120 GB External Hard Drive no longer readable

My 120 GB external hard drive has been working perfectly fine on my new macbook pro. I just updated to OS X v. 10.5.2. Ever since, my external hard drive is no longer readable by the computer. I would like to set it up with time machine. I tried to connect the HD to another mac and a PC and it cannot be found by any computer. When i plug it into my computer, it brings me to the disk utility but I haven't been able to do anything to it. I don't really care much about the information on it as it is just backup stuff and my computer has it saved. Is there any way to format the drive and make it workable even if it is unreadable and can only be seen through the disk utility?

It only resets the machine's parameter RAM to the defaults (see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238 for details) which will necessitate resetting those preferences, but they're minimal. It could well be that the ext HD's gone south, but since it was usable prior to updating, it's worth a shot. If that doesn't allow you to see the HD, then you'll need something more powerful, such as DiskWarrior or TechTools. If those can't allow you to access it, then if there's stuff on it that you want to recover, you'll need something like DataRescue and even that might not work.

Similar Messages

Lacie external hard drive no longer readable by computer

I am using a lacie tb hard drive, and ran data rescue 3 recovery software on it. Now, when I plug it in, the hard drive is not readable by the computer at all.
Advice?
thanks

Hi BoyHowdyDoo,
This is an external drive that traceyx is talking about, so no need to boot from the OS DVD to run DiskUtility.
I'm a bit suspicious that the drive is actually physically failing, I'm afraid in this case, given the mention of bad blocks etc.
Tracey, I'm not sure from your comments whether you have actually already managed to get the things you want from the drive off it or not?
Running DiskUtility over it shouldn't hurt the drive, and may repair it sufficiently to get it "seen" again. I very much doubt if Drive Rescue has really done any serious damage to the drive if it was healthy beforehand, but the mention you made of bad blocks being reported is a worry, and the WD external drives unfortunately don't have a very good reputation for reliability.
If you were trying to recover the deleted files to a disk that was itself already damaged then unpredictable consequences could have occurred.
In this situation myself, assuming this is a Mac HFS(+) formatted external drive, If Disk Utility didn't fix it I would probably use Alsoft's "DiskWarrior" to try to repair it. It is capable of dealing with problems that are beyond the ability of DiskUtility . If that failed I would use DataRescue to try to recover the contents to another external.
Rod

External Hard drive No Longer Readable by Macbook Pro

I've been using a PQI Portable HD 551 external drive to back up my files for some time now. I haven't backed up since 9/21/12 and I tried to today and got the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." I've had no problems with the disk since I reformatted it for Macs, so I'm not sure what the problem is. The USB outlet works for my other external harddrive just fine.

Have you tried checking with the external drive's manufacturer's web support site for FAQs, updated drivers or firmware?

External Hard drive No Longer Readable

I have a Macbook Pro running Lion 10.7.5. I've been using a PQI Portable HD 551 external drive to back up my files for some time now. I haven't backed up since 9/21/12 and I tried a few days ago and got the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." I've had no problems with the disk since I reformatted it for Macs, so I'm not sure what the issue is. The USB outlet works for my other external harddrive just fine. I checked the PQI website and there are no available upgrades to d/l.

Have you tried checking with the external drive's manufacturer's web support site for FAQs, updated drivers or firmware?

LaCie external hard drive no longer readable after being connected to a PC

Hi all,
First post here and I really worried.
I have a Lacie external drive which I normally connect to my Mac - no problems.
Tried to connect it to my Windows 7 pc to transfer some files and it wasn't recognised. It installs the drivers and says its ready to use, but doesn't appear as a drive. So I read about it and the advice was to go to Computer Management - Disk Managment and mark drive 1 / partition as active and then assign a drive letter. So I did that and then Windows tells me that I must format the drive to use it.
Obviously I don't want to as I can't loose my data - my wedding pictures are on the drive!
So I've plugged the Lacie back into my mac, and the drive is unusable and says I need to format too. Even the repair function doesn't work.
Now I've read the another post and downloaded Test Disk (I'm working off my mac though as I know the drive worked and all my files where added from the Mac).
Its currently Anaylsing the cylinder but its taking a long time. 24hours and still on 30% (1TB drive, firewire)
I've read the help guide but once this stage completes, having read the next few steps, I'm lost.
Any ideas on what might have happened and what I need to do next?
I'll report back once its finished its 'deeper search' and analysing.
Or do I abort the above process and do something else?
Please help.
Thanks in advance,
Nick

I've read the help guide but once this stage completes, having read the next few steps, I'm lost.
And those few steps were? Care to share?
Lacie has great tech support. Call them - http://www.lacie.com/support/faq/faq.htm?faqid=10338

I have a MacBook Pro, 10.10.2 Yosemite. My external hard drive no longer appears on my screen or in Time Machine

I have a MacBook Pro, 10.10.2 Yosemite. My external hard drive no longer appears on my screen or in Time Machine. I have gone into Disc Utility to repair disc, and get the message: Error: Partition map check failed because no slices were found. I was trying to follow Melophage's instructions by going into "Terminal" and entering "diskutil list; diskutil cs list; mount" and "diskutil info disk2." Then I entered the command "sudo got show disk1."   I am sure I have made the problem worse. Can you give me some help? Thank you. blelambert
Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         250.1 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *249.8 GB   disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2
                                 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
                                 Unlocked Encrypted
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *2.0 TB     disk2
   1:         Microsoft Reserved                         134.2 MB   disk2s1
~ belambert$ diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 883A56F4-5559-4872-A8DA-960F99655B63
    =========================================================
    Name:         Macintosh HD
Status:       Online
    Size:         250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
    Free Space:   8921088 B (8.9 MB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 7EDAFA20-FF9A-45FB-BA44-6526BB46C381
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk0s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family B47B0B40-CBF2-4D02-BFEF-182061AC6F8E
        Encryption Status:       Unlocked
        Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
        Conversion Status:       Complete
        Conversion Direction:    -none-
        Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
        Fully Secure:            Yes
        Passphrase Required:     Yes
        |
        +-> Logical Volume 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
            Disk:                  disk1
            Status:                Online
            Size (Total):          249779191808 B (249.8 GB)
            Conversion Progress:   -none-
            Revertible:            Yes (unlock and decryption required)
            LV Name:               Macintosh HD
            Volume Name:           Macintosh HD
            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS
~ belambert$ mount
/dev/disk1 on / (hfs, local, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
localhost:/vB3z604U-dvSpES6320fHq on /Volumes/MobileBackups (mtmfs, nosuid, read-only, nobrowse)
~ belambert$ diskutil info disk2
   Device Identifier:        disk2
   Device Node:              /dev/disk2
   Part of Whole:            disk2
   Device / Media Name:      WD My Book 111A Media
File System:              None
   Content (IOContent):      GUID_partition_scheme
   OS Can Be Installed:      No
   Media Type:               Generic
   Protocol:                 USB
   SMART Status:             Not Supported
   Total Size:               2.0 TB (2000365289472 Bytes) (exactly 3906963456 512-Byte-Units)
   Volume Free Space:        Not applicable (no file system)
   Device Block Size:        512 Bytes
   Read-Only Media:          No
   Read-Only Volume:         Not applicable (no file system)
   Ejectable:                Yes
File System:              None
   Content (IOContent):      GUID_partition_scheme
   OS Can Be Installed:      No
   Media Type:               Generic
   Protocol:                 USB
   SMART Status:             Not Supported
   Total Size:               2.0 TB (2000365289472 Bytes) (exactly 3906963456 512-Byte-Units)
   Volume Free Space:        Not applicable (no file system)
   Device Block Size:        512 Bytes
   Read-Only Media:          No
   Read-Only Volume:         Not applicable (no file system)
   Ejectable:                Yes
belambert ttys000                   Wed Mar 11 17:34 - 17:39 (00:05)
belambert ttys000                   Wed Mar 11 17:33 - 17:34 (00:00)
wtmp begins Sun Mar 8 14:40
~ belambert$ ~ belambert$ diskutil list
-bash: :~: command not found
~ belambert$ /dev/disk0
-bash: /dev/disk0: Permission denied
:~ belambert$    #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
~ belambert$    0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
-bash: 0:: command not found
:~ belambert$    1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
-bash: 1:: command not found
~ belambert$    2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         250.1 GB   disk0s2
-bash: 2:: command not found
~ belambert$    3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
-bash: /dev/disk1: Permission denied
~ belambert$    #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
~ belambert$    0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *249.8 GB   disk1
-bash: 0:: command not found
~ belambert$                                  Logical Volume on disk0s2
-bash: Logical: command not found
~ belambert$                                  7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
-bash: 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C: command not found
~ belambert$                                  Unlocked Encrypted
-bash: Unlocked: command not found
:~ belambert$ /dev/disk2
-bash: /dev/disk2: Permission denied
~ belambert$    #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
:~ belambert$    0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *2.0 TB     disk2
-bash: 0:: command not found
~ belambert$    1:         Microsoft Reserved                         134.2 MB   disk2s1
-bash: 1:: command not found
~ belambert$ ~ belambert$ diskutil cs list
-bash: ~: command not found
~ belambert$ CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('
~ belambert$ |
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `|'
~ belambert$ +-- Logical Volume Group 883A56F4-5559-4872-A8DA-960F99655B63
-bash: +--: command not found
~ belambert$     =========================================================
-bash: =========================================================: command not found
~ belambert$     Name:         Macintosh HD
-bash: Name:: command not found
~ belambert$
-bash: 3:: command not found
~ belambert$ /dev/disk1
   Whole:                    Yes
   Internal:                 No
   OS 9 Drivers:             No
   Low Level Format:         Not supported
:~ belambert$ Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
   Whole:                    Yes
   Internal:                 No
   OS 9 Drivers:             No
   Low Level Format:         Not supported
~ belambert$ Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
   Volume Name:              Not applicable (no file system)
   Mounted:                  Not applicable (no file system)

racergirl,
have you tried resetting your MacBook Pro’s System Management Controller, to see if that makes a difference with the heat?

External Hard Drive no longer showing in Devices

My external hard drive no longer shows up as a device on my MBP. It has worked fine since the day I plugged it in.
The Time Machine is using the HD, and continues to do it's backups, so power and USB connection is not an issue
The HD shows up in Disk Utility (The Time Machine portion AND the partition that I've been using for storage)
I ran a repair on the partition in Disk Utility and it checks out OK
I can access this partition from VMware Fusion, so the windows side of the MBP sees it, and it's operational
Used the HD all day yesterday without issue
I've restarted the MBP to see if it would find the HD partition after a restart, it doesn't
I've unplugged (USB) and powered-off the HD, and when I power-on, it still isn't seen.
Any ideas?
John

If TM is turned on and it still doesn't show up then do a SMC reset.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
Wait 15 seconds.
Attach the computers power cable.
Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

LR 5 my external hard drive no longer appears as a hard drive but as a folder under "Volumes"

I am running LR 5 on a MacBook pro and my external hard drive no longer appears as a hard drive but as a folder under "Volumes". will this affect my ability to search and store in this external hard drive? How can I get it back to normal?

I just started having the same problem, oddly enough with a LaCie 500GB D2 Quadra external. Had it connected via FW800 then suddenly it won't appear in the Finder.
It shows up as an "Unknown Device" in the System Profiler under the FireWire Bus.
I do need the data on it so which solution is easier?
Replace the housing? Or am I better off calling LaCie and using the warrenty?
Thanks,
Shannon

External Hard Drive No longer Appearing on Macbook Pro

Hello, I have a Iomega ldhd-up 1TB external hard drive which I have owned for about 3-4 years. The enclosure case of the hard drive is very poorly designed and the port for the USB cable does not fit the cable tightly. Over the years I often would have to turn off the hard drive and adjust the cord so it would appear on my computer. (yes i know its a bad idea to turn it off without unmounting, but i didn't have much choice)
However, as of today, it is no longer appearing at all no matter what I do. (not on the desktop, or disk utility, or anywhere). It is making the same sounds and the light on the external is showing up as if should be working though.
Does anyone have a fix for this or suggestions to make my hard drive appear and function again. Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you.

Since you have had a history of connection problems with the Iomega, get a new enclosure for the HDD. That of course assumes that the HDD is functional.
Ciao.

External hard drive no longer shows up on Desktop

Hi everyone,
I did what a good person should do with a tech issue and did a long search through forums before I resigned to bothering you all with it.
I've had a 500GB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media external hard drive for 6 months which up until this week, was showing up as an icon on my Desktop. I had named it Eid HD.
I suddenly am unable to access this drive on my MacBook Pro. The Desktop icon has disappeared but the drive still lights up as per normal. I'm using OS X v10.6.8
I tried changing USB cables.
The drive appears in Disk Utility as follows (the yellow icons):
I read somewhere that I needed to mount it. The first yellow icon doesn't have the mount option. The second one (Eid HD) has the option but when I mount it, I get the following message:
Mount Failed.
The disk “Eid HD” could not be mounted.
Try running First Aid on the disk and then retry mounting.
I verified and repaired (First Aid) the disk. Results:
Tried to mount - same error message as above. Mount failed.
I downloaded Disk Warrior and although the drive appears in there, I can't do anything with it. The Graph and Rebuild buttons are both greyed out.
Does anyone have any ideas about how to fix this?
The files are still on the drive as I used it on a Windows machine to test it.
I don't want to format it.
Please help if you can, thank you in advance.
Sam

I verified and repaired (First Aid) the disk. Results:
That quote is from your first post. But I have some questions about that (maybe just to satisfy my own curiosity).
1. When you ran Disk Utility First Aid did you do it on the disk itself (the one that is enabled with the Seagate title)?
2. That First Aid window title line says "First Aid: EID HD" yet my DU window title only shows the name exactly as it appears in the left panel, no "First Aid:" prefix. So is that a change in 10.6.8 (I use 10.6.5)?
3. You display shows lines like "Verifying folders", "Folders verification completed", and "Verifying $...". Again I have never seen DU display that kind of info. Another 10.6.8 change?
As I said, I am only curious. It may not mean anything. But I thought I would point out these details just in case.
If these aren't 10.6.8 changes (I find it hard to believe apple would change DU after all these years just from 10.6.5 to 10.6.8) then just what DU First Aid were you running?

LaCie 120Gb external hard drive no longer recognized

I've had a LaCie 120Gb external hard drive working independently off a firewire cable for a couple of months now. This morning it stopped being picked up as an external drive. It connects because you can feel it whirring, and stops when the computer is turned off (so the cables are working), but it no longer shows up in the finder or disk utility. I tried resetting the PRAM to no effect. Any ideas anyone???
Dave Nicholls, Auckland.

it spins because it has power. maybe your firewire port is damaged? does the drive have a usb port that you can try? if not, you can remove the hard drive from it's enclosure and install it in a tower mac or pc if you have one and see if it shows up then.

HT201250 my external hard drive no longer shows up

I use a LaCie external hardrive for my Time Machine backup on my iMac.. Since October 24th 2012, my Imac no longer recognizes my LaCie..., and in fact no external hard drive is recognized. When I open up Time Machine it asks me to set up another Time Capsule.?? Has somethingchanged either in the operating system [OS X 10.7.5] or with iCloud that would be affecting this? My La Cie turns on and sounds like its working, and I have checked the power supply.

Hi baltwo and Miacc,
I also have a LaCie ext HD of 1T and OS 10.7.5. Since Dec 24th 2012 I haven't been able to mount the LaCie disk. I can see it in the Disk Utility but I cannot mounted. I verified the disk and even repaired it but nothing has happened, actually there is nothing wrong with the disk, but it cannot be mounted.
I did what you suggested baltwo but I'm in the same situation as before. I cannot mount the disk and/or do Time Machine.
Any suggestions?

External hard drive no longer shows up connected

I have been using a Seagate Freeagent 500 GB external HD as a backup storage device for my Windows 7, 64 bit computer. After working well for several years it did not respond the last time I tried to back up and shows up as "disconnected" when
I search for the HD in device manager or control panel. It was assigned Drive I but that drive no longer shows up under drives. I have tried different USB ports without success. Oddly, the audible signal sounds when I remove the USB cable from
a port but does not sound when I reinsert it. I also tried powering down the hard drive and powering up again without success.

Hi,
If other PCs can show this external hard drive, You can try the following steps to clear the write-protected flag to see what's going on:
Open a command with administrator privilege:
type--> diskpart
type--> list volume
type--> select volume #
type--> attributes disk clear readonly
Kate Li
TechNet Community Support

La Cie Porsche Design External Hard Drive no longer working with Time Machine since update to Yosemite.

My La Cie Porsche Design External Hard Drive USB 3.0 is no longer working with Time Machine. Is Yosemite the cause? How do I fix?

Can you see the drive in Disk Utility? If so, try selecting it and using the Mount button in the top menu. You can also run repair disk and repair permissions.

External Hard Drive No Longer on my Desktop

The external hard drive that I use for Time Machine is no longer on my desktop. In fact, when I open up the Time Machine preferences, it does not show my external drive as available. There is power available to the external hard drive AND it is physically connect to my iMac. What seems to be the problem? How do I get my computer to "see" the external drive again? Thanks!

Excellent! Glad it worked. I suspect Time Machine automatically ejected the drive after it finished the backup. If this is, indeed, what's happening and you'd like to prevent in the future, you might consider partitioning the external HDD in two so that Time Machine only ejects a partition, not the whole drive.

120 GB External Hard Drive no longer readable

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