Trying to partition wd my book live

"I have tried to partition it using the partition utility on my mac but it doesn't show up as a disk to partition. there is the option to assign shares in the set up? are they the same as partitions
It shows up as a connected disk in finder with no problem"

I'll take a _guess_ that the WD drive is not "Mac-formatted" out-of-the-box, but rather is in a PC format (FAT32, perhaps?)

I'll also _guess_ that the WD drive may have come with some proprietary software on it, and the only way you can remove it is by going to WD's site and downloading some sort of app that has the ability to do so (I could be wrong here, just guessing).

I would also like to suggest that you DO NOT use this drive for Time Machine, but instead create a bootable clone using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.

In a "moment of extreme need" -- for example, if you try to boot up and find that you just can't get the Mac to boot from the internal drive -- a bootable backup will become WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD (shouting intentional). You can't boot from Time Machine backups, and I've seen numerous postings right here on macrumors from users who -- in moments of such need -- hook up their TM backups and find they just can't "get at" what they want.

I'd suggest this:
1. Hook up the WD drive, and copy anything that you want to save from it to your internal drive for the moment
2. Use Disk Utility to erase and then partition the drive
3. Create at least one partition that the approximate size of your internal drive
4. Use CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" your internal to the backup partition
5. Use the other partitions on the external drive for whatever you wish

macgrl said:

What is the best way to use carbon cloned? How often should I back up with it?

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Your initial backup with Carbon Copy Cloner will create a bootable backup on your external drive, which must be formatted as HFS+. After the initial backup, you can setup a scheduled task within CCC and choose whatever frequency of backups that you deem appropriate (in hours, days, weeks, months, etc. or whenever the external drive is connected). The question to ask is, "If my hard drive crashes and I have to restore from a backup, how old do I want that backup to be?"

A few notes on hard drive formats:


FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
• Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
• Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, but is not advisable, due to instability.
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
• Maximum file size: 16 TB
• Maximum volume size: 256TB

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
• To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• exFAT partitions created with OS X 10.6.5 are inaccessible from Windows 7
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB

macgrl said:

How do I format the drive as hfs+ to allow cc to work?

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With Disk Utility.

macgrl said:

Basically what i want to do is to use some of the drive for cc backups. some to store files that won't fit on my mbp - which i would like to be able to access via pc or mac and all allow some of the space on the drive for my girlfriend to use to back up her pc.


Is this all possible using one drive what with there being different formats?

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Using Disk Utility, you can partition the drive into as many partitions as you need. Each partition is like a separate hard drive, even though it's part of one drive. Each partition can have its own format, according to your needs.

Read the information I posted about the various formats and how you can read/write to them from Mac and Windows. That should help you decide which formats you need.

macgrl said:

Thank you so much for your help. The problem I have at the moment is that it doesn't show up in disk utility so I can't format it. It shows in in finder as a shared drive (a little blue monitor symbol)

At the moment it is connected to my router and my router to my mbp via an ethernet cable. do i need to plug the drive straight into the mbp via the ethernet cable to format it?

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Yes, plug it directly into the Mac to partition and format it. Does it currently have any data on it? If so, it will be erased by the partitioning and formatting.

macgrl said:

If i plug it directly into my mac via an ethernet cable it doesn't even show up in finder

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No, you don't use ethernet. Use a USB or Firewire cable.

macgrl said:

The drive doesn't have usb or firewire. It only connects to something via ethernet

It is a wd my book live home network drive

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Sorry, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the model of WD drive you have. Yes, you should be able to connect it to your router and Disk Utility should see it and be able to format it.

macgrl said:

The only files that i have on the drive are from when i did a time machine back up to it. Which worked fine without any format problems. - it says in the set up that it is compatible with time machine

I don't mind this getting deleted if I do / can format the drive.

How do i know what it is formatted to at the moment?

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If Time Machine worked with it, then it's already formatted as HFS+, since that's the only format Time Machine can use. You should be able to use HFSExplorer to read or MacDrive to read and write to that drive from Windows.

macgrl said:

However as it will quite happily do a timemachine back up, indeed it boosts that it can will it therefore be able to do a CC. I will have to try and see what happens

If you have any other suggestions it would be great to hear them

Many thanks

Click to expand...

Did you see this page? See if you can use these directions to repartition the drive.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865/related/1

Click on Mac OSX 10.5 or 10.6 (Leopard, Snow Leopard) under Please select your Operating System (OS) below:

GGJstudios said:

Sorry, I wasn't paying close enough attention to the model of WD drive you have. Yes, you should be able to connect it to your router and Disk Utility should see it and be able to format it.

If Time Machine worked with it, then it's already formatted as HFS+, since that's the only format Time Machine can use. You should be able to use HFSExplorer to read or MacDrive to read and write to that drive from Windows.

Click to expand...

This is the worst advice I have seen on any forum. It is a NAS (Network attached storage) not a traditional hard disk that you can connect to your macbook. It will NEVER show up as a hard disk, but always as a server.

To answer the question - use the WD "Shares" through their software. It will show up as a server in your device list and when you click on it, you can see the different shares. Bad thing is that you cannot allocate pre-determined space to the share - they expand as needed. But good thing is that you do not have to worry about giving them space.

Next time, please check the facts before giving wrong advice to someone. Please!