Change the name of an external hard drive in Mojave? Not partitions, but the actual drive itself.

[SnarkyBear]

I have two identical external hard drives I wish to use on my iMac. They both show up on Disk Utility as "WD Elements 25A3 Media" I have been able to partition them as I desire, but I wish to change the names of the drives themselves so as to avoid confusion.

In the good old days before Mojave, I could simply go to Finder, show information for the drive, and change the name there. In Mohave, however, I only see the partition names. The actual HDD itself does not show.

I tried google and got nowhere. Anyone know any fixes for this? Thank you!

 

[Tech198]

I don't think you can change the drive... (first one) . It's the drive name (the name that identifies itself as a drive), not volume.

In my example, I could change "St"

 

[SnarkyBear]

I don't think you can change the drive... (first one) . It's the drive name (the name that identifies itself as a drive), not volume.

That would make me very sad. This was a thing that we used to be able to do. I wonder what happened to make Apple remove this feature.

 

[mikecwest]

It is very easy...so easy, you might feel silly.

OR

 

[SnarkyBear]

It is very easy...so easy, you might feel silly.

The example you show only changes the partition name, not the Hard drive name.

To give you an example of what I am talking about, change the view on Disk Utility from "Show Only Volumes" to "Show All Devices" (press command+2 or ⌘2). You will then see the actual name of the external hard drive as well as the volume (i.e partition) name. THAT is the name I am attempting to change.

In the picture above, you showed me how to change "Yellow 5K Backup". I want to change "WD My Passport 25E2 Media" [/QUOTE]

 

[mikecwest]

View attachment 837259 The example you show only changes the partition name, not the Hard drive name.

To give you an example of what I am talking about, change the view on Disk Utility from "Show Only Volumes" to "Show All Devices" (press command+2 or ⌘2). You will then see the actual name of the external hard drive as well as the volume (i.e partition) name. THAT is the name I am attempting to change.

In the picture above, you showed me how to change "Yellow 5K Backup". I want to change "WD My Passport 25E2 Media"

[/QUOTE]

Ok...Now I feel silly...

 

[Clix Pix]

I usually change the name of the external drive right on the desktop.....just as I would any folder or file. Very simple!

 

[mikecwest]

I usually change the name of the external drive right on the desktop.....just as I would any folder or file. Very simple!

I thought I was doing the same thing...but apparently not...open disk utility and go to View:Show All Devices....I was shown otherwise.
[doublepost=1557975251][/doublepost]

View attachment 837259 The example you show only changes the partition name, not the Hard drive name.

To give you an example of what I am talking about, change the view on Disk Utility from "Show Only Volumes" to "Show All Devices" (press command+2 or ⌘2). You will then see the actual name of the external hard drive as well as the volume (i.e partition) name. THAT is the name I am attempting to change.

In the picture above, you showed me how to change "Yellow 5K Backup". I want to change "WD My Passport 25E2 Media"

[/QUOTE]


Have you tried :

diskutil cs rename lvgUUID "newName"

You will need a lvgUUID(Logical Volume Group): diskutil cs list

 

[SnarkyBear]

Have you tried :

diskutil cs rename lvgUUID "newName"

You will need a lvgUUID(Logical Volume Group): diskutil cs list

I gave it a shot, but it appears to affect only Volume (i.e. Partition) names. I am doing further research about Terminal commands to see if anything else in there can help. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[mikecwest]

I gave it a shot, but it appears to affect only Volume (i.e. Partition) names. I am doing further research about Terminal commands to see if anything else in there can help. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yeah, I am looking at that command, it’s a core storage command... If you have something other than core storage, it would need a different command.

 

[crjackson2134]

If I’m understanding you correctly, you are attempting to change the name of the device’s hardware identity (which is stored in firmware on the device itself). I’m not aware of ever being able to change that.

@SnarkyBear
If you installed 2 identical drives, then of course they have the same nomenclature identifier in the drives firmware. The serial numbers will be different, but you can’t really alter the media identity through the OS.

 

[treekram]

I have two identical external hard drives I wish to use on my iMac. They both show up on Disk Utility as "WD Elements 25A3 Media" I have been able to partition them as I desire, but I wish to change the names of the drives themselves so as to avoid confusion.

In the good old days before Mojave, I could simply go to Finder, show information for the drive, and change the name there. In Mohave, however, I only see the partition names. The actual HDD itself does not show.

I tried google and got nowhere. Anyone know any fixes for this? Thank you!

I think your recollection is mistaken. I didn't think this was possible but you never know so I checked Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion, Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave. It's all the same - the disk manufacturer name never appears in the Finder. You can click on the Volume -> Get Info but that Window will also not display the disk manufacturer - just the volume name, which you can modify. If you press the alt key after right-clicking the volume in Finder, "Get Info" becomes "Show Inspector" but it shows the same Window that "Get Info" does. Maybe there's some other key modifier or perhaps the key modifier works differently in Mojave vs. other versions. If you have any ideas - I can check it out. These OS's are on SSD's for me so it's not that difficult for me to check. If you think it was on another version, I have Lion, Yosemite and El Capitan on HDD's (no Mavericks).

As you searched, I'm sure you've seen results where people asked the same question and the answer was that you can't change this. There is a good reason for that - it would make counterfeiting much easier. There was a poster about a month or so ago who had bought a used MBP which couldn't boot El Capitan. Because this disk manufacturer information was not modifiable, it was easy to figure out that the seller had put in a non-Apple SSD into the MBP, something which was not initially disclosed to the buyer. If this information could be modified, it would be much more difficult to troubleshoot issues like these.

 

[SnarkyBear]

I think your recollection is mistaken. I didn't think this was possible but you never know so I checked Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion, Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave. It's all the same - the disk manufacturer name never appears in the Finder.

Thank you for back checking on the older OS's. You are right, my memory is probably mistaken on this. Lesson learned--from now on I will use two different companies external HDDs so as to avoid confusion.

 

[Fishrrman]

I just plugged in a couple of USB drives (running Mojave on a 2018 Mini).
I could change the drive names by clicking on them in the finder and renaming them. This seems to work in Mojave "as it always has".

The OP stated in post 1 that he has Western Digital drives.

Is it possible that these drives both came out-of-the-box with proprietary WD software installed, that would prevent changing the names of the drives?

In that case, it would be necessary to go to Western Digital and download the drive management software, then use it to REMOVE any proprietary software on the drives.
See this page:
https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=157

Then... reformat/erase using Disk Utility. Of course, doing this will WIPE OUT any data on the drives.

 

[chabig]

I want to change "WD My Passport 25E2 Media"

I don't think you can. I don't think you ever could. I don't know why you'd want to, because you interact with partitions, not drives. Just give your partitions distinct names and be done with it.

 

[treekram]

Thank you for back checking on the older OS's. You are right, my memory is probably mistaken on this. Lesson learned--from now on I will use two different companies external HDDs so as to avoid confusion.

If you want to avoid confusing two external drives of the same manufacturer/model in Disk Utility when you plug them in at the same time, you can plug in one drive first, look in Disk Utility, select the drive and look at the "Device" box in the lower right and it will say "diskX" where X is some number. Remember that number - it will likely be a single digit. Then plug in the second drive and do the same. It will have a different number (these numbers are not permanent, they may change the next time you plug the drives in). Obviously, you can change the volume names and you can name them to avoid confusion. If you wish to have the same volume names and were counting on changing the manufacturer/model to avoid confusion, that can't be done and there are only workarounds for that - you can have a very small partition on both drives and name them something different.

 

[Clix Pix]

For renaming an external drive I don't go into Disk Utility at all. When I plug in an external drive, it mounts and the icon is shown on the desktop (meaning that it is seen in Finder). Just as I would with a folder or file on the desktop, I simply right-click, the menu comes up and I click on "Rename" and type in the chosen name. I've been doing this for years and only just last week renamed an external Samsung T5 SSD because I was changing the purpose of it.

I also have renamed my internal drive as well using this same method.

I DO use Disk Utility, of course, for formatting external drives, and the first thing I do when getting a new one is to do just that, which gets rid of stuff I don't need or want (proprietary files put on by the manufacturer, etc.), plus puts the device in the format I prefer to use, APFS. At that time, too, of course I can choose a new name for the drive, and usually do. Later, though, for one reason or another I might want to change it, which is when I use the strategy mentioned above.

 

[treekram]

For renaming an external drive I don't go into Disk Utility at all. When I plug in an external drive, it mounts and the icon is shown on the desktop (meaning that it is seen in Finder). Just as I would with a folder or file on the desktop, I simply right-click, the menu comes up and I click on "Rename" and type in the chosen name. I've been doing this for years and only just last week renamed an external Samsung T5 SSD because I was changing the purpose of it.

I also have renamed my internal drive as well using this same method.

I DO use Disk Utility, of course, for formatting external drives, and the first thing I do when getting a new one is to do just that, which gets rid of stuff I don't need or want (proprietary files put on by the manufacturer, etc.), plus puts the device in the format I prefer to use, APFS. At that time, too, of course I can choose a new name for the drive, and usually do. Later, though, for one reason or another I might want to change it, which is when I use the strategy mentioned above.

What shows up on the Desktop for an external drive is the volume name, not the manufacturer/model name, which is what the OP wanted to rename. If that shows up on the Desktop instead of the volume name for you, we'd be interested in knowing about that. Some manufacturers will pre-format their drives and set the volume name to the manufacturer name (Kingston flash drives did - still do? that.)

 

[Clix Pix]

Ah, that might explain things, then, as I don’t partition my external drives and I prefer to keep them to just one volume, which works for what I want to do with them. I think my Samsung T5 drives say Samsung T5 when they are new, before I’ve reformatted them or done anything...... I change the name in Disk Utility when reformatting to APFS and keep it to only one partition at that time, so then the new name shows up on the desktop when the reformatting process is complete.

This is puzzling, though, as one would think it would be possible to change partition names on a given drive, or the volume name.....

 

[DeltaMac]

I have similar issues, as some of my externals have as many as 20 partitions. So, it's a challenge to remember which device is actually in use.
I have one partition on each drive that I name in a distinctive way, including a unique icon, and THAT partition is used for multiple utilities and disk images.
The only time that I need to know which device is which, is unmounting to disconnect the drive. I just look for the "special" partition for the drive I want to disconnect. Eject that partition, which asks if I want to eject ALL partitions on that device. That drive then completely ejects, and I disconnect to go on my merry way to some other office or on-site somewhere. One distinctive partition helps me a lot. Maybe that will also help you, too.

 

[treekram]

Ah, that might explain things, then, as I don’t partition my external drives and I prefer to keep them to just one volume, which works for what I want to do with them. I think my Samsung T5 drives say Samsung T5 when they are new, before I’ve reformatted them or done anything...... I change the name in Disk Utility when reformatting to APFS and keep it to only one partition at that time, so then the new name shows up on the desktop when the reformatting process is complete.

This is puzzling, though, as one would think it would be possible to change partition names on a given drive, or the volume name.....

If you open the Disk Utility app in Mojave, and on the menu bar at the top of your monitor, select "View" - there should be two options at the very top - "Show Only Volumes" and "Show All Devices". I'm guessing you have "Show Only Volumes" checked. If you select "Show All Devices", you'll see more stuff on the left side of the Disk Utility window. If you select any of the left-most items, you'll some combination of manufacturer/model will appear. This won't appear anywhere else (I think) in Disk Utility unless you have "Show All Devices" checked. It appears that Samsung pre-formats a partition on their T5 to "Samsung T5" from what you are saying or did I misunderstand what you said? I just got a Samsung 860 QVO and it's not pre-formatted so maybe they do something different for their internal vs. external SSD's. It is possible to change the partition/volume name but not the manufacturer/model name nor the Container name (APFS - at least it appears that way).

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes, I have been viewing Disk Utility as “Show All Devices” for some time now, so I am aware of what is showing when I am in there about to make a change. I think that when I erase and format a new T5 that I am also getting rid of the pre-formatted stuff that ships with a new external T5 SSD. I don’t know what happens when someone buys a Samsung SSD that is meant to be an internal drive and they stick it into an enclosure.... Never dealt with that, no need or desire to do so when I can buy an already-packaged T5 ready to plug in, format and and use...... Right now I am on the iPad but when I am next on a computer and can plug in a T5, I’ll go into Disk Utility and see just what is listed as the device itself and the container....

 

[Tech198]

I just plugged in a couple of USB drives (running Mojave on a 2018 Mini).
I could change the drive names by clicking on them in the finder and renaming them. This seems to work in Mojave "as it always has".

The OP stated in post 1 that he has Western Digital drives.

Is it possible that these drives both came out-of-the-box with proprietary WD software installed, that would prevent changing the names of the drives?

In that case, it would be necessary to go to Western Digital and download the drive management software, then use it to REMOVE any proprietary software on the drives.
See this page:
https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=157

Then... reformat/erase using Disk Utility. Of course, doing this will WIPE OUT any data on the drives.

Yes, they do... I use WD external drives and they do come NTFS formatted with few utilities on, but i generally fire up Terminal, and zerodisk drive anyway as soon as i get any if I need to use them primary on Mac. The software they come with is not the issue

Besides, the Name of the drive should be irrelevant. as only the volume appears in finder (the one you see) in my case "ST" that is easily changeable.. I think its confusion more than anything. Just rename the volumes and they will be different.... in Finder.