Skip to main content

Hitachi Storage

Hitachi

MAC OS Faqs

 

expand all | collapse all

How do I format my drive for use with Mac?

Some HitachiGST external drives ship formatted NTFS which is read only to Mac. For full read/write access the drive must be reformatted using Disk Utility in your Mac. The correct format for use in both Mac and Windows is MS-Dos (Fat32).

To format the drive on your Mac, follow the steps below.

All data stored on the drive will be erased in this process. Please backup any files before proceeding.

  1. Connect and power the drive.
  2. Open MacHD on your desktop

  3. Open Applications

  4. Open Utilities

  5. Open Disk Utility

  6. On the left you should see the hard drive listed. It should show the size with a second indented line beneath that says the name of the drive. Highlight the line with the size.

  7. Click erase at the top of the screen

  8. Select the format you want in the volume format box. MacOS Extended if you are only using Mac. MS-DOS if you want to use the drive between Mac and Windows.

  9. Change the name of the drive if desired.

  10. Click erase at the bottom of the screen, you will get a warning where you will click erase again.

When it's finished, the drive will be ready for use.

It may take longer if you have selected MS-DOS.

How do I format my drive for use with both Mac and Windows?

Some HitachiGST external drives ship formatted NTFS, which is read only to Mac. For full read/write access the drive must be reformatted using Disk Utility in your Mac. The correct format for use in both Mac and Windows is MS-DOS (Fat32).

To format the drive on your Mac, follow the steps below.

All data stored on the drive will be erased in this process. Please backup any files before proceeding.

  1. Connect and power the drive.

  2. Open MacHD on your desktop

  3. Open Applications

  4. Open Utilities

  5. Open Disk Utility

  6. On the left you should see the hard drive listed. It should show the size with a second indented line beneath that says the name of the drive. Highlight the line with the size.

  7. Click erase at the top of the screen

  8. Select the format you want in the volume format box. MacOS Extended if you are only using Mac. MS-DOS if you want to use the drive between Mac and Windows.

  9. Change the name of the drive if desired.

  10. Click erase at the bottom of the screen, you will get a warning where you will click erase again.


When it’s finished, the drive will be ready for use.

It may take longer if you have selected MS-DOS.

Why do I get an error that the drive cannot be modified on Mac?

Some HitachiGST external drives ship formatted NTFS which is read only to Mac. For full read/write access the drive must be reformatted using Disk Utility in your Mac.


To format the drive on your Mac, follow the steps below.


All data stored on the drive will be erased in this process. Backup any files before proceeding.

  1. Connect and power the drive.

  2. Open MacHD on your desktop.

  3. Open Applications.

  4. Open Utilities

  5. Open Disk Utility

  6. On the left you should see the hard drive listed. It should show the size with a second indented line beneath that says the name of the drive. Highlight the line with the size.

  7. Click erase at the top of the screen

  8. Select the format you want in the volume format box. MacOS Extended if you are only using Mac. MS-DOS if you want to use the drive between Mac and Windows.

  9. Change the name of the drive if desired.

  10. Click erase at the bottom of the screen, you will get a warning where you will click erase again.


When it’s finished, the drive will be ready for use.

It may take longer if you have selected MS-DOS.

When formatting/erasing the drive for Mac I get the error "Can't Unmount Volume" or "Invalid Argument"

This error occurs when you attempt to format a drive that is in use. Rebooting the system will close any open files or programs. Once the system has been rebooted go straight to Disk Utility. Do not open any other files or programs. You will then be able to successfully format the drive.

To format the drive on your Mac, follow the steps below.

All data stored on the drive will be erased in this process. Please backup any files before proceeding.

  1. Connect and power the drive.

  2. Open MacHD on your desktop

  3. Open Applications

  4. Open Utilities

  5. Open Disk Utility

  6. On the left you should see the hard drive listed. It should show the size with a second indented line beneath that says the name of the drive. Highlight the line with the size.

  7. Click erase at the top of the screen

  8. Select the format you want in the volume format box. MacOS Extended if you are only using Mac. MS-Dos if you want to use the drive between Mac and Windows.

  9. Change the name of the drive/volume if desired.

  10. Click erase at the bottom of the screen, you will get a warning where you will click erase again.


When it’s finished, the drive will be ready for use.

It may take longer if you have selected MS-Dos.

When formatting/erasing the drive for Mac I get the error "Formatter Failed"

In OS 10.5.x the system may not successfully format a drive 500GB or larger that has a current NTFS partition. To format successfully you will need to first remove the partition from the drive using the Partition tab in Disk Utility on your Mac. Follow the steps below to remove the NTFS partition from your external drive.

All data stored on the drive will be erased in this process. Please backup any files before proceeding.

  1. Connect and power the external drive

  2. Double-click MacHD on your desktop.

  3. Double-click Applications.

  4. Double-click Utilities.

  5. Double-click Disk Utility.

  6. On the left side you will see the list of hard drives available on your Mac. Find the external drive. It will show the drive size (in GB). Click once on the line with the size (in GB) for the drive.

  7. Click Partition at the top of the screen.

  8. Change Partition from Current to 1 and in the Format field select Free Space.

  9. Click on Partition at the bottom of the screen. (it will say apply in 10.5 rather than Partition)

  10. You will get a confirmation message and select Partition again.

  11. Go to erase tab and run erase normally.

How do I obtain drivers to use a Hitachi GST drive in my Mac system?

A: If the drive is being connected directly to the motherboard, all drivers are supplied by the operating system itself. If you are using OS 9.x or earlier, the drivers are supplied through a utility called Drive Setup.

If the drive is being connected to a controller card, you would need the drivers for the controller card which would be supplied by the card manufacturer.

If the drive is being used in an external enclosure, drivers may be required for the enclosure itself and would be supplied by the enclosure manufacturer.

How can I test my drive for errors?

A: Hitachi GST does not provide diagnostic or installation software for Mac systems. Apple provides a program called Disk Utility which is built into the operating system. The Disk Utility’s diagnostic function, First Aid, is capable of testing and repairing hard drives.

To test your drive using native Mac utilities, follow the instructions below (steps may vary depending on version of OS):

Mac OS 10 and Later

  1. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
  2. Click on the "First Aid" button.

Mac OS 9.x and Earlier

The Drive Setup utility has a test function built in which is able to perform read tests on the drive. This can be accessed by starting the Drive Setup utility and following these steps:

  1. In the "List of Drives"' section of the Drive Setup window, select the drive you wish to test.
  2. Go to the Functions menu and choose "Test".
  3. Press Start to begin the test.

Third-Party Software

These third-party companies provide diagnostic and installation software for Mac systems:

Why am I only seeing 128 GB of my 137 GB+ drive?

A: There are certain limitations in the Mac operating system and hardware that prevent it from accessing capacities larger than 128 GB.

To create a partition or access a drive larger than 128 GB:

  1. You must be using Mac OS 10.2.3 or later.
  2. You must be using a Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door or FW800 version or later. All G5 model systems support capacities larger than 128 GB.

For more information, consult Apple web site support article #86178.

How can I get a SCSI drive to work in my Mac if it doesn’t already have SCSI support?

A: All G3, G4, and G5 desktop systems are ATA-based, not SCSI-based, but this does not mean you cannot use SCSI. You will have to purchase a SCSI controller card for your Mac in order to connect the SCSI drive to the system.

SCSI Controller Card Manufacturers

Will your Hitachi Notebook PC Upgrade Kit work on a Mac system?

A: The drive and enclosure will work on the Mac system; however, the software included was not designed to work with a Mac.

What should I do if I get intermittent error messages which state "drive not mounted" or "data is corrupted"?

A: These types of intermittent problems can sometimes be fixed by installing the latest driver. You can install the latest driver using the Disk Utility or Apple Drive Setup program, as well as trying a new cable.

In addition, you may also run the Disk First Aid utility that comes with the Mac OS. This program will scan the drive for errors and try to fix any errors it finds.

How do I install a Hitachi GST drive into my Mac system?

A: The following is an overview of the steps necessary to install a Hitachi GST drive in a Mac system. See your system documentation for details on how to perform the steps.

Step 1 - Physically Install the Drive in the System

For SCSI Drives

Make sure the drive is addressed and terminated appropriately. It is also recommended that the "Enable Auto Start" jumper be used.

Here are a couple of settings that should be used on older (pre-G3) Mac systems.

Legacy Mac jumper settings:
Disable "unit attention".
Disable "target initiated sync negotiations".

Note: For 80-pin models, the jumper (disable auto spin up) should not be installed.
For 68-pin models, the jumper (enable auto spin up) should be installed.

For IDE Drives

For early model G4s and earlier systems, use the 16-head master, slave, cable select, or "master with slave present" jumper setting.

For Later Model G4s

Use the 16-head cable select setting.

For G5s

These systems only support SATA drives, so no jumpers are required.

Step 2 - Use Disk Utility (Mac OS X) Program to Initialize the Drive

Disk Utility is a program that comes on the Mac operating system CD and is also installed during OS installation. To run Disk Utility, go to the "Applications > Utility" folder and double-click the "Disk Utility" icon. (If using a pre-OS X system, use Apple Drive Setup.)

For detailed installation instructions, consult the Partitioning and Formatting Reference Guide.

Will Hitachi GST drives work in my Mac?

A: Yes.

Parallel ATA (IDE)

Deskstar drives should work in any Apple system that supports Parallel ATA (PATA) drives. For information about which systems support PATA drives, see specifications for your system in the Apple Spec Database.

Serial ATA Drives

Serial ATA (SATA) drives will work in the Apple Mac G5 system with no additional hardware needed. Pre-G5 systems do not natively support SATA drives so you will need to purchase a SATA controller card. If you plan to use a third-party SATA controller card, make sure it is supported by your system.

SCSI Drives

Ultrastar drives should work in Mac systems that support SCSI drives. For information about which systems support SCSI drives, consult the Apple Spec Database.

If you plan to use a third-party SCSI adapter, make sure it is supported by your system and that the SCSI adapter has the latest level of firmware to support your system for the Mac OS being used.

 

 

 

All information is provided by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies on an "AS IS" basis only. Hitachi makes no representations or warranties, whether express or implied, regarding the information, including the warranty of non-infringement and non-interference and the implied warranty or terms of merchantability, and fitness or use for a particular purpose.

Use of information that is provided by Hitachi is at the recipient's own risk. Hitachi provides no assurances that any reported problems may be resolved with the use of any information that Hitachi provides. By furnishing information, Hitachi does not grant any licenses to any copyrights, trademarks, patents or any other intellectual property rights.

Any trademarks and product or brand names referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Please consult your Hitachi product manuals for complete trademark information.

Any references to third parties are provided as reference only and are not recommendations of any products by Hitachi GST. Hitachi GST makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these companies or products.