID=223&lang=en

http://support.wdc.com/KnowledgeBase/answer.aspx?ID=3865

?

If the drive is smaller than 2TB, you can format it as FAT or exFAT on the PC and then connect it to the Mac?

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Answer 8

To_Mi

Level 4

1,212 points

Aug 1, 2016 8:37 AM in response to fenderplayer22

I guess the WD drive is locked ( hidden ) with its built-in security mechanism.

You can try WD's utility software ( WD security ) to unlock the WD drive.

http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?l=jp&fid=wdsfMP_Ultra&lang=en

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Answer 9

Aug 1, 2016 12:38 PM in response to To_Mi

I forgot the password which is why I need to format it in the first place. But I also got a Mac so I want to format it for that as well.

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Answer 10

Aug 1, 2016 12:39 PM in response to Loner T

Yes, I have tried that second link you posted. I will try to format it to FAT or exFAT using that first link you posted and see if that works. It is 1TB

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Answer 11

Aug 1, 2016 12:45 PM in response to Loner T

OK I reformatted again and made it exFAT from the PC because that was the only option it gave me (Besides NFTS or whatever the Windows one is). Plugged it back into my Mac, Time Machine doesn't recognize it, and the Mac only shows the WD Unlocker on the desktop instead of it being a separate HD or disc. I forgot my password which is why I need to reformat it, but like I said, I got a Mac so now I want it for this too.

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,636 points

Aug 1, 2016 2:48 PM in response to fenderplayer22

Now you should be able to reformat the exFAT to HFS+ using OSX Disk Utility.

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Answer 13

Aug 1, 2016 3:20 PM in response to Loner T

Well that's what I'm saying, I plugged it back into my Mac and I go to Disk Utility and all the options for that drive are still unavailable aside from the 'info' tab, even after I reformatted it on my PC to be exFAT.

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Answer 14

Aug 1, 2016 3:21 PM in response to To_Mi

I just downloaded this, so we will see if it helps! thanks!

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Answer 15

jndupuis1

Level 2

462 points

Aug 1, 2016 4:13 PM in response to fenderplayer22

If you have a way of burning CD on your Mac, try DBAN. Darik's Boot and Nuke. I used it to do a quick erase of a HD with corrupted HD info. Then was able to use Disk Utility. DBAN can also do other types of secure erases. Boots up on my Mac just fine with the Apple USB SuperDrive.

Cheers!!

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