# USB Drive will not format with Disk utility



## Edgar johnson (Dec 29, 2008)

I got a USB drive for christmas and can't seem to do anything with it on my macbook. 

When it's plugged in, i get a message saying "Error: Disk unreadable". Upon opening disk utility, it can't be seen, but nothing can be done to it for whatever reason.

I'm looking to get the drive operational but can't seem to find any way around this issue. 

Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.


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## fryke (Dec 29, 2008)

Sounds like it's damaged. Warranty?


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## Hughvane (Dec 29, 2008)

1. Is the external USB drive bus-powered, or mains-powered?
2. What Mac are you using?
3. In System Profiler > USB, is anything showing there?


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## Edgar johnson (Dec 29, 2008)

Just spotted there's a typo in my first post... it can be seen in disk utility, just nothing can be done with it. 

Bus-powered.
Using a two year old macbook [2Ghz Intel, 1gb ram]

The following shows in system profiler:

USB_DISK:

  Capacity:	3.8 GB
  Removable Media:	Yes
  Detachable Drive:	Yes
  BSD Name:	disk1
  Version:	10.00
  Bus Power (mA):	500
  Speed:	Up to 480 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:	
  Mac OS 9 Drivers:	No
  Partition Map Type:	Unknown
  Product ID:	0x0201
  Serial Number:	17409488245
  S.M.A.R.T. status:	Not Supported
  Vendor ID:	0x1aa6

I have also tried to connect it to one of the windows computers in the house, and it's showing up without problem. Whether or not anything transfers I don't know, since I didn't want to risk causing any further problems.


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## simbalala (Dec 29, 2008)

Have you tried formatting it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)? If it&#8217;s generic and formatted out of the box it's probably formatted for Windows.

You&#8217;ll find the formatting options under &#8220;Erase&#8221; in Disk Utility.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Dec 29, 2008)

Instead of simply reformatting the partition, try creating a new partition map completely on the USB drive.  In Disk Utility, click on the _device_ itself (not the indented partition below the device listing), and click the "Partition" tab.  Then, create a partition and set it to "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)".


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