Format External Hard Drive -> Leave Just 1 Partition -> Delete Uninitialized Asterisk Partition

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annoyed11 Author

Level 1

5 points

Format External Hard Drive -> Leave Just 1 Partition -> Delete Uninitialized Asterisk Partition

I want to completely format my external hard drive.

Disk Utility is being a pain in the ***.

PLEASE HELP ME.

All I want is to have only ONE (1) empty, formatted partition.

Instead, I have 2 partitions and one of them (Uninitialized Asterisk Partition of Zero KB) is absolutely, completely unwelcomed. It is fervently hated.

I need that stubborn bitch gone. NOW.

I can't initialize it. I can't change change the format from uninitialized. I can't change the size. I can't delete it. I can't minimize the partitions further with the (-) button. I can't increase the size of the other partition so that it would delete the uninitialized partition. I have tried EVERYTHING. I can't do anything. I even deleted my Time Machine in the hopes that this stubborn partition would go away. NOTHING IS WORKING.

This is the horrendous message I get beneath the description of this monstrous partition:

"This volume has Zero KB used space.

Its minimum size is Zero KB.

This volume can’t be resized."

Please let me know how to get rid of this partition FOR GOOD!!!!! I have tried everything. PLEASE. HELP. ME.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT MAKE ME DOWNLOAD SOME APPLICATION. P L E A S E.

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on May 1, 2020 8:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Kappy

Level 10

361,837 points

May 2, 2020 10:20 AM in response to annoyed11

What your are seeing is quite normal. The tiny sliver marked by the "*" is a portion of the drive that is not available to the user because it is dedicated to a part of the drive only available to WD or to firmware. Note that the asterisk is identified at a "Small partition shown larger than actual size." It should be left as it is. It does not mean you did anything wrong when formatting the drive. Just set up the partitions you wish to have and do not try to adjust the size of this zero space sliver. I have seen this phenomenon on numerous drives over the years. I wouldn't spend any more of your life puzzling over it. Oh, I would change the name of the 3TB space as shown in your pics. 😀 Here is my suggestion, if you have not done so already:

Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the side list.
Click on the Erase button in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
Select the formatted space (as shown in your pics) and click on the Add [+] button at the bottom to divide the space into two equal sized volumes. Resize them as you wish then click on the Apply button.
Quit Disk Utility.

This should give you two volumes. One will be 1TB, and the other will be 2TBs, assuming you still want to use this scheme.

As to the other item you mentioned. Your startup drive is apparently encrypted. If you do not format the Time Machine backup volume you created using HFS+ Encrypted, then you will receive the notification that you are backing up an encrypted drive to an unencrypted drive. This notice is warning you that the backup will be unprotected, i.e., unencrypted. In order for Time Machine to create a backup it will have to decrypt the data before writing it to the backup drive. This will add considerable time to the first backup. Furthermore, I am not sure if Time Machine even does this. That would mean the backup drive needs to be encrypted, as well. Best information I have since I am far from an expert with Time Machine.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,837 points

May 1, 2020 8:19 PM in response to annoyed11

You only have one partition. There is no "*" partition. If you made a second partition and named it "*", then remove it using Disk Utility.

Be specific as to where you see this partition? Post an image of the Disk Utility window where it is shown.

How to take a screenshot on your Mac

Capture, Save or Record Screenshots in Mac OS X - Help Desk Geek

OS X Screen Capture Shortcuts

(⌘⬆︎3) Command-Shift-3 Capture the screen to a file

(⌘⬆︎⌃3) Command-Shift-Control-3 Capture the screen to the Clipboard

(⌘⬆︎4) Command-Shift-4 Capture a selection to a file

(⌘⬆︎⌃4) Command-Shift-Control-4 Capture a selection to the Clipboard

(⌘⬆︎5) Command-Shift-5 Invoke new screen grabber

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Answer 3

annoyed11 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 1, 2020 9:18 PM in response to Kappy

Hello! And thank you SO much for your speedy reply, kind stranger! I am in desperate need of help...

Disclaimer: I will be referring to the undeletable partition as the * partition, however, its actual name is disk2s5.

Ok, here's the gist of things: The drive did not come with this Uninitialized * Zero KB partition, I did not create it either, and I cannot remove it using Disk Utility--at least not by increasing the size of the one other partition, not by deleting the * partition since it cannot be deleted as it is "Uninitialized," and I can't change the format from Uninitialized either. I have also tried erasing, running first aid, unmounting, remounting, everything to no avail!

Here's a little bit of background, which you don't need to read, but it would help in understanding as to how I got here (if you wish to skip this background bit, I will signalize where the rest, crucial information begins with a "->"): I bought a 3TB external hard drive. I formatted it and partitioned it into two partitions, both of which were formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled): (1) a 2TB Time Machine Backup and (2) a 1TB specific files backup. At some point while setting up Time Machine, I encrypted something (I am not sure what), but I would always get this message, "time machine is backing up an encrypted disk to an unencrypted disk." I don't know why I encrypted whatever I encrypted. I immediately regretted it. At the time, I managed to back up to Time Machine after some struggle. This happened exactly 16 days ago. It is worthwhile to mention that it was also my first time using Time Machine.

Fast forward to today. I wanted to back up my computer to the Time Machine Backup partition again, but the same message popped up and I was unable to get past the "preparing for backup," phase this time. So, I decided to go to Disk Utility and just format the drive from scratch and repartition it to the same old partitions, effectively deleting my previous Time Machine backup. This was all done intentionally.

-> However! After having done this, when I opened the "Partition," window, I was very unpleasantly surprised to find two partitions: (1) a 3TB partition labeled Untitled and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and (2) a Zero KB partition labeled * and formatted as "Uninitialized." It is also worth mentioning that where I click on the portion of the pie where the Untitled partition is located, the selected portion shows up blue without any patterns. However, when I click on the portion of the pie where the * partition is located, the blue has diagonal parallel lines.

I tried everything under my knowledge to get rid of this * partition. The things I have tried are underlined above. If you--or anyone--knows of any other ways I could get rid of this stubborn partition, please let me know. I will be attaching two screenshots that will show what appears in my Disk Utility when I go to partition the drive.

Any help is EXTREMELY appreciated!

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Answer 4

annoyed11 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 2, 2020 3:05 PM in response to Kappy

I see. I freaked out because all of a sudden a partition that had never been there or had even been created by me appeared and I had no way to delete it. I also read this article--which was the only one I could find on google that seemed remotely similar to the whole "Uninitialized" partition deal--which urged people to be cautious regarding Uninitialized external drives (from what I understood from it): https://www.gillware.com/data-recovery-lab/raw-partition-recovery/

Granted, the article is from 2017 and is referring to Windows only whereas I am not dealing with Windows in any way.

I have gone through those steps you mentioned, but I'll be sure to do it once again before configuring the whole Time Machine Backup again.

Since my opinion on the drive as a whole has changed, I will be changing the name of that partition to something nicer!

Question: what do you mean when you say my startup drive is encrypted? I have FileVault turned off. Are you referring to having a password to access the computer after it is locked, or maybe something else? I do not know what HFS+ Encrypted is, so maybe I used it or maybe I didn't? I'm a very impatient person and I want things done quickly, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of having overlooked anything during the entire process.

I understand you're not an expert on Time Machine and neither am I, so I truly thank you for all the information and tips you've given me thus far! I will try calling Apple Support to see how to decrypt the startup drive, if possible, and see what my options are moving forward regarding Time Machine.

Thank you so much for your insight! Stay healthy and safe.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,837 points

May 2, 2020 7:36 PM in response to annoyed11

I made that statement based on the error you reported earlier, "time machine is backing up an encrypted disk to an unencrypted disk." Perhaps, I should not have assumed that the disk being backed up was your startup disk. If the disk was encrypted during the formatting, then I don't think File Vault would be enabled. Full disk encryption was only recently a part of Disk Utility. If you install Catalina, then the disk will be encrypted automatically unless you disable it during the Setup Assistant. And, that about encapsulates what I know about the changes to File Vault and Disk Utility with the ongoing changes in macOS.

I'm currently safe, healthy, and sane because we have plenty of toilet paper!!

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Format External Hard Drive -> Leave Just 1 Partition -> Delete Uninitialized Asterisk Partition

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