Disk Utility Wont do anything on my new External Hard Drive

DU won't mount, unmount, eject, erase or partition, i have tried doing the force unmount and erase commands in terminal, i have also tried doing it at the start up command + R page. Hard drive mount ad works perfectly fine on imac

it worked when i first plugged it in then i formatted it to MS-DOS(FAT) after that it didn't work, It sometimes shows up in DU the disk will appear but the partition will be grey (unmounted)
if i try to use another (working) hard drive in to the usb port the i've had this on in it wonk work either until i restart
both usb ports work fine with other hard drives
the imac it works on is running mountain lion

Similar Messages

  • I use an external hard drive as a Time Machine back up, but I want to use another external hard drive to save movies, photos on it, but it won't give me the option to save anything on the new external hard drive. Nothing is wrong with the external hard.

    I use an external hard drive as a Time Machine back up, but I want to use another external hard drive to save movies, photos on it, but it won't give me the option to save anything on the new external hard drive. Nothing is wrong with the external hard. 

    Hi Clarkett99,
    To use an external hard drive for your iTunes library, see the steps in this article -
    iTunes: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
    iPhoto can be used in a similar way, follow the steps in this previous discussion -
    how do I save photos and their albums...: Apple Support Communities
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3744259
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Brett L

  • Disk utility recovery of files after deleting from external hard drive?

    I had downloaded some files to add to an external hard drive, the hard drive was assigned to a pc before adding these files so it wouldn't let me add files from my MacBook..
    Had a look around online and made some changes (well thats what I thought) and I was able to transfer files form my MacBook onto the external hard drive.
    What I then figured out was that there was nothing left on the hard drive except for the two file sI just transferred..
    It turns out I deleted everyting without noticing.
    The stpes I followed was to go to disk utility then select the hard drive and click erase (not knowing this would erase evrything).
    So now I have two files on my hard drive and no idea how to recover the 'delted' files.
    I tried using Disk Drill, which found the files but then it said I need to buy the full version to recover them.
    I am wondering if there is any free methods to recover these files at all, any help is appreciated.

    The files are still on the drive, and will remain unless and until you overwrite them with new data. So don't write anything more to the drive in addition to the two files you added after reformatting it, and do download the free trial version(s) of one or more data recovery utilities:
    Data Rescue 3: http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
    FileSalvage 7: http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id= 1
    Each is offered in a free demo version that will show you exactly what the full version could recover before you have to pay for anything. There are others on the market, but these are the ones I'm familiar with.
    To recover data using any such utility, you must have another drive available on which to save the recovered files. Saving them on the same drive they're being recovered from would just overwrite other files that haven't yet been recovered.

  • Disk utility can't repair a partition on external hard drive

    I have a 1TB Western Digital external FW drive that's only a couple years old (2 or 3, probably). I have it split into partitions, one of which I'm using for Time Machine. The non-Time Machine partition checked out fine with DIsk Utility, but when I ran Disk Utility on the Time Machine partition, I received this message:
    Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
    Does this mean the drive itself is failing? I erased the Time Machine partition and recreated it through Disk Utility, and then I verified it. Everything checked out okay, but I want to make sure, especially since I'm hosting my iTunes music in the other partition (it's backed up to a 2nd external drive, so if the drive does die, at least I don't lose everything).
    Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off. I unplugged the drive and plugged it back in again a couple times, but nothing happened. Finally, the light went back on after plugging it back in for the 3rd or 4th time, but I'm wondering if the drive could be going bad, which would surprise me since it isn't very old.

    Brad Cook wrote:
    Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
    Does this mean the drive itself is failing?
    Possibly, but not necessarily.  The File System on the disk was so badly corrupted that Disk Utility couldn't fix it.  That might indicate a problem with the drive.  It's not unusual for consumer-quality (ie, inexpensive) drives to fail after 2-3 years, although many will run for several years.  It's a bit of a crapshoot.
    Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off.
    Whatever caused that is another good possibility -- if a drive is improperly disconnected, OSX can't "close it out" properly, and that can cause damage to the file system.  Sometimes Disk Utility can fix it, sometimes it can't.  And sometimes heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair apps like DiskWarrior can fix things Disk Utility can't.
    A power dip or spike could have caused it, or an overheated electronic component, etc.  If it has it's own power supply, be sure it's on a good (ie, not cheap) surge protector or U.P.S. system.
    Otherwise, keep an eye on it.  If you don't have "secondary" backups, this would be an excellent time to get another drive for that purpose.  See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions.
    Bottom line:  personally, I'd not trust my only backups to that drive.
    (But then, I'd never trust my backups to any single drive, no matter how new or high-quality.)

  • I am trying to upgrade my hard drive in my mac book pro using the disk utility in an attempt to clone my old hard drive.  I can only get so far, just before cloning may start and receive an "error 254" and can go no further.  Any idea what this error is?

    I am trying to upgrad the hard drive in my mac book pro using the disk utility in an attempt to clone my old hard drive.  I can only get so far throughj the process where its about to start cloing when I get a message " error 254".  Any idea what that means and how do I get around this issue so I can use my new hard drive?  Thanks for your input.
    Vince

    Connect the HDD to your MBP.  Open Disk Utility>Erase and drag the HDD icon inrt the Name field.  The format should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled).  Click on the Erase button.
    Then try the clone process again.  You may use Disk Utility>Restore or a third party cloning application such as Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper.
    Ciao.

  • My Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and have just listened to a youtube tutorial on how to move iTunes library to the external hard drive. If I do this can I still load new media on my Mac without the external?

    my Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and watched a youtube tutorial on moving iTunes library to external hard drive. Will I still be able to use iTunes on my Mac for new media or will this now only work through my external hard drive?

    To do this you need to learn the details of how iTunes works.  For example, you just said, "leave my iTunes on my computer".  iTunes is the application itself so of course it has to be on your computer.  That said, I therefore don't know what you mean when you say leave iTunes on your computer.  The phrasing of your question suggests to me, if I may be frank, you don't understand how iTunes works fully and we can't just give you a "do this" answer and have it work out.  It would be too easy to make a mess of things.
    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
    Yes, you can download media and delete it again (but if it is from the iTunes Store there is the possibility you can't always download it again).  Of course if you want to keep a copy you can archive it.  I have done that with some files for which I have no room on my computer.  I transfer them to an external hard drive and delete the reference to the file (but not the file itself) from my library.  If I want a quick listen I go to the file on the drive and use Quicktime player or something else non-iTunes so I don't have to have it added to iTunes and delete again.  I don't know if that is the solution you are looking for.  I could leave the reference in iTunes but if the file can't be located by iTunes it will tell me there is a broken link = !  I guess I could live with that except I periodically scan my library for broken links and don't want it getting confused with ones I have done deliberately and ones suggesting I am really missing a file somewhere.
    Another possibility is to make a second iTunes library for material you are archiving and only use that library when the computer is using the external drive.  There are tricky aspects to dong that but it is a possibility too.
    The simple solution for most people with computers with tiny drives (as most seem to be these days) is to put their whole iTunes library on an external drive and use it from there.

  • I want to buy a new external hard drive.

    I want to buy a new external hard drive, I have an iMac now, I most likely will buy a mac pro this winter. I want to buy a hard drive that will be able to handle the highest quality video, AND work with my iMac now. Thanks
    Andrew

    And finally:
    Make SURE you format the drive as Mac OS Extended, journalling optional but recommended.
    Disk Utility Help: Erasing a disk or volume
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1009.html
    In step 4, DO choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
    WARNING: All your currect files will be erased.

  • How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?

    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.

    ivan wrote:
    How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?
    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.
    Hi iVain
    Fire up *Disk Utility*, click the Restore tab, then drag your old and new TM drives into the Source and Destination fields. Click Restore, and a complete copy of your old TM files will be made on the new drive. Go to TM preferences and select the new drive, and it will continue backing up just as it left off.
    Hope this answers your question. See:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2595485&tstart=0

  • I need to split my iPhoto.  I have a new external hard drive - can I just drag Photo events into the drive?

    I need to move events from my iPhoto to a new external hard drive.  Can I just drag events into the hard drive? 

    No.
    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    Now you have two full versions of the Library.
    3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
    Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
    Some Notes:
    As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
    You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
    You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

  • New external hard drive doesn't back up

    Hi All,
    So I had an email from Apple stating my hard drive might be faulty and they will replace it free of charge. So, I went out and purchased a brand new external hard drive to use as my time machine back up.
    I formatted my hard drive to use only as a time machine backup. Half way thorugh my first backup, something interuppted it and it didn't finish the backup.
    So, I've tried many times since to back up my machine and everytime i get this message............
    [IMG]http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad67/Deano1903/Backup.png[/IMG]
    I am using OS - Mountain Lion 10.8.2

    Hello:
    It is not helpful to you, but I have never seen anything like that before. 
    Did you install any Seagate software when you got your new drive?
    Did you buy the "Seagate plus for Mac OS?"
    Since I do not have a Seagate drive, I think it would be best if you went to the Seagate web site (http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/) and have them shoot the problem.  If that does not help, come back and I will try to guess my way through the problem.
    Barry

  • I have moved all my songs onto a new external hard drive but it has wiped my iPod clean. Although when I connect my iPod it's starts teh process of sync'ing - so many songs in I get a pop up advising the siong could not be read or written to?

    I  have moved all my itunes onto a new external hard drive to free up space. It has wiped my ipod clean! I can still see the itunes on the new hard drive so I restored my iPod and tried to sync. Although when I connect my iPod it's in the process of syncing, so many songs in I get a pop up saying could not copy to my iPod as xyz song title could not be read or written. I click ok for this pop up to dissapear and then another pop up appears saying could not coyp to iPod because of unknown error.!!! Help I'm going crazy.

    Did you go into iTunes to change the location of your media files? if not you will need to go into iTunes and click on preference and select the advance tab then click the iTunes Media folder location.  Select the location of your on external hard drive. 

  • I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died.  Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive.  How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

    I have been storing my Aperture and IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive that recently died.  Fortunately I've been using Time Machine to back up to a 2nd external drive.  How do I restore my libraries to a new external hard drive?

    This is a tricky one.
    Open up Time Machine and go back to a date using the timeline on the right side of the window when you know the drive was working and was backing up as part of Time Machine backups.
    Click on the name of your Mac under the Devices heading on the left side of the window in Time Machine, and if things are working correctly you will see Macintosh HD (or whatever you have named it) and the name of the external hard drive that was backing up in the past.
    Right-Click on the name of the external hard drive and then click on "Restore (name of drive) to....."  You may be asked for your adminstrator password at this point.
    It might be easier to restore the drive contents to your desktop if you have room on your Mac, and then copy things over to the new external drive where you want to store the Aperture and iMovie Libraries.
    Once the libraries have been moved over the new external hard drive, you will likely need to "point" Aperture and iMovie to the location of the libraries on the new external hard drive.

  • I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.  I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore.  How do I do a new full backup?

    I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. 
    I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore.  How do I do a new full backup?
    When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups.  It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
    Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
    So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure. 
    Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up.  Instead, it took 30 minutes.  That can't be right.  I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that.  Please help.

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
    tmutil compare -E
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
    The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
    Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
    Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
    Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
    At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
    Added:
    Removed:
    Changed:
    These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

  • I move all photos to a new external hard drive.  Now all folders have a question mark in them.  How do I find ALL PHOTOS at one time instead of having to find each picture. I have about 30,000 photos. Using  Mac. LR5

    I have set up a new external hard drive and Im trying redirect LR to the new hard drive. I have over 30,000 photos and Im trying to see to see if there is a way to all photos located without having to go thru each folder at a time

    http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm
    See Figure 4

  • How do I copy an iPhoto library, which is on an external hard drive, onto a new external hard drive?

    I'm running out of space on my external hard drive, so I was advised to buy one with triple the amount of space.  So, I need to copy my current iphoto library, which is on an external hard drive, onto a new external hard drive.  I thought I could just drag and drop it in, but that doesn't seem to be working. 

    Make sure the external drive is formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) and then drag the iPhoto Library to that drive using the Finder.
    Then double click the library in its new location to open it in iPhoto. Test it thoroughly, if it is working, before deleting the original library on the internal drive.
    To check the format of the drive, see (it says Aperture, but the same applies to iPhoto):  Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
    iPhoto: Issues with FAT32-formatted drives

Maybe you are looking for