External hard drive constantly dropping USB connection
Last week I bought a 1 TB drive from Hitachi to use for video storage and rendering, but it seems that every 15 minutes or so, the USB connection drops itself and then immediately reconnects. This of course proves to be a problem when it happens while I'm transferring data. I've had a number of uploads fail because of this and I don't want to start editing several hours of HDV video in FCP only to have the connection constantly dropped.
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks.
I've recently started having similar problems with my external USB devices - including a 500GB Western Digital External USB drive. But it's not just the drive. I have a USB hub plugged into the left USB port and the whole thing was switching on and off - turning off my mouse, disconnecting my USB drive and restarting my iPhone charging (and restarting iPhoto every time, of course, to download any new photos).
Initially I suspected the USB hub (which has it's own power supply) had gone bad somehow but after reading about all the problems MacBook Pro owners have been having with their USB devices I'm not so sure anymore.
Trying the right USB port now to see if it exhibits the same problems. So far it's working fine with just the drive plugged in. I'll let you know.
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Connect Encore with external hard drive through micro USB OTG cable
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I made a bootable disc on an external hard drive, with Yosemite on it. I am running Snow Leopard on my iMac. How can I open the Yosemite disc from the desktop on my iMac? Does the external hard drive need to be connected to my iMac by firewire to do that?
kahjot wrote:
Snow Leopard's Startup Disk pref can’t see Yosemite volumes. So the only way to switch from Snow Leopard to Yosemite is to do what Niel mentioned. Doesn't matter whether it's connected by USB or Firewire, although performance via FW would be faster.
Are you saying that Yos/10.10, as a volume located in a mounted external drive won't appear as an option in Snow Leopard's Startup Disc, in Sys Prefs? I've never heard this one before. AFAIK any mounted volume, regardless of OS, should appear there. I would think that, if it appears in the Boot Picker/Startup Manager it would also appear and could be booted to from Snow's Startup Disk. I can't test this myself, since I don't have Yos. Is what you are saying documented somewhere? -
I just installed OS X Yosemite and now my WD My Book Live external hard drive won't re-connect. My Safari keeps kicking out and giving me error message after error message and my computer is really slow. How do I resolve? Can I uninstall this ? I had to re-connect my iMovie t
USB2.0 PCI cards that use the NEC chipset seem to give the least amount of problems for Mac users.
OWC have a few different ones for sale.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5 000&N=7057&Ntt=USB2**0**cards
Do you also connect the external USB drive to the AC power as well while you use it ?
Sometimes USB external drive problems are resolved simply by plugging them into the mains power and trying again.
Stewie
Message was edited by: stewiesno1 -
I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive. I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto. How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive in Iphoto?
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.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD -
After I installed Lion, my MacBook Pro can no longer detect my external hard drives or my USB flash drives. What should I do?
And me -- My Mac at work running Snow Leopard reads the drive normally. My home Mac (on Lion) can't even find it....
Yet another Leo let-down..... -
My external hard drive will no longer connect to my macbook pro via FW800........Any ideas on how to solve this??
Reset the SMC, see this Apple note: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Also reset the PRAM:
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.
In most cases, those two actions will fix the port issue. If it's still an issue, you may need to see if the external hard drive can connect to another system, to ensure it's not having problems. -
I have a Firewire 800 external hard drive and need to connect to my new MacBook Air. Where can I get the correct cable?
Apple has announced a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter, but not yet given a release date.
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i copied my itunes library via an external hard drive. now when i connect
my ipod to the new computer i can see my music but my apps are disabledHere are the official Apple Support instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Ciao. -
External hard drive has /two/ usb ends
i just realized I have a rather dumb question which is whether there is an issue with the fact that I have a couple of iomega external hard drive devices that have /two/ usb ends - which ostensibly are supposed to plug into the two usb slots on my MBP when running a backup? One is for power and the other is for backup - is that right?
Is there an issue with the fact that I sometimes just put one of these into the computer (MBP or MacPro) and run it with one USB because the other slots are taken?
TIAThe Y cable is to add more power if the drive does not work correctly off of just one USB port. Sometimes you need it and sometimes you don't. That depends on how much power the USB ports put out.
Depending on what you connected to the other USB port you could use a HUB on the othr port and connect that second connector of the Y cable to the HUB. -
when i insert an external harddrive through the usb port, my mac doesnot recognise that its even there but when a flash disk is inserted, it recognises it perfectly.
why does that happen?Michael is on the right track. Some external hard drives lacking their own power supply simply cannot get enough power from a single USB port. It is most noticeable in the "name brand" drive that the office supply and computer superstores put on sale every other week. Their chipsets seem to be better optimized for Windows than Macs.
Flash drives work because the don't have a power-hugry motor that must turn.
There are two easy and inexpensive cures that allow you to keep your current drive:
get a "Y-cable" that let you connect one drive to two of the computers UWB ports. Example:1 Meter USB 2.0 A to 5 Pin Mini B Cable - Auxiliary USB "Y" Power Design for external hard drives.
get a self-powered USB hub. It has a separate power supply that boosts what goes to the drive. Example: Macally TriHub - 4 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Hub for Mac & PC
If you need the computer and drive to work together in an environment lacking a power source for the hub, and the y-cable isn't an option because you have too few available USB ports, then your only option is to replace the current drive with one better optimized for Macs, like these:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
This particular one has the option of running on power from the computer's USB ports or, with an optional power supply, wall power. A good compromise for both remote and desktop use. -
I have been using my Seagate Free Agent 500g external hard drive for years without even a hint of a glitch but this morning I trying plugging in the usb and got an error message that stated that the hard drive was pulling too much power and was being diabled. So now I cannot get the hard drive to connect period. What do I do - could it be a power cord issue?
Hi cactus flower,
If you are getting a message that a USB device such as your external hard drive is drawing too much power, there are a number of things you can do. I would suggest the steps in this article -
Apple Computers and Displays: Powering peripherals through USB
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4049
Specifically this section -
Troubleshooting
If you have a peripheral (such as a hard drive, audio device, or camera) that is acting unexpectedly—such as not turning on or not being recognized by the computer—the peripheral may require more power than is available. If you have a USB peripheral or a chain of devices, such as a joystick plugged into a keyboard, which requires more than the available power try one of these options:
Use a USB hub that comes with a power adapter.
Check that the peripheral offers the ability to connect to more than one USB port at once.
Find out if the peripheral comes with a power adapter.
If you cannot confirm your device's use with a hub, connect the device directly to the Apple computer.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L -
External hard drive is no longer connecting after Mavericks
Hi!
I have been using an eternal hardrive to back up with Time Machine with no problem until I upgraded to Mavericks....then everything went downhill. Now when I plug in my external hard drive it does not register or show at all. What is going on???
So frustrated with Mavericks, so many other complaints and frustrations but for now really want to solve this simple issue.
I have tried both USB ports and it just does not work.
Any suggestions?
Thank you,
SarvasmaranaWhen you erased the disk did you select Mac OS Extended Journaled as the format option?
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I have an external hard drive that I used with my mini mac. I want to use it on my MacBookPro. I plugged it in found it on my computer, it flashes seemed okay until it tipped over and came unplugged to the computer. I set it back up turned it on and the grren light sometimes flashes. I read an article that said I needed to format the drive, I followed instructions and did that. I will download tomorrow my pictures.
Question
How do I know if this is working
does it record everything on your computer?
How do I see what is there? on the drive
confused please direct me to help
thanks
kathyit may be very basic but I still don't get it, the instructions are basic too so I'm sure I'm missing some thing here.i don't know how to copy data and copy it back
I don't see any indicaters to do so. I'll try again, , it's on a laptop and I don't want it connected all the time, just to secure some images.
how do i copyu...
maybe I'll try a 'zip' drive instead?? But I don't understand them either, hard to be a dunce.
and by the way, my computer has been freezing up on me lately had to turn it off and on, what have i done to it!!
I just connected it again and it shows as a number22but nothing happens when I click on it...shouldn't something happen here? It seems to be empty as well as it should since I followed instructions on formatting. so what now?
This is trying your patience I'm sure,you may just forget about helping me I just don't have a clue
but if you can help, I am listening. -
WD External Hard Drive - Not Enough USB Power?
Hello, I have a Western Digital External Hard Drive that I've had for about 5 years. It plugs in/loads through the USB port. However, it hasn't worked when I plug it in to my MAC anymore. The red light comes on like it is getting power, but the blue light that typically comes on as well blinks a few times, then you hear the external hard drive shutting back down. Needless to say, it isn't loading anymore, and I can't access my files on the drive. I'm thinking/hoping that maybe (for some odd reason) it isn't getting enough power through my MAC's USB port anymore. Is this possible? If so, what can I do to solve this problem. Thanks for any help!
Depends on whether the drive's motor is functional and the drive can be mounted. In that case you could use recovery software if the drive isn't otherwise accessible. If it's dead and inaccessible then you would need to send it to an expensive data recovery service.
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.
You could consider getting a power supply for it. They usually aren't very expensive. Or you could try a different enclosure that supported Firewire (if your MB has a FW port.) You could also try it on a different computer.
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