How to reformat WD Passport for Mac?

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Level 1

8 points

How to reformat WD Passport for Mac?

I am running 10.9.5 on a MacBook Pro - 15-inch, Mid 2012

The WD Passport for Mac is one of several drives that I use for backup on my MacBook Pro, so I do not need to

recover any information on it. In fact I think I've now wiped it. I'm not sure because it will not mount on my desktop - however, I can see it with Disk Utilities. I have tried to format it. I have tried to repair it. I have tried to erase it. I have tried everything I can think of.

I think this might have happened when it was backing up & I tried to do something else at the same time with the laptop...not ure. Any ideas for me to get this drive erased and reformatted?

Here are some of the errors.

Thank you for any ideas.

-owl

OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Aug 15, 2018 5:00 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,083 points

Aug 16, 2018 12:59 PM in response to owl5126

Try this instead. First, select the ghosted disk1s2 then click on the Mount button in the Disk Utility toolbar. Then try the following.

Drive Partition and Format Pre-El Capitan

Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the side list.
Click on the Partition tab in Disk Utility's main window toolbar.
Set the number of partitions to one (1) from the Partition Scheme drop-down menu.
Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button.
QuitDisk Utility after the process is completed.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,083 points

Aug 15, 2018 11:02 PM in response to owl5126

Drive Partition and Format - El Capitan or Later

Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with 1TB WD Passport...) from the side list.
Click on the Erase tab in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
Quit Disk Utility.

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Answer 3

owl5126 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 16, 2018 5:27 PM in response to Kappy

For whatever reason, apparently that drive will not mount.

I highlighted the ghosted disk1s2 & clicked on the Mount button as advised. Nothing.

I also tried right clicking directly on the ghosted disk1s2 & telling it to Mount. Nothing.

I ran disk utilities: verify and repair on "1 TB WD My Passport 0748 Media" and get no errors.

When I run the same on the ghosted disk1s2, I get the errors that it cannot be repaired and that it needs

to be formatted.

I have tried formatting both the ghosted disk1s2 and the normal 1 T Passport disk image. Won't reformat it.

Thank you for your ideas... Since disk utilities says the disk is ok, I'm not sure what to try next!

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Answer 4

owl5126 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 17, 2018 9:54 AM in response to owl5126

Semi-update:

At one point yesterday, through one of the various methods of reformatting, the disk actually

formatted and mounted - until the bouncing ball took over and would never stop. I restarted and

the old name "disk1s2" was back. One good thing is that I'm laughing now at the stupid errors. Also,

today I now see that the partition has renamed itself "disk1s3" possibly momentarily. Unfortunately I

don't recall which combo of formatting I used when it actually allowed itself to be formatted and mounted.

I guess I'll keep trying occasionally to format....just in case it decides to get along with me.

Thanks, Kappy, for your suggestions.

-owl

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Answer 5

owl5126 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 16, 2018 8:19 AM in response to Kappy

Thank you for trying to help. Here are the results for that:

(As mentioned though, I am running Mavericks 10.9.5.) I have not updated to El Capitan.

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How to reformat WD Passport for Mac?

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