External HDD Not Completely Empty

Hi, I bought a 2TB iomega external HDD to use with my MacBook Pro which runs Snow Leopard. The disk is empty and I also re-formatted it using a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system. I am surprised, though that the Activity Monitor reports Space Utilized: 852.2 MB. This is a lot of used space, although Finder shows no files present on the disk. The 'Get Info' command in Finder also reports 852.2 MB used. This is a lot of HDD 'real estate' that appears lost. What is this space used for and how could I reclaim it? Thanks.

Keeping your folders and data files on a drive needs some other data to organize these files, locate all parts (blocks) these files consist of. Even if your 2TB drive is still empty, some file system structures must exist on disk already (like ie. allocation file keeping info about which blocks of hard drive are occupied by any data and which are free).
If you are really interested in this topic this reading might be interesting. It is quite detailed technical literature though. I don't know of any simpler descriptions right now, maybe some Wikipedia articles.

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External Hdd not detected

Hi guys,
I've got this issue where my Macbook Air cannot detect my external hdd (not showing up on disk utility), where as my Mac Mini can. I assume it's a software issue. Both are running OSX Mavericks (Latest edition) and there is nothing wrong with my USB port in the Air (detects my mouse, flash drive etc.).
The hdds' LED no longer flashes when plugged in the Air but functions fine when plugged in the Mac Mini.
Is there any manual reset command (through Terminal) or setting in the Macbook Air without having to factory reset?
Thanks in advance for your help!

If the hard drive is bus powered (it doesn't have an independent power supply) the MBA may not be supplying enough power to the drive. This isn't an uncommon problem. I have a cheap external at work with this problem which I solved by plugging it into a powered USB hub instead of directly into the computer. Had that not worked I'd have tried finding an external power supply for the drive - or junking the enclosure.

[SOLVED] External HDD not mounting at boot

So, I've got this USB external HDD which won't mount at boot time. I set it in /etc/fstab using its UUID and it works immediately after boot if I do
sudo mount -a
I had it before on a different machine, running Arch too, and never had this problem. How can I see what's going on at boot time? I usualy just start the computer remotely (wake on lan).
Last edited by RaisedFist (2010-10-21 11:22:46)

Couldn't it be caused by the external HDD not being ready yet when the system boot? Nowadays I rarely encounter these issues, but some years ago even certain internally connected drive would need a delay to get ready for boot. If so settings in BIOS has to be adjusted.
Just a quick guess.

Emptying Trash for large iPhoto Library File on HDD not completing

I'm trying to delete an old iPhoto library (over 300GB) and it seems to hang when I try to empty the trash. This is on an external HDD. Any suggestions?

I will request that your query be relocated to the iPhoto forum where knowledgeable iPhoto users will be able to assist you.
Ciao.

External HDD not getting detected?

My 250GB Transcend External HDD is not getting detected. Help please. Even yesterday, I had used it successfully. I don't have a clue what happened.
Last edited by armageddon09 (2009-10-14 12:49:39)

I have the sam issu with a Coolink USB2.0 external enclosure with a 320GB Hitachi HD.
The relevant informations are:
# uname -a
Linux arch.aneder.hu 2.6.31-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Oct 13 11:33:39 CEST 2009 x86_64 AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-60 AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
# lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b028 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd VGA UVC Webcam
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 152d:2329 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
after ca. 5 second:
# lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b028 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd VGA UVC Webcam
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
# dmesg
usb 2-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi6 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 2
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] 312581808 512-byte logical blocks: (160 GB/149 GiB)
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 34 00 00 00
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
usb-storage: device scan complete
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: sdb1
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
usb 2-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 2-3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 2-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 2-3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 2-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-3: device not accepting address 2, error -71
usb 2-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 2-3: device not accepting address 2, error -71
sd 6:0:0:0: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 2
It wasn't any problem with 2.26.29-ARCH kernel.
Any hints?
TIA

USB3 external HDD not behaving on one PC (with USB3, but OK on USB2)

I have two Windows 7 (32 bit) PCs with USB3.
A laptop (with built-in USB3) and a desktop PC "PC with an add-in USB3 PCI card.
Yesterday I took delivery of a Toshiba Canvios Plus portable 1TB USB3 external HDD.
It works fine with the laptop. It doesn't work so well with the PC (on USB3).
I already use USB3 ports on the PC for a 3.5inch 2TB Segate external HDD and a couple of USB3 flash drives.
Those work absolutely fine.
The new Toshiba works fine (albeit slower than full USB3) on the PC when connected to USB2.
I have downloaded and installed the latest VIA drivers for the USB3 on the PC and that makes no difference.
The symptoms are that anything other than small copies (at best a small number of small files) TO the Toshiba are very slow and hang unless I do some other activity on the PC (e.g. open a browser window or start my email client or ......) - in which case it gives a short burst of activity before slowing down / hanging again. If I keep initiating other non-related activities, it completes OK.
Deleting files also seems to be a bit of a problem (similar issues).
But not so obviously so. Copying from the device is better (but probably still not perfect).
The Toshiba was supplied formatted as FAT32 and so I changed to NTFS (by deleting and recreating the partition), but no improvement.
In Resource Monitor, the disk shows at or very near 100% Active Time whilst the copies are (attempting) to run (even when it is apparently hanging). And the indicator on the device is flashing whilst all this is going on (suggesting it is busy even though nothing is really happening).
Also, cancelling a copy often takes a very long time to take effect (varies, but could easily be a couple of minutes or more).
Any ideas?

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.
I eventually identified the problem. There's a power supply issue on the USB3 card on the desktop PC. Although the USB3 card has an additional power connector (to take a direct feed off the PSU wiring loom which IS connected and live), it clearly isn't getting through (properly) to the USB3 ports.
I have a workaround, which is to use a USB3 Y cable (like this http://www.cavalrystorage.com/cbusb20002.aspx ) with the main connector on USB3 card/port (for signal and whatever power it supplies) and the secondary connector on a spare onboard USB2 port to get power from that. It is not elegant, but it works.
Thanks again.

External HDD not recognized by Retina MacBook Pro

I recently bought this external HDD (http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Desktop-External-STCA1000100/dp/B00829THK0/ ref=dp_ob_title_ce) to backup with my new retina macbook pro. It uses usb 3.0 and if I am not mistaken, the usb ports on the new macbook pro are usb 3.0.
I plug the hard drive into the wall and then into my computer. It spins and there is a light on, so I know it is powered on. Nothing shows up in finder and nothing shows up in disk utility. The box says it is compatible with macs and it works with other Macs that are not my own.
Has anyoher else had this problem? Do all usb 3.0 periphrals work with the new macbook, or only Apple's?
Please help

I had some luck with these terminal commands. The drive mounted and showed the right speed in System Profiler. I recommend copying and pasting the commands into the terminal if you're not comfortable there.
sudo mv /System/Library/Extensions/PXHCD.kext /System/Library/Extensions/PXHCD.kext.not
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions
Reboot the system after running these commands.
I had migrated from my previous machine and had this problem. I restored it, and it worked fine. I put everything back on and started isolating. This extension seems to be from when I had installed LaCie drivers on the old machine.

External HDD "not readable" - Any way to recover data?

I have a MacBook Pro with 10.6.4
The external HDD is a 320GB 2.5" Samsung. Using my MacBook Pro, I formatted it to have a 250GB partition for TimeMachine, with two other partitions for Windows computers as I was traveling without my MacBook and needed to backup photos.
I used the HDD successfully for 3 months with no problems. But when I returned and tried to put everything on my Mac, Disk Utility told me I needed to verify and repair the disk. As it wouldn't mount, I performed the tasks that DU suggested, but now I am stuck with four partitions(?) which are not readable. And now DU does not give me any options.
See screenshots here:
http://s1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc489/brkco/HDD%20Problem/
The disk spins up normally, with no abnormal noises. I suspect there were plenty of Windows viruses (as I had to use many PCs over the 3 months), but the last time I used the drive successfully, it was on a PC and I successfully transferred items onto it.
Please could you advise on actions or further diagnostics I should do. Luckily I bought a 16GB flash drive to make a 2nd backup of photos, but there still important documents which I need to recover off the HDD.
Thank you in advance.
Stuart

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
The Windows partitioning complicates matters. Some data recovery tools for the Mac include Prosoft Data Rescue, Subrosasoft Filesalvage, Boomerang's Boomerang, and Stellar Data Data Recovery tools. If none of them can read it you may need to take it to a professional data recovery like http://www.drivesavers.com/ which can cost thousands of dollars.
In the future always backup your data regularly*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

External HDD not recognized after unsafe removal

Dear,
Yesterday i bought my first macbook pro. Before i bought that macbook i saved all my data from my windows laptop on my external USB HDD.
Today i connected the external hdd trough USB. the macbook recognized it immediatly but i accidentally removed the usb cable from the disk, so it dissappered.
Now when i connect the usb drive my macbook freezes for a period. After the freeze i don't see the drive.
If i remove the usb cable during the free the macbook comes back alive.
Since i am a newbie on mac i need your help !
cheers

Welcome to Mac-land.
This wouldn't happen to be a WD external drive, would it?
Is there some utility on your Windows laptop that you can use to repair the external drive? Something equivalent to Disk Utility on a Mac? I'm not a Windows guy so I don't know.
If the data is still on your Windows laptop, then maybe your Windows machine can erase the drive enough for you to get it to mount on your Mac.
Another option might be to see if your Mac will boot into recovery mode (restart and hold down ⌘R until you see the Apple logo), and then maybe Disk Utility (you'll find it when you boot into Recovery Mode) would be able to see the external drive and either repair it or reformat (erase) it.
Occasionally Techtool Pro 7 will be able to repair something that Disk Utility can't. Techtool is a good thing to have; it's the only third party maintenance/repair utility that you need. Techtool installs a repair partition (the eDrive) on your internal hard drive, similar to the recovery partition that is already there with Mavericks. So you might be able to boot into the eDrive and then see the external drive and either repair it or format (erase) it so it will show up under normal boot conditions on your Mac.
It seems less likely, but perhaps your external drive has chosen this time to die. If you can't get it to mount/erase/repair with either machine then that's probably what's going on.
Less likely than that, but still possible, is that the problem is with the external is in the enclosure itself, and not in the drive within, so if you can't get it to work any other way, it's worth a shot to remove the drive and put it in a different enclosure and see if it will work.

External HDD not recognized after Finder Crash?

Hi guys. I was loading a file in photoshop from my external hard drive. It was a big file 1.5gb. After 10 minutes of waiting i decided to force quit Photoshop as it was frozen at the loading bar. Soon after the finder stopped working too, so i restarted my mac.
Now everthing work fine but my external hdd its not recognised anymore. It works, as i can see the light on, but doesn't show anywhere on my mac.
I have tried on a pc as well and the same result.
How can I get my files back or make the hdd working again?
Any help would be much appreciated
Cris

hey loner, actually its shown on About This Mac -> More Info -> System Report-> usb
sorry i didn't see it properly before. What does that mean? have i got a chance to recover it?
here is the screen shot

External HDD not recognised in Mac Book Pro

I am trying to connect a external HDD to the MacBook Pro. The external HDD used is Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1 TB powered by a USB cord connected to the laptop. The light on the HDD is not glowing neither does it feel like moving when touched.
Can somebody come back with a solution to get the HDD working on the Mac?

By placing the HDD in a different enclosure, one would be testing if the enclosure circuitry is faulty. Since it works on a PC, then that is not the problem.
noondaywitch may be on the right track. I note that your HDD has an optional Firewire connector available. You might order that or get a 'Y' connector where there are two USB connectors that you would insert in two USB ports on your MBP thus gaining more power for the Seagate. No guarantees of success with either option.
Ciao.

Satellite L670-1JP external HDD not always recognized on start-up

I bought a Samsung G3 external HD. The first time i plugged it in, it was directly recognized by my Toshiba Satellite L670-1JP and worked with no problems.
But later, almost everytime I start up my computer, he does not find the external HD. I then have to unplug en replug the USB connection several times to make it work.
This is rather time consuming, so how can I solve this problem ?

Hi
Do other USB devices work properly in connection with the Satellite L notebook?
Did you test this external HDD with other computers/notebooks?
I think you should do this because it could be a external HDD malfunction.
Check this!

External HDD not recognized

I have a 1tb external hdd that i can't seem to find, on my desktop, in finder, in disk utilities or even the system profiler. it's got my 20gb itunes library and about 150 gigs worth of movies on it so i'd like to try to get it working again, without reformatting it if it's possible. It doesn't show up on either my ibook or my mac mini and it won't show up on my friend's windows laptop either, although when i did put the usb into the windows computer something popped up that said it was installing drivers and that it could be used. when i went to look for it it was nowhere to be found. the hdd is a smart drive and has a 100gb windows formatted partition, and a 800 gb mac partition and i don't use either for timemachine. it's been working fine since i got it, not even a hiccup and there have been no odd loud or unusual noises recently. and when i plug it into any computer it starts to spin up as it normally does. i've tried the usual check wires, turn off/on, restart all computers, nada. what is really distressing is the fact that the system profiler doesn't even recognize it so even if i wanted to i couldn't reformat it.
i would appreciate any insight. thanks.
Message was edited by: CortB

sorry just edited the original message, no i cannot see it in system profiler, on either mac, and i can't see it in device manager on the windows.

Loading external swf not complete

Hi, I'm trying to load external swf (with more than one frame and actionscript 3 on every frame - I used there "timeline" coding) from my main swf.
code for loading external swf into main swf:
var loader01:Loader;
function openGame1(evt:Event):void
loader01 = new Loader();
var requestSWF01:URLRequest = new URLRequest("game01.swf");
loader01.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, processHandler);
loader01.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.INIT, initHandler);
loader01.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, errorHandler);
loader01.load(requestSWF01);
addChild(loader01);
function processHandler(evt:ProgressEvent):void
var loaded:Number=evt.target.bytesLoaded;
var total:Number=evt.target.bytesTotal;
var stav:Number=loaded/total;
loaded_txt.text=(Math.round(stav*100))+" %";
function initHandler(evt:Event):void{
loaded_txt.text="";
function errorHandler(evt:IOErrorEvent):void
trace ("Error: " + evt.text);
I found out that this works only for loading swf, which has only one frame (and all actionscript on that frame)... It seems that if there are more frames, than it will not load complete swf (hmm maybe it is caused, because not all objects on frames are export in first frame). Preloading starts but after for example 20 % the event.INIT is fired and the external swf starts to play (and crashes..).
You can see this here http://bvyborcik.xf.cz/ If you click on the blue building on the left with blinking text "Start hry" you will see what happens - preloading is not completed and after clicking on first floor btn, the swf crashes...
Please is there a solution for this kind of problem? Any help or pointing is welcome.
regards Boris

just curious, is the file you want to load the swf into set up exactly the same way with the same stage size, fps, and layers?

Help please: iOmega external HDD not mounting

Hello,
I hope someone can help me 1) solve this problem and 2) give me some tips on how to avoid if it was self induced.
My iOmega external HDD won't automatically mount. It does not display in Disk Profiler. In System Profiler I can see an unknown Firewire device which I believe is it. It has data on it currently so I'd prefer not to have to format it! I tried searching some other threads but they tend to be very specific.
Thanks!

Hi, za_. Is this a bus-powered portable USB2 drive? If so, it probably demands a little more power than the port it's connected to can provide. In that case, the problem can be resolved by supplying power to it from (a) an auxiliary power cable that draws additional power from your Powerbook's second USB port, or (b) its own AC adapter, if it came with one, or if one is available as an option for it. If the drive enclosure has no port on it for an auxiliary power input, then (c) you'll have to interpose an AC-powered USB hub between the computer and the drive. Option A is the best, because it isn't bulky and preserves the portability of the drive. Option C is the worst, because it's the bulkiest of the three.
If your drive isn't a 2.5" portable unit, please supply exact details about what model it is and how it's powered, and we'll see about other explanations for the problem.

External HDD Not Completely Empty

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