External hard drive formatting issue Mac Solved/Closed

Question

Hello,

I just bought a "Western Digital" 320G external hard drive.
When I plugged it in for the first time to my computer (a MacBook Pro): no problem. But, as soon as I tried to retrieve files on a PC: impossible!

I then wanted to format it so that it would be accepted by both Mac and PC: I formatted it to MSDOS FAT
And that's when the problems started: not only is the hard drive still unreadable on PC, but now it's also unreadable on Mac!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to reformat it back to how it was before, but now it's impossible to format it at all! Disk Utility repeatedly tells me "failure" and "unable to allocate memory"

--> How can I reformat my drive without issue so that it can be read on both Mac and PC??

I’m completely lost... I'm therefore reaching out for help and hope you can assist me...
Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Configuration: Mac OS X Firefox 3.5.7

_Ritchi_ · Accepted Answer

Hello,

Try formatting from the PC.
Otherwise, to format a disk, here's how it's usually done:
It can be done using Disk Utility: see the section "D. Format and partition" and "E. Using an external hard drive on Mac"
If you prefer reading rather than watching a video:
Launch "Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility"
Select the "Partition" tab
Select the hard drive (the first icon, that is, the one indicating the size of the disk)
Choose "One Partition" for the "Volume Configuration" field (do not leave this field as "Current" otherwise the other fields remain greyed out)
Give a name to your future hard drive
Choose "MS-DOS (FAT)" for the "Format" field
Click on "Options" and choose "MBR"
Start the formatting by clicking on "Apply"

Ritchi

aimeuse · Answer

Ooooh! Thank you very, very, very much!!! I had already done these steps, but I was missing the "MBR"!  I don't have a PC at hand right now, but let's hope it works!  Thanks again a thousand times!!

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Looking forward to it, and come back to give us news about your hard drive.  Ritchi

aimeuse · Answer

Here I am again with problems on my external hard drive, once again!!

What’s happening now is that it takes forever when I want to put data on it
(e.g., a movie --> over 20 minutes!)
On top of that, it has frozen in the middle of the transfer... Even for a simple Photoshop file...
Yet I used the "verify and repair disk" function in Disk Utility...

I think it has a real problem and I’m considering exchanging it... unless there’s a solution...
Help!

Thanks in advance!

aimeuse · Answer

I don't understand your question.... I'm equipped with a MacBook Pro I know a bit, but I'm not a computer scientist, far from it....  Do you have an answer to my problem?

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Good evening,

The slowness of the transfer can be explained by the nature of the connection between your Mac and the drive.
This connection can be:
- USB1: the speed is low (12Mb/s or 1.2MB/sec)
- USB2: the speed is higher (480Mb/s or 48MB/sec)
- FireWire: the speed is 400Mb/s or even now 800Mb/s
On the MacBook Pro side, you are equipped with USB2 and FireWire connectivity.
On the drive side: I can't say for sure, although I lean towards USB2.
When it takes 20 minutes for a movie, what is the size of the file being transferred?

Ritchi

aimeuse · Answer

I don't know if it's USB 1 or 2. But I just know that before all this formatting business, the speed was "normal". Now it's really very, very slow. The movie I wanted to transfer was 738 MB...

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Hello,
20 minutes for 738Mo is not much: 0.615 Mo/s, which is half as fast as USB1...
We can try this:
If your external hard drive has several USB ports, then restart the transfer using a different USB port.
If you notice no difference, then we'll do the following experiment: create two partitions (one Mac and one PC/Mac) to see if the slowness is related to the format or not.
Actions:
- Launch Disk Utility.
- In the left column, click on your external drive (the line that says "XX Go [manufacturer name]")
- Click on the Partition tab.
- Click on Options.
- Choose "GUID Partition Table" and click OK.
- In Volume Configuration, choose "2 partitions".
- Click on the first one, choose the format MS-DOS (FAT), set the size, and choose a name for the partition.
- Click on the second partition, ensure that the format "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" is selected, and enter a partition name.
- Click Apply
Take your video file of 738Mo and time how long it takes to transfer it to each of the partitions (FAT and Mac OS).

Ritchi

aimeuse · Answer

I tried to do what you told me, but my disk utility displays a message that says:

The partition failed:
Error: filesystem formatter failed

then

The partition failed:
Error:
POSIX reports: the operation could not be completed. Resource busy

...

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Good evening,
Have you selected the hard drive and not the partition in the left column of the disk utility?
As a reminder: you need to select the first icon representing the external hard drive, that is, the one indicating the size of the drive and not the one below it which is slightly offset that represents the partition.

Then choose the "Erase" tab.
Then select "Volume Format = Mac OS Extended (Journaled)"
Give your disk a name.
Click on Erase.
If it doesn't work, try again this time choosing "Volume Format = MSDOS FAT"

If this time it’s okay, then repeat the procedure I suggested in post 9

Ritchi

aimeuse · Answer

I tried as you said, formatting in Mac OS extended (journaled) --> doesn't work
then in MSDOS (FAT) --> doesn't work either (message: "unable to allocate memory")

I still think I selected the right icon on the left (here's everything that appears, in order, related to my external hard drive, I clicked on the one in bold)

319.37 Go WD My Passport
804.4 Mo WD Virtual
disk4s0

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Hello,

This is starting to be puzzling!
I found other testimonies discussing this phenomenon with WD drives (example) and apparently, the only solution they found is to format the drive from Windows...
Certainly a bug in Mac OS X Snow Leopard (by the way, which version are you on?)

Ritchi

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Hello,

I've continued my research and I came across something that will interest you a lot because you have Snow Leopard.
Since Mac OS 10.6 (so Snow Leopard), it is possible to manage an NTFS disk by enabling the capabilities of Mac OS 10.6 through a command line in the Terminal, or to make it simpler, by using NTFS Mounter which will do it for you.
So, if you get your hands on a PC again, format your disk as NTFS.

Ritchi

Aimeuse · Answer

Hi, I'm still having problems with my external hard drive...

I just tried to format it to NFTS on a PC, but I don't have access to the "format" command nor the "delete" option in the disk management...
Can you help me with this?

Thanks!

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Sorry, I’m no good with computers. I suggest you ask your question in the Windows forum. Good luck  Ritchi

Aimeuse · Answer

Hello,

well, I finally managed to reformat it on PC (to NFTS), but it has become unreadable on Mac again, and now I don't understand anything.....

When I open Disk Utility, my external hard drive of 320 Go is recognized as a 2 To hard drive !!!!
And I can't change this size, which means that when I want to partition it, I get a message saying it's impossible to allocate memory...

Basically, on the left side of my window, I see all these elements displayed:

250 Go, 06 Go FUJITSU MJA2250BH FFS G....
Macintosh HD
2.2 To WD My Passport 070A Media
804.4 Mo WD Virtual 070A Media
disk3s0 <-- (that one, I can't click on it, it's grayed out)
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868

It's incomprehensible....... Pffffff
Do you have any magical ideas?

Thanks again for your attention! :)

_Ritchi_ · Answer

Good evening,

I'm at a loss here!!
Question: After formatting to NTFS on PC (Windows XP? Windows Vista? Windows Seven?), did you use the disk to see if it was accessible for reading/writing?

I'm circling back to the topic, but in Disk Utility, is it the line containing the disk name (Western Digital) and its size (around 300GB) that you select when you want to format it on the Mac?

Ritchi

Sanspseudo · Answer

Good evening,
Ritchi, whom I greet in passing, has pointed out this problem. But I must say that Ritchi is just as competent as I am, and if he hasn't managed to resolve this issue, I have little hope myself.
Ritchi has already explained everything well.

Nonetheless, they say strength lies in unity... and two opinions, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, I would simply say that this kind of thing can happen (real-life cases) when people who are not well-versed in computing disconnect the hard drive "in the wild." I mean, they disconnect it without first "ejecting" it from the Finder, like you would eject a CD.

As a result, the directory is all "messed up," which could explain the 2 TB capacity.

It is imperative to eject any external drive through the Finder before physically disconnecting it.

In concrete terms...

I will try to clarify the left column of Disk Utility:

250 Go, 06 Go FUJITSU MJA2250BH FFS G.... Macintosh HD

that's the internal hard drive and below it its partition.
======

2.2 To WD My Passport 070A Media 804.4 Mo WD Virtual 070A Media

that's the external hard drive and its current partition.
======

disk3s0 <-- (this one, impossible to click on, it is grayed out) MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868

That's the DVD drive ..
======
So, since the external drive is recognized, to solve the problem, I would say we need to start from scratch. And I would say to proceed in several steps.

First, format this external drive as a single Mac OS partition:
So, select the line
2.2 To WD My Passport 070A
and not what is below
and generally do what Ritchi explained similarly, so I will reiterate:

-In the right part of the window, click on the "Partition" tab
-Above the "Volume configuration" area where it says "Current", replace the word "Current" in the dropdown menu with 1 partition
-At the bottom of the area click on "Options"
-Choose "GUID Partition Table"
-Confirm
-Then in the main window, select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the format
-At the bottom of the window, click Apply.

This way, we can test if after that, the drive is ready to work with at least the Mac

If that worked, and it's functioning well, we can repeat the operation, but this time by preparing the drive for Mac and PC, so we will change the procedure like this:

Set the drive in 2 Mac OS partitions:
-In the right part of the window, click on the "Partition" tab
-Above the "Volume configuration" area where it says "Current", replace "Current" in the dropdown menu with 2 partitions and adjust the sizes
-At the bottom of the area click on "Options"
-Choose "Master Boot Record (MBR)"
-Confirm
-Then in the main window, select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the format; it may be that the choice is not available; in that case, simply click Apply at the bottom of the window.
-At the bottom of the window, click Apply
Now we should have 2 Mac OS partitions, if everything has worked.

Format one of the Mac OS partitions to MS DOS:
-Once that is done, choose one of the partitions to change it to MS DOS, so this time
-select the partition, not the drive itself, so the icon slightly offset under the hard drive icon
-go to the "Erase" tab this time, and not on "Partition"
-there, select MS DOS (FAT) in the dropdown menu
-give it an evocative name, for example: POUR_PC, (the MS DOS format does not accept lowercase letters or spaces)
-click on "Erase" at the bottom right

Do the same if necessary for the other partition, but with the Mac OS Extended format this time.

To be continued...

Best regards
--
Sanspseudo - Francis
iMac Intel Mac running OS 10.6 + iMac-G5 running Mac OS 10.5

Sanspseudo · Answer

Continuation,

Some illustrations to understand clearly - since I have exactly this setup on one of my drives...

You start with this to prepare the disk for 2 partitions, after the GUID format and Mac OS have worked, if that's the case... you switch to MBR
http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/capturedacran2010-02-180137141.php

Then you create your DOS and Mac OS partitions
http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/capturedacran2010-02-180133571.php
http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/capturedacran2010-02-180133471.php
--
Sanspseudo - Francis
iMac Intel Mac running OS 10.6 + iMac-G5 running Mac OS 10.5

aimeuse · Answer

Hello, thank you for this help... But I can't even do the first partition, I think I followed the exact steps as explained, but when I click on "Apply," I get a message saying "Unable to allocate memory..."  I will try again, but I don't understand....

Sanspseudo · Answer

Hello,

Unable to allocate memory...

I have read about similar situations on the US forum (Apple discussion), where I just took a look... to see if this message is "known" in such a situation...
The message often resembles something like this:
"POSIX reports: The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory"
and the attempt to format fails.

It turns out that it might be an issue with the internal firmware of the hard drive itself, and that the update can only be done on a PC. This is the most common case.

The solution that seems most effective is to format the drive to NTFS on a PC, and if possible, update the firmware from that PC.
Then return to the Mac and format it to Mac OS, and then partition it as desired.

I don’t know the exact model of the hard drive, so I suggest going to the WD website
and finding the firmware update page for that drive:
https://support-en.wd.com

The firmware is a small internal program in the drive itself. This program likely has a bug that prevents the Mac from formatting it.

Some users simply exchanged the drive at the store where they bought it for a more current model, meaning one with the correct firmware. I myself have a 500GB WD My Book, which works without any problems. The issue seems to concern certain models.

So, for now, go back to a PC, format to NTFS, see if it’s possible to update the firmware, then return to Mac and format to Mac OS. If there’s still a failure, another solution before exchanging the drive would be to do as Ritchi suggested, install NTFS Mounter, which will allow reading and writing on the NTFS format. However, NTFS Mounter, while it does allow reading and writing on the NTFS format, does not allow formatting to NTFS, which is necessary for partitioning on Mac. In this case, the solution would involve NTFS for Mac ex NTFS-3G which unfortunately has become paid.

Best regards...
--
Sanspseudo - Francis
iMac Intel Mac running OS 10.6 + iMac-G5 running Mac OS 10.5

Celte · Answer

Hello, I have the same problem... and I was wondering in the end "Aimeuse" have you found a solution? Having tried everything, I will resort to "sanspseudo"'s advice as a last resort, but given the date of the issue (2010) it's a bit disheartening... Thank you very much for all the good advice given.

Mima · Answer

Hello Ritchi,  I'm updating you on another post where you replied to me with a lot of kindness. I managed to solve the issue by reinstalling the OS. I started everything over and finally gave the Mac to my sister who is now happy to have a Mac. She was over the moon!  I'm reaching out to you again because I'm experiencing exactly the same problem as aimeuse. With the same responses from the Mac even though I followed your process exactly. I tried erasing it and then partitioning it, but nothing works. The same responses. Is it the hard drive that's problematic? Is it possible that it's locked? I don't see it. And yet, I only managed to erase all the data inside.  Thank you very much for any answers you can provide me.  Best regards, Mima

Lemoulin · Answer

Hi everyone,  even though this post is four years old, I had the same issue formatting a 1TB WD hard drive on a Mac. I realized that I was plugged into a hub (powered) but it wasn't enough to fully power the hard drive. So it works perfectly on the port behind my iMac. So keep that in mind! I hope this can help. bye

External hard drive formatting issue Mac

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