External Harddrives Disconnect Spontaneously

I am quite lost with this bug.
I am using either of two external HD [LaCie Triple 120 GB; WesternDigital My Book Pro 250GB] using either Silverkeeper 1.1.4 or Retrospect 6.1 for backup.
Now, when I connect either of those HD, they will eject themselves spontaneously. I will get a message that I had not correctly removed the drive and some documents or folders could be dammaged, but nil else.
As I am using two different FW800 cables and two different mains power supplies, I feel the bug somehow is with my MacOS 10.4.8 copy.
Any ideas?
PowerBook G4 1.25 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

In summary, the problem seems to lie with the FW400/800 sockets on the right side of my notebook. The same HDs work perfectly when connected via a FW-PCMCIA card on my PB.
The suggested solution would be a mainboard replacement. But I already have a mainboard replacement from Apple when a memory slot went dead after a warranty repair in an Apple certified workshop. As the cost is high and replacing the main board seems technically demanding, I have opted for a permanent FW-PCMCIA BusCard.
Disappointing but true.

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External Harddrives disconnecting on their own

Ok, so, I've got this very goofy problem where I have 2 seperate external hard drives that disconnect themselves from the usb all on their own. So basically what happens is I'll be working and then get the error pop up to make sure I eject my external device blah blah blah.... Does any one know what is causing this? is it software or is there something royally messed up with my usb ports?
thanks,
James

I would first contact Seagate's tech support for a possible solution. If that doesn't prove successful then I would try a different product or consider building your own.
Basic Backup
Get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
Silver Keeper
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Although you can buy a complete external drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
Cool Drives
OWC
WiebeTech
Firewire Direct
California Drives
NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.

Can somebody please please help me! External harddrive not readable due to dumb mistake!

What is quite possibly one of the dumbest decisions i ever made in my life, I disconnected my external harddrive from my imac & plugged it into a laptop that has Windows 7 to trasfer footage from there to my imac more quicker. I clciked an option that allowed me to assign a letter to it to it can be read by the laptop (however, I would of needed to format the harddrive which I thankfully didn't). Please understand that erasing the entire harddrive is NOT an option! I am a filmmaker & I have so many years of work on there, including videos, music, & documents.
When the computer starts up I get hit with "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"! I tried Disk Utiity & even though it recognizes the drive's existence, I cannot repair or mount...nor can I access any of the files! I also tried Diskwarrior & got "directory cannot be rebuilt, the file system is unsupported".
If theres anything you guys can do to help me, please do so. My life was on that harddrive & losing it would be the most devistating thing I could ever experience. A movie I finished not too long ago...is also on that harddrive. I'll send you a full video completely thanking you for your help!

Call a professional data recovery service such as DriveSavers. Their services are very expensive, but without backups, you have no choice but to pay whatever they ask.

Maverick does not see External Harddrive

I had a Seagate external usb3 harddrive connected. I was working on a video file when suddenly I got a message in the upper right hand corner saying that the external harddrive was incorrectly disconnected or dismounted. OK. So, I unplug and then plug the ext. HD back into the usb3 port. To make the story short, the hd light comes on, I can hear the disk spinning. But it does not appear in the Finder or desktop. The only sign on the Mac is by going to the "About This Mac" and to the System Report which lists hardware and software. Clicking on the USB line, it shows the external HD plugged into one of the usb 3 ports. The disk info indicates its ID and other data and how much energy it is consuming (it appears it is only using 96 mA from an available 500 mA). So, it appears that the Mac sees it and can read it and has power enough to run it.
I then removed the first ext. HD and inserted another Seagate external usb3 harddrive - the Mac doesn't see it either except in the System report. The external HDs do not show up in the Disk Utility app. The only conclusion is that the harddrives are probably OK but the Mac won't mount them anymore. Most people with unmountable ext. HDs usually see them in the disk utility (greyed out).
Any ideas.

Update - I have three Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex external harddrives. The two that I have connected to my Macbook Pro no longer can be read. I took the two and connected to another MacBook Pro but it would not read the drivers either. I took my third drive which I have not connected to my Macbook Pro for several weeks and connected to the other Macbook Pro and it reads it fine.
I downloaded drivers from Seagate but it didn't help. I started my computer in safe mode, HD didn't work. I have another drive containing a duplicate of my internal HD (using Superduper) and booted with the backup drive. It would not open the two drives. I'm taking the HD to a friend who has a G5 using an early Mac OS, 6.0. These two drives contain my video files and I need to retrieve the files.
Conclusion: The Maverick on my computer has corrupted the first two Seagate drives.

External harddrive is slow

Hello there
I have a MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz with Mac OS X 10.5.4, and Im experiencing slow data transfers from my Western Digital My Book 500gb external harddrive. This results in video-lag when trying to play dvd or other video files from that harddrive. I have searched forums for help on this, but cannot find any solutions. Do you know what I can do to fix this? By the way, the filesystem is ntfs-3g.

I don't believe it is a fragmentation problem. It is extremely unlikely that a drive used to store large video files would become fragmented enough to cause your problem. It sounds as if your computer is not recognizing your drive as USB2.0 and is mounting it as a USB1.1 drive. The issue is addressed in this thread, unfortunately there is no permanent solution as of yet. Some have reported that unmounting, disconnecting, and reconnecting the drive fixes the problem temporarily.
Good Luck!
-Cliff

Transferring Video Projects to and External Harddrive

Can I transfer a video project to an external harddrive and delete the original from my computer. If so, whats the best way to do it"?

csu1970
What version of Premiere Elements are you using and on what computer operating system is it running?
Depending on the circumstances yet to be exchanged, the easy way out would seem to be to archive the existing project via the program's Project Archiver/Copy Option with the Copied Folder pointed to the external hard drive. That folder will contain the project file (project.prel) and its assets including copies of source media that went into the project. Then you can delete the project file, its assets, and source media from the Local Disc C. DO NOT DELETE SOURCE MEDIA ON LOCAL DISC C THAT ARE ALSO BEING USED IN ANOTHER ACTIVE PROJECT.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premiereelements/using/WS09e4b3c48f3a79fc19b622510385d4355c-7d cb.html
After that you can work with that particular program from that location.
Before you start a new project, you can set the project Save In: (new project dialog) and program assets (including Scratch Disks) to the external hard drive, best to its own folder.
In this type of situation, the prime concern to to avoid media disconnect issues. If you move or delete source media that went into a project after the project's save/close, you are going to have major problems with "Where is file....?" and the like.
More later.
ATR
Add On...I did not see Hunt's post(s) until after I posted mine.

WD External Harddrive for Mac

I just bought a WD mac external harddrive.
I have a pc desktop.
I just got a macbook pro.
I want to move my files from the pc to the external harddrive, and be able to access them from the macbook.
will i be able to easily do this?
also, can I have an itunes library saved on the harddrive and be able to listen on the macbook and sync from the macbook?

There are two ways to do this ...
1 - format the external drive as FAT32. Then it can be used on both your PC and Mac. The only limitation will be that the maximum file size on a FAT32 drive is 4GB. That will be a problem if you are saving video files, as they are often larger than 4GB.
2 - format the external drive as +Mac OS Extended+ and install MacDrive on your PC. You will then be able to use the drive on both your PC and your Mac, no file size limit.
Regarding your iTunes library, yes you can move it to your external drive and use it from there. Just keep in mind that if the drive is FAT32 then you are facing a 4GB file size limit. And, of course if you disconnect your drive the iTunes library will not be available on your laptop

Before I install snow leopard, I tried to move tiger into the external harddrive. My mac says it can't do because it is the OS X. So I installed snow leopard without removing tiger. After that, my computer often freezes. How can I remove tiger?

Before I install snow leopard, I tried to move tiger into the external harddrive. My mac says it can't do because it is the OS X. So I installed snow leopard without removing tiger. After that, my computer often freezes. How can I remove tiger? Or How can I prevent my mac from freezing?

McHagihara wrote:
Before I install snow leopard, I tried to move tiger into the external harddrive. My mac says it can't do because it is the OS X. So I installed snow leopard without removing tiger. After that, my computer often freezes. How can I remove tiger? Or How can I prevent my mac from freezing?
When you installed Snow Leopard, Tiger was replaced, leaving your programs and files intact.
What is causing your freezing problem is unknown, you can take Kappy's advice and remove everything, but you lose your files and free iLife programs that came with Tiger/new machine.
The 10.6.3 disk you "upgraded" with has the full 10.6.3 on it, but no free iLife suit, so a erase and install will remove what you already have installed.
You can try to locate your problem without the erase and install method by running through this list of fixes.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
But before you do anything, backup your personal data off the machine to a extenal drive and disconnect.
Most commonly used backup methods
Because if you have to follow Kappy's advice and wipe and install 10.6 fresh, it will cure your problem in nearly 99% of cases, but you have to rebuild everything. All programs and files.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
If this is all too much for you, then STOP and call a local PC/Mac service or competant friend to assist you.
Yuo might need to install more RAM into the machine to make 10.6 run better as well.

Unable to boot Windows 7 Premium from an external harddrive

I recently gained an interest in playing microsoft based games, and just recently got my late 2013 macbook pro retina 15". I have been trying for several hours for the last two days to get bootcamp to boot Windows 7 Premium from a 500GB external harddrive without re-partiitioning my internal harddrive. I can get to the first screen of the Windows 7 Install asking about language, but neither my keyboard or mousepad respond with the windows installer. I assume this is because Windows 7 premium does not have USB 3.0 capability. Is there a workaround for this that doesn't involve partitioning my internal drive?

That's all fine and good, but I would strongly prefer not to have to use internal drive space for Windows. Even If I were to use the internal drive to install it, I would still run into the same problems of not having a keyboard or trackpad as I've seen other users having issues with. It stands to reason that if I had a working keyboard and mouse that I would be able to install it to an external hard drive, using a workaround method found here:
http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.fr/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.h tml
If I had to partition my internal drive, what would be the absolute minimum amount of space I would need?

Keyboard, trackpad & external harddrive suddenly stopped responding but external mouse will work?

I have a 2007 MacBook, but the harddrive was replace begining on 2011. Ealier today mid-email my keyboard suddenly froze and my cursor dissappeared. The power button still worked so I was able to turn off my computer. When I restarted I had about 3 hours of normal functioning before the same thing happened again. The entire keyboard becomes unresponsive (including the caps lock light that does not light up) and the mouse is no longer visible. I tried connecting an external mouse and this seems to work fine, but I still can't type anything in.
I connected my external harddrive to copy over all my files (incase this was the begining of the end). About two minutes in the light started blinking on the harddrive and i was given the message from the computer saying the harddrive was unplugged... which it was not!
I have restarted the computer a few times, the keyboard and trackpad never come back on, the computer can no longer recongnize any external harddrive or thumbdrive but works fine with the external mouse.
Does anyone have any idea what is going on?
Thank you! I really appreciate your time and any advice you may have.

Make sure it's not something as simple as the battery bulging up and exerting upward pressure on the trackpad, keyboard, and USB / FW ports.
That's what happened to my Macbook and it showed similar symptoms.
I simply took out the battery and let the MacBook rest for a 48 hours. Then I ran it strictly on the power supply and it ran fine.
At that point I bought a replacement generic battery through Amazon for about $40 including shipping and taxes. I figured why waste money on the Apple original part if it was that very Apple original battery that went bad and bulged up like a toad?
MacBook has been running just fine for months now, maybe a year.

How to connect an external harddrive with firewire 800 to a macbook with firewire 400?

Hello,
I just got the external harddrive "Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 1TB" with a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Upgrade Kabel FireWire 800. I have neither a USB 3.0, nor a Firewire 800 on my white macbook (2008). I already know, that it's possible to use USB 3.0 with an USB 2.0 port, but I would like to use it with the firewire to spare the USB port for other devices. My question: Is there an adapter or cable to use the Seagate Firewire 800 with my Firewire 400 port? I don't know, where and what to look for.
I'm glad for any advice.

There are many adaptors, try here

I moved all my music from c: drive(because it was full) to an external harddrive and now itunes can't find any of my music. Is there a way to get Itunes to find music on external drive without having to place all the music back onto the c: drive? Thanks

I moved all my music from c: drive(because it was full) to an external harddrive and now itunes can't find any of my music. Is there a way to get Itunes to find music on external drive without having to place all the music back onto the c: drive? Thanks

Hopefully you moved the entire iTunes Media (or iTunes Music) folder to a new path on your external drive. Copy your iTunes library folder out to the root of the external drive, e.g. X:\iTunes (where X: is your external drive), then move the media folder inside it. Hold down shift as you start iTUnes and keep holding untila asked to choose or create a library. Choose the library at X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl. Should all be good.
Failing that, download and run my FindTracks script and point it at the new location of your media folder.
tt2

HT1766 How do I back up my iphone5 to my ICloud account, when my restrictions password. My restrictions pass code has my icloud a account greyed out? Can i backup to a wd external harddrive, or try to backup to a new mini-mac, i jUst purchased?

How do I back up my iphone5 to my ICloud account, whqen iI have forgot my restrictions password. My restrictions pass code has my icloud a account greyed out? Can i backup to a wd external harddrive, or try to backup to a new mini-mac, I just purchased yesterday? This is my first iMac and IPhone5, so i am kinda out on my own, and can use some pointers!! My phone is full of pictures, and will not download anything, until i store my pictures somewhere!!

If you don't remember your restrictions passcode, you will have to force the phone into recovery mode and restore it using iTunes. Do NOT restore your backup. The restrictions passcode is part of the backup.
Everything on the phone will be lost.
You can extract the photos from the camera roll the same way you would from any other digital camera. Having a restriction passcode set should not prevent that. do that before you put the phone in recovery mode and restore it.

How do i copy files and folders from one external harddrive to another on the iMac?

For some reason when i drag the folder or file that i want to transfer or copy from one external harddrive to another, nothing happens when i drop it on the destination folder or drive. however, when i drag and drop to the desktop or any location on the Imac internal hardrive it works without any issue. The only problem is that i dont want to transfer or copy stuff to the computer. i want to copy it to an external harddrive. please help if your have answers to my question.
Thanks!

Check the formatting of the external hard drive. To do that, right click on the drive icon and select Get Info. (Or click once on the drive and type command +i ) The pane includes information about the drive format.
The drive should be formatted as Mac OS Extended. If it is not, run Disk Utility (App;ications / Utilities) and format the drive.

How do I move my iTunes library to an external harddrive?

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and want to reload by CD collection into iTunes on an external drive. In the past, I had been using iTunes for PC and the library became corrupted. I would prefer to save the music to an external harddrive to save space on my MacBook's harddrive. Once I load the music onto the harddrive, I want to be sure that my MacBook recognizes the library in the future.

Creating a new library on the external drive will add to confusion because now you will have multiple iTunes libraries. For simplicity it would be best to move your entire iTunes library to the external drive, unless you have a very good reason for wanting to split media storage locations. To move a library if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.

External Harddrives Disconnect Spontaneously

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