Can't format WD Elements Desktop 2TB

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

Hi,

This is my first post here. I’m trying to format this external HD to ntfs using Linux. Everything seems to be OK but the process hangs on “Syncing device.” message. I tried with the command line>

sudo mkntfs -c 512 -v --debug -Q -I -F -L WD1 /dev/sdb1

The same happens when I try to do it with GParted, the process hangs in the same point.

Does it mean the disk is damaged?

Thank you very much in advance,

Luis Pablo

2

If you look in the drive Specs Linux is not a supported OS. It’s hit or miss whether they work on it. If you have access to a Windows PC try formatting it there.

Joe

3

Thank you for your reply. I tried with a Macbook with “WD Quick Drive Format” utility and process stops with this message:

“Cannot open device. Is WDDM running?”

Am I missing something? How can I fix it?

Thank you in advance,

Luis Pablo

4

Just partition the drive on the Mac

Go to disk utility and create one partition

make sure to back any important files prior to formatting

5

Thank you for suggestion. I tried but it also failed during format process. Disk Utility ended with this error message:

"PARTITION FAILED

Partition failed with the error:

File system formatter failed."

However partition table seems to be created. Then I tried to format the disk using “WD Quick Drive Format” utility but I get the same error than before: “Cannot open device. Is WDDM running?”

Any idea will be really appreciated. Thank you in advance,

Luid Pablo