Can't use external USB Drive

Hello
I have 500 GB Hitachi usb drive , it was working fine until now, i can see the disk in disk utility, but i can't format it. I tried to repair the partition but it failed, now the partition dissapear but i still can see the disk in disk utility list, when i try to format it, after few minutes i get this:
Disk Erase failed with the error:
Couldn’t open device."
and previously i got this when formatting partition only:
Disk Erase failed with the error:
Couldn’t open device."

For SMART checking, I understand that has been a problem with external drives.
Looks like there may be a combination solution here and here.
Any help from drive manufacturer site?
Have you reformated it before? Some drive mfrs write invisible partitions for Windows.
I had one drive once which I had to reformat as FAT32 and erase before I could reformat as Mac OS Extended.

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Jock
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

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http://simplyburns.en.softonic.com/mac
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http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive
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Time Machine is an extremely complex piece of software.. far more so than I first imagined.
It is well worth reading the Pondini KB to understand what it does and how.
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http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
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Okay, I can't figure out why or exactly when it occured, but I realized I can't access my external LaCie drive through my Airport Extreme. I never had any problems with it before, but maybe after installing an update or something, it has now made it inaccessable. I can see the drive in the Airport Utility, but when I can't mount it onto the desktop or use it at all. When the Airport Disk Utility tells me that its available and I try to connect to it, it tells me "Connection Failed". Also, if I try to connect to it through the Finder, it tells me it can't locate the alias for the Aiport base station to which I have the drive connected. It all totally confuses me. I can't really tell where the problem lies. I'm having no problem connecting to the internet through the Airport, but I can't mount the drive from it. Aargh!

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You are welcome.
Check that your computer is compatible with Mountain Lion/Mavericks.
To check the model number hold down the option/alt key, go to the Apple menu and select System Information (may be called something else in 10.5).
MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) model number 5,1 or higher
MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) model number 3,1 or higher
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) model number 2,1 or higher
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8 GB or more of available space
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Computer Compatibility - Lion                       Lion
Check to make sure your applications are compatible. PowerPC applications are no longer supported after 10.6.
Application Compatibility
Applications Compatibility (2)
You will need to get Snow Leopard.         Snow Leopard Purchase
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10.6.8 Combo Updater
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Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X
That should get you to Mavericks.
If you want/need more RAM the 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service.
Crucial
Other World Computing

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thanks.

It is not recommended.. Apple says it doesn't work.. for some people it does for others it is unreliable.. do you really want unreliable backups.
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If you are using iTunes 7, this method is a little more up to date: How to move your iTunes library to an external drive

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It is possible that the actual drive mechanism is damaged and not the electronics in the enclosure.
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J

Sorry that did not work. This works well for me using Lacie drives, but I haven't tried Iomega.
Have you checked Iomega's site to see if any software/firmware updates available?
Also noticed during a quick search that a number of users are reporting mounting problems with Iomega. Not sure if this applies to you or not.
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=iomegadrive+won%27tmount

Can't use external USB Drive

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