External HD (USB) (WD 120gb) Will Not Mount to Powerbook

I have a new External HD, a USB 120GB Western
Digital. It mounts on every other computer except my
laptop(PowerBook G4 15")(10.4.7), which i bought it
for! The HD just makes a clicking noise.
Does anybody have an idea as to what the problem is???
Welcome to the Apple discussions.
When an external drive just clicks like that, it can mean that it's not getting enough power to start up. If you do a search, you'll find that others have had this problem, which is that the drive requires more power to start than the Apple USB channel provides. One vendor provided a split cable to hook into both USB ports, however, I don't know how successful that was.
If you have the option to use a Firewire connection, do that, or, if the drive comes with a power supply, or can optionally use one, get it, and you should be in business.

Similar Messages

Firewire drive will not mount on PowerBook

Firewire drive will not mount on PowerBooks
Posted: May 2, 2006 8:09 AM
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Hi All,
A friend of mine has a Titanium Powerbook G4 500's with 640mb ram and OS 10.2. She has purchased a Fantom Drive 120gb Firewire drive to back up her work. The drive will not mount on her machine. It will mount on my G5 running 10.3.9. I went to the Fantom Site, and all I could find was a link to Apple's site on Tiger.
She bought a set of Panther disks and wanted to back up all of her stuff before the upgrade.
Any help would be appreciated,
David

Thought you could use this info about getting FireWire to work!
First, you should always Repair Permissions in Disk Utility before and after any update; I would do that now. If you installed your update with FireWire plugged in, your Mac may not recognize it anymore.
Try resetting your FireWire ports by disconnecting all FW devices, shut down your Mac and unplug it from AC power (wall socket) for 30 minutes. plug it back in and try FW.
If that did'nt work, download the combo update from this site (yours may be corrupt), not Software Update, disconnect all firewire + USB devices except keyboard + mouse, Repair Permissions, re-install update, Repair Permissions again + try. Hers should be the 10.2.8 Combo update. Others reading, download the Combo that applies to your system.
If that still did'nt get it Zap the PRAM. While restarting Mac hold down the following key combo Command-Option-P-R. Keep holding those keys down till you hear the second start-up chime, then release.
For those of you with Macs that are not PowerBooks or iBooks, a bad internal battery can cause FireWire to not be recognized, so make sure it's good!
Good Luck!
Cheers!
DALE

After upgrading to Mountain Lion, my LaCie USB 3 drive will not mount

I just upgraded my OS to 10.8 and now my LaCie P'9230 USB 3.0 external drive will not mount. I have re-installed the USB driver and re-booted the computer and drive several times to no avail; any ideas/help?

mrfredmor_65 wrote:
I just upgraded my OS to 10.8 and now my LaCie P'9230 USB 3.0 external drive will not mount. I have re-installed the USB driver and re-booted the computer and drive several times to no avail; any ideas/help?
It's my understanding that LaCie hasn't released a Mountain Lion driver for their PCIe card yet. Sonnet uses a modified version of the LaCie driver and theirs is dead in the water too for that reason-they also warn that their driver won't work with 10.7.5 when it's released.
Indeed, yesterday I pulled the Sonnet USB 3.0 card from my Mac Pro and replaced it with a CalDigit card from OWC; CalDigit has separate drivers for 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 and I can say that the card works with all three, the first time in 1.5 years that I've had a reliable USB 3.0 connection.

Firelite USB 2.0 will not mount or work with a QUAD

does anyone know why a Firelite will not mount or act normal on a QUAD which has been disk warriored repaired permissions etc... but it mounts on a G3 and a G5 2.5 GHZ DP???
any ideas??????????
what to do??????????

Glenn Losack-
Dunno.
Anything else able to use the same port on the QUAD?
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

HELP - External USB Hard Drive Will Not Mount

Ok, I've read through MANY other external HD mounting problems but can't find anything that helps me with my specific problem. Here goes...
I have all of my graphic/music files on the HD of my Mac. I want to copy these files to a drive so that I can clean it off and sell it. I will be transferring the files to a PC.
I purchased a USB external HD from Best Buy four months ago. I plugged it in and it asked me to reformat the drive as Macintosh. I took it back and had them reformat the drive as FAT32 so that I could use it on both systems. I had this done twice because it didn't work the first time. Well, it didn't work the second time either but they tested it on their Macs and it worked so I think it's a problem with my Mac.
The drive is recognized in both the System Profiler and the Disk Utility. When I try to mount it in the Disk Utility, nothing happens and it goes back to "Select a disk or volume".
I would like to get this problem fixed without spending any more money on it. I've contacted Mac techs and they usually charge $100/hour and can't guarantee how long it would take to fix. That, and I don't know anyone I trust with my precious data.
I'm beyond frustrated with this as I have been dealing with it for over six months now. I have tried unplugging and replugging but nothing seems to work. I've tried all USB ports (keyboard, monitor, tower) and various different power outlets (wall, power strip, etc...). The data is irrecplaceable and I'm nervous that it just sits on the computer without being backed up. If anyone has any ideas for me to try, please let me know. I am at my wits end.
Also, now it seems that Apple System Profiler "unexpectedly quits" when I try to open it. Any ideas???
Thank you

Here is a USB faq. Hope it helps!
Try using Disk Utility to do a Disk Repair, as shown in this link, while booted up on your install disk for your unepectedly quit issue.
You could have some directory corruption. Let us know what errors Disk Utility reports and if DU was able to repair them.
Try the repair first. if no luck try things in this Unexpectedly Quit link.
Cheers! DALE

My external HD Lacie D2 Quadra will not mount anymore

Hi,
Since a few weeks my two year old Lacie external HD (D2 Quadra) won't mount anymore through FW 400 or 800 on my MacPro both in front and rear connection (Usb is working fine though). I also found out that the same external HD still does mount with FW on my Macbook laptop although both machines are using the same OSX.6.8. Also on MacPro in the system profiler I can't see my FW external device. Restarting and refreshinging PRam didn't bring any solution yet. I've also updated the firmware of the HD to the latest version.
Does anyone recognize this problem?
Greetz
Rob

Well I now believe that my whole FW conection is corrupt. I tried different cables and connection through different FW ports (also some in my monitor) and no device corresponds or mounts. In the system profiler I get the message that FW devices can't be displayed. I have other devices that also connects with FW but none of these mount either on my MacPro. I tried several things now such as unplugging all the cables and then slowly building it up and begin to suspect that my FW is done on this machine. It's a pity that you can't test the functioning somehow other than it's not working.

External USB drives will not mount under Mountain Lion

Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, two external USB2 drives that I have will not mount and cannot be viewed in the Finder. The same occurs on a 2012 MacBook Air, a 2009 iMac 27 and a 2010 MacMini, all running OS X Mountain Lion version 10.8.2.
Both drives are Samsung Story external USB drives (one is 1.5 GB and the other is 2 GB) and both have been formatted using Mac Disk Utility with a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition, one using Snow Leopard and the other with Lion.
Both still mount correctly on a friends MacBook Pro that is still running Snow Leopard, and I had no problem with the same drives under Lion. Interestingly both can also be connected to Time Capsule USB port and show up correctly.
Both drives mount correctly under Windows 7 on BootCamp partitions that I have on both the 2012 MacBook Air, a 2009 iMac 27. These BootCamp partitions have Paragon HFS+ installed so I can read Mac formated drives.
Both drives show up in Disk Utility, but when attempt to mount the drives I get the message "The disk could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and retry mounting." I can run Repair in First Aid on the disk and get the message that the volume appears OK, but again have the same problem when I attempt to mount the disk.
I have also tried using Disk Utility 3,2, but still cannot mount the drives, though the program indicates there is no problem with the drives.
I have other portable USB including a Samsung portable USB2 drive, and two external USB3 drives, and I don't have problems with them.
There is clearly a problem with Mountain Lion with accessing (mounting) these Samsung Story USB drives, and the problem appears to be with Mountain Lion itself as the problem did not occur on the same Macs with Lion and does not occur with Bootcamp partitions on the machines.
I have a lot of time searching forums, but I have not found anyone with an identical problem.
I sure hope someone can help or that Apple come up with a fix for this issue which has only developed since the update to Mountain Lion.

bj10au wrote:
Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, two external USB2 drives that I have will not mount and cannot be viewed in the Finder. The same occurs on a 2012 MacBook Air, a 2009 iMac 27 and a 2010 MacMini, all running OS X Mountain Lion version 10.8.2.
Both drives are Samsung Story external USB drives (one is 1.5 GB and the other is 2 GB) and both have been formatted using Mac Disk Utility with a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition, one using Snow Leopard and the other with Lion.
Both still mount correctly on a friends MacBook Pro that is still running Snow Leopard, and I had no problem with the same drives under Lion. Interestingly both can also be connected to Time Capsule USB port and show up correctly.
Both drives mount correctly under Windows 7 on BootCamp partitions that I have on both the 2012 MacBook Air, a 2009 iMac 27. These BootCamp partitions have Paragon HFS+ installed so I can read Mac formated drives.
Both drives show up in Disk Utility, but when attempt to mount the drives I get the message "The disk could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and retry mounting." I can run Repair in First Aid on the disk and get the message that the volume appears OK, but again have the same problem when I attempt to mount the disk.
I have also tried using Disk Utility 3,2, but still cannot mount the drives, though the program indicates there is no problem with the drives.
I have other portable USB including a Samsung portable USB2 drive, and two external USB3 drives, and I don't have problems with them.
There is clearly a problem with Mountain Lion with accessing (mounting) these Samsung Story USB drives, and the problem appears to be with Mountain Lion itself as the problem did not occur on the same Macs with Lion and does not occur with Bootcamp partitions on the machines.
I have a lot of time searching forums, but I have not found anyone with an identical problem.
I sure hope someone can help or that Apple come up with a fix for this issue which has only developed since the update to Mountain Lion.
You can start here
http://support.seagate.com/kbimg/flash/213059/213059_EN.HTML
Pete

External backup drive will not mount on new mac mini. still works fine on the old one. new one is running mavericks

I just bought new-to-me mac mini running OSX mavericks.
Trying to migrate from old mac mini using simpletech external hard drive.
It still mounts on my old mac mini (system 10.5) but will not mount or show up when I plug it in to the new mac mini running mavericks.
Any ideas?

BDAqua wrote:
What exactly shows in System Profiler>Hardware>USB for those drives?
Boot from the Install Disc & see if they show up, not grayed out in Disk Utility.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
We were thinking along the same lines. While at home I dug up a firewire enclosure and put a bootable GUID formatted drive in it (that I had in one of the usb enclosures) and started her computer holding down the option key and then chose to boot from the external firewire. All usb drives are now mounting upon connection. I asume that her drive has bad sectors on it (even though the SMART status says it's OK) and is not loading all the drivers properly for USB to mount. I was suspicious from the beginning that the OS was corrupt when she first had me look at it. It was at that point that I booted it in target mode, connected to my Macbook Pro, and then CCC'd to a usb drive that I had. I then had a couple of difficulties installing the new OS. Should have known......
I am now going to put a new drive in it for her and she'll be up and running.
Thanks so much for your help and thoughts that got me thinking as well.
pax

External hard drive seen in Disk Utility, but will not mount.

My external hard drive has power and is spinning, but will not mount. It was fine yesterday. It shows up in Disk Utility and is verified and repaired. Tried the drive on 2 other macs with same result. Tried a new enclosure and that did not work. Tried all ports...usb and firewire. Any way to save my data?
I have screen shot of the partition info from Disk Utility for the hard drive included:

Hi Dominic,
If this is still not mounting, it may be worth trying a PRAM reset...
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Ben

My 750GB Maxtor external HD will not mount on my iMac 10.7.5 for Time Machine

This external drive has worked in the past; I had used it to successfully back up the same computer I'm using now. After attempting another long overdue backup, it aborted mid-way. I discovered some chew marks on the power cord and replaced it. The replacement power cord is the proper one, and the light on the Maxtor is on indicating power. I've tried two different USB spots, both of which work on other devices. However, now the Maxtor will not mount. My intention was to completely erase the Maxtor and start clean. Never got a chance. I've verified that the Finder Prefs have external disks checked. Finder doesn't "see" it. Disk Utility doesn't "see" it. Time Machine doesn't "see" it. My desktop doesn't "see" it. Another external I have (WD My Passport Ultra) does mount. Is OS 7.5 the problem? How do I verify that the Maxtor is just plain busted before I throw it out the window? Or have I already proved that? It was never used enough to fail, it seems to me. Anybody?

Rats. Thank you for the quick reply, rkaufmann87. I'm not awash in other USB cables of this type, but will hold out hope until I get my hands on one. Time to shop for another external probably. Thanks again. [sighs]

External disks will not mount on new OS install

Hi,
I just had to reformat and reinstall all the OS and applications on a imac g5 for a friend of mine. I have updated all the os to 10.5.8 and have installed user software iWork, iLife, Microsoft office and Roxio's Toast 10 and a family history software called Reunion. That is all that has been done to this new install.
I went to transfer her personal files back and I can't get any external disks to mount. They will all show in disk utility but will not mount the desktop. I have tried 2 different drives formatted in Mac OS Exteded Journalled as well as MS-Dos Fat32. I have also tried flash drives formatted in each of these formats. All of these drives are readable on several other computers I have here, including a 2008 Macbook Pro running Lion, 2010 iMac running Snow Leopard as so on.
When inserted in the iMac G5 I can see all the drives in disk utiltiy and was able to even erase and reformat a drive to differnt format ( mac extended to Fat32) without issues to mount on the other computers.
Cd's mount just fine.
Anyone have any clues as to what's going on? Any thoughts are most welcome.
Thanks
pax

BDAqua wrote:
What exactly shows in System Profiler>Hardware>USB for those drives?
Boot from the Install Disc & see if they show up, not grayed out in Disk Utility.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
We were thinking along the same lines. While at home I dug up a firewire enclosure and put a bootable GUID formatted drive in it (that I had in one of the usb enclosures) and started her computer holding down the option key and then chose to boot from the external firewire. All usb drives are now mounting upon connection. I asume that her drive has bad sectors on it (even though the SMART status says it's OK) and is not loading all the drivers properly for USB to mount. I was suspicious from the beginning that the OS was corrupt when she first had me look at it. It was at that point that I booted it in target mode, connected to my Macbook Pro, and then CCC'd to a usb drive that I had. I then had a couple of difficulties installing the new OS. Should have known......
I am now going to put a new drive in it for her and she'll be up and running.
Thanks so much for your help and thoughts that got me thinking as well.
pax

External drives will not mount on 10.2.3

whatever working drive i use (and i've tested a few), my old iMac (OS 10.2.3) will not mount anything external.
the drives work as evidence by the fact that they mount on my other Macs.
and the USB ports work (confirmed by testing the keyboard in each one).
yes, the Finder view preferences are set to show external drives.
to complicate matters, Disk Utility shows only the hardrive.
the issue is with 10.2.3 and i have no idea what's up.

It was not until Mac OS X 10.6.4, not possible to run on a 10.2 machine, that ExFat was supported.
Many older Macs also will not recognize GUID formatted partitions made to boot Intel Macs either.
10.2.3 is the first system to support Apple Partition Map HFS Extended (Jornalled).
There may be NTFS support based on my tip here:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003

Tried to move sparsebundle TM backup to External HD, now HD will not mount

Long story short, I have a Macbook Pro 15" i7. I was making backups to an apple time capsule via time machine. My internal HD crashed (making clicking noises, not booting), got it replaced by apple, thinking my backup would work. Sparsebundle file is not recognized by migration assistant and will not mount via Disk Image Mounter or Disc Utility. I attempted to move the sparsebundle file to an external drive (Avastor HDX-800 1.5 TB) via FW800. It was not making any progress so I stopped the copy, deleted the sparsebundle from my Avastor Drive and unmounted it.
Now my Avastor Drive will not mount at all. Disc sounds fine and has barley moved since the incident. The drive was backed up last week but there are some essential files I made within this week that are very important.
What can/should I do?

bglawe wrote:
Hey! Thanks so much for responding so quickly.
I am currently archiving my disc on the TC to an external USB drive so hopefully I should be able to repair that disc and get my sparsebundle to work.
You're doing that via +Airport Utility?+
My main problem is however that the FW drive that I briefly attempted to copy the sparsebundle to will not mount at all. Like when I plug the drive in, nothing happens. The Avastor FW drive has FW800 FW400 and USB 2.0 connections and none of them work. The drive sounds like it is undamaged (no looped processes or clicking). Is there anything I can do to get that drive to mount (so i can see it in finder/disc utility)? Even if its with disc warriors?
I'm sure you've done some or all of this; the standard way to try to mount a balky disk is:
Disconnect and power it off for several minutes.
Check that all connections are snug and secure.
Restart your Mac, then connect the drive.
If that doesn't work, try again with different ports, cables, and combinations (a plug that works fine in one port may not make good contact in another one.
If it has it's own power supply, check those connections, too. Try a different outlet. See if you can hear it running, or feel the vibrations.
Try it on another computer.
But from your description, it doesn't sound good for the drive.

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.

External Hard Drive will not mount after upgrading to Yosemite

After upgrading to Yosemite, my external 3TB hard drive will not mount... can't see in Finder, but does appear in Disk Utility. Follow steps to Repair disk, but get a message that D.U. cannot repair disk.

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External HD (USB) (WD 120gb) Will Not Mount to Powerbook

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