External Hard Drive won't appear on PC (want cross platform)
I have an external USB Hard Drive. I formatted it using the Disk Utility, OS Format and Journaling. Did a small partition in case I needed a system boot drive. Now my sis needed to backup her laptop (Dell laptop), but the drive won't appear in My Computer, it recognizes there is a USB device on the lower task bar, but no drive anywhere.
Do I have to reformat? what steps do I need to make this USB drive cross-platform friendly?
Paul
Hi, Paul.
You may not want to reformat the drive as FAT-32 since there is a limit on the size of the partition, the maximum file size, and other issues, especially if her Dell's drive is formatted as NTFS (FAT-32 does not support NTFS extended attributes). FAT-32 is unsuitable for backing-up Mac OS X volumes as it cannot preserve the extended attributes (permissions, etc.) employed by Mac OS X.
It's really best if you each have your own external hard drive for backup, as part of implementing a comprehensive Backup and Recovery solution, such as I use and detail in my "Backup and Recovery" FAQ. You also don't want one person inadvertently writing over another person's backups, which could happen if one is not careful. Furthermore, it is often easiest for recovery.
How one handles backup in cross-platform environments is tricky and depends on the native formats employed by the different computers involved, and whether backup will be performed over a network or by directly connecting backup drives to the computers one is backing up.
To enable her Dell to use the Mac-formatted drive, install Mediafour's MacDrive for Windows on the PC. MacDrive for Windows is probably the state-of-the-art application for enabling you to use Mac-formatted disks and hard drives on Windows-based PCs.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.
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STEP ONE - Confirm that the drive is being seen by the system
Click the Apple icon and select About This Mac.
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STEP THREE - Are the Mac OS X drivers detecting the drive properly?
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Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_CoreStorage 250.1 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD *249.8 GB disk1
Logical Volume on disk0s2
7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
Unlocked Encrypted
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk2
1: Microsoft Reserved 134.2 MB disk2s1
~ belambert$ diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 883A56F4-5559-4872-A8DA-960F99655B63
=========================================================
Name: Macintosh HD
Status: Online
Size: 250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
Free Space: 8921088 B (8.9 MB)
|
+-< Physical Volume 7EDAFA20-FF9A-45FB-BA44-6526BB46C381
| ----------------------------------------------------
| Index: 0
| Disk: disk0s2
| Status: Online
| Size: 250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
|
+-> Logical Volume Family B47B0B40-CBF2-4D02-BFEF-182061AC6F8E
Encryption Status: Unlocked
Encryption Type: AES-XTS
Conversion Status: Complete
Conversion Direction: -none-
Has Encrypted Extents: Yes
Fully Secure: Yes
Passphrase Required: Yes
|
+-> Logical Volume 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
Disk: disk1
Status: Online
Size (Total): 249779191808 B (249.8 GB)
Conversion Progress: -none-
Revertible: Yes (unlock and decryption required)
LV Name: Macintosh HD
Volume Name: Macintosh HD
Content Hint: Apple_HFS
~ belambert$ mount
/dev/disk1 on / (hfs, local, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
localhost:/vB3z604U-dvSpES6320fHq on /Volumes/MobileBackups (mtmfs, nosuid, read-only, nobrowse)
~ belambert$ diskutil info disk2
Device Identifier: disk2
Device Node: /dev/disk2
Part of Whole: disk2
Device / Media Name: WD My Book 111A Media
File System: None
Content (IOContent): GUID_partition_scheme
OS Can Be Installed: No
Media Type: Generic
Protocol: USB
SMART Status: Not Supported
Total Size: 2.0 TB (2000365289472 Bytes) (exactly 3906963456 512-Byte-Units)
Volume Free Space: Not applicable (no file system)
Device Block Size: 512 Bytes
Read-Only Media: No
Read-Only Volume: Not applicable (no file system)
Ejectable: Yes
File System: None
Content (IOContent): GUID_partition_scheme
OS Can Be Installed: No
Media Type: Generic
Protocol: USB
SMART Status: Not Supported
Total Size: 2.0 TB (2000365289472 Bytes) (exactly 3906963456 512-Byte-Units)
Volume Free Space: Not applicable (no file system)
Device Block Size: 512 Bytes
Read-Only Media: No
Read-Only Volume: Not applicable (no file system)
Ejectable: Yes
belambert ttys000 Wed Mar 11 17:34 - 17:39 (00:05)
belambert ttys000 Wed Mar 11 17:33 - 17:34 (00:00)
wtmp begins Sun Mar 8 14:40
~ belambert$ ~ belambert$ diskutil list
-bash: :~: command not found
~ belambert$ /dev/disk0
-bash: /dev/disk0: Permission denied
:~ belambert$ #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
~ belambert$ 0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0
-bash: 0:: command not found
:~ belambert$ 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
-bash: 1:: command not found
~ belambert$ 2: Apple_CoreStorage 250.1 GB disk0s2
-bash: 2:: command not found
~ belambert$ 3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
-bash: /dev/disk1: Permission denied
~ belambert$ #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
~ belambert$ 0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD *249.8 GB disk1
-bash: 0:: command not found
~ belambert$ Logical Volume on disk0s2
-bash: Logical: command not found
~ belambert$ 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C
-bash: 7A998EAE-68FB-4BAC-BF40-7A31D2806B2C: command not found
~ belambert$ Unlocked Encrypted
-bash: Unlocked: command not found
:~ belambert$ /dev/disk2
-bash: /dev/disk2: Permission denied
~ belambert$ #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
:~ belambert$ 0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk2
-bash: 0:: command not found
~ belambert$ 1: Microsoft Reserved 134.2 MB disk2s1
-bash: 1:: command not found
~ belambert$ ~ belambert$ diskutil cs list
-bash: ~: command not found
~ belambert$ CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('
~ belambert$ |
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `|'
~ belambert$ +-- Logical Volume Group 883A56F4-5559-4872-A8DA-960F99655B63
-bash: +--: command not found
~ belambert$ =========================================================
-bash: =========================================================: command not found
~ belambert$ Name: Macintosh HD
-bash: Name:: command not found
~ belambert$
-bash: 3:: command not found
~ belambert$ /dev/disk1
Whole: Yes
Internal: No
OS 9 Drivers: No
Low Level Format: Not supported
:~ belambert$ Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
Whole: Yes
Internal: No
OS 9 Drivers: No
Low Level Format: Not supported
~ belambert$ Last login: Wed Mar 11 19:23:03 on ttys000
~ belambert$ diskutil list
Volume Name: Not applicable (no file system)
Mounted: Not applicable (no file system)racergirl,
have you tried resetting your MacBook Pro’s System Management Controller, to see if that makes a difference with the heat? -
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!
LWill 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. -
After installing snow leopard my external hard drive won't show up on screen or backup
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Try going to finder preferences, general, make sure show these items on desktop external disks is clicked. You can also go to sidebar (same pane) and click it there so it will show when you open your HD. Time Machine>system preferences>time machine>turn it off click select disk, make sure the correct disk is selected, the turn TM back on. Hope this helps.
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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?
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How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
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http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html -
External hard drive won't shut down after switch from OS10.5 to OS10.4.11
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can anyone suggest how i can get it to do this again?
i'm a little concerned that i'm damaging the external drive by turning it off manually all the time..
thanksSome hard drives shut off with shutdown, some don't. Sometimes hard drives that did shut off with one system will not do the same with a different system. My hard drives which did shut off, prior to 10.5 now stay on.
This is not really a problem as all hard drives spin down after 10- 20 minutes when not in use, whether your computer is on or off. Leaving the drive on is fine, shutting it off manually is fine.
-mj
[email protected] -
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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 -
Two external hard drive are not appearing on the desktop anymore on my 2008 24" iMac. One is a Lacie d2 Quadra and the other is a G Drive. Both are 1 Tb
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