Disconnect the cable entirely, then reconnect it first to the drive, then to the macintoshs usb, firewire or thunderbolt port. Your browser does not currently recognize any of the video formats available. Select the desktop icon for your hard drive and drag it. When an external hard drive is not working properly, you can use the builtin disk repair tool first aid to check and repair disk errors. Mac getting the couldnt unmount disk error and how to fix it.
For example, when a device cannot erase the drive or attempting to fix the pen. If this does not work, swap out the cable for a different one. Once you have activated the mac recovery tool you can recover as many. When this error pops up, not only will the disk utility halt suddenly, but also the disk will suffer as. Stellar data recovery professional supports the recovery of files from an external hard drive on macos catalina, mojave, high sierra and other macosos x variants.
Couldnt unmount disk, then you may have to force an unmount through the terminal. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. If your external hard drive is not mounted on the desktop or in the finder, you can try to mount it manually in disk utility which is a native disk management tool in your mac. I wanted to boot it up normal, but only got half way then just stay like that. You can repair the notorious couldnt unmount diskerror using mac disk. Because i wasnt able to do anything with my external hdd i made a desperate attempt to erase everything on it, including unbackuped files, cause this used to be the backup plan. Type sudo diskutil unmountdisk force devdiskx line. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Click the icon of your hard drive in the sidebar on the left. This is one of the easiest solutions, so you can have a bash. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. This article helps to solve the error stating cant unmount disk mac. In the case of external hard drive file system corruption, the disk utility not function and as a result, you will require performing data recovery on unmounted mac volumes. How to fix external hard drive not mounting on mac computer.
You can force unmount a drive by running the following terminal command. Mac files wont copy to external hard drive how to fix. If there is a problem with the hard drive, the erase may fail. How to forcibly unmount a disk by command line in macos device files in macos are sets of drivers for specific devices that are stored in the hidden folder dev. Jul 30, 2017 select disk utility and click on the continue button. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. If you have a pc download transmac trial start in administrator mode plug your disk in via usb. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. You will salvage the files with the help of data recovery application and then proceed to erase or format the external hard disk drive using mac os. If you have an image you would like to clone to it use the clone option.
Raid will protect you from disk failure, keep your system running, and data accessible while the disk is replaced and the raid rebuilt. You will need any mac os x boot drive to complete this task, i used a. Ntfs is a file system that is optimal for windowsbased computer. Manually mount this external hard drive in disk utility. Oct 14, 2019 in the warning prompt, click ok to start formatting your hard disk.
That makes perfect sense disk utility is not going to see a drive that isnt connected to the computer. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. Best next step then will be to replace the hard drive. On the sidebar, go to devices to locate lacie and click the eject symbol to the right of the drive name. For example, you can run a disk check when your apps quit simultaneously, an external drive is not working properly, or your mac wont startup.
Set the external hard drive onto unwriteable state. It is a recommended to use raid and have external backups. You can do that by typing disk format or disk management in windows search or going to control panel administrative tools create and format hard disk. Dropbox doesnt delete files from your account, and it doesnt go about creating duplicates. If that erases without showing an error, quit disk utility, and continue with the os x reinstall. If youre trying on a mac using disk utility to erase a hard drive and it. Disk utility will check the health of your hard drive and repair any disk errors if possible. We arent suggesting you skip disk utility repair mechanism, however, we are offering a few advanced solutions. To unmount a disk image in windows, open my computer, select the disk image, and click eject this disk. Reboot your mac and hold option key while its booting.
Formatting the hard drive or partition scheme will recreate a new hfs. Have you ever tried to format a disk in mac os x and disk utility wont unmount the hard drive for formatting. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Launch the bitwar data recovery program and select the unmount drive on your mac, then click next. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to fix deep formatting problems with os x drives macissues. Jun 14, 20 you can force unmount a drive by running the following terminal command. When you switch over to the other user account, dropbox throws a nice warning that simply says your dropbox folder is missing. Except for formatting external disk, you can wipe a hard drive totally and erase an ssd securely with aomei partition assistant pro. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Oct 15, 2018 to format qnap external drive in command line, please turn to aomei partition assistant professional. How to fix mac osx hard drive formatting issue 2018 youtube. Feb 21, 2020 rightclick your hard disk and select get info.
Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. If the delete button is dimmed, you cant delete the selected partition. My point in this exercise was to see if somehow, at startup, something was getting loaded from the external drive and remaining active, preventing the unmounting of the drive. Once the hard drive disappears from the sidebar or, the finder window closes, you can disconnect the hard drive s cable from your mac. Aug 16, 2019 try selecting the wd at the hard drive level i.
If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Aomei partition assistant standard is a free exfat formatting utility you wont want to miss in windows. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os x. How to mount a drive using disk utility on mac kepler. Backups will allow you to recover data that is lost or corrupted, or from system failure. I dont think i have got enough ram in this one, only 4gb, and i remembered that. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer.
Force an external mac drive to mount via command line. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Boot in recovery mode and see if disk utility can handle the drive from there. This released the drive, and allowed it to unmount. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community. Hard drive mounting can be done manually using disk utility. Disk images can also be unmounted, which may free up some ram used by the system to mount the image. Du will try to unmount it in any case in order to partition it. Once the hard drive disappears from the sidebar or, the finder window closes, you can disconnect the hard drives cable from your mac.
Repair mac external hard drive without disk utility mac. How to recover data from unmounted apfs external hard drive. First aid or formatting a nonboot disk, the above means will not make effects surely. Cant unmount or reformat wd essential 2t external drives. Partition a physical disk in disk utility on mac apple support. It can happen for external usb and firewire as well as internal disks. In the warning prompt, click ok to start formatting your hard disk. Make sure you have selected the correct disk since formatting the disk will erase the information it contains. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. You were right, you did indeed have to select wd my passport screen shot 20170625 at 6.
How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os x disk utility. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. Steps on how to recover data from external hard drive. What does it mean to mount or unmount a disk image. In the disk utility app on your mac, select a volume in the sidebar, click the partition button, then click partition. Choose the unmountable external drive on the left sidebar. I was then able to reformat it using disk utility without a problem. You may have to still change the number it may not be devdisk2 but devdisk3 or something else, but most terminal command not found errors ive seen have been due to people not typing exactly what theyre seeing no space where there should be one, or an i instead of 1. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os. Now, however, when i open the hard drive, i cannot see any files inside but still. Unmount the drive by clicking on the eject button next to the drives name in a finder window.
When disk utility loads select the drive usually, the outdented entry from the side list. Jun 22, 2008 that makes perfect sense disk utility is not going to see a drive that isnt connected to the computer. Cannot mount external hard drive on mac, how to fix. In this blog, well share various methods to repair mac external hard drive without disk utility. Wd my passport this time not untitled and then erase. External hard drive wont format the format did not complete successfully i have an lg external hard drive which i unplugged one day without doing the safe eject. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac.
Mar 23, 2016 usually, disk mounting is an automatic process and happens when the external hard drive gets connected to mac via one of the usb ports. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac. If you find your external hard drive is ntfs format, thats what the cause is. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os x disk utility duration. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. To format qnap external drive in command line, please turn to aomei partition assistant professional. If a quick scan could not scan lost files, try deep scan.
Before partitioning the drive, try using disk utility to unmount it not eject. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. It formats partition to exfat no matter the partition is on external drive, usb stick, sd card, pen drive, or internal hard drive system drive is an exception in windows 10 as well as windows 8. Access terminal application input diskutil list line when the list of all disks appears you need to found the disk that you want to force unmount. First off, insert the usb boot drive to mac and reboot. Formatting failed cannot unmount disk qnap nas community.
Resolve a couldnt unmount disk error in disk utility for mac. You can do that by typing disk format or disk management in windows search or going to control panel. They are used to interact with these devices through sets of relevant commands open, read, write, close, and others. Solved cant unmount disk error on mac free data recovery. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac.
It appeared that the external drive would not unmount because some activity was using it. Hold down the option key during boot, then select the attached boot drive typically has an orange icon at the boot menu at the boot menu, choose disk utility if using an installer disk, pull down the utilities menu to access disk utility. In mac os x, select the disk image on the desktop and drag the disk image to the trash, which will change to an eject icon. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device.
It seems that spotlight was struggling with a the failed drive and would not let it go so the unmount and erase could not occur. Couldnt unmount disk error as seen in disk utility on a mac. Disk utility wont unmount hd for formatting ask different. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Select the desktop icon for your hard drive and drag it to the trash. Cannot unmount wd external hard drive macrumors forums. Drive is now working in time machine as my backup drive. In the pie chart, click the partition you want to delete, then click the delete button. Resolve a couldnt unmount disk error in disk utility. Recoverit data recovery is the best external hard drive recovery program, it can easily and effectively to help you recover lost or accidentally deleted files from hard disk drive, or other external storage device. In the last month, it has been getting kind of rusty in the sense that i would need to use disk utility to repair it to view the files inside. In this blog, we will try resolving the could not unmount the disk. Complete guide to external hard drive format error easeus. Click on the erase tab in disk utilitys main window.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. This is a tutorial on how to force your hard drive to reformat in mac osx high sierra possibly earlier versions diskutil list diskutil unmountdisk force disk4 sudo dd ifdevzero ofdevdisk4. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd. Apr, 2015 the only thing i can think of is that youre accidentally typing it wrong. If you ever unmount your external hard drive, your dropbox folder is unchanged. Well also present the softwarebased method to recover data from a corrupt external drive on mac. Using disk utility to erase diskwon apple community. I have been using my 500gb portable wd hard drive for 3 months or so. Dec 12, 2015 open disk utility, and erase the hard drive. May, 2019 how to forcibly unmount a disk by command line in macos device files in macos are sets of drivers for specific devices that are stored in the hidden folder dev. The ideal dropbox setup for external hard drives approductive. The disk utility on mac is a very useful system tool for fixing specific disk problems. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
Oct 06, 2016 have you ever tried to format a disk in mac os x and disk utility wont unmount the hard drive for formatting. Following this, attempt to erasepartition the drive again in disk utility. It is fairly easy to perform qanp external drive formatting as long as you know the right file system. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Select disk utility and click on the continue button. Jan 30, 2010 i have been using my 500gb portable wd hard drive for 3 months or so. If this works it should solve the disk is busy problem.
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