External hard drive

[NancyA]

Is this a good one?  Or do you have a better recommendation?  SanDisk Professional 12TB G-Drive Project - External HDD, Thunderbolt 3, USB (10Gbps), 7200RPM Ultrastar Hard Drive, Up to 250MB/s Read - SDPHG1H-012T-NBAAD 

 

 

[Brian]

That's the current version of the HD that I own, though I have heard mixed reviews about the current G-Drives since Sandisk bought them. Regardless, I'd still buy one. 

Give it a shot. 

Let me know when you get one, I want to make sure the partition is setup correctly. 

[NancyA]

This is the one I actually ordered.  https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1775674-REG/sandisk_professional_sdphg1h_012t_nbaad_12tb_g_drive_project.html  It was B&H rather than amazon.  It sounded identical other than the B&H specifically said "for Mac" and couldn't find on the amazon one.  Plus it was cheaper and tax free.  I see it has gone up $25 from when I ordered it Aug 31. Not my normal luck!  

Including two screens shots:  one show partitions, 2nd the info of the external.  If need more let me know where/what.  Hmm wondering if the APFS is correct.  I will wait to hear from you before I do any real back up to it.

Thanks!

Nancy

[Brian]

On 9/3/2025 at 7:19 PM, NancyA said:

It sounded identical other than the B&H specifically said "for Mac" and couldn't find on the amazon one.

That's an old marketing trick to get people to spend more money. The are banking on the "Apple Tax" which is the amount of people that are willing to pay extra, just because they spent a lot of by buying a Macintosh to begin with. This practice was a HUGE thing back in the 1990's. People would pay $30-$50 more for the same exact damn Hardware, except one was labeled "For Macintosh," or some similar verbiage, and the other stated "Windows." 

What's the difference?

• Hardware-wise: Absolutely nothing. 
• Software-wise: The Manufacture just partitioned and formatted the HD for you. 

So if the price was exactly the same between what you saw on Amazon vs B&H, you are fine. If the drive on Amazon was $399.99 and the one on B&H that was "For Macintosh" and retailed for $449.99...you wasted $50. 

Why? Because you could do the same exact thing that the Manufacture did with the "Windows" Drive (to turn it into a Macintosh Drive) yourself...FOR FREE. Takes like 5min your 1st time with Utility Tools already built into the macOS.  Fortunately, this is not the case, as the prices are the same on both Amazon & B&H. 

*Phew!!*

Anyways...back to your new HD. Yes, we will need to delete the existing Partition and create a new one. Why? Because the APFS is really for SSD Drives / Flash Media Based Drives and NOT a traditional spinning HD Platter Drive, which is what you have. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is what you want for a 7200 RPM Traditional HD.   

It's not a huge deal that you will kill your data, but from a performance perspective, it's not ideal. So here is what we are gonna do: 

1. Copy over any utility software that's currently on the Sandisk 12TB EHD and just put it somewhere temporarily, like on your Mac Desktop. Will we need this software? Probably not. Do you want the fancy HD Icon that Sandisk gives you? Absolutely.   
    
2. Head to your Applications Folder >> Utilities >> Disk Utillity. It should look something like this, or something very similar: 
   
   
   
    
3. From there, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SELECTED THE NEW SANDISK 12TB DRIVE THAT'S FORMATTED TO APFS. I can not stress this enough, you do NOT want to be working on the wrong drive!!! In fact, I recommend that you disconnect any other external drive, temporarily, until we finish this.  
    
4. Once you are ready to delete the existing partition, and have selected the correct HD, right-click and select: Delete APFS Volume.
   
   
    
5. A Warning Message will appear. Click Delete: 
   
   
    
6. Another pop-up box with the results should appear, with the words "Operation successful." Click Done. 
   
   
   
    
7. Now select the Drive once again. It might have a weird name at this point, that's perfectly fine. Click the Erase Button at the top: 
   
   
    
8. Give the HD a name, like Sandisk 12TB (Or something obvious.)  Choose MacOS Extended (Journaled) from the drop-down list next to the word Format: 
   
   
   
    
9. Another Pop-up Box will appear, confirming your choices: 
   
    
10. You want:
    • Name: Your Choice
    • Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    • GUID Partition Map 
       
11. Click the Erase Button, another pop-up box will appear, let it do its thing. 
    
    
12. There should be another box that says, "Operation Successful." 
    
    
13. Click Done. The Drive should appear on your Mac Desktop. 
     
14. Then right-click on the drive, select "Get Info."Drag the fancy Sandisk Icon from your Desktop to the little HD Icon in the "Get Info" Box, in the upper left corner. The default Icon should disappear and the Sandisk Icon should be visible. 
     
15. Start copying files over to it. You are done! 

Edit: Just think!!! Manufactures would charge about another $40 or so do to this exact thing that you can do for free!! 

[NancyA]

Worked like a charm!  Thank you for the detailed instructions.  

[NancyA]

The new Scan Disk works great using the Thunderbolt.  But now for some reason the Gforce (older one) will not work with the thunderbolt to thunderbolt socket on the external.  It will work in the port without the "lightening streak" but in neither of the two with.  I get the message "Cannot use the thunderbolt accessary.  Connect accessory to a thunderbolt port on this Mac". The new scan disk works using the same port on MAC with the "lightening bolt" port on external.  Any ideas if a setting could be causing this?  I rebooted is about the only thing I know to try.  

[Brian]

16 hours ago, NancyA said:

It will work in the port without the "lightening streak" but in neither of the two with

What cable are you using on that older G-Drive? Is it a true Thunderbolt Cable? The USB-C port (without the Thunderbolt) is just that...a USB-C Port. If you want the faster transfer speeds that Thunderbolt offers, you need to use the one with the Lightening Bolt. Both a USB-C Cable and a Thunderbolt Cable use a USB-C style connector, so it can be confusing. The next step is to check your box of cables and make sure you are using an actual Thunderbolt Cable (They usually have a Lightening Bolt on the connectors) before connecting the EHD. If you aren't sure, you can purchase one such as this or just fork out the money and buy a genuine Apple Thunderbolt 5 Cable. You could use that Thunderbolt 5 Cable from the Mac to the Sandisk, then use the Sandisk's Cable from the Sandisk to the older G-Drive.   

How old is your Mac? I'm also wondering if there is some sort of power issue if your Mac has some years on it; but I'm leaning towards a cable problem at the moment.