External Hard Drive "read only" when connected to mac.

Hi
I have a Lacie external hard drive, formatted FAT, which has always worked fine on our macbook pro until the macs internal drive crashed and had to be replaced. now, when i connect the lacie i can access everything, but cannot move it around or add new folders, etc. under permissions it says "read only" how do i change this? when i connect to a pc it works normal.
the macs software is OS X Version 10.5.8.
im sure that its a really simple answer but i dont know enough about mac to find it...

NTFS is read only on OS X. there are drivers to make it writable, so you could try to get those to work or you can copy the data off & reformat to FAT 32.
if you want to try the drivers: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/24481
reformatting the drive: http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13415_53-10286826-11.html

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Why is external hard drive read-only on one Mac, but read/write on another?

I have a Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive. I bought it to be compatible with both Windows and Mac, which it currently is. It works just fine on my PC and my MacBook. However, recently, I bought a MacBook Pro. The Seagate drive shows up as read only on the MacBook Pro, though it is read/write on my MacBook. It's formatted NTFS, yes, but it already works on my MacBook. What's going on here?

Nope, one of the selling points of the drive was that it came ready to work with both Mac and Windows (the product description says there is an NTFS drive installed for use on Mac). No hacking or installing on my part.
But I think I figured it out. Apparentely, Mavericks comes installed with something that does not allow it to write NTFS no matter what (well, unless you go through a whole bunch of technical stuff to rewrite the software). My old MacBook was Leopard.
I'll just reformat the external hard drive for Mac, and if I ever need to use it on a Windows, I'll install HFS+ Explorer on the Windows. Oh well.

External Hard Drive Read-Only Issue

I have a Samsung M3 portable 2TB hard drive which i used to back up my iMac to take travelling with my Macbook Pro. Today it has turned to read only and everything in the disk utility is greyed out. I haven't used this hard drive on any other machines. I've tried running this in Terminal as advised by KAPPY and here are the results:
sudo chown root:admin
chown: /Volumes/SAMSUNG: Read-only file system
sudo chmod a+rwx
chmod: Unable to change file mode on /Volumes/SAMSUNG: Read-only file system
killall Finder
When opening get info it says 'you can only read' in the sharing & permissions section. This is the first time i've tried to copy anything from the Macbook to the Samsung device since transferring all the data. Also sometimes when I connect the drive it doesn't appear in the sidebar in Finder. Macbook Pro with Retina display running OS X Yosemite v10.10.2.

I have found a solution!
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/how-to-manually-enable-ntfs-read-and-write-in-os-x/
"First ensure that your NTFS drive has a simple single-word name, and then go to the Applications > Utilities folder and launch the Terminal program. In here, run the following command to edit the fstab file (supply your password when prompted):
sudo nano /etc/fstab
The Terminal should now show an editor window for the fstab file, in which you can enter the following all on one line. Be sure to change the word NAME to the name of your drive (it is case-sensitive):
LABEL=NAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse
When finished, press Control-O to save the file, followed by Control-X to exit, and then unmount your NTFS drive and attach it again. When you do so, the system will no longer immediately show it in the Finder, but you can go back to the Terminal and run the following command to reveal it in the hidden Volumes directory where the system mounts all attached drives:
open /Volumes
In the folder that opens, you should see the mounted NTFS volume, and should now be able to copy files to it, or otherwise manage files on it. If you need to access this volume more frequently, you can drag it to the sidebar, or make an alias of it in the location of your choice. You can also view the Volumes directory in Column mode to reveal it as a parent directory, from which you can create an alias instead of doing so on a per-drive basis."
This may only be a temporary fix but hopefully it will last me until I can afford to buy a new drive!

External hard drive read only unless you unplug and replug in

I've got an external firewire hd (fw 400 with an adapter) connected to a MacBook Pro 2009 running OS X 10.6.2. It's been working flawlessly until recently. I'm not sure what happened and I don't think it's the result of any system upgrade or modification, but now, at startup, the drive shows up as read-only. But, if I eject, unplug, and replug it in, or eject, turn if off, and back on, it mounts correctly as read/write. Get Info on the drive shows that it should be read/write. I've tried repairing permissions and doing a repair disk from Disk Utility, but no problems are found.
Any idea on what the problem/solution is?

I'm not sure where the issue is but you do you do have it running. One thing you can do to see if it's the computer or the drive is to get another FW drive and connect it and see if it works. If the Mac automatically detects it (like it should!) then that tells you it something with the original drive and if it doesn't then it's obviously something with the MBP. If you take it to an Apple Store and explain the issue they can probably provide another drive to test it out.
If it turns out to be the drive (that's my guess) then it might be a power supply problem or the FW connection, a hunch tells me it would be the power supply.
At least you are finally making progress and can use the drive though!

Time Machine - External Hard Drive Read only error

Just recently got a Iomega 1TB MiniMax FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Desktop Hard Drive and used Time Machine to backup my computer. This was my first time using Time Machine and it successfully backed up 350 GBs. It continued to do backups every hour. When I turned my computer off and then turned it on the next day Time Machine wouldn't allow me to do a backup because it said the hard drive was read only. When I checked info it said it was read/write. I used disc utility to verify disc it said it could not verify disc do a disc repair. Disc repair failed and it said reformat disc. I erased the hard drive tried again and I got the same error message. The hard drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I searched this forum and the trouble shooting links and couldn't find anything on how to correct this. Any help on this problem would be appreciated.

See the following:
What to do if Time Machine reports you don't have permission
This was posted in the Apple Discussions by V.K. I have only modified it slightly to be more generic.
The problem seems to be that 10.5.6 changes permissions on a file so that even the root user doesn't have write peivileges. I have no idea why they did this. The workaround suggested in [an]other post will probably work, too, but i did something less drastic. Instead of deleting the file I changed permissions on it, and it worked just fine. An added benefit is that the permission change seems to stick, so you don't have to delete the file every time you change a drive.
[Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt [enter] the following command:
sudo chmod 644 /volumes/"TM drive name"/.xxxxxxxxxxxx
The name of the file .xxxxxxxxxxxx is based on the MAC address of your computer and will be different for every computer. Put the name of the TM drive in the above and keep the quotes.
You'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see) which is normal.
This was edited by Kappy just for cleanup.
Enable Finder to Show Invisible Files and Folders
Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following command line then press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
To turn off the display of invisible files and folders enter or paste the following command line and press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Alternatively you can use one of the numerous third-party utilities such as TinkerTool or ShowHideInvisibleFiles - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Also, see User Tips for Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.
Message was edited by: Kappy

External hard drive read-only?

Just got a Macbook Pro last week and I have found that my external drive is read-only, where it used to work perfectly on my old Windows laptop.
I can assume that the drive is formatted as NTFS from reading other posts, and that I must format it as FAT32 (I believe), but in the Disc Utility I do not see this option.
Can someone aid with this slight problem? I seem to be heading in the right direction as I'm not too keen on using third-party applications to enable writing.
Additionally, sometimes the drive will not connect (light stays red) but I assume that this is possibly related to the formatting issue at hand. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

It is FAT32. For some reason, OS X refers to it just as "FAT".
As AussieDJ indicated, you can use NTFS 3G. This allows your Mac to write to NTFS formatted drives. I personally have used this for quite a while and have never had issues. I have seen some posts from people saying it can be problematic. As I have never had a problem, I can't say specifically what issues might arise. Apple does offer it directly on their download pages:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/ntfs3g.html

External Hard Drive Read Only. Please Help!

So I have looked for answers and I can't find one. I need help ASAP cause I have to edit pictures and I have no space.
Ive read that I have to format my ED but it was working just fine. I don't want to erase none of the backups in there. Theres about 900GB already used.

Looks like your HD is full. When something is full, the only way to make room is to delete stuff.
Formatting will wipe it clean by removing everything in it.
For alternatives, go into the HD and delete stuff selectively you no longer need to make room.
The only other option is to buy a new HD.
With that said, I see no indication the drive is failing. Only that it is full. Unless you know for a fact there should not be enough data in it to have only 88GB left. I don't see anything overtly wrong with it.

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?

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

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

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kahjot wrote:
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My external hard drive will no longer connect to my macpro......any ideas on how to solve this problem??

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?

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.

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 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

My external hard drive is not recognised on my mac book pro

my external hard drive is not recognised on my mac book pro

Hello all -
similar situation. Unplugged external hard drive and all to take the laptop on a trip. On return, I plugged everything back in and keep getting this message:
Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “Iomega_Ext_Drive”.
Files can’t be copied onto the backup disk because it appears to be read-only.
You may need to repair or reformat the disk using Disk Utility. If the disk can’t be repaired, you must use a different disk for backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a different backup disk.
open time machine preferences. -
I tried this and tried "repair" but that didn't work and I still get this message. Any advice? thanks

What should i do if my external hard drive is not detected by my mac

what should i do if my external hard drive is not detected by my mac?
need to have the files saved on it and be able to backup via time machine

Hi:
Here are some of the options I've read about on here that may or may not work:
1. Reset the NVRAM as it may need to be reset to recognize the drive. See below:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
2. If the drive is a USB drive, put a USB hub between the drive and the unit. As ridiculous as that may sound in some cases it works.
3. If you have some types of hardware problems and want to test them this works:
http://scsc-online.com/Scannerz.html
That's a test tool only. It isn't going to fix anything just diagnose a bunch of possible hardware problems and it costs money, too.
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I was going to install Rosetta Stone Spanish onto my Macbook but am concerned about it taking up space on my 2GB hard-drive. I have an external WD hard-drive; is it possible to put the application onto the external hard-drive to save space on my mac?

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I think you're confused about how much hard drive space you have. You probably have 2 GB of RAM... there hasn't been a Mac shipped with only a 2 GB hard drive in a while. At the bottom of any Finder window, how much space is available?
If you're actually running low on space, you should move documents to the external drive, since many applications want to be on the system drive.

External Hard Drive "read only" when connected to mac.

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