When I try to erase and reformat a new partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), I get the "Erase Process failed" error.

NylaTheWolf · September 13, 2021

I have an NTFS 4TB Seagate external hard drive that I used for my Windows laptop. I'm trying to get started with the 3-2-1 backup strategy, and I have a 2TB Seagate external drive that I've been using for my Mac for a couple of years now. I have some Time Machine backups on the drive, and I want to make a new partition on the 4TB Drive formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) so I could copy those backups to that partition in case something happens to the original drive. I used Disk Management on my Windows laptop to create an NTFS formatted ~1.2 TB partition. Then, I plugged the drive into my Mac in order to erase it and reformat it (I have Paragon Driver to read NTFS drives). I tried using Disk Utility to erase and reformat the partition to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), but when I tried it, I got an error saying that the Erase Process Failed.

The partition was dismounted and I couldn't mount it again. I ejected the main partition with my actual data on it out of panic and then unplugged the driver and replugged it to see if it worked, but the new partition was still unmounted and couldn't be remounted. The main one booted fine though.

I forgot if I did this before attempting to eject, but I remember going to the Partition tab in Disk Utility and to see if I could reformat it that way. I got a popup saying I needed to enable Journaling but the option was grayed out for me.

I remember having the option available to me at one moment, but it didn't do anything.

I had to plug the hard drive to my PC laptop and delete the empty, not-working partition so I could use that 1.2 tb of my drive.

I tried again two days ago, and I got the same result. I had to, again, plug my hard drive to my PC laptop and delete the partition again. Doe anyone know what's going on here? I'm away from home right now so I can't check my computer specs atm.

Bombastinator · September 13, 2021

So it is refusing to erase the NTFS? Is the HD in good condition? There should be apps to test that. I would likely just stick in a Linux liveCD and use that. Sort of a “No. I have the power. You WILL erase” kind of move. I don’t know if that’s necessarily the best plan though.