APFS Problem

[EdSinger]

After getting a lot of help from Mac-Help I managed to get Monterey running on my Mac Plus, but I was running it from a 2 Tb SSD formatted for the job - i.e. APSF. Soon afterward I upgraded my Mac and transferred the system to the upgraded Mac-HD. Now I want to use the SSD for email archiving and I set about preparing it. Shock - horror, neither Disk Utility nor Tech-Tool (latest version) offers any format but the existing one - i.e. APFS. I know that will work, but why can it not be formatted to anything else but APFS? (BTW Happy New Year Everyone )

 

[TonyAguila]

After getting a lot of help from Mac-Help I managed to get Monterey running on my Mac Plus, but I was running it from a 2 Tb SSD formatted for the job - i.e. APSF. Soon afterward I upgraded my Mac and transferred the system to the upgraded Mac-HD. Now I want to use the SSD for email archiving and I set about preparing it. Shock - horror, neither Disk Utility nor Tech-Tool (latest version) offers any format but the existing one - i.e. APFS. I know that will work, but why can it not be formatted to anything else but APFS? (BTW Happy New Year Everyone )

Is the external SSD a SATA or NVMe drive? Either way, I would think, you should be able to reformat it to APFS, HFS+, or even ExFAT et al.

Open Disk Utility and from the menu beside “Disk Utility,” select Show All Devices. On the sidebar, select the topmost heading of the drive, and from the toolbar, click on Erase. A window will open giving you the option to rename a new partition with format options.

 

[EdSinger]

Sorry for long delay - I did as you say, and all is well now - thanks so much. I had been selecting the volume name rather than the top level of the structure. The new OS structure convention takes some understanding but I am sure it must be for the best!
It occurs to me now that leaving the volume as it was - APFS format - the disk might be ideal for CCC backups of the system? It is not a very fast SSD drive, but for a backup that is of no consequence. Do you have a view?
Thanks again - EdSinger

 

[TonyAguila]

Sorry for long delay - I did as you say, and all is well now - thanks so much. I had been selecting the volume name rather than the top level of the structure. The new OS structure convention takes some understanding but I am sure it must be for the best!
It occurs to me now that leaving the volume as it was - APFS format - the disk might be ideal for CCC backups of the system? It is not a very fast SSD drive, but for a backup that is of no consequence. Do you have a view?
Thanks again - EdSinger

Good job! I might be mistaken but I think when Sonoma, or even Monterey, came out, APFS became a requirement for Time Machine drive formats. And for that matter, I have all of my drives (8 SATA, 2 SSD external, and internal SSD) formatted as APFS, single partition—meaning I have a single container for every physical drive, no matter how many volumes are contained within. Of course, if you HAVE TO have and share PC files, you still have to format that drive as XFAT.