Why can't my MacPro 10.5.8 see external HDs?

Why can't my MacPro 10.5.8 see external HDs that were previously used for backup on Time Machine on the same machine?
I tried different cables and still nothing shows up in finder.
I hooked up both drives to my my Mac Air via USB and they both show up along with the backup history.

Still haven't hunted down the installastion DVD. If it is a harware issue, then all connectors, USB, Firewire 400 and FW 800 are not functioning, yet another drive I hooked up to the FW800 works.
Does it matter what version I boot to? I have installation S/W from other Macs, but not this MP. The OS has been upgraded along the way anyway, so it isn't exactly the same as the original installation, but still Leopard.

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Why can't I simply drag music from my external hard drive to my ipod classic?

Why can't I simply drag music from my external hard drive to my ipod classic using my mac?

downpat wrote:
So after I get my music put on my computer, then moved to my ipod, do I have to delete music from itunes to free up space?
Not a good idea.
What you could do, is have the Library content on the external hard drive and simply tell your iTunes programme to look on the hard drive for your music etc.. However, once you set that up, that hard drive needs to be connected and ready to read, before you start the iTunes programme. If it isn't ready, iTunes will simply go back to the default location for the music, find nothing and then you'll be back here saying that you've lost your Library.

Why can't iTunes handle a library on an external drive?

I put all my music files on an external drive and imported them into iTunes. So far so good. The first time I ran iTunes while the drive was disconnected - all my songs suddenly got that dreaded exclamation point next to them. Yes, while the drive is connected, I can still go to any song and double-click it to play; but the vast majority of songs stays "exclamated" and greyed-out. Shuffle ignores them. Even if I use some method to re-recognize all my songs, next time I open iTunes without first attaching the drive, it'll all go down the drain again.
Apple - this MacBook air is great but it only comes with 256 GB of built-in storage. I HAVE to use an external drive in order to have my music library. Why can't the MacBook recognize the drive, remember it, and know when it's connected and when it isn't?

You're welcome.
Yaniv Eidelstein1 wrote:
I still think Apple should improve iTunes, by making it a bit smarter, and aware of connected drives without needing to relaunch.
I agree and have made that suggestion to Apple in the past. You may submit your polite feedback using this page: <http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html>.

Why can't iTunes play music from read-only external hard drive?

I have a write-protected external hard-drive which I keep all of my iTunes media on. iTunes recognizes all of the files, including the metadata on the id3 tags, and can find the files in Windows Explorer. However, it cannot play the files while the drive remains write-protected. Is there a work around for this as I would prefer to keep the hard-drive protected? Why does iTunes require write-access to play songs? Other media players have no problem playing from my read-only external hard-drive. Thanks for any help

Welcome to the Apple Community.
When you say you can't play through both devices at the same time, what happens when you try, are you able to select multiple speakers, do they deselect themselves, do you not get the option or does it just not work when you select multiple speakers.

Why Can't I install Snow Leopard on an external HD

I am currently running 10.7.1 on my MacBook Pro which I have had for a week or two lees than 12 months.
Firstly, why I want a bootable Snow Leopard HD doesn't matter.
Secondly, the Snow Leopard Install Disc is 10.6.3. The external HD is a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Partitioned GUID HD.
When I inserted the SL Install Disc I received the following rebuke.
Tried a Leopard Install disc, Same thing.
Tried the Snow Leopard Install disc that came with the computer, Same thing.
Consulted the local Apple expert and she brought her SL bootable HD around and it booted okay.
I was able to get her to install a bootable copy of SL on 2 of my old HDs and they booted from her computer without problems. I don't know what model her computer was. When I connect either of the HDs using FW 800, Startup Manager admits that it exists. When I selected it as my boot disc all that happens is a hanging Apple and no sign of a gear, rotating or otherwise.
I have tried various remedies, connecting with USB instead of FW, sacrificing one of my newer backup discs (I have 4) and cloning onto one of them, and swearing a lot.
Everything I have tried has been a failure.
Any suggestions? I am assuming it must be something to do with my computer because the same discs boot from my friends' computer. Of course that does not explain why her HD boots okay. The fact that the disc that came with the computer won't boot is a worrying conundrum.

I have a Mac that originally came with 10.5, then upgraded to 10.6 with 10.6.3 retail disk then to 10.7 online.
I was able to BOOTCAMP partition, change the BOOTCAMP partition from MSDOS to HFS+ journaled and renamed Snow Leopard.
I was able to hold c and boot off the 10.6.3 installer disk and install 10.6.3 into the Snow Leopard Partition. The computer booted and worked fine in either OS.
I was also even able to erase the whole drive from a Lion boot DVD...
http://eggfreckles.net/notes/burning-a-lion-boot-disc/
...create 7 partitions and install Lion, Snow, Windows and Linux in four bootable partiitons with a liitle help from rEFIt firmware software.
In all times I was able to boot off the 10.6.3 install disk, even with Lion installed. But Lion's Disk Utility had to format the entire drive to update the partition map first to update it.
The only thing I can think of is your disk is dirty enough or has a flaw small enough that her machine doesn't catch it and yours does. Since she booted fine off the disk and you didn't, despite both having Lion right?
You can clean and polish the bottom of the disk with a very soft cloth and a bit of rubbing alcohol.
You can also create a new bootable OS X 10.6 installer disk following these directions, it might cure the bad spot with error checking that occurs.
http://www.walterjessen.com/make-a-bootable-backup-snow-leopard-install-disc/

Why can't I read or write from my external hard drive?

Hey there, I recently borrowed my brother's laptop to use as a media station for listening to music from, and watching movies, in order to free up some space on my main macbook. In trying to migrate some files over, I discovered that my hard drive, a 320 GB WD Elements drive, is having some problems which I've never encountered before. It has always worked fine in the past, but now I can't transfer any files to or from it, from either computer. In all of my troubleshooting, I've gotten various errors, (-36, -50), and various messages saying how the device can't be read or written from, or how some files contian unreadable data, etc.
Disk Utility found an unused node when verifying the disk, and notified me that the disk needed to be repaired. I then used Disk Utility, which said it was able to successfully repair it, but the same problem remains, and after verifying the disk, it still says it needs to be repaired. I've tried to find any files that may be causing the problem, and was finally able to delete a seemingly troublesome file that was stuck in my trash bin from the external drive after trying various apps, (ie Trash It, Cocktail, What's Keeping Me?). This didn't end up solving anything...I've used terminal to eliminate some other potentially problematic files, with no luck still, and I'm not too confident with Terminal so I don't want to be messing around too much without more guidance.
Most recently, I've used Disk Warrior to try to solve the problem, but still with no success. When I use the app to Check All Files and Folders, it does so for only a few seconds, then reports that "An unexpected error ocurred while attempting to perform file operations" for several files, and that several files' "Property list is damaged and cannot be repaired". When using Disk Warrior to REBUILD the drive, the app pauses for about 15 seconds, then says that it can't be rebuilt because it is in use. Again, I've used the What's Keeping Me? app to kill any activity with the drive, and the same error occurs.
I've spent a lot of time trying to sort this out...It's very frustrating, and I have a lot of files that mean a lot to me on my drive, so any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot!
Ryan

I have this problem too with my Western Digital 1TB My Passport for Mac.
Downloaded Card Data Recovery - did not work. The software self terminated itself when the problematic WD is connected. Starts up fine when the WD is not connected by USB.
Then I downloaded Remo Recovery. Starts up fine, scans fine and appears to save the files but ALL the files 'saved' are unreadable.
Finally, downloaded Stellar Phoenix in a last ditch attempt to recover my precious video files. Starts fine, saves fine BUT it cannot save files above 200MB because the WD stops working every 10 minutes.So, did not solve my problem totally because I have so many files above 200MB.
And yes, I PAID for all the software above. And the first two software are reluctant to refund me my money until their development team can ascertain whether it's a software bug, over online web conference. And because of the time differences, I can never get online with them. So, all my money gone.
Until one day I opened Activity Monitor and noticed this 'fsck_hfs' starting up everytime I connected the problematic WD My Passport for Mac.
So, tried to Force Quit 'fsck_hfs' and VOILA!
A dialogue box popped up and says that the Passport for Mac cannot be repaired and that I can move and copy files from it but not save to it.
PHEW!!
At least I can access the files and save them to my Seagate 1TB although now I am having a problem opening FCP X project files rescued from the WD.

Why can't my new Macbook Pro not see individual MTS files on the sony cx700 flash drive? How do I get AVCHD MTS files off the camera not using imovie or FCP?

Hi,
I bought a new MacBook Pro (OS X version 10.8) recently to replace an older version. I work with different Sony cameras (Hard drive and flash drive storage), but when I connect the cameras (Sony Cx560, 700 and XR520) to the Mac it only shows an AVCHD icon. Usually you can see the individual files. We have 3 Macbook Pro's here and on 2 of them it works. Is there a setting or a driver I need to download for this new Mac? The other ones read it without intsalling anything.
Thanks for any tips.

There are two (and probably more than two) third party apps that will do this.
1) ClipWrap
2) Voltaic

Why can't I burn a movie to me external dvd drive?

I can share movies digitally to itunes, youtube, cnnreport, and vimeo. But can't burn to my external drive. What am I doing wrong, or is the macbook pro just that way?

Not if you have iDVD. You haven't said yet whether you do or not. If you do, here's how you can create a DVD from the new iMovie 10:
In iMovie 10 go to File>Share>File, choose the size (probably should choose either SD or Large) then click Next, give it a name, then click Save (remember where you saved it to).
Wait until the Activity Indicator shows that the sharing process is complete.
Go to iDVD. Go to File>Import>Video and select the file you created earlier. It will bring the video into your iDVD project. Prepare you DVD project and when you're ready, click the "Burn" button.
iDVD is no longer officially supported by Apple, but that doesn't mean you can't still use it. It's still a great option...possibly the best...for burning video DVDs on a Mac.

Why can't I edit SOME pictures on the external hard drive in iPhoto?

I have moved my iPhoto Library to an external drive. I can see all photos in the thumbnail, but there are several pictures that when I click on them to edit, the screen is black, while others show up. I'm confused.

If in the middle of that black window is an exclamation point then iPhoto has lost link to the original file. If you're running a "managed" library (copy image file into the library when imported) try the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Select all options.
Fix #2
Rebuild the library using iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be untouched for further attempts at fixing or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.

Why can't iTunes find the music from an external hard drive?

I moved my music to an external hard drive to free up space on my old laptop. Since I moved to a new laptop, iTunes never seems to find the music. I have to go through and manually select a song for it to find it one and then it says should it use this to find the rest of the songs. Then it crashes. I have reinstalled iTunes tonight with no real improvement. I want to be able to create a playlist to upload to my new iPad as well as updating music on my iPod but I can't do any of it. Please, any advice!

angelafromlanchester wrote:
I moved my music to an external hard drive to free up space on my old laptop. Since I moved to a new laptop, iTunes never seems to find the music.
Has the new laptop given the external drive a different drive letter?
The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, one of its parent folders, or the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
tt2

Why can't I import video files from an external hard drive?

I am using Adobe Premiere Elements 12 on Mac OSX 10.7.5 trying to import video files from a Lacie Rugged External Hard Drive using both firewire and usb, neither with any luck. The error message I receive is:
"You're trying to import a file from a DVD or a Removable Media. Please use Video Importer for importing Videos and Image Importer for importing images. "
We can't import through the video importer either because the hard drive doesn't show up. We can, however, drag the videos to the desktop and do it that way but we'd like to avoid doing that if possible.
Thanks
By the way, the external hard drive is formatted FAT32 if that matters

Tacomedia
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-an-external-hard-drive-for-use-with-os-x/
Please check out the above with regard to your external hard drive FAT32 and Mac computer question
By the way, the external hard drive is formatted FAT32 if that matters
SG has already commented on this in his initial reply to you. I thought that the above might blend in to supplement what he has said.
I will watch for further developments in your troubleshooting with SG.
ATR

Why can I no longer transfer files to an external HD?

To make more space on my 2010 macbook air (OS 10.9.4) I purchased a Toshiba 1TB external hard drive (formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). To free space I placed a large folder onto it, and also set up Time Machine. When I plugged it in a few days later, I get error messages saying that time machine backups failed (but they seem to be there) and I get the following when trying to move any other file from the computer to the hard drive:
Modifying “HARD DRIVE” requires an administrator name and password.
which it seems to initially accept the one I have for the computer, but then I get:
The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50).
What might be wrong and how can I fix it?

Hey Martin Butcher,
Thanks for the question. After reviewing your post, it sounds like a Time Machine backup failed. If you click on the i in the Time Machine preference window it will give you an error message. If you could see what that message is this article might be able to help you get this resolved.
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275
Using an external hard drive to store backups.
Mount your external hard drive.
In Disk Utility, locate your external backup drive. Your backup drive should mount in the Disk Utility sidebar when attached to your Mac.
Select your external backup drive.
Click Repair.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

Why can't I transfer any files to an external device?

My MacBook Pro will not let me transfer any files to my external hard drive or android tablet. I can transfer from the device to the macbook but not the other way around. I used to be able to as I have transferred movies from the macbook to the hard drive before but it will no longer allow me to do that. I have downloaded the android file transfer app. How do I fix this?

The external HDD is probably formatted NTFS, for Windows, which allows you to read but not write to it. Click on it with COMMAND + I and check the format.
You can reformat it for Mac or PC and Mac, but reformatting will erase all user data off of the HDD.
You also can use a third party software such as Paragon or Tuxera to write to it.
Ciao.

Why can my friends MBP write to a NTFS external hard drive and mine cannot?

I bought and formatted my friends 13" 2012 MBP which is running on Mountain Lion and I did not download any extra programs or software to enable his MBP to write on a NTFS external but for some reason he is able to write to it and I cannot, I have a 15" 2011 MBP. I assumed it was the OS since I was running on Lion, but I just upgraded to Maverick last night and it still won't let me write.
So what's the deal? How can he write to it while I can't?
Thanks,
John

There is (was, don't; know if it still works) a hack you can use to enable NTFS writing on OS X. However as it was never officially supported by Apple it really is best to consider this experimental and not rely on it. If you need to use NTFS drives for real work you should look into the many 3rd party extensions.
For the native OS X hack see:
How to manually enable NTFS read and write in OS X | MacFixIt ...
How to Enable NTFS Write Support in Mac OS X - OS X Daily
10.6: Enable native NTFS read/write support - Mac OS X Hints
among others. But as I wrote this is really a parlour trick.

Why can't iPod Touch be used as flash / external drive?

Doesn't it seem like it should be a basic utility to be able to be used as a portable disc / disk / hdd? My ten year old 60GB Zen Vision:M player has this function (and still works!) but a brand new 64GB Touch doesn't?!
In iTunes, under Devices>Music in the lower right there is a Settings button...when clicked it has an option to "Reserve space for disk use." There is also a question mark button to the lower left of that option, which when clicked explains the (to me self explanatory) option by saying "To use your device as an external disk, adjust this slider to set the disk capacity."
Is there something I'm not doing right? Why does it even give you this option if it cannot be used? If not, come on Apple, get it together! Poor design!

This is a user to user forum. Your thoughts might be better served sent directly to apple. Use the 'contact us' link at the lower right of this page.

Why can't my MacPro 10.5.8 see external HDs?

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