# Trouble w a windows formatted hard drive running on my mac



## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I recently purchased a new hard drive to use with time machine on my mac (ppc running osx 10.5.8). I also brought an external had drive enclosure in order to connect the hard drive to my mac via usb. I got everything unpacked and connected to my mac when I realized the hard drive was formatted for windows. I then used the disk utility to erase the drive and reformat it. In the middle of this process someone inadvertently hit the light switch that controls the power in the room turning off my computer. I turned everything back on but now the external drive doesn't appear on my desktop (guess it isn't mounting). I can see it when I open disk utility and I tried to repair, erase etc but all I get are error messages. I even tried to use diskwarrior but since the external hard drive is not mac formatted diskwarrior won't recognize it. I think I need a program that will run on a mac but will recognize/ repair windows formatted hard drives. Losing data is not a factor since there wasn't any data on the drive to begin with. Any help will be greatly appreciated!


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Do you know how to use Terminal?

If so do this:

Open terminal, type this:


```
diskutil list
```
Then push enter.

Post a screenshot of the results here. If it is mounted, (which it sounds like it is) Then I will give you a command that will nuke that specific drive, and might help out here.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Last login: Tue Nov 29 07:02:35 on console
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2
1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS 931.2 Gi disk2s2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

How big is your external drive? I am trying to identify which one of those it is?


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Its 1tb should be the last drive listed.


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

funkecrates,

I am not trying to rush you... but this command is kind of time sensitive. If you unplug the disk or try anything else we have to start over because the disk identifier will can change.

The command is going to have disk0, disk1, disk2 in it, etc... which is going to tell terminal which drive to nuke. If you have unplugged it, rebooted or done something else, the disk identifiers can change. Which could result in you nuking the wrong drive.

So we kind of need to reply back and forth quicker.


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

ok please run the diskutil list command again, and post the results again to make sure nothing has changed in the past 20 mins.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Last login: Tue Nov 29 07:02:35 on console
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2
1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS 931.2 Gi disk2s2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2
1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS 931.2 Gi disk2s2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Ok run at your own risk.

in terminal, copy and paste this EXACTLY:

```
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk2
```
Let it run for about 10 seconds, and then push Control + C to stop it from running.

Then run the diskutil list command again to obtain the results.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Hope I did this right here are the results


Last login: Tue Nov 29 07:02:35 on console
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2
1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS 931.2 Gi disk2s2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2
1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS 931.2 Gi disk2s2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk2

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.

Password:
****
dd: /dev/disk2: Permission denied
31249+0 records in
31248+0 records out
15998976 bytes transferred in 53.416650 secs (299513 bytes/sec)
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Here are the results of the diskutil list command:


Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk0
1: Apple_HFS 500 gb 2nd hd 465.8 Gi disk0s1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_partition_scheme *465.8 Gi disk1
1: Apple_partition_map 31.5 Ki disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS 500 gb hd 465.6 Gi disk1s3
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: *931.5 Gi disk2
Macintosh:~ robertandlisacooper$


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

ok it looks like it zerod out the disk. You should be able to try and format it again now.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Ok thanks Imma give it a try


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I don't know if i am doing this right I went to disk utility clicked erase, volume format os extended journaled. its been creating partition map for about 10 minutes and at first the external hard drives enclosure led was light up& you could hear it running now nothing but disk utility swirling bar w the msg "creating partition map"


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

it could take a while for a computer that old to format and partition a drive of that size.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I got the following error message 

Disk erase failed
Disk erase failed with error:

File system formatter failed


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

I'm sorry I am not familiar enough with Disk Utility on Leopard to walk you through it. I had to do some research.

You cannot use GUID with a PPC based Mac.

When you format, does it give you the choice to pick a Partition Scheme? If so I think you need to pick APM (Apple Partition Map).


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

I think it may be in the "Options" on the Partions area.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Ok I will use APM


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

funkecrates said:


> Ok I will use APM


Please let us know if it works for you. It helps me to learn more to help others.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I will report back so far it reads "partitioning"


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

GUID shouldn't even be an option on Disk Utility installed on a PPC Mac. OS X Extended Journaled works just fine on PPC Macs, it has nothing to do with GUID. ANd size shouldn't be an issue either, I've got OS X 10.5 running on a 1TB raid in my G4. It may not be liking the enclosure. Is it a USB 2 enclosure plugged into a USB 2 port with a USB cable?


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

The screenshot from terminal showed the diskutil list with a GUID portion scheme on it. That's what was pointing me in that direction. If that is not possible with a PPC, then how can that be happening? 

Am I reading that wrong?

This issue has been puzzling me all weekend.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Good catch, I missed that. It could be the disk was actually formatted GUID before the OP used it. Or die to the power off, Disk Utility is incorrectly recognizing the partition type. The disk didn't show up after the power out because it hadn't finished the format. Doing a repair wouldn't work as the disk was never finished formatting. The best thing to of done was to just start the formatting and partition creation all over again in Disk Utility without using the Terminal, IMHO.

*But 1st thing would to be to get that computer off of the light switch!!!!!!!!*

Either way, if I remember tonight, I can look at my G4 and see if I have GUILD option.


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

I think he said it wouldn't let him reformat after the light switch incident. I am curious to see if your G4 has GUID as an option.... Don't have a ton of experience with PPC.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I am back you guys are correct there isn't a Guid option that was from the hard drives original format. I couldn't get the hard drive to work correctly I ran Data Rescue 3 on the drive and it found the drive to be failing. I even tried Diskwarror and nothing seemed to work right. Since I brought it off of ebay I contacted the seller and just sent it back today(had to go back and forth with the seller explaining to him that the drive was not responding correctly). Also put tape over the light switch there it will take a real effort for someone to turn off the power now. Thanks for trying to hep me.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

It's me again i went and got another hard drive I was able to format the drive it took about 1 minute then I was prompted if I wanted to use this drive for Time Machine I replied yes. The backup process began and ran for about 5 minutes then I got a message stating that drive was removed wrong. I then realized that the enclosures LED lights were off. I then unplugged the enclosure then started it over and it ran for about 30 seconds. I am going out to Staples and i am going to buy an enclosure from there. I think the one I currently have is malfunctioning trying to save money I brought it from Microcenter for $17 guess you get what you pay for....


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Went and got another external hard drive enclosure. Got everything hooked up and was running time machine after an hour I went to bed with it still backing up my drive. Woke up this morning with an error message this is becoming way more complicated than i expected.....


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

Now drive isn't showing up on desktop tried running diskwarrior got msg that drive could not be restored due to hard ware failure, also tried to run data rescue just to analyze drive and it wouldnt even run. I shut everything down and restarted computer and cut back on hard drive enclosure i could hear the drive "trying to run" it didnt sound good. Did my leaving time machine running over night over heat drive and damage it? Is this possible?


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

Time machine would not cause it to overheat. I left time machine running over night 2 nights ago to backup my new Macbook and it was fine. There must be something else going on here. Did you try these drives on another computer?


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

When my wife gets back i will try the drive on our laptop


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

OK so I got the hard drive formatted and it shows on my desktop. I ran timemachine and it stops after baking up about 5gb of the 220gb I have on my main drive. I get that same message you get when you remove a drive without ejecting it first. The drive is usable and I can drag and save items unto it. I wonder if the enclosure has anything to do with it i have an i/o magic 3.5 inch hard drive usb 2.0 enclosure (works w up to 2tb drive I am using a 500gb drive). Any suggestions??


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Sounds like the drive or the Mac is going to sleep. Have you gone into any preferences of the external drive and turned off sleep, or idle eject. Also, have you check the energy saving settings of the Mac itself?


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I was able to change the energy setting to make sure it didn't put drive to sleep. The drive will appear for about seconds then shut off, then I get the error message telling me that the drive was not ejected correctly. I even tried an applet that was supposed to keep the disc from spinning all that did was put a bunch of untitled folders on my desktop...did I mention that the drive now appears as a folder on my desktop....Sheese i might just breakdown and buy a mac time capsule...this is taking up too much of my time


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

It sounds like there is something wrong with the drive enclosure. Do you have it plugged into the wall for power, or is it USB powered? It needs to be wall powered. USB ports don't give enough juice for Time Machine use, IMHO.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I have it plugged into a power strip and it's connected to my computer via usb. I just connected an old hard drive enclosure that has an 100gb drive in it and it runs great with no problems to bad the drive is too small and is the enclosure cant run a sata drive....


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

SO, how many different drives and different enclosures have you tried to use for Time Machine? I bought an inexpensive enclosure from my local Fry's Electronics and threw an old used server drive that my employer upgraded from for my laptop, and it has worked fine for me. You either have some bad luck, or there is bad hardware in your area.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

I tried 2 hard drives and two enclosures the first enclosure I am sure was bad because the LEDS stop lighting up. I am going to buy one of those apple time capsules off of ebay and see what happens I think it's a case of bad hardware. I was able to return the first drive to the seller on ebay I also returned the first enclosure to Microcenter and the second enclosure was returned to Staples those returns will pretty much pay for the time capsule I plan on buying.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Be careful with a used Time Capsule. You don't know how much time is left on the hard drive. Have you looked at Apple's refurbished items?


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## johnny_stocazz (Mar 13, 2013)

May I use a Mac Os drive in Windows 7?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Please start your own thread with your question. Hijacking threads isn't allowed on this forum, and can lead to a ban.


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## funkecrates (Feb 23, 2013)

sinclair_tm said:


> Be careful with a used Time Capsule. You don't know how much time is left on the hard drive. Have you looked at Apple's refurbished items?


I had looked at refurb time capsules prior to going the ebay route. I have had my timecapsule for a few weeks now and everything is fine so far. I also brought a warranty for it via squaretrade.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Glad it's all working now.


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