Partition New Seagate 2TB drive

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Level 1

4 points

Partition New Seagate 2TB drive

The new drive shows using Disk Utility. However the "Partition" option at the top of the window is greyed-out. I have done "First Aid".

I suspect that the solution is by way of "Erase", but here I find myself nervous as to which of the options to go with.

When I choose "Seagate Portable Media", I have the option to assign a name, chose a Format, (and assume I should go with " Mac OS Extended Journaled) and a "Scheme" (where the options are "GUID Partition Map", Master Boot Record" and Apple Partition Map". I don't know which is what is needed for me to start partitioning the drive.

When I choose "Untitled" (which is a sub-level below the Seagate Portable Media item on the far left), I get four options, with "Mac OS Extended (Journaled) - which I figure is the best option - and then "Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive) Journaled, MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT.

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 3:16 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Charles Palenz

Level 2

359 points

Oct 1, 2020 7:07 PM in response to kwalterscott

The seagate instructions should explain formatting choices. Seagate applied a format, but you might reformat on your computer and discard the free items they sent with it. You do not want FAT as that is slow and makes the drive compatible with window machines (unless you want that compatibility). Reformat and then apply the partitions. 2TB drive partitioned into three volumes are on the small side and not real convenient for accessing and slows saving from your main drive. A large internal drive for work and secondary drives for storing infrequently used files is best. Its good advice to fill a drive (or volume) no more to about half+ to keep your computer processing speed up and not be space restricted for temporary invisible working files. I like having Time Machine on its own dedicated HD away from my working drives.

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Answer 2

kwalterscott Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 1, 2020 5:04 PM in response to BDAqua

I don't know what you mean by "TM drive".

I have chosen "Show all Devices".

I do not understand why "Partitioning isn't a great idea."

I create one or more partitions so that I can have one to which I can clone a bootable version of my main Hard Drive, one I can use for file storage - photos, music, etc. - and have used a third for Time Machine (though I have never used it to recover files that might have been corrupted or lost due to a power failure, or whatever the primary rationale is for using that app; having received error messages telling me that Time Machine has run out of disk space, at least with a partition for it to play in, such as One TB on a Two TB drive, at least that should keep it from taking over space that I want for other purposes.

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Answer 3

kwalterscott Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2020 4:29 AM in response to Charles Palenz

Thanks. You pointed me in the right direction. There was a very small folded "booklet" packaged with the drive. I took a quick glance at it and was discouraged because the only obviously useful part was how to plug the cord into the drive and my computer. The print portion was beyond "tiny" and best I could tell, was a ten-language version of the minimal English version. I failed to notice that there was a document on the device that covered my question about partitioning, and I managed to erase that as my first step. I ended up doing what I should have done at that point: Go to the Seagate site and look for Support. Found my answer there. BDAqua knew what the problem was, but was working at a disadvantage, as at 70 years, my eyesight is not adequate for properly reading the paper-based documentation I had on hand, and it has been many years since I purchased and connected an external drive to my iMac. Another time, I will try to be explicit in my request for assistance, and state up front that I need a really, really simple step-by-step Seagate Drive Setup for Dummies. Apologies to BDAqua for the poor communication on my end. My appreciation to BDAqua for the very quick response to my initial query and the followup exchanges. The Apple Support Community has always been there for me.

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