I did try using time machine, and it formatted the drive without a hitch, so that I could run the disk utility on it, and, for example, use disk first aid, which before did not work.
I did experience twice that Time Machine stopped working, and if it happens again I will consider the drive a lemon, just like the tech help said, and replace it.
onno
This is from the web site that was shown after I sent in a query, which has not gotten a response from Seagate.
about disk utility and OSX formatting new drives in general, according to Seagate:
When trying to Erase an external drive in Mac OS X (10.5) Leopard, I get the error, Cannot Erase as seen in this video. How can I resolve this problem?
Answer
Leopard (Mac OS X - 10.5) seems to be having problems reformatting external drives. This seems to be a common issue on Leopard that is seen on most brands of drives.
Note: This is not a problem with the External Drive. Rather, it is an issue with the Disk Utility found with Leopard.
Suggestions - If reformatting the drive in Disk Utility fails, there are two options:
Note: If you got to the point where you attempted to use disk Utility to Erase the external drive and it, failed, you may have to take the drive back to a Windows System to repartition and reformat. Click here to launch a video showing how to prepare an external drive using Windows Vista.
Reformat the drive on an older version of Mac OS X.
Boot off of the MacOS 10.4 DVD, access its Utilities Menu and prepare the external drive using Disk Utility
Backup any data first, take the external drive to another Mac, launch Disk Utility and reformat the drive as Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
If another version of Mac OS X is not available:
Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
Select the external drive and click on the Partition tab
Click on the Current Volume Scheme drop-down menu and divide the drive into 2 (or more) partitions
Click Options. From the Partition Schemes provided, click on the GUID Partition Table radio button. Click OK.
Click Apply. The Partition Disk screen opens.
Click Partition. At this point, the volume dismounts from the desktop and the drive is partitioned and formatted into multiple drives with GUID Partition Table scheme.
Note: When Volumes are created, Time Machine may open asking if you would like to use the volume for backups. Click Cancel to proceed.
When finished, select the Disk Utility from the Apple Menu and choose Quit Disk Utility (recommended)
Relaunch the Disk Utility, select the external drive
and click on the Partition tab
Click on the Current Volume Scheme drop-down menu and select One (1) partition.
Click Options. From the Partition Schemes provided, click on the Apple Partition Map radio button. Click OK. Select other options as desired (e.g., Volume Name, Install Mac OS 9 Drivers, etc.).
Click Apply. The Partition Disk screen opens.
Click Partition. At this point, the volume dismounts from the desktop and the drive is partitioned and formatted into multiple drives with Apple Partition Map scheme.
Note: When Volumes are created, Time Machine may open asking if you would like to use the volume for backups. Click Cancel to proceed.
When finished, select the Disk Utility from the Apple Menu and choose Quit Disk Utility (recommended)
Additional Information: Do not try to use the script that comes on the OneTouch 4 drives, this script was designed for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and will not work properly on Leopard. Click here to launch a video showing how to prepare an external drive as seen in Option Two (2) above.
NOTE: Viewing of Video Tutorials Requires the following:
A Screen resolution of at least 800x600
Javascript Enabled in your Browser
Adobe (Macromedia) Flash Player be installed on your system
