External Hard Drive Doesn't Mount on Desktop through FireWire 400

I have an external hard drive that mounts on the desktop when connecting to my iMac via USB, but it fails to appear on the desktop when connecting via FireWire 400. It was glitchy in Tiger as well, and had problems since installing Leopard. I was able to get it to work once, after using Leopard Cache Cleaner (a 3rd party program), disconnecting the hard drive, and unplugging the iMac. I moved my computer this week, and had to unplug it and when I powered it back up, the hard drive doesn't appear on the desktop again through FireWire 400 (still works fine with USB). It also doesn't appear in Disk Utility through FireWire.
What good are FireWire if they fail to recognize a hard drive so often?!

upgrade to latest system, that computer will accept, then try again

Similar Messages

External Hard Drive won't mount on desktop!

Hey, guys.
I ran into a problem this morning that I've never ran into before and I wasn't sure where to write it but I thought this is best.
Here it goes...
Last night I had a power surge and when I restarted my computer, my external hard drive did not mount on my desktop. I than proceeded with restarting my computer, I relinked all my connections and I cant seem to get it fixed. I have a lot of material on my external drive that I dont have backed up (I know, a stupid move) anyways, I dont want to lose that information. Also, when I open up disk utility, the icon for my external drive is there and the partition I made for my external drive shows up also but the title of my partition for my external hard drive is not in bolded font. I tried to click the button to mount my external drive cause the specs tell me that it is not mounted but when I press the mount button, it does nothing. I than tried clicking the unmount button and than restart my computer and still nothing.
What problem am I facing and how can it be fixed?
Thanks.

Dear Jason,
Gary's advised is, IMHO, a very sound one.
The only thing I can think of about your problem, given the information you have provided us, is to run Disk Warrior on your external HD.
In fact, DW is particularly indicated in events, like:
"...you should run DiskWarrior when you suspect that there is directory damage on one of your disks. Directory damage can result in the disk not mounting (not appearing on the desktop when the computer is started), missing files or folders, an inability to move or copy files, or crashes when files are used...".
You could actually buy your copy of DW Licence on-line and download it directly onto your internal HD, starting from this "Information you must read before you make your purchase" page. A hardware copy of the software you have so purchased, will follow by postal service (or currier, if so you choose), shortly.
Follow all the instructions you will find in the download to install the DW software onto your main internal HD and then run it on your external hard drive.
DW has saved my data several times and in similar situations as you are experiencing. IMHO, you should seriously give it a try and, even in the unfortunate event it does not manage to solve your problem, it is one of those Mac OSX utilities which ANY Mac power user MUST have handy at all times.
So, no matter what, my opinion is that it is always well-spent-money those used to purchase your copy of DW: in the long run, you won't regret it.
In the event that even DW is unable to retrive your precious data, my suggestion is to contact Micro Com data recovery. It's going to cost you some money, but if you make a leaving out of the data you've lost on your external hard drive, it's going to be worth it.
All the best.
Costa

External Hard Drive Doesn't Appear on Desktop / Won't Mount

I have an external hard drive that is used as a server for 3 computers . . . it is hidden from the Desktop.
The "home" computer is running 10.8.5, and the others (which also have the hard drive hidden) run 10.9.5 & 10.10.1.
I can access the drive by going to Go > Recent Folders, and also from aliases to the drive I already have on my Desktop.
The drive shows up on Disk Utility, and was fine when I verified the disk.
I also reset the SMC and PRAM, with no affect on the hidden folder.
The Thunderbolt connectors and Firewire 800 converters all seem to be in working order.
I've seen some fixes out there for the same problem with users running OS X 10.9.3. They've used a Terminal command to reveal the hidden files. Am not sure if the code for 10.9.3 will work for my 10.8.5.
Someone, please help!

upgrade to latest system, that computer will accept, then try again

External Hard drive will not mount on desktop

I have a 17" Powerbook G4 that has replaced a broken iBook G4. I've been using a Western Digital MyBook Pro Edition as a secondary drive for my multimedia as well as my iTunes Library. It worked fine on the old iBook.
When I plug it into the Powerbook, using either USB2 or Firewire 800, it will not mount to the desktop. It DOES however appear in the System Profiler as "External HD Button and Lights". The drive is formatted for FAT32 and works fine on my Windows XP desktop machine, so I know the drive functions mechanically. A different hard drive, a Maxtor mounts to the desktop fine using USB2, so it isn't a bus issue.
This is driving me nuts. I LOVE this computer, but I have WAY more invested in music than the cost of the computer.
Thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: hempomatic

It took a while to figure it out but apparently there was a conflict with bluetooth. I disabled it and all is well.

WD 400 GB external hard drive doesn't mount after software update.

I had been using my WD external hard drive with TimeMachine for almost a year. Just recently the WD doesn't show up on desktop, however you can see it under the Apple's "System Profiler". Any suggestions?
External HDD:
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk1
Version: 0.00
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Western Digital
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: Unknown
Product ID: 0x0900
Serial Number: 57442********************938
Vendor ID: 0x1058

c14user,
Looking back at your original post: "Partition Map Type: Unknown" is a little suspicious. I'm wondering if, while the disk was formatted correctly, perhaps the partition scheme was not changed from Master Boot Record when you first began using it. I made that discovering recently on a drive that I could no longer select as a Time Machine disk. If so you'll need to re-partition the disk either GUID or Apple Partition Map.
*_How Should a Time Machine Hard Disk be Prepared?_*
For Time Machine to work properly, the hard disk must be formatted “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and its’ Partition Scheme should be either GUID or Apple Partition Map.
Time Machine is incompatible with disks partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR). Unfortunately, this describes nearly every hard drive you can buy because MBR is a Windows partition scheme. (Naturally, this DOES NOT apply to Apples’ Time Capsule.)
For some, Time Machine begins to perform as expected with a new external hard disk. But then the initial full backup or subsequent incremental backups fail. The user only later discovers the hard disk was still partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR).
One article on Time Machine made this observation: “Virtually everybody will have to open Disk Utility and repartition the disk as APM or GUID. It doesn't really matter which one because the Time Machine disk will not be bootable anyway. APM allows a disk to boot a PowerPC, GUID allows the disk to boot an Intel processor but both are easily digestible by Time Machine on either kind of processor.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
Procedure
Connect the hard disk you wish to use for Time Machine backups.
Launch Disk Utility.
It will appear twice in the pane on the left. (Make sure you recognize that it is different from the 2 icons that represent your Macs' internal drive.) The upper entry represent the device as a whole, including the controller inside. The lower entry represents the hard disk contained within the device.
Click on the upper icon of the external hard disk.
Select the "Partition" tab.
For "Volume Scheme" choose "1 partition". (Chose 2 partitions if you intend on storing other data on the disk besides your Time Machine backups.)
Name the disk.
Format should be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
Click "Options".
Select either GUID or Apple Partition Map. (See above for significance)
Click "OK".
Click "Apply". Then click “Partition”.
Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups.
Let us know if this was helpful.

External Hard Drive doesn't mount, not showing in Disk Utility

I have had this Western Digital external hard drive for a few months now and until this evening it worked fine. It won't show up on my Macbook Pro and it is not present in the Disk Utility section. The light on the external hard drive is on so it doesn't appear to be a power issue. I have another of the same exact hard drive and it works fine. I tried switching USB cables and even power supplies and I can't get it to work. Does anyone know how to recover the files or is the hard drive toast?

Something's wrong inside the case; it's either a problem which is preventing the computer from properly connecting to the drive or the drive itself is dead.
Data recovery from a failed drive can only be done by a professional service, which can charge hundreds or thousands of dollars.
(93717)

Time Capsule Hard Drive Doesn't Mount on Desktop

I just installed my Time Capsule, and everything Wi-FI works fine. However, the built-in 1TB hard drive appeared only once--and even then only fleetingly--on the desktop. Every backup I try to do on the 1TB hard drive fails.
Anyone experience this problem?
HDW

Just how did you map to this drive in "drive window?" I can see the drive in a window I open when clicking on "TimeCapsule" in the navigation pane for the "TimeCapsule." [Follow?] I can even save a file to the hard drive in the TimCapsule, but my backups continue to fail with the message that the drive image cannot be created.
I've even tried erasing the hard drive using the AirPort utility (just updated the software). I can fast erase, but the full erase works forever without advancing the progress bar.
I think I have a hard dribe problem.
V/r,
HDW

External hard drive doesn't mount

I have a Thermaltake dual bay with two 1.5TB hard drives set up but the RAID got corrupted. I re-partitioned one of the hard drives so that I can just do a copy but somehow the other drive was not working...guess it didn't see the RAID. I deleted the RAID "slice" and not the drive just shows disk2s2 on the partition and won't mount. Using the iskysoft freeware I can recover the files it seems but it's $90. Is there a way to mount the drive?

Run Disk Utility to copy a partition disk2s2 image dmg.
Then connect this image in Disk Utility and try to repair the disk.
If it does not use a professional data recovery software such as Disk Drill (you can check whether the recovered files in the free version) or DataResсue.
Do not write to the disk you want to restore!
Alex
Apple Support Professional

External hard drives won't mount on desktop

I've had a Western Digital My Passport HD attached to my iMac computer for a few weeks now. Today however I disconnected it and when I went to plug it back in it failed to mount on the desktop. The light was on, but it was a steady light and it usually blinks when its communicating with the computer. I put my hand on top of it and could feel the drive turning. I also noticed that my SanDisk Memory Card Reader wasn't powering on either. I plugged in other devices to sort out what was having the issue. I plugged in my Wacom tablet to each of the ports that the HD and MMCR had been plugged in and it powered on and worked with no issue.
I then plugged in the HD and MMCR and checked them on Disk Utility, and neither one showed up there. Finally I plugged in a different WD MyPassport HD that I owned and it mounted on my desktop. That's when I started to get panicky. I did one final test to confirm whether my drive was kaput. I plugged the HD into my Time Capsule. I entered TC and there was the drive, mounting within TC and completely accessible.
Whaddya make of that?
iMac 21.5 Late 2012
2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
Western Digital My Passport 1TB

This can happen with any USB BUS powered drive. For some reason the USB ports on Mac computers do not always put out enogh power to fully power up these USB BUS powered drives. You should try using a Y USB cable that connects to 2 USB ports at the same time to supply more power to the drive.

External Hard Drive Won't Mount- Need to recover files

Hello Everyone,
I am hoping that one of you fine mac experts may be able to assist ~
Problem: External Seagate FreeAgent Desktop USB external hard drive
won't mount on desktop=ie: no access to my important files.. Please Help!
Details:
External seagate freeagent 500 GB Desktop USB HD ( only 2 months old)
(using for document / file backup-not as a startup disc)
on my Mac G3 350 MZ Blue & White Tower /768 ram/ running OSX 10.1.5 & OS9.2~
~
Problem: Started using the external 500 GB HD 2 months ago -with no problems-until this morning. Tried to double click to open it to access files
and got the "beach ball of death" and needed to restart.
My trusty G3 started up fine, however, the external HD was now
not showing up on the desktop as normal. I troubleshooted -by restarting,
trying different a/c plugs/ different USB ports , ran disk utility..called
seagate -not much help . Seagate said to try the HD on another mac-which I did-
a G5 tower- same problem.
~
The External hard drive will show up in disk utility, but is grayed out.
and when click "mount" same two messages keep showing:
message 1: "a disk attempting to mount as unknown has failed verification or has failed to
mount.please use disk utility to check the disk"
~
message 2- when unplugging and repluggin the usb in-and upon
restart:" you have inserted a disk containg no volumes that mac osx
can read to use unreadable volumes,click initialize to continue with the disk inserted ,click continue"
~
( I really need access to these files- and do not want to re-initialize the HD!!)
I ran Disk Utility /first aid "verify & repair , the following info came up:
Repairing disk "main backup 2007 ".
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid key length ( <<<IN RED )
Repair completed. "
~~
Though it said the repair was completed, the "invalid key length" issue
still comes up when re-running disk utility...Hard drive would still not
mount on desktop-even after restarting .
~~~~~
If there is a mac genius out there that can help?- it would be greatly
appreciated. I have tried to call seagate several times in the last several hours-
1st time-they disconnected me after being on hold 10 minutes-2nd call
I was put on hold for 40 minutes ..Finally spoke to someone ( they are not mac users or mac experts!)and he said I would need to send it to Seagate's Data Recovery-... for a fee of course!
~~~
At this point, I am hoping to just get the files and photos off
the hard drive- I heard about Disk Warrior-should I use that and if so
what version?
Thank you very much!
L

Will zapping the PRAM be of any use in getting the external to mount on the desktop?
Your external Hard drive is already recognized. But it cannot be mounted on the desktop due to its directory damage. You can certainly Zap the PRAM, and it will not hurt anything, but I am skeptical that it will change the situation.
Do you think the Disk Warrior 4.0 cd will even work on my G3 350MHZ running Mac OS 10.1.5?
If you boot from the CD and run it from the CD, absolutely yes. If you attempt to INSTALL it from a download or a CD, probably not.
Have you ever used Disc Warrior and is using it complicated?
I own and use Disk Warrior. You select the drive to be rebuilt, it builds a proposed new directory from the information and file fragments available.
When complete, it will provide a list of problems encountered, tell you what files have been placed in the "Rescued Items" folder, and allow you too look at your drive using the proposed new directory. Your only decision is whether the new directory seems to be an improvement over the old \[in your case, hopelessly corrupted] directory. You then tell it whether to replace the old directory with the proposed new directory, or to abandon its work and leave your Hard Drive unchanged.
Is there a good chance that the ext HD will still have my files on it- or do you think from what I've described that they are gone ?
From what you have described, your files are very likely to still be there. Sometimes in a situation like this, a handful of files cannot be recovered.
My other thought was to take the external HD there and have them try to recover the files.
Make sure you completely understand the costs involved. File recovery using a service like DriveSavers can run into many hundreds of dollars. They are prepared to disassemble your drive in a clean room and replace controller boards and read/write heads to achieve success. Your drive has serious, but not fatal, Directory damage. The Hardware, and most of your files, are likely just fine.

My external hard drive will not mount on the desktop?

My external hard drive no longer mounts on my desktop, the hard drive has been checked & is working-has anyone ideas?

Hello cuckoo55,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information on this, take a look at:
Mac OS X v10.6: How to show your hard drive icon on the desktop
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3746
In the Finder, choose Preferences from the Finder menu.
Click the General icon on the toolbar.
Select "Hard disks" in the "Show these items on the desktop:" section.
Close the Finder Preferences window.
Best of luck,
Mario

External hard drive won't mount, even after disk repair.

My Toshiba external hard drive won't mount on my MacBook Pro 10.8.5. I can see it in my disk repair, and when I repair, "the partition map appears to be ok." But I can't access the icon to be able to open the hard drive contents on my desktop. Help!

Hello maccynicwhoalwayshasmacs,
Thanks for the question. After reviewing your post, it sounds like trouble with an external HD mounting. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help you resolve or isolate the issue.
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

External Hard Drive does not mount

My 2TB external hard drive does not mount and I cannot get it to. Have tried turning the hard drive off and then back on. No response. Any thoughts as to how I can get it to be recognized?

You can try doing a SMC reset, if it doesn't work the first time it's totally OK to reset the SMC several times.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
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.

My external hard drive doesn't show up in finder, is it dead?

My external hard drive doesn't show up in finder.Time machine can't find it. Does this mean my external hard drive is dead?
I borrowed a friends and switched mine with hers. My acted the same way in her macbook. I switched the cords on the external drives, no change.
Also, Is there a way to retrieve the information from my sick external hard drive? Thanks for your help.

If the Disk Utility sees it, you might be able to repair it or recover the data on it with a product such as DiskWarrior or Data Rescue.
If the Disk Utility doesn't see it, contact professional support.
(64290)

HT3275 When I press "select backup location" in the Time Machine section of System Preferences, my external hard drive doesn't appear as an option. How do I change this?

When I press "select backup location" in the Time Machine section of System Preferences, my external hard drive doesn't appear as an option. How do I change this? My external hard drive is a FreeAgent GoFlex Drive.

Hi, what Format is the external Drive?
They usually come PC Formatted for Fat32/MSdos, or NTFS... is there anything on it now?
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

External Hard Drive Doesn't Mount on Desktop through FireWire 400

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