External hard drive WB Passport ultra/ disk utility

[brigitte]

Hello,

I have a MacBook Air running with macOS Sierra (10.12.1) and I have purchased a WD external HD (My Passport Ultra) and the disk mounts on teh desk top but I have to format it for MAC. When I open disk utility, all I get is the little wheel / loading disks and nothing happens ( i left it running for over 15 minutes and nothing happens).
Can anyone advise what I should do?
thanks in advance!
Brigitte

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-Which exact model MacBook Air?
-You could try unmounting and ejecting the WD Passport, restart the Mac, launch Disk Utility, then connect the WD to see if that resolves it.

C

 

[honestone]

Welcome, brigitte. Hopefully, your issue can be resolved.

When you don't have the WD drive connected and you launch Disk Utility, does it function as expected, ie, does it show your internal drive?

One issue you should be aware of is that WD drives are somewhat "notorious" for not working well with Macs. Even if you get it working now (hopefully Cory's suggestions will work), you could have trouble down the road. Seagate drives are actually better for Macs.

Just in case, can you get a refund on the WD drive?

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

Hope Corys suggestion works.

If not it may need more power. USB carries power to the drive, but some drives need more than the 5V that comes through a single USB port.

Is it connected via one cable or is it duel? As some USB cables split into two USB connections for your Mac and lead to the single USB connection on the hard drive. This is known as a USB power cable. This provides more power for the hard drive, and enables it to work directly from your Mac.