Cannot dismount external HD

Whenever l need to plug my external LaCie HD, it doesn't want to dismount. I get a pop up saying:
"The disk "Back Up" is in use and cannot be ejected. Try quitting applications and try again."
Tried emailing LaCie but their tech support is a total waste of time. I've been maually powering off and am afraid that continually doing so will corrupt my data. Can anyone explain whats wrong? Cheers.

I don't see how it could be a problem with the LaCie, and I doubt it's a hardware issue period. Have you tried to eject from disk utility? Are you running any backup software that might have a process (not an app) running (or is that what you meant when you said activity monitor appears normal...no process running that could be accessing the disk?)
If you are certain that no app or process has a file open on the drive, you can force an unmount from the terminal with either diskutil or umount...see the man pages for both. From man diskutil (command would be diskutil unmountDisk force (device)):
unmountDisk [force] device
Unmount an entire disk (all volumes). Force will force-unmount the volumes (less kind to any open files; see also umount (8)).

Similar Messages

Cannot access external data , Failed to get the document information.

Hi All,
In my dashboard there are live office connections which has optional prompts defined in SAP BI. I have bound the cells to these prompts in live office object properties.
There are no errors while refreshing the LO connections from excel sheet.
But when i run that dashboard and give BLANK value for that prompt then it throws the error :
Cannot access external data , Failed to get the document information. (LO 26315).
Reply highly appreciated.
Thanks & Regards,
DJ

Hi Hardik,
I am building a similar solution as yours connecting webi reports to Bex queries and reading the webi data through live office into the dashboards. I am using almost similar versions as yours - BW 7.1 SP5, BO 4.1 SP4, Dashboards and Live Office SP4 versions. I am facing issues setting up the live office connections itself. I create the Live office connections within an excel and when I try to import this excel spreadsheet into my dashboard designer, it runs forever and crashes.
Could you please list out the steps you performed to get the Dashboard to preview live office data? Do you have OLAP connections for BW cubes and created WebI reports using these connections or You created a Universe on top of the Bex Queries?
It would be great if you could share the steps performed.
With respect to your issue, check if the report engine service is running. Do you have any error message details apart from this error?
Thanks.
Regards,
Rohini.

Cannot get external procedural call in Oracle RAC Environment

Cannot get external procedure call to work in our test RAC env.
We are able to get it to work in our DEV env which is a single instance
LISTENER.ORA:
NODE1:
# listener.ora Network Configuration File: /opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/network/admin/listener.ora
# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.
LISTENER_SBLBGT01 =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = sblbgt01-vip1)(PORT = 1521)(IP = FIRST))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 172.41.1.21)(PORT = 1521)(IP = FIRST))
(SID_LIST =
(SID_DESC =
(SID_NAME = PLSExtProc)
(ORACLE_HOME = /opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1)
(PROGRAM = extproc)
(ENVS="EXTPROC_DLLS=ANY")
NODE2:
# listener.ora.sblbgt02 Network Configuration File: /opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/network/admin/listener.ora.sblbgt02
# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.
LISTENER_SBLBGT02 =
(DESCRIPTION_LIST =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = sblbgt02-vip2)(PORT = 1521)(IP = FIRST))
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 172.41.1.22)(PORT = 1521)(IP = FIRST))
(SID_LIST =
(SID_DESC =
(SID_NAME = PLSExtProc)
(ORACLE_HOME = /opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1)
(PROGRAM = extproc)
(ENVS="EXTPROC_DLLS=ANY")
2) ### If you are receiving errors, please list exact error messages and text: ###
(cont 1.)
tnsnames.ora (on both nodes):
EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA =
(DESCRIPTION =
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = extproc))
(CONNECT_DATA = (SID = PLSExtProc) (PRESENTATION = RO)))
[opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/network/admin]> tnsping EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA
TNS Ping Utility for Solaris: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on 11-APR-2011 10:52:49
Copyright (c) 1997, 2006, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Used parameter files:
/opt/oracle/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/network/admin/sqlnet.ora
Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias
Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = extproc)) (CONNECT_DATA = (SID = PLSExtProc) (PRESENTATION = RO)))
OK (0 msec)
Calling External Procedure:
SQL> execute ttran.shell('ls');
BEGIN ttran.shell('ls'); END;
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-28575: unable to open RPC connection to external procedure agent
ORA-06512: at "TTRAN.SHELL", line 1
ORA-06512: at line 1

Any Reply Please...
would appreciate your help...

Xcelsius SWF with QaaWS through SSL: Cannot access external data

I am getting the following error while loading Xcelsius Dashboard in https mode.
Error: Error #2170, Cannot Access External Data
Connection Type: Query as a Web Service
To access external data, add a cross-domain policy file to the external data web server.
The same dashboard is working on the following conditions:
1)     In http mode(both from a hosted website and from a clarity portlet)
2)     When I click preview from Xcelsius designer.
3)     When I run the .swf file directly.
The error is coming only when I host the swf file into a website (or running from a clarity portlet).
I am using the following cross-domain-policy file.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE cross-domain-policy SYSTEM "http://www.macromedia.com/xml/dtds/cross-domain-policy.dtd">
<cross-domain-policy>
     <site-control permitted-cross-domain-policies="all"/>
        <allow-http-request-headers-from domain="" headers="" secure="true" />
        <allow-access-from domain="*" secure="true" />
</cross-domain-policy>
Any comments will be appreciated here.
Thanks,

Hi
I am facing the #2032 Error while running the Dashboard in portal developed using SAP Netweaver BW connection.
Scenario:
1>Actually our dashboard changes as fiscal year or budget type changes,so we have set trigger for the queries.
2>for 3-4 trigger times the dashboard changes as required without any error but after that when we change fiscal year or budget type it shows the following error:
Error:"Cannot Access External Data"
{ The BICS Remote web Service could not process your request.Open a CSN message on component BW-BEX-ET-XC and attach the technical details of the error from the following link:
http://sgsgsav0s2006:5000/bicsremotedebug?geterrorticket=KSF-1324043982210(this link changes each time the error pops up}
This error will popup and then the dashboard randomly displays data for some queries and for some it does not pull data.
After reloading the dashboard it runs fine for 3-4 times after that it again shows the error.This happens for 4-5 times then dashboard stucks at Initializing Screen for 10 mins then #2032 error comes.Then we restart our developement portal and the Dashboard runs fine for some time.
This happens even while triggering 4 queries.
We have
   Xcelsius 2008 Sp3
   Flash Player 10
   SAP EHP 1 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0
   SAP_BW sp08
   SAP_ABA sp08
   SAP_BASIS sp08
Dont know how to check Java Stack Version.
Please reply soon,so that we can proceed.
Thanks
Edited by: chinmaypadhi on Dec 29, 2011 7:44 AM

Cannot Access External Data Error

Hello all,
Please suggest me on Cross domain policy error 2170. I followed the below steps:
Step 1: Copied cross domain file in Tomcat Root and then checked whether its working or not and it got worked in a browser.
Step 2: Restarted Tomcat Server
Step 3: Then opened Macromedia.com and clicked on Global Flash player settings and here i got stuck what are the URLS to be added.
Are the above steps are correct or not?
Thanks
Chanukya

You could go through the following SAP note:
1751710 - Cannot access external data when viewing the Dashboards in InfoView or BI LaunchPad through VPN
Symptom:
When viewing the Dashboards through InfoView or BI LaunchPad, below error occurs:
Environment:
Dashboards Design 4.0
Xcelsius 2008
BusinessObjects Enterprise Xi 3.1
BI Platform 4.0
Reproducing the Issue:
Create a Dashboards based on Qaaws.
Publish it to InfoView or BI LaunchPad.
View the Dashboards through VPN .
Crossdomain policy error appears.
Cause:
DNS could not resolve the domain name.
Resolution:
Modify the host file entry
Go to:Start ->run-> %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Enter the <ip address><FQDN><server name>
Hope this helps!!

Cannot access external data - xcelsius

Hi All,
We are currently building QAAWS connections based on the existing webI reports and universes (BO 4.1 SP2 & Dashboard Designer). However, while executing the dashboards on iPad we are getting an error message "cannot access external data". Please confirm if QAAWS is supported on iPads or not. If not, is there any SCN official PAM / document for the same. And, what is the workaround or alternative to QAAWS, since re-mapping is required for the existing dashboards as well.
Best Regards,
Sameer

Hi Shwetha,
Thanks for the needed details.
I have gone through the SCN note 1970047 which talks about user id / pass should be hardcoded within your dashboard for QAAWS. However, I am still getting an error "Cannot Access External Data: Failed while trying to log on user Sameer. RFC error: Number:000 (USER_OR_PASSWORD_INCORRECT)" EVEN if I provide my enterprise credentials and click on preview. The same credentials works for me on BI Launchpad (same web server URL).
Is there any permanent solution / alternate to this issue? We do have a generic enterprise ID, but I should not get the above mentioned error anytime.
Best Regards,
Sameer Sachdeva

IPhoto cannot see external storage drive

Very unusual freeze-up while "repairing" iPhoto required a forced shut down. Now cannot see external hard drive with photos on it. Can you help please.

Have no idea the format of the external disk. It plugs into the back of my big monitor and has worked perfectly until I upgraded to Yosemite and iPhoto 9.8 in late December. I had difficulty setting up iPhoto at that time, and you fine folks walked me though the process in mid January. All photos were there and in the proper albums. External disk is a Seagate Free Agent GoFlex, and it is backed up on Mozy and also on an iPad Air 2.
Problem started when I simply plugged in my iPhone and iPhoto told me I had to repair my database, which I did -- it took some time. Then I had to do something with Permissions. That never ended and a Word document froze on screen while I was working on it, and when I couldn't close any tabs in Safari -- couldn't do anything, actually -- iPhoto was continuing to spin with Permissions. Finally after about 15 minutes of that, I did a hard "push the start button" shutdown. The restart took a very long time.
Since I installed Yosemite and got iPhoto working -- when it was working -- the entire computer has been a bit sluggish and slow. And for the first time ever --and I've used Macs since the 1980s -- I had a freeze yesterday. Likely unrelated, but just a data point.
(BTW, is there any way I can find the discussion I had w/you folks back when I setup this iPhoto in mid-January? Anyway to search and find it in Support?)

Netweaver 7.0s "Cannot reach external Application Server on localhost:50000

i entered SOAMANAGER(T-CODE) at SAP-GUI.
only thing i set for this is "J2EE Server Access Information"
at System Global Settings in soamanager web page.
Hostname and Portnumber is entered normally.
and
when i click [Open Web Service navigator for selected binding]
at Business Administration tap
to test a simple web servcie that i made in SAP-GUI(it's made very simply by wizard.).
"503 Service not available" page popup.
the others link in soamanager page is operating normally.
but only [Open Web Service navigator for selected binding] has
the problem.
plz help me.
i'm very new to SAP system.
how i can do at this time?
error detaile :
503 Service not available
Error: -6
Version: 7000
Component: J2EE Server
Date/Time: Mon Mar 24 12:59:03 2008
Module: http_j2ee_mt.c
Line: 820
Server: v440-a_SSD_00
Error Tag:
Detail: Cannot reach external Application Server on localhost:50000
thx in advance.

IMHO, there is no J2EE server on localhost and/or you are routing your localhost-request over a proxy server in which case the proxy-server can of course not resolve localhost.
just enter the FQDN(fully qualify domain name) of a server actually running a J2EE server instance as well as your required application (web server navigator).
anton

Cannot Access External Data - Dash error

I'm facing some problems to access a Dashboard. This problem is intermittent and ,at the same time, one user can access and another get the error message "Cannot Access External Data ; Value of from=GetReportBlock_Sales_Dashboard_Gap_Analysis entered is incorrect.".
No changes were made on this Dashboard and since middle of last year everything runs Ok.
This dashborad uses QaaWs.
The BW query runs OK and no incorrect data was found.
All caches were cleaned.
Could anyone suggest what should I do?
Tks!

Hi
I would suggest to monitor the system when the error happens
1. http traces as per SAP note 1231878 - How to trace a SWF file's data connectivity inside Internet Explor
2. webi processing server traces on your BOE server as per SAP note 1335757 - Enabling and disabling tracing in XI 3.1 for specific services without requiring a restart
3. QAAWS traces as per SAP note 1199027 - How to turn on log4j logging for Query As A Web Service (QAAWS) / Live Office
Regards
F,

Exchange 2010: New Mailboxes cannot receive external email, but internal works fine. Existing Mailboxes are working properly.

Hello,
I can't seem to figure out what the problem is, but my new mailboxes cannot receive external email. The sender receives an NDR stating the following:
The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 No such user - psmtp (state 13).
Internally, the affected mailboxes can send and receive mail, and the mailboxes have no trouble sending mail out of the organization. I do not see an anti-spam solution installed on the exchange server, and I have confirmed that DNS resolved to the WAN IP
of this server.
Can anyone help me? The message tracker didn't appear to have recorded the NDR's that it sent, but it's possible I didn't view the logs correctly.
Thank you!
Paul
My environment contains two servers:
Server A: Domain Controller, Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 Standard
Server B: Domain Controller, Server 2008 R2

On Wed, 30 May 2012 02:01:19 +0000, Relion Support Inc wrote:
>
>
>Hello,
>
>
>
>I can't seem to figure out what the problem is, but my new mailboxes cannot receive external email. The sender receives an NDR stating the following:
>
>The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 No such user - psmtp (state 13).
>
>
>
>Internally, the affected mailboxes can send and receive mail, and the mailboxes have no trouble sending mail out of the organization. I do not see an anti-spam solution installed on the exchange server, and I have confirmed that DNS resolved to the WAN
IP of this server.
>
>
>
>Can anyone help me? The message tracker didn't appear to have recorded the NDR's that it sent, but it's possible I didn't view the logs correctly.
Is your Exchange server exposed to the Internet or do you have some
3rd-party device that does spam filtering? If you have something out
in front of Exchange that only periodically refreshes its cache of
valid SMTP addresses from the AD then you need to adjust the refresh
rate.
That "550 No such user" isn't a status code that Exchange returned.
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
--- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP

Cannot access external NFS mounts under Snow Leopard

I was previously running Leopard (10.5.x) and automounted an Ubuntu (9.04 Jaunty) Linux NFS mount from my iMac. I had set this up with Directory Utility and it was instantly functional and I never had any issues. After upgrading to Snow Leopard, I set up the same mount point on the same machine (using Disk Utility now), without changing any of the export settings, and Disk Utility stated that the external server had responded and appeared to be working correctly. However, when attempting to access the share, I get a 'Operation not permitted' error. I also cannot manually create the NFS mount using mount or mount_nfs. I get a similar error if I try to cd into /net/<remote-machine>/<share>. I can see the shared folder in /net/<remote-machine>, but I cannot access it (cd, ls, etc). I can see on the Linux machine that the iMac has mounted the share (showmount -a), so the problem appears to be solely in the permissions. But I have not changed any of the permissions on the remote machine, and even then, they are blown wide open (777) so I'm not sure what is causing the issue. I have tried everything as both a regular user, and as root. Any thoughts?
On the Linux NFS server:
% cat /etc/exports
/share 192.168.1.0/24(rw,sync,nosubtree_check,no_rootsquash)
% showmount -a
All mount points on <server>:
192.168.1.100:/share <-- <server> address
192.168.1.101:/share <-- iMac address
On the iMac:
% rpcinfo -t 192.168.1.100 nfs
program 100003 version 2 ready and waiting
program 100003 version 3 ready and waiting
program 100003 version 4 ready and waiting
% mount
trigger on /net/<server>/share (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
% mount -t nfs 192.168.1.100:/share /Volumes/share1
mount_nfs: /Volumes/share1: Operation not permitted

My guess is that the Linux server is refusing NFS requests coming from a non-reserved (<1024) source port. If that's the case, adding "insecure" to the Linux export options should get it working. (Note: requiring the use of reserved ports doesn't actually make things any more secure on most networks, so the name of the option is a bit misleading.)
If you were previously able to mount that same export from a Mac, you must have been specifying the "-o resvport" option and doing the mounts as root (via sudo or automount which happens to run as root). So that may be another fix.
HTH
--macko

User cannot receive External Send Output Message manually - ME22N

Hi Guru's
I have the following issue, once a User has saved the PO he wants to receive this PO to his email. He goes to "Messages" and selects Medium 5 "External Send" and in Partner he types his User ID in order to receive it.
He is not receiving any emails and the status in Further Data is "2 incorrectly processed". When he types another User ID, this User does receive the email. Is there anything else I need to configure to this User ID so he can received this Output Messages? He is the only User that cannot receive these Output Messages.
Regards

Problem Solved!!
I enter to table USR21 (Assign user name address key) and realized User ID did not exist. So I enter to table ADR6 (E-Mail Addresses) and noticed it was a totally different User. I enter to table LFA1 (Vendor Master) and there was information about this User.
This left me to one conclusion...This had nothing to do with the User ID
The Client in the past created Vendors (MK01) has "Buyers". So when the Buyer wanted to send any PO to his email he just went to "Messages" and selected Output Type "NEU" / Medium 5 "External send" / Partner "Vendor#" = Buyer.
I enter to MK02 and typed the Vendor# they gave him, in "General Data" check only "Address" and press ENTER, updated the email in the field and selected INT E-mail in "Standard Comm Mtd" and problem solved.
Thank you all for your help
Best Regards!!

Time Machine cannot find external hard drive

I have just recently purchased an airport extreme and have enjoyed being able to plug in an external hard drive for time machine. I think I must have reset my laptop while it was backing up because now I get an error every time it tries to back up. The error I get is disc image cannot be accessed (error 2) I have tried everything I can think (reseting router, unplugging and plugging back in the hard drive, changing networks, and then back) but still nothing. I am not even able to enter the time machine to back up to a time before I had this problem. I can however access the contents of the drive just not successfully complete a time machine back up. Thanks for the help

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Start by Repairing the sparse bundle that contains your backups, via #A5 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
If that doesn't help, try a "full reset" per #A4 there.
You do need to know that backing-up this way is "iffy" and +*not supported+* by Apple. See the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Cannot mount external USB drive with FDisk_partition_scheme

Due to some recent mac issues in my lab, we updated one of the computers to Maverick 10.9.4 from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 yesterday. Anyhow, this seems to have erased the ability of the mac to read or mount several identical USB drives with the NTFS format (WD My Passport Ultra 500GB USB3.0). It could do it yesterday when it was OSX 10.6.8, but not today (OSX 10.9.4). The drives still work fine on other OSX 10.6.8, Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu 14.04 computers (this is appears to be a problem with the Maverick 10.9.4 operating system itself, rather than the flash drives which work flawlessly with every other computer I've tried). I want to remove data from the computer to create backups on the USB drives (no, I don't want to create an online backup or buy a new set of USB drives).
diskutil can see the drives, but cannot verify or repair them as they lack a GUID (GPT) partition scheme. I'm assuming this is the root of the problem. Manually mounting the drives does not work. Installing the ntfs-3g driver also did not work (I was using this to write to the NTFS drives until we upgraded OS's). Installing the WD Passport drivers for OSX also did not work. How do I get the mac to mount these drives?
I could reformat one USB drive and then copy to the others, but this would be extremely inconvenient and take days of copying files back and forth (and would prefer to fix the mac rather than go through this with every NTFS drive I own). If I did this, the FAT32 hard drive format would not be suitable, as format is unable to handle the extremely large sequencing datasets I need to transfer. I'm not super familiar with hard drive formats, but in the event we cannot get Maverick to actually work could someone possibly suggest a format able to handle large file sizes (the largest file I need to move is ~60GB) and be compatible with Windows 8.1 / OSX 10.9.4 / Ubuntu 14.04 as well?
Another workaround I thought of would be just to install an Ubuntu partition on the mac and get the files off through the Linux install. Which is also inconvenient, but would probably be faster than trying to reformat the drives and copy everything over onto them again given the amount of data I want to transfer.
Unrelated, but is there any way to view files and folders in the OSX root directory besides through Terminal? It seems like this functionality was also removed when we "upgraded" from Snow Leopard. (At this point, if it were up to me I would wipe all of the macs we own and replace them with Ubuntu... even the most minor of tasks always require some sort of workaround with them... at my wits end here ).

Yeah this definitely appears to be a problem specifically with this mac. It's been having all sorts of weird problems lately, and we figured that upgrading to Maverick might fix them (but instead we got new problems).
To give an update on this, I ended up reformatting one of the drives to HFS+ and disabled journaling. It now recognizes the drive again, and I'm pulling the files off that way. I looked at exFAT, but it looks like HFS+ has much better Linux support (Windows is read-only but that's only a minor annoyance, as the algorithms to process the data only run on UNIX machines anyways). It's a shame I couldn't keep using NTFS (had to copy over literally EVERYTHING again...) but whatever. Again, no solution for the issue (where this mac can't read NTFS drives).
@rkaufmann87 - To give a bit more explanation, we recently had to disable online backups because apparently the sheer amount of data causes Time Machine to freeze the computer and fail every time it has a scheduled backup (original issue we thought that upgrading to Maverick would solve... didn't work). The hard drive has been having a lot of issues when it begins to reach max capacity as well. So I am pulling off all of my files to external hard drives and deleting the local copy before we attempt to back up online again. And the data would probably take me a year and a lot of money to recreate (for the curious, it's high throughput sequencing data). I'm choosing not to take any chances as a result.

Problem - new MacBook Air cannot see external HD

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help, as I have seen similar questions in the forums, but not with an answer that helps me solve my problem.
Ok, I have a new MacBook Air running Lion (bought last year), a MacBook Pro running Leopard which is approx 4 years old and a Windows Laptop. I use the MacBook Air for Work and when travelling (weekly with work), the MacBook Pro for home and managing my other apple devices (iPad/iPhone etc..). I no longer use the PC, but there are loads of files both work and home, I wish to keep on an external HD for use with both Apple Laptops.
So, the external HD used to work with the MacBook Air when I first bought it (a couple of weeks ago) and formatted it with the MacBook Air, but it couldn't be seen or used with the Windows PC. When I formatted it with the Windows PC, I could use it with the MacBook Air but could not write to the disk.
So I have now partitioned and formatted it with the MacBook Pro running Lion, but now the MacBook Air cannot even see the disk in Disk Utility.
My MacBook Air otherwise runs absolutely fine with no problems, and the MacBook Air is a critical piece of kit that I use on a daily basis to do my job. As such, I have no appetite for deleting any drivers etc... from the MacBook Air as it could originally see the disk and I do not want to make a mistake and cause myself problems.
So the question is, how on earth do I get the MacBook Air to see the drive again in Disk Utility? So I can do the partitioning and formatting there, this drive is of no use if can only be seen by the MacBook Pro. The drive is a portable USB powered Toshiba 1TB disk Part Number: HDTB110EK3BA.
Am going to wait for some suggestions, my next thought is to erase everything using the windows PC assuming it can see it, and then see if the Mac Book Air laptop can see it in Disk Utility... no other options left really.
I hope someone can help, otherwise I may be off to buy a new disk and could hit the same problems again!
Thanks
Alex.

http://www.phonenews.com/toshiba-acknowledges-macbook-woes-canvio-usb-3-0-hard-d rives-18699/
Toshiba Acknowledges MacBook Woes in Canvio USB 3.0 Hard Drives
By Christopher Price on December 27, 2011
Following tests conducted by PhoneNews.com, Toshiba has acknowledged an issue affecting their Canvio USB 3.0 hard drives. The issue prevents current-generation MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models from properly connecting and powering up the drives.
Read more to see our findings, and the resulting (ongoing) investigation by Toshiba.
We began our tests based on tips from readers like you, and went out and purchased five (yes, five) Canvio USB 3.0 drives, along with a brand new 2011 MacBook Air.
Drive problems happened immediately, and were relatively isolated to the MacBook Air. Of all the systems we tested on, we were only able to reproduce issues on a Sony VAIO laptop late in our testing, as well as a current-gen MacBook Pro.
Essentially, the drives failed to mount, and in most tests never even spun up on these systems.
The Canvio USB 3.0 hard drives have sat under many people’s Christmas trees, as they were hot sellers during Black Friday. Retailers like Office Depot slashed prices on the slim, 2.5-inch drives down to $79 for a 1TB hard drive. With coupons, Radio Shack was selling the 500GB model for a mere $39.
Canvio USB 3.0 drives tout on the box compatibility with USB 2.0 systems, including both Mac and PC. The advantage of a Canvio USB 3.0 hard drive for a MacBook owner lies in Thunderbolt. Purchasing such a drive today can achieve USB 3.0 speeds with upcoming Thunderbolt-to-USB 3.0 adapters. USB 3.0 mass storage was designed to be fully backwards compatible with USB 2.0.
To get to the bottom of the problem, we probed the five Canvio drives purchased, in an effort to better understand the issue. And, we were able to isolate the problem; the Canvio USB 3.0 drives draw more power than the USB standard permits. The drives were drawing, upon connection, slightly more than the five watts that the spec allows. And, the new MacBooks appear to promptly shut the device down because of this.
Why? Well, Apple can assert that this is to protect the MacBook Air/Pro from a malfunctioning USB device. However, the answer really lies in tablets. Apple allows iPad and MacBook to perform a hardware handshake, which then allows Apple devices to draw 10 watts from the USB port. This is why you can charge an iPad directly on a Mac, but not on a PC.
Apple does not want to allow rival tablet manufacturers (Android) to have the same access to Apple’s USB port. Hence, any device (like a tablet) that wants to draw even slightly more than five watts, is shut off from communicating with the Mac. We affirmed this by testing a powered USB hub. With a powered hub connected to the hard drive, and the hub connected to the MacBook, the drive instantly came to life, and worked without issue.
This creates a bit of an odd situation; Toshiba is technically in the wrong for making drives that technically breach USB specifications… but Apple seems to be the only manufacturer to enforce this aspect (as well as breach it with their own devices).
Toshiba, to its credit, has owned up to our issue, right down to our suggestion to them that a powered hub works around the issue. Quoting an official statement in response to our research:
Toshiba DPD has identified an isolated USB connectivity issue between the Canvio USB 3.0 drive and currently shipping MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops. The issue involves the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air being unable to recognize the Canvio USB 3.0 drive when connected directly to the laptop USB 2.0 port. Toshiba is actively working to remedy this USB connectivity issue. In the interim, Toshiba recommends MacBook Pro and MacBook Air users employ a powered USB hub to connect their Canvio USB 3.0 drives.
We have asked Toshiba if they intend to inform retailers to accept returns for affected drives, or if they will offer some form of refund program in the interim. Retailers such as Office Depot do not permit refunds on opened technology items, including Canvio drives. Toshiba has said are looking into that aspect of this problem, and will get back to us shortly.
In all, we spent a few hundred on hard drives, and confirmed the issue. Unfortunately, because it is a power drain concern, Toshiba will likely have to offer an exchange program to fix it. We seriously doubt that this can be fixed at the firmware level. Theoretically, it’s possible a USB cable replacement might be able to mitigate this issue however, so there is hope that Toshiba won’t have to recall a bazillion hard drives.
Update: As a follow-up, Toshiba has informed us that they have completed their investigation, and will replace affected drives.

Cannot dismount external HD

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