Problems reformatting Lacie drives to HFS+

[iambenw]

Has anyone ever had problems reformatting external drives to HFS+ from MS DOS (FAT)? Disk utility just isn't letting me do it, even though the drive is completely clear of files.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, this is turning into a real headache.

Ben.

 

[velocityg4]

Select the whole volume rather than the specific FAT32 partition.

Then try going to the "Partition" tab instead of the standard "erase" tab.

Choose 1 partition; Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Then click "partition"

 

[iambenw]

Problem solved!

Many thanks. Not sure what the initial problem was, no other manual or troubleshooter suggested this.

 

[merl1n]

Problem solved!

Many thanks. Not sure what the initial problem was, no other manual or troubleshooter suggested this.

If you plan on using this drive for booting, you need to change the Partition mapping itself or you won't be able to boot from it.

If your mac is an Intel, the partition map must be GUID
If your mac is a PPC, the partition map must be the Apple Partition Map.

New drives coming from vendors are pre-partitioned for windows computers and the mapping they use is "Master Boot Record". This won't fly for a mac if you want the option for booting from it.