External Hardrive not "readable" by my computer anymore....

So the other day my Samsun 200gig external hardrive was working..and the next thing you know it...the drive becomes "not readable by your computer" AGH...how frustrating. The Utility Disc also says that there are errors when trying to repair the disc.
These were the errors: The underlying task reported failure on exit.
Repair error: could not read boot block.
I have so much crap on my external drive..and I bought it new in Japan 5 months ago! AHHH..help! Thanks!!
Mac Book Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi,
I had a similar problem and it responded to several different approaches.
1. Make sure all is up to date in software update
2. Connect to different port
3. Vary the connection setup, start up with ext HD attached and turned on.
4. Do the opposite of 3
5. You might zap the pram( info in your booklet)
I hope perhaps that some of these might work, good luck
Slán
Dave

Similar Messages

External HDD: "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"

Hi,
I have an external drive with important data on it (there is a backup, but there is also some non-backuped data as well...). I cannot access the external drive because I receive a "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" message connecting it. I was wondering, if you have some advice on how to get my data back?
I have a WD Elements 2 TB (about 2 months old), I am using is with an iMac, latest Snow Leopard. The drive used to work all fine. Now, I receive a "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" every time I connect it. Same thing happens if connected to my MacBook Pro.
What happened?: I was copying files to the external drive. I the middle of it, I received a message complaining I that assumedly ejected the drive by pulling the USB cable out instead of properly ejecting it software-side (I did not do this). The drive symbol was gone. Now, I plug the drive out an reconnected it. The drive symbol showed up again. I continued copying files on the drive, but after some 30 seconds, I received the same error message again. One more time, I disconnected and reconnected the drive - this time to another USB port. The drive showed up, but I was not able to copy files on it (I am using muCommander, it just kept showing 0kb progress). I restarted the Mac. Since then I am getting the "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." The drive symbol does not show up anymore.
I was googling the problem: in one forum there was a suggestion to click "initialize drive" and than to "repair" in DiscUtility. I clicked initialize drive and the drive is shown in DiscUtility, but "repair" and "verify" are greyed out. I read more posts on it, one posts suggested NOT to click initialize because that means format in Mac OS language (btw: ***, why is it not called format).
That is the situation at the moment. What is the best - if there is - way to get my data back? DiscWarrior?
I very much appreciate your advice!
Daniel

"Initializing" a drive has been normal computer terminology for decades. "Formatting" generally referred to the high-level preparation also called "erasing." None of this is "Mac OS language."
Disk Warrior will not likely fix the problem you have. DW can repair a damaged directory, but your error suggests an even worse problem of directory corruption. I suggest you try using DW if you have it. Visit the Alsoft site to determine the limitations and usage of the version you have. It may not be able to boot your computer depending upon what version of DW you have and how new your computer is.
If you have no success with DW then see the following:
Basics of File Recovery
Files in Trash
If you simply put files in the Trash you can restore them by opening the Trash (left-click on the Trash icon) and drag the files from the Trash to your Desktop or other desired location. OS X also provides a short-cut to undo the last item moved to the Trash -press COMMAND-Z.
If you empty the Trash the files are gone. If a program does an immediate delete rather than moving files to the Trash, then the files are gone. Recovery is possible but you must not allow any additional writes to the hard drive - shut it down. When files are deleted only the directory entries, not the files themselves, is modified. The space occupied by the files has been returned to the system as available for storage, but the files are still on the drive. Writing to the drive will then eventually overwrite the space once occupied by the deleted files in which case the files are lost permanently. Also if you save a file over an existing file of the same name, then the old file is overwritten and cannot be recovered.
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. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.
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.

How do I view and open all my files again that are on my external hard drive?? Error message saying 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer' Three options are Initialize, Ignore or Eject.

I have recently purchased Toshiba 1TB hard drive and I set it up and I was able to transfer all my files onto it such as my music, photos, documents. I had correctly ejected and used it again and all these files were safely stored and accessible afterwards. However after I rebooted my computer as it had been going slow and I had too much clogging it up once I reconnected the external hard drive I have error message saying 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer' Three options are Initialize, Ignore or Eject. How do I access all my files? I set it up to work on both mac and windows. I have tried both another mac and windows computer and same issue occurs?? I am worried that all my personal files are gone but am confused as the drive has had absolutely no damage to it as it was in a very short time frame and its never left the same spot. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for your quick response. I had a look at your discussion... I tried it on a Windows machine and I thought that was compatible with ExFAT?
Therefore I need to attempt to use my external hard drive with a machine that boasts OS X 10.6.5 or above and then it should work?
Thanks

WD external Hard Drive comes up with "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer."

So here lies the problem, when connecting my WD external HD to my MBP, I get the message The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer. and a further three options of initialize, ignore and eject. I have always hit ignore.
When checking my files, the HD is not available in my finder window.
I've gone into Disk Utilities. It is there to be highlighted. And I go to repair the disk, but each time the Repair button is greyed out.
I've tried to use my data recovery software (rescue pro deluxe) but because the drive isn't showing up in that program, it isn't working.
Are there any other options out there to get the files from that HD (I've just gotten back from 2 months of travel with a bunch of photos on that HD - so would like to get them back). Even if that means putting them onto a spare external HD.

Thanks for your quick response. I had a look at your discussion... I tried it on a Windows machine and I thought that was compatible with ExFAT?
Therefore I need to attempt to use my external hard drive with a machine that boasts OS X 10.6.5 or above and then it should work?
Thanks

My external LaCie drive gets an error message "the disc you inserted was not readable by this computer." The only options offered are "ignore" or "eject" Disk Utility sees the disc but does not give a repair option. What can I do?

When I plug in my external LaCie drive I get an error message "the disc you inserted was not readable by this computer."
The only options offered are "ignore" or "eject"
Disk Utility sees the disc but does not give a repair option.
What can I do?

The good thing about mac-centric resellers such as OWC, is they have people on staff that can answer questions without you buying things first. They also have how-to information, and instructions are included in many of their products. I saw a link to watch a DIY video in one of their pages; an example of a RAID (with its own power supply) is shown on their drives page. Also a few in there, with no power supplies, for less money.
If I were looking to backup and perhaps also have a partition for a system clone, I'd consider something like one of these: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Some ideas on the RAID backup methods appear in google search, some of the pages are ideas and concepts; and the better ones also warn about using RAID for the only backup plan.
Oh, OWC has live chat. Haven't tried it, nor have I bought anything from them. I have what appears to be two products from them, but have not used either. One is in a box as-new, but has only USB2.0 ports & my Macs needed FW400/800. It has been said their RAM is a good way to upgrade, too. But I can't confirm!
A 'RAID-ready' unit for backup may be more versatile for just that, but I have not checked into these details. I use single HDDs in powered enclosures, and usually manually make backup clones to FW drives, of bootable OS X systems. Some of the OWC raid-ready use eSATA ports so that may not be viable for a computer without them.
The unused in-box external drive I have is like the base model in the link above. However mine is USB2.0 (maybe) and won't boot my older Macs due to hardware variance; and my preference would be for FireWire options, these models do offer that. But the one I have does not. Dual 500GB HDDs, and they could be used in tandem as a RAID. That would be a choice set up in software. I'm not sure and not interested enough to read up just now.
My backup method is not automatic, or a moving backup plan, if I don't get a move-on and make full system clones. I do make copies of photos and documents the manual way, to USB external drives; and occasionally backup to DVD or CD media. And USB flash, that helps to move files between computers without need to use file sharing via wi-fi. {Like Why fly? Walking is better exercise unless one is a bird. Squawk!}
https://www.google.com/#q=raid+backup+mac
Depending on the ports in your Mac, you may be able to use other cables to attach between a backup or externally enclosed hard disk drive with multiple partition and bootable clone in one of them. Not sure about the Thunderbolt, and where that is the main port, adapters are required to access other devices, as allowed.
Anyway, I am going on and on, yet not really saying anything.
My ideas would not be all that interesting to follow as a backup
plan when matching available newer hardware to task, but you
can get some into better ideas if you are not in a rush. Get a
good setup and then look into more an betterer stuff.
Good luck & happy computing!

I've been getting the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by the computer". I can't open system preferences, disk utility, or Time Machine. I'm guessing it has something to do with my external hard drive, although it hasn't been touched.

I've been getting the error message "The disk you inserted was not readable by the computer". I can't open system preferences, disk utility, or Time Machine. I'm guessing it has something to do with my external hard drive, although it hasn't been touched lately, but I can't figure out how to solve the problem. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Thanks for your quick response. I had a look at your discussion... I tried it on a Windows machine and I thought that was compatible with ExFAT?
Therefore I need to attempt to use my external hard drive with a machine that boasts OS X 10.6.5 or above and then it should work?
Thanks

FAT formatted external hard drive is not 'readable by this computer'

Hello support community
The problem: when I insert my 'FAT' formatted external hard drive (Samsung M3) into my mac book pro it comes up with the error message that says "the inserted disk is not readable by this computer" and I therefore cannot access the files.
The story (potential further details):
1. I had a problem with my mac where it took hours to load each time I turned it on, would only work when power was plugged in etc. so I had to reformat my mac hard drive (when I tried to veriify it said repair, that wouldn't work). So i'm starting with a recently reformatted, clean mac.
2. Before doing this I reformatted my external hard drive (whilst on windows machine) to FAT32 (so I can use on both windows and mac) so that I could back up my files.
3. I then transferred files from mac onto external hard drive and then also put them on a windows machine.
4. After reformatting mac hard drive when I then tried to transfer files back onto the mac I get the 'not readable' error.
The technical details:
Thank you very much indeed anyone who can help or can try and help
Cheers
Andy

Erase the drive and reformat using your Mac (Disk Utility)

External Drive: The Disk You Inserted Was Not Readable By This Computer

I have a 2TB Western Digital external drive that I've been using for a year or two as my backup for my Aperture libraries. Been working fine until now, I get the "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." Clicking "Initialize" takes me to disk utility with no usable options. Whatdoido?!
Did my laptop just become illiterate?

I had this exact issue with my external harddrive, I scrolled forums and did what they said and nothing, then I just happened to be in the app store and thought I would search for data recovery, a few came up and only a couple had ratings so I looked at Data Rescue 3, its £40 so I went ot their website for the trial version, downloaded and installed that, tried it and rescued a random file (limits obvioulsy on the trial verison) and it worked so paid the £40 and am currently saving all my files to another external harddrive.
Try out the trial first and if it works on one file i reccomend the the full program!
Good Luck!

External hard drive says the disk is not readable by this computer. Help!

My son disconnected my external hard drive while I was copying files from my macbook to the external hard drive. Now it says the disk is not readable by this computer. Help! Is there anything I can do??

Launch disk utility and try to repair the disk, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1782?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

FRUSTRATED! Cannot access Seagate external HDD - message is "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"

I get the message "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" when trying to access my Seagate external HDD.
Disk Utility lists both the Seagate drive and volume but all options (verify disk, repair disk) are greyed out.
It says the volume is unmounted and Windows_FAT_32.
(The external HDD used to be formatted for NTFS, but when I moved across to Apple last year, I reformatted to FAT32).
I haven't accessed the drive for a few months but the last time I did, it worked fine.
I'm running OS X 10.9.5 on MBA bought last year.
I've spent 2 hours trawling through blogs/mac forums/apple support and nearly bought Disk Warrior out of frustration, but surely there must be a simpler solution?
I don't think I'm dealing with a corrupt drive, just an inaccessible one!
Any help greatly appreciated, even if it is to pay the $$$ for DW...!
Thanks, Jay

See mount section in 1st link.
Disk Unmount Using Terminal
Disk Utility – Force Mount Disk

Suddenly my 1 TB Western Digital external hard drive has decided to give me a "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" error

I was playing music on iTunes (my iTunes library is stored on the hard drive) when I realized that it was running slow and giving me some pinwheels. So, I force quit iTunes, ejected the hard drive, waited a couple of seconds and plugged it back in. To my surprise it gave me an error that said "The disk you insterted is not readable by this computer" with the options to initialize, ignore, and eject. I have been searching Google, YouTube, and other forums for fixes (I am not too handy with Terminal without some assistance). I am able to go to Disk Utility and I see the drive there, and when I go to the partition is says "not mounted" I have tried repairing the disk only to get the notificiation that tells me Disk Utility is unable to repair the disk. I also ran Terminal and tried doing diskutil repairDisk and repairVolume to no avail. Below you can see the information I have gotten from Disk Ultilty and Terminal. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated as I have my music library, art projects, and other very important data on this drive! Thank you in advance!

Yikes, doesn't look too good. But there are still things you can try.
I noticed the disk is formatted as MS-DOS FAT32. While such disks can be read and used on Macs, it's better to set up your disks formatted for the Mac. For one thing, the Mac disk repair tools don't work as well on FAT32 (PC-style) disks. Which might be why Disk Utility did not succeed.
I suggest using a PC running Windows to connect the drive to and see if the data are all visible, and if not, run the built in disk check tools in Windows. Also, WD disks usually come with disk tools on the drive, did yours come with those? Either for the PC and/or Mac? You might be able to download them from the WD sites.

External hardrive not workon on MacBook Pro

I own a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex that is 1TB and have had it for about 3 or 4 years. I used to be able to plug it in and with ease insert files (pictures, music, documents, etc .. basically everything in case my MacBook stops functioning.)
Back in May, I took my external hardrive to my University before I graduated and I could not insert some video files (using another computer, which was a Mac.) Our school's tech expert said it was because my external hardrive is not applicable with Macs. Long story short, I showed him I can do it on my MacBook Pro, then I had to save my video files on a flash drive instead. Anyway.
I want to back up everything incase the MacBook stops working soon (it's six years old.) However, when I put in my external hardrive, I can't change the name of files/folders in the external hardrive nor can I insert anything into the hardrive. Oddly enough, I can drag stuff into my desktop and it will copy a file into my desktop while the same file still stays on my hardrive.
My MacBook Pro is Version 10.9.5 (if it matters) and I have more than 90 GB of free space on my MacBook and have nearly 700 GB of free space on my external hardrive and obviously I'd like to use that. Also, I'd like to use my external hardrive not just on Macs, but all machines in case I need to save large files. I used to be able to do this at one point, especially with a previously owned hardrive (it was Western Digital.)
Anyway, that's all the info. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Chiefsfan212006 wrote:
Back in May, I took my external hardrive to my University before I graduated and I could not insert some video files (using another computer, which was a Mac.) Our school's tech expert said it was because my external hardrive is not applicable with Macs. Long story short, I showed him I can do it on my MacBook Pro, then I had to save my video files on a flash drive instead. Anyway.
I meant to also say that your school's tech expert does not appear to be much of an expert.

Unable to read usb memory stick + "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"

Hi Everyone,
Today I was tryign to use a brand new memory stick 8GB-Samsung PNY on my Mac Book Pro. (Mac OSX 10.7.5)
1. I do not see this drive in the Finder.
   2. Diskutil could detect the drive.
   3. I was trying to put ubuntu image file on the drive from the terminal uitility and I have this error message in a dialog box:
      "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"
4. Clicking on initialize helps me realise that the drive is detected. But I do not have a clue on how to proceed from here. I am new to Mac and its file system formats.
The same issue happened with my 500GB external Western Digital Hard Drive. I was reading on forums that WD got some issues with Apple is trying to resolve. I expected to not have this road-block with another brand but it happened with my memory stick. Now I was forming an impression that something should be done to external storage devices inorder for me to use them Mac OSX.
Kindly enlighten me and help overcome this issue.
Thank You

Thank You OGELTHORPE.
I erased the memory stick and formatted to "Mac OS Extended(Journaled)".
I attempted once again to use the "sudo dd" command from termial trying to copy the Ubuntu image file to the memory stick.
The operation termainates with the same message
      "the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"
The termainal message says some bytes got transffered in so many seconds. It looks like this operation is being terminated in the middle.
Have any suggestions and work arounds?

Whenever I plugged in HP laserjet M1132 printer usb to my Macbook air,a screen pop-out "the disk inserted are not readable by this computer".I uninstalled

Hi,I'm new here and I think my problem were discussed few times before.However,I tried to follow the solutions similiar to my condition but it does not work.My problem is whenever I plugged in the HP printer (Laserjet M1132 MFP) usb to my Macbook Air,a screen will pop-out and read as 'the disk inserted is not readable by this computer'.I even bought my Mac to the Mac store but the situation remains the same.Okay with other printer but not with my HP.Sigh.The HP printer worked just fine with other computers (not Mac).I'm really sick of it.Please help me.I once plugged in an external hard drive & started Time Machine with it.The printer problem started after that.However, the hard drive plug-in works just fine.
Your attention of above matter is highly appreciated.Thank you.

Here is what worked for me:
I reset the System Management Controller on my MBA. To do so requires shutting it down, keeping it plugged in to power (I also unplugged both USB connections), and then from a powered off state I simultaneously pressed Shift + Ctl + Option + Power (I did this once and it did not work so I tried again and did it 3 times just to be safe), then released them at once, then I pressed the power button. Problem solved.
http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/Resetting-The-Smc-System-Management-Con troller-On-Your-Mac.htm
I also tried uninstalling the using the repair Disk Permissions with Disk Utility and moved the HP Printer software accessories to the trash (you can search the web for how to do that but that did not solve the problem either). Neither of these options worked.

USB external drive not readable by mac but readable by windows

Hi, I have a usb external drive (Seagate FreeAgentDesktop Media) which works fine with windows xp but cannot be read by the mac. I reinstalled the mac a couple of days ago because it was being very slow and I had a bunch of junk on it. Anyway, after that, it won't read the external drive. It will give me an error message saying that the disk is not readable by the computer. Sometimes it will give me the message saying that the drive was unmounted improperly by windows and for me to unmount it correctly. When I go back to windows, it's there, then I restart and go back to mac, it'll give me the message that the disk is not readable. I have 2 of these drives and both of them have this issue. I also tried disk warrior but it says that the file system cannot be rebuilt. I tried USB flashdrives and they work. I got all the data off of one of the external drives into the other and I couldn't format or even erase the drive because it says that the permission was denied. However, I could format it and erase it with the installation DVD. But I had the same result no matter what format they were in. I have very important data on these drives and I really need to be able to use them with both operating systems. Thanks a lot!

Hi Schmerz Meister;
If DiskWarrior say it can rebuild the disk about your only other alternative it to reformat it.
This will of course destroy all data on the disk so make sure you have copies of the data elsewhere,
Allan

External Hardrive not "readable" by my computer anymore....

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