Disk Utility won't recognize unformatted or NTFS-formatted HD's

chemist · chemist #1 (**permalink**)

01-28-2009, 06:53 AM

I have a dual-2.0 GHz Mac G5 running OSX 10.4.11. I just installed a new 500GB Western Digital "Caviar" SATA HD in the second drive bay. I restarted my computer, holding down c, booted up from the install disk, and opened the Disk Utility app. Unfortunately, Disk Utility is unable to recognize the new drive (no icon appears in the left column).

A similar thing happened a few months ago with a new Seagate external USB HD -- Disk Utility couldn't recognize it, either. In this case, the drive was pre-formatted for Windows (NTFS, I believe). For that, the work-around was to bring it to a friend's PC and have him reformat it with something the Mac could recognize (forgot what we used, maybe FAT32). Once this was done, Disk Utility could recognize it, enabling me to reformat again into the standard Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatting.

I suppose I could do the same with with the Western Digital drive but, really, I shouldn't have to -- my Mac should be able to recognize and deal with a new, standard, compatible HD. So clearly, something isn't working properly. Suggestions?

chscag · chscag #2 (**permalink**)

01-28-2009, 02:29 PM

Other than a possible cabling problem with the new WD SATA drive, I don't understand why the Tiger Disk Utility can't recognize the drive. I understand that DU will not be able to read NTFS, but it should recognize the fact that a drive is attached.

Are you saying DU can not "see" the drive at all? If the drive can be seen by DU, use the erase function and reformat it HFS+ or FAT-32. Otherwise your only other choice is to attach the drive to a PC and reformat it as FAT-32 using a third party utility. (Windows can not format a drive to FAT-32 greater than 32 Gb. Microsoft artificial restriction.)

Regards.

Aptmunich · Aptmunich #3 (**permalink**)

01-28-2009, 03:47 PM

You could also try booting off a power PC linux "live CD" and seeing if that'll work format it to FAT 32 for you...

chemist · chemist #4 (**permalink**)

01-28-2009, 06:56 PM

Thank you for your replies.

To chscag: yes, that's right, Disk Utility doesn't see the drive at all

To Aptmunich: clever idea, and I was in the process in trying it, when a friend offered a solution:

Basically, PowerPC's have trouble recognizing drives that don't have an Apple partition already on them. And Disk Utility is not sufficiently robust to overcome this. [With the Intel Macs, by contrast, this does not seem to be a problem.] The solution was to install iPartition. iPartition had no problem detecting and formatting the drive.

Detecting standard hard drives seems like pretty basic functionality that shouldn't require specialized third-party software. So, to my mind, this is an instance in which Apple fell down on the job.

texasphotoman · texasphotoman #5 (**permalink**)

02-19-2009, 09:00 PM

I am having a problem with Hard drive not showing with Disk Utility. New 500 GB did not show with iPartition either. Any ideals?

lbalbo · lbalbo #6 (**permalink**)

03-01-2009, 11:01 PM

Let's keep this one alive!

I have the same problem...

iMac G5 20" 1.8
with a Seagate Barracuda 500 GB SATA 3.5 internal HDD.

iPartion does not see the drive.

Please Help!

lbalbo · lbalbo #7 (**permalink**)

03-04-2009, 08:35 AM

I solved my problem by replacing the power cable to the drive.

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Disk Utility won't recognize unformatted or NTFS-formatted HD's

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chemist #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 28, 2009 Posts: 3	01-28-2009, 06:53 AM I have a dual-2.0 GHz Mac G5 running OSX 10.4.11. I just installed a new 500GB Western Digital "Caviar" SATA HD in the second drive bay. I restarted my computer, holding down c, booted up from the install disk, and opened the Disk Utility app. Unfortunately, Disk Utility is unable to recognize the new drive (no icon appears in the left column). A similar thing happened a few months ago with a new Seagate external USB HD -- Disk Utility couldn't recognize it, either. In this case, the drive was pre-formatted for Windows (NTFS, I believe). For that, the work-around was to bring it to a friend's PC and have him reformat it with something the Mac could recognize (forgot what we used, maybe FAT32). Once this was done, Disk Utility could recognize it, enabling me to reformat again into the standard Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatting. I suppose I could do the same with with the Western Digital drive but, really, I shouldn't have to -- my Mac should be able to recognize and deal with a new, standard, compatible HD. So clearly, something isn't working properly. Suggestions?
	QUOTE Thanks

chscag #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,017 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	01-28-2009, 02:29 PM Other than a possible cabling problem with the new WD SATA drive, I don't understand why the Tiger Disk Utility can't recognize the drive. I understand that DU will not be able to read NTFS, but it should recognize the fact that a drive is attached. Are you saying DU can not "see" the drive at all? If the drive can be seen by DU, use the erase function and reformat it HFS+ or FAT-32. Otherwise your only other choice is to attach the drive to a PC and reformat it as FAT-32 using a third party utility. (Windows can not format a drive to FAT-32 greater than 32 Gb. Microsoft artificial restriction.) Regards.
	QUOTE Thanks

chemist #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 28, 2009 Posts: 3	01-28-2009, 06:56 PM Thank you for your replies. To chscag: yes, that's right, Disk Utility doesn't see the drive at all To Aptmunich: clever idea, and I was in the process in trying it, when a friend offered a solution: Basically, PowerPC's have trouble recognizing drives that don't have an Apple partition already on them. And Disk Utility is not sufficiently robust to overcome this. [With the Intel Macs, by contrast, this does not seem to be a problem.] The solution was to install iPartition. iPartition had no problem detecting and formatting the drive. Detecting standard hard drives seems like pretty basic functionality that shouldn't require specialized third-party software. So, to my mind, this is an instance in which Apple fell down on the job.
	QUOTE Thanks

texasphotoman #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 19, 2009 Posts: 1	02-19-2009, 09:00 PM I am having a problem with Hard drive not showing with Disk Utility. New 500 GB did not show with iPartition either. Any ideals?
	QUOTE Thanks

lbalbo #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 01, 2009 Posts: 2	03-01-2009, 11:01 PM Let's keep this one alive! I have the same problem... iMac G5 20" 1.8 with a Seagate Barracuda 500 GB SATA 3.5 internal HDD. iPartion does not see the drive. Please Help!
	QUOTE Thanks

lbalbo #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 01, 2009 Posts: 2	03-04-2009, 08:35 AM I solved my problem by replacing the power cable to the drive.
	QUOTE Thanks

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