Can't find external hard drive

Hello, I just bought a 60GB External 2.5" SATA Laptop Hard Drive for my new macbook, and I can't locate it when I plug it in. The green light lights up fine, but it doesn't appear on my disk utility page. Not sure how else to look for it.
Any suggestions?

Hi, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Is it self powered, or does it also have a Power Supply?
FW or USB?

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Can't find External Hard Drive on Finder

My external hard drive is no longer visible on the desktop, or in the finder. It appears to still be working, because my sons' iTunes accounts (located on the external) are both working fine. How can I make it appear again?
(Bonus question: This reminds me of the problem with ejecting an iPod, leaving it plugged in to the USB, but then wanting to re-access it. Is there any way to make iTunes find your iPod again without unplugging/replugging the device?)
Message was edited by: cvw2

I'm having a similar...but slightly different problem.
My external drives (both firewire and usb connected) are showing up just fine in Finder...and I'm able to do all the normal things that I can do on them (moving things around, adding things, copying things, re-naming folders, etc..etc..etc).
BUT, what Finder has indeed stopped doing, is it has stopped showing search results for anything that is located IN these external drives.
For instance, my externals are where ALL of my music is kept. I do a lot of dj'ing, and therefore have quite a bit of music digitized (around 400 gigs)...so I've never kept music on my internal hard drive on the laptop. As well, I have another external USB drive that serves as my hard drive for dj'ing. It goes out with me to gigs, and my dj software reads from it (because music that I would actually play out at gigs is only a percentage of my overall music library, and I certainly don't want to be lugging my main music library hard drive around town all the time).
Anyway, at various times, I end up searching for song files, or album folders, or whatever in Finder...and it has (out of the blue) completely stopped "finding" things in the external drives.
Quite baffling.
Has this happened to anyone else....and/or does anyone know how to fix this?
Thank you!!!
cheers.

Can't find external hard drive for time machine restore

I recently installed Lion (mistake) and I'm now attempting to reinstall Snow Leopard from a Time Machine back up. I get to the point where it starts searching for external drives in order to find the Time Machine back up; however, it is not able to find my drive. I've tried plugging it in before I start the computer, and when it starts to search for the drive. I did not plug in my hard drive while I had Lion running (it never backed up from Lion). Help?

I have a Mac Mini (late 2009) and I have an iomega 1TB external hard drive connected to my mini via firewire and usb (usb allows me to use the usb ports on the external 1TB drive to daisy chain other devices). Since I installed Lion, my Time Machine and this 1TB drive (and its partitions) is finicky. Sometimes it is mounted and sometimes it is not. This issue has only surfaced post Snow Leopard and in the Lion era. I am not the first to say this but the whole reason I went Mac was b/c of Vista. I am beginning to think that Lion is the new Vista. Sorry for the latter, just venting... b/c this ain't the first issue with Lion.

Mac can't find external hard drive

Hi,
I've had an external hard drive for my mac now for over a year. It's been working wonderfully, however, recently the hard drive can no longer be recognized by my mac. It doesn't come up in the Disky Utility and it doesn't come up in System Profiler. Naturally, there's a lot of stuff on there I want to keep. How can I get this thing mounted again?

Our company's system admin made me aware of Scannerz, which is a test tool. Their web site in the how to and downloads section has a lot of info on that type of stuff. The link is:
http://scsc-online.com
I saw that happen once when the drive became corrupt and Disk Utility wouldn't see the drive. There's a command line way to use Disk Utility and the drive doesn't show up with a name but with a disk id like /dev/disk023s23 (something like that...that's an example).
Also, check your drive cable. It might have gone bad.

Help? Can not find external hard drive after upgrading to 10.6.3

I upgraded my iMac to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and now my external hard drive does not appear. Not sure what to do.

It is powered (the light is on). I was uploading photos from the drive yesterday, so it worked perfectly fine before the upgrade to 10.6.8 (which I did during the night). Is there anything else to try before I move it to another computer to see if it works? Again, thanks.

Migration assistant can't find external hard drive

I bought a Macbook Air and I can't move my files from the Time Machine created by my previous MacBook. Specifically, migration assistant can't find the external disk. I can see the external disc on the desktop, it's just the migration assistant that can't find it. I've done software update, I've attached and detached the external disk and restarted the Air in all imaginable combinations, migration assistant still can't see the external disk. Anyone know how to fix this problem?

franz1 wrote:
The top one has icons showing the two partitions from the external drive and the Air's HD.
That sounds like the Today (Now) display, the one that's show in full when you first Enter Time Machine. It's not a backup; it's the current contents of your Mac.
When I clicked on the 2nd window, it seems to be a back up from July 20, which I remember making on the old MacBook. It has one folder on it with my username.
Yes, that's a backup.
When I click on this folder, I find 4 folders inside it titled: Applications, Users, Library and System. I clicked on Applications and it was empty
That sounds like you'd excluded Applications from backups. Or else you didn't wait long enough for all the apps to be displayed.
sometimes the names of programs covered with a see-through "no parking" sign - a circle with a slash through it
That's an incompatible app.
Is this the Time Machine's records?
Yup.
Can I click on the July 20 date and click on restore? Will everything just come back on it's own?
No. You can restore individual items that way (if you have permission to them), but not a whole system. You can restore "simple" apps that way, too, but not "complex" ones -- ones that came with their own installers, because they install other files in other places. If you don't restore those other things too, the app won't work well, if at all.
Can you post a screenshot of the Migration Assistant window that should show your backups (something like this):

Can't find External Hard drive in Finder / Disk Utility.

I have a Seagate 3TB drive that I have split between Time Machine and general storage. The drive is no longer able to be found in Finder or Disk Utility. I've restarted the drive, reset the PRAM and SMC (another thread suggested this) and it still has not worked. Any idea how to view this drive?

Is it a USB drive? Is it detected in another port?
Do other computers detect it?
If you boot to recovery (hold cmd + r) does disk utilities see it there?

Finder can't see external hard drive

All of a sudden, my PowerBook G4 can no longer see my external hard drive (Maxtor 160 GB drive). The drive doesn't appear in the Finder, and it doesn't mount on the desktop. Thus, I have no way of accessing the files on my external hard drive.
I can see the external hard drive when I launch Disk Utility (and also when I launch TechTool Pro), so I know the hard drive and the USB connections are working.
Can someone please help on this?? I've tried unplugging everything and rebooting with no results. Thank you.
PowerBook G4 Titanium 1ghz processor Mac OS X (10.4.2)

By the way, here are my test results from running Disk Utility and Tech Tool Pro. Everything looks clean, I think?
Disk Utility says:
"The volume External Hard Drive appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk.
1 HFS volume checked.
No repairs were necessary."
TechTool Pro volumes test says:
Volume Structures
Thursday, March 29, 2007 6:24:26 PM US/Pacific
Passed
Volume: External Hard Drive
Mount Point: /dev/disk1s3
Format: HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
Journaling: Enabled
Case-sensitive: No
Created: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Modified: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Capacity: 152.54 GB
Used: 49.81 GB
Available: 102.74 GB
Files: 86,074
Folders: 16,342
Writable: Yes
Ejectable: No
Removable: No
There are a variety of invisible files, settings, and parameters that the Macintosh file system uses to locate files, free disk space, and for other maintenance and management routines. Damage to these critical data structures can result in lost or damaged files and may even necessitate a complete reformat of the volume.
Precheck Structures
This test checks the readability of the various volume structures.
Boot Blocks
This test validates the Boot Blocks portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is blessed.
Boot Blocks <Passed>
Master Directory Block
This test validates the Master Directory Block portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is created and contains important data about the rest of the volume.
Master Directory Block <Passed>
Volume Header
This test validates the Volume Header portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is created and contains important data about the rest of the volume like number of files and folders, and the amount of free space available on the volume.
Volume Header <Passed>
Allocation File (Bitmap)
This test checks the Allocation file. This file indicates which blocks are allocated for use and which blocks are free.
Allocation File (Bitmap) <Passed>
Extents File (B-Tree)
This test checks the Extents file. This file contains the extent data for the entire volume. Extents are the separate components of a fragmented file.
Extents File (B-Tree) <Passed>
Catalog File (B-Tree)
This test checks the Catalog file. This file keeps track of all the files and folders on the volume.
Catalog File (B-Tree) <Passed>
Attributes File
This test checks the Attributes file. This file tracks all of the attributes of each file and folder on a volume. Some attributes include whether the file is locked or not and the last time the volume was backed up.
Attributes File <Passed>
Startup File
This test checks the Startup file. The parameters within this file contain the information used by the computer ROM to determine what program will boot the computer as well as other system-specific aspects.
Startup File <Not Present>
Completed
Passed
Tech Tool Pro File structure says:
File Structure
Thursday, March 29, 2007 6:30:25 PM US/Pacific
Passed
Volume: External Hard Drive
Mount Point: /dev/disk1s3
Format: HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
Journaling: Enabled
Case-sensitive: No
Created: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Modified: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Capacity: 152.54 GB
Used: 49.81 GB
Available: 102.74 GB
Files: 86,074
Folders: 16,342
Writable: Yes
Ejectable: No
Removable: No
This test checks for file resource corruption on the volume 'External Hard Drive'. If any damaged files are found, TechTool Pro will let you know which files have corrupted resources.
Analyzing File Structures
Passed
I'll let you know if Tech Tool Pro's surface scan of the drive turns anything up (it's running right now - takes several hours to run), but hopefulyl this provides a good starting point into painting a picture of my system...
Thx - Bob

Time Capsule can't backup external hard drives connected to it. Got that.

Hello Apple Support Communities! This is my first post. Hope this finds you all well My first year as an Apple user. I bought a 2-Tb TC and am running my first backup to my MacBook as I write this.
Problem statement: TC can't backup external hard drives connected directly to it, but the ones connected to the Macs that are connected wirelessly to it. Duly noted. However, the Spotlight will reindex the hard drives connected to the Mac and that will take hours; the whole backup will take days. Thus, excluding the hard drives at "System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab" will probably help reduce the time of backup, or just ejecting them will do too. That itself has not proven effective coz it's still taking forever (50Gb in 2 days, still going).
Questions:
1) Do I wait until my first backup to my MacBook's internal hard drive is done before I connect my hard drives to my MacBook and attempt another backup? If yes, how do I go about the excessive time Spotlight reindexing takes if I intend to backup my hard drives connected to my MacBook?
2) Is there any other way of speeding up the first-time backup?
*Note: All versions of OS and firmwares are up-to-date. TC is connected to an external wireless router. TC is intended to be used as backup device and / or file server only.
P/S: Apologee if this has already been discussed before, thus, a link to previous discussion thread would highly be appreciated)
- Shook Hashem, Malaysia.

How do I backup the externel hard drives connected to my MB. I was under the impression that that has already been done, because I've read it somewhere in a discussion that said it's done automatically unless I exclude it from a backup, which I didn't. So it's supposed to backup the external hard drivestoo because I had them connected to my MB the entire time during the backups.
By default an external drive is excluded.. the list is odd.. if I plug a drive into the mac.. it immediately is listed as excluded.
This is not the list of included.. this is the list of excluded.. remove it from the excluded list to include it.
It is kind of reverse polish notation in backups.
If I want to enter the Time Machine, should I enter it with the TM turned on or off?
Not sure what the question means. If you use the star wars display and want to recover files then use TM off.. but read up pondini.. how to do restore etc.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
15A in particular on the how to use TM.
When do I uplug the ethernet and use the wireless connection instead?
Once you have finished the main backup you can go back to wireless. The incremental backups are mostly very small.

Laptop no longer can mount my external hard drive

After updating to Mavericks, my laptop no longer can mount my external hard drive. What on earth is going on here and how can I fix this?

The drive is spinning and I was using it the night before I updated my macbook. It is viewable in disk utility but not in finder, and attempts to mount it are thwarted. The problem is literally coincident with updating the mavericks. When I click verify it didn't appear to have any problems but I will retry when I am back at home and report the findings.
It is a Toshiba 1GB external hard drive and has adequate power. Lights are on, etc.
I have not checked on another computer as do not have one available, but that will be my next step.

PowerBook G4 can't see external hard drive

All of a sudden, my PowerBook G4 can no longer see my external hard drive (Maxtor 160 GB drive). The drive doesn't appear in the Finder, and it doesn't mount on the desktop. Thus, I have no way of accessing the files on my external hard drive.
I can see the external hard drive when I launch Disk Utility (and also when I launch TechTool Pro), so I know the hard drive and the USB connections are working.
Can someone please help on this?? I've tried unplugging everything and rebooting with no results. Thank you.
PowerBook G4 Titanium 1ghz processor Mac OS X (10.4.2)
PowerBook G4 Titanium 1ghz processor Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Everything looks clean, as far as I can tell.
Disk Utility says:
"The volume External Hard Drive appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk.
1 HFS volume checked.
No repairs were necessary."
TechTool Pro volumes test says:
Volume Structures
Thursday, March 29, 2007 6:24:26 PM US/Pacific
Passed
Volume: External Hard Drive
Mount Point: /dev/disk1s3
Format: HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
Journaling: Enabled
Case-sensitive: No
Created: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Modified: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Capacity: 152.54 GB
Used: 49.81 GB
Available: 102.74 GB
Files: 86,074
Folders: 16,342
Writable: Yes
Ejectable: No
Removable: No
There are a variety of invisible files, settings, and parameters that the Macintosh file system uses to locate files, free disk space, and for other maintenance and management routines. Damage to these critical data structures can result in lost or damaged files and may even necessitate a complete reformat of the volume.
Precheck Structures
This test checks the readability of the various volume structures.
Boot Blocks
This test validates the Boot Blocks portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is blessed.
Boot Blocks <Passed>
Master Directory Block
This test validates the Master Directory Block portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is created and contains important data about the rest of the volume.
Master Directory Block <Passed>
Volume Header
This test validates the Volume Header portion of the volume. This block of data is created when the volume is created and contains important data about the rest of the volume like number of files and folders, and the amount of free space available on the volume.
Volume Header <Passed>
Allocation File (Bitmap)
This test checks the Allocation file. This file indicates which blocks are allocated for use and which blocks are free.
Allocation File (Bitmap) <Passed>
Extents File (B-Tree)
This test checks the Extents file. This file contains the extent data for the entire volume. Extents are the separate components of a fragmented file.
Extents File (B-Tree) <Passed>
Catalog File (B-Tree)
This test checks the Catalog file. This file keeps track of all the files and folders on the volume.
Catalog File (B-Tree) <Passed>
Attributes File
This test checks the Attributes file. This file tracks all of the attributes of each file and folder on a volume. Some attributes include whether the file is locked or not and the last time the volume was backed up.
Attributes File <Passed>
Startup File
This test checks the Startup file. The parameters within this file contain the information used by the computer ROM to determine what program will boot the computer as well as other system-specific aspects.
Startup File <Not Present>
Completed
Passed
Tech Tool Pro File structure says:
File Structure
Thursday, March 29, 2007 6:30:25 PM US/Pacific
Passed
Volume: External Hard Drive
Mount Point: /dev/disk1s3
Format: HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
Journaling: Enabled
Case-sensitive: No
Created: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Modified: 03/26/07 01:26:09 AM
Capacity: 152.54 GB
Used: 49.81 GB
Available: 102.74 GB
Files: 86,074
Folders: 16,342
Writable: Yes
Ejectable: No
Removable: No
This test checks for file resource corruption on the volume 'External Hard Drive'. If any damaged files are found, TechTool Pro will let you know which files have corrupted resources.
Analyzing File Structures
Passed
I'll let you know if Tech Tool Pro's surface scan of the drive turns anything up (it's running right now - takes several hours to run), but hopefulyl this provides a good starting point into painting a picture of my system...
Thx - Bob

Can not get external hard drives to connect to my computer 17" Mac book Pro 10.7.5

can not get external hard drives to connect to my computer I am using a 17" Mac book Pro 10.7.5.
I have 2 iomegas and 1 LaCie. Changed cables. I can feel the external hard drives running and
I can hear them running but I can not get them on the computer any more. They did work at one time.
Can any one PLEASE help?

Nothing appear on my desktop.
I did Repair and Verify the HDDs in Disk Utility>First Aid from the
Utilites App about a dozen times ans they all said everything was good
except for the last time there were erors found and I ran the
Disk Utility from the Start Up Disk and the repairs were made and everything
was subposed to te good and still Nothing on the desk top.
Ginger

Can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed

I can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed, it don't reconise it at all.

I have a Mac Mini (late 2009) and I have an iomega 1TB external hard drive connected to my mini via firewire and usb (usb allows me to use the usb ports on the external 1TB drive to daisy chain other devices). Since I installed Lion, my Time Machine and this 1TB drive (and its partitions) is finicky. Sometimes it is mounted and sometimes it is not. This issue has only surfaced post Snow Leopard and in the Lion era. I am not the first to say this but the whole reason I went Mac was b/c of Vista. I am beginning to think that Lion is the new Vista. Sorry for the latter, just venting... b/c this ain't the first issue with Lion.

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

I have a mackbook pro and an iMac if I buy a time capsule 2tb airport, I can use it with time machine and what would be the best way to use it.
There is no particular setup required for TM.. both computers will create their own backup sparsebundle which is like a virtual disk.. Pondini explains the whole thing if you read the reference I gave you.
and how to use time capsule airport whit other external hd to use my old lacie airport with the new time capsule
Up to you.. you can plug the external drive into the TC and enjoy really slow file transfers or you can plug it into your computer and use it as external drive.. which is faster than the TC.. and TM can include it in the backup.
Again everything is explained in the reference.. you are not reading it.

Windows 7 Install - Can't find my hard-drive!

Hi guys, i'm hoping someone can help. I've recently bought a brand new Toshiba Satellite pro L650 (PSK1KA-02D01E) running Windows 7 After a few weeks, things started to get really slow. Then I woke up one morning to discover it stuck on the first screen when I turn it on.
I thought I had a virus, so then decided to do a full re-format and re-install windows. After I formatted the correct partition, I went to install Windows 7 again Only for it to say "windows could not detect a disc drive" it asks me to install drivers for the hard-drive, which I can't seem to find.
it's a sata hard-drive (TOSHIBA MK6465GSX) I think is the model number. I can not find the hard-drive drivers anywhere. The other strange thing, is every now and then, it finds the hard-drive, but states that windows can not install onto that drive (even when I format it, try to add a partition and so forth) I have been into bios, I don't really know a great deal of what I am looking at, but it sometimes states my hard-drive is there, and other times it does not.
I am so desperate to get this fixed. Does anyone have any ideas? I live pretty remotely so taking it back and getting it fixed is not ideal.. but maybe necessary.
Thanks in anticipation..
- Gavin.

It sounds like the hard drive is dying. The Win7 install shouldn't need a driver for the drive.

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