can't eject WD my book for mac external hard drive

[pm-r]

I don't know and I doubt if anyone ever will and if it's all working then as they say … Carry On…

I was more concerned how you got both MAC OS Extended (Journaled) and a MS-DOS FAT partition and what Partition Table option method was used, but Apple says that's OK:
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22240?locale=en_CA
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH20567?locale=en_US

PS: Always keep a current backup if your data is important. But you knew that already right…




- Patrick
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[jess.kennedy21]

Hmm, so maybe not all is resolved. Today I plugged in my other hard drive (Seagate Backup Plus 1TB - my backup - formatted Mac OS Extended Journaled on old macbook 2009 in Disk Utility, 1 partition only), used it to edit some photos and went to eject by the trash can. It came up with the message that Opera Browser was using it. I quit Opera and tried again. I got the same message as before, "one or more programs may be using it". This time I had a feeling the antivirus might be checking it, so I turned it off but it still wouldn't eject... I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and it came back with 0 threats. this is really frustrating if it happens all the time with every hard drive/usb stick I plug in!!!

So any other ideas as to what programs might be using these hard drives all the time? Could it be spotlight? If so, how do I stop spotlight (if I can)?

 

[pm-r]

To eliminate the chance that Spotlight might be the cause, go to your System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy tab and add your external drive to be ignored.

Is there anything that looks maybe obvious running if you open Activity Monitor and have a look???

If you boot up in Safe Boot Mode (hold down the shift key when cold booting) and see if the same problem happens, you'll know it's not because of some third party software as they will have been disabled.

Just reboot to get back to "normal" operation.




- Patrick
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[John2018]

My Solution

I had the same problem. I solved it by updating to the latest WD Drive Utility software. I then used the utility to delete my drive. I was able to eject through the utility (Right-click on drive icon in utility) and by way of clicking on the eject icon on the Mac.

Then I activated the Sleep Timer and LED Setting to On through the utility. Then I could no longer eject via the Mac. Deleting the drive again and turning Sleep Timer to Off and LED to Off, I am now able to eject via the Mac.

I never tried the option to eject my drive through the utility before deleting it. That may work for you. But, those setting set to On are definitely a problem for me. They prevent me from ejecting via the Mac.

I’m going to be filling the drive again. If adding data changes things for me I’ll report it here.

 

[harryb2448]

Another Lazarus raised from the dead!

'Tis four years old nearly.

 

[pm-r]

Another Lazarus raised from the dead!

'Tis four years old nearly.

Maybe it's like saltwater fishing and the forum is trolling too slow and just snagging the occasional lazy "dog fish" types like we have up here. No offense to any poster.

Anyway, I'm glad they found a fix and the post may help someone later on as well.




- Patrick
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