External usb drives 3,5" dont mount

hi guys, i´m on mountain lion and cannot mount my two external hard disk drives from one moment to another ! i can see them in the system profiler but not in the disk repair program. any ideas to bring them to life ? it happened after the external energy device of my usb hub broke. there are still life in there, the disk rotates but i cannot bring them on my desktop.............
thanks for helping me, mike

Similar Messages

External USB Drive very slow to Mount

Hi, I have an iBook G4 and I recently bought an 80GB external USB 2.0 drive.
The problem I am having is that it takes a long time for the drive to mount. After I plug it into the USB port it takes 2 - 5 minutes for it to actually show up on my desktop. On occasion it doesn't even mount at all and I have to unplug and re-plug the USB drive and wait another 2- 5 minutes with my fingers crossed. Once it does mount it works just fine. I can transfer back and forth, run video off of it and run apps off of it. If I have the drive plugged in before I boot up I see the drive mounted after I log in, also just fine.
My question is how can I get rid of that initial delay? What am I doing wrong?
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

The problem lies with occasional dropouts that can corrupt the library's database files if they are being written to as the time of dropout. It's the nature of wireless networks. If you have a very strong signal throughout and are willing to take a chance then go for it.
But as for the speed, it must be iPhoto 11 and it's complexity causing the slowness. I had tried using a library on an EHD connected to my iMac from my laptop wirelessly with iPhoto 7 or 8 and it was pretty fast. I think it was 7 before faces and places came into being.
Send a feature request to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html to improve wireless performance, etc.
OT

Single-user mode: How to mount and access an external USB drive?

My MacBook Pro HD is acting up. Cannot boot normally or into "safe mode". Cannot reinstall OS without wiping out the HD. Need to recover some critical files but DiskUtil First Aid and Restore options cannot successfully complete. Problem traced down to "invalid node structure" which means I either have a hardware problem or my filesystem partition directory structure is corrupted. I need to recover some files that are not backed up (timin issue with my regular backup process).
I can boot into single-user mode, mount the root file system (/sbin/mount -uw /) and can see/navigate the rot filesystem structure via good UNIX command line. Here's what I would like to do (in single-user mode):
1. Mount an external USB drive (250 GB already formatted as Mac OS X Extended)
2. Copy various files and/or directories from my HD to the external USB drive (UNIX cp command)
I realize I could go spend $$ for the Disk Warrior or Data Rescue products (or something similar) that SHOULD help me recover my HD or files, but it seems silly to do this when I can see, touch and taste them from within single-user mode....
Comments? Suggestions?
TIA --
Trent
P.S. Once I've recovered my files, I'll try to reformat the HD and then reinstall the OS. And THEN go have Apple look at my machine (thank goodness for AppleCare coverage)!

Resolution:
1) Boot system in single-user mode (SUM) with external HD attached.
2) Execute the following UNIX CLI commands once SUM boot process is completed:
# fsck -fy
# mount -uw /
# mkdir /Volumes/target_directory
# mount -t hfs -w /dev/diskXXX /Volumes/target_directory
# cp -RXv /source_directory /Volumes/target_directory
Where XXX is the device-level name for your external HD's data partition. In my case this was /dev/disk1s2. It may take some experimentation to identify this device name if your system has multiple HD's.
3) Verify contents were successfully copied onto the /Volumes/target_directory.
Comments and observations:
- Do NOT use "/" as your source directory - cp will make a second (redundant) copy of /volumes/target_directory
- I was able to successfully copy ALL files off my HD despite the fsck command's "invalid node structure" error message with this simple procedure. YMMV, depending on the state of your HD.
- The repeated disk0s2: I/O error warnings displayed during the SUM boot process did not seem to have a negative effect on this procedure. I also received this same error warning intermittently as I navigated the mounted filesystem did not seem to be a problem, either. Again, YMMV.
Commercial software:
I downloaded ProSoft Engineering's Data Rescue 3 product (trial version) before spending $99 to attempt to recover my "bad" HD's data via mounting to a good system with FW target mode. It could not successfully complete its "QuickScan" process and immediately hung on block 0 of 390M during its "Deep Scan" process. The product did seem to function properly on an operational system. ProSoft's technical support was responsive and helpful but had no answer for my "Deep Scan" error.
I did not attempt to use Alsoft's Disk Warrior 4 product. I could not find any trial software available and was reluctant to spend $100 based upon the mixed reviews and comments on this discussion forum as well as other reviews. Alsoft does claim to address the "invalid node structure" error in their marketing materials. Hindsight being 20/20 - I saved $100 by using this simple procedure.
Final note:
Neither Leopard nor Snow Leopard's installation DVD could recognize the bad internal HD when trying to do a reinstall. While DiskUtil was able to "see" the bad internal drive it immediately failed when I tried to do an "erase and format". Took the system to my local Apple store and the Genius ran a tool called "SMART Utility" from Volitans Software (www.volitans-software.com). SMART utility confirmed that my HD was bad so it was replaced. AppleCare pays for itself (once again!).

External USB drive won't mount after 10.9.5 upgrade

Is anyone else reporting the following issue? Immediately after installing OS X update 10.9.5 (13F34) on 09/18, my external USB drive (IOMega 1GB OS X Extended FS) used for Time Machine would no longer mount and isn't recognized. When I look at the drives in finder, it is missing. However, it does show up under the USB Hi-Speed Bus device tree:
USB Mass Storage:
Product ID:    0x0376
Vendor ID:    0x059b (Iomega Corporation)
Version:     0.00
Serial Number:    ABCDEF012314E2ED
Speed:    Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer:    Iomega
Location ID:    0x1a120000 / 3
Current Available (mA):    500
Current Required (mA):    0
Console message when device plugged in:
10/6/14 3:22:31.000 AM kernel[0]: USBMSC Identifier (non-unique): ABCDEF012314E2ED 0x59b 0x376 0x0, 2
mount command results:
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
/dev/disk1s2 on /Volumes/Mac-Mini 2 (hfs, local, nodev, nosuid, noowners)
System is Mac-Mini (late 2012), 2.5 Ghz i5, 8GB ram, 500GB local storage, 1TB on second Firewire disk for media, 1TB USB disk for Firewire (PROBLEM)
I have reinstalled the combined 10.9.5 OS upgrade, and verified that the drive works when connected to my other MB Pro (mid-2012 running Yosemite beta 3). There is no third party software that I'm aware of in use for this drive, as it's only for Time Machine backups.
Thanks

Is the drive's icon on the desktop (perhaps behind another icon, which is possible if Finder > View > Cleanup is enabled)?
If not, is the box Finder > Preferences > General > External Disks checked?
Is the drive listed in every Finder window's sidebar?
If not, is the box Finder > Preferences > Sidebar > External Disks checked?
Are Time Machine backups to the drive happening on schedule?
If not, does the drive appear in System Preferences > Time Machine > Select Disk?
Can you open /Volumes/Mac-Mini 2/Backups.backupdb using Finder > Go > Go to Folder...?
Does the drive appear in Disk Utility? Is it (or can it be) mounted there?
Have you tried to plug it in to a USB port on the Mini (not a hub) or into a different USB port on the Mini?
Have you tried this: shut down; unplug the drive; boot the Mac; after you have logged in and the Finder is done populating the desktop and menu bar, plug the drive in?

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

Automator to mount multiple ISO files on external USB drives

I have several ISO files on an external USB drive on a Mac mini. Double clicking on any of the ISO mounts it, one at a time.
I need to have an automator that mounts ALL ISO it can see on a given USB external drive. I have written an Apple script but that hangs up the Mac mini. I need help because I am not familiar with Applescript or Apple automator. I used Unix years ago, butg have a hard time with AppleScript.

Macs can't normally write to NTFS drives:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=7426620&messageID=4582486
Your other problem sounds like another computer has the files open or application has the files open simultaneously. Try shutting down your Mac, and isolating your Mac from any network and try rebooting again in safe mode by holding the shift key at startup.

How can i create a Trash for external USB Drives ?

Hello,
how can i create a Trash for external USB Drives or my TimeCapsule ?
Thanks.

You do not need to create trash cans for individual drives. The trash can on the desktop holds deleted files from all mounted drives.
TimeCapsule manages its own space. If it fills up it will delete older backps to make space for newer ones.

I would like to recover my bookmarks from my old hard drive that I now have as an external USB drive. The old OS was Vista; the new is Windows 7.

I recently had a new hard drive installed on my laptop; this hard drive has the Windows 7 OS on it.
At the same time, I had my old hard drive mounted in an SATB enclosure so that I could use it as an external USB drive. [I stupidly did not export my bookmarks before doing all of this]
Everything seems to work fine [I can see all of the files], but I cannot find out where my bookmarks are stored on the old hard drive.
Is it possible to find them and get them transferred over to the new hard drive??
Thanks!!

Bookmarks are stored in a file called places.sqlite inside the profile folder. You can copy that file from the old profile folder into your current profile folder. For details of how to find the profile folder see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles or http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
You can recover more than just the bookmarks - https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile

Time Capsule external USB drive won't reconnect remotely over Back To My Mac

I'm running a Mac Mini at work, connected via ethernet to an enterprise network (I have no idea what routers they are using, or how they are set up).
At home, I have a MBP laptop and a Time Capsule (hardwired to cable modem) with an external USB drive attached.
All 3 machines (Mac Mini, MBP, TC via Airport Utility) have Back To My Mac switched on.
I can access the external USB drive on my home TC from my work Mac Mini....until the Mini falls asleep. When I wake it back up, the connection back to the TC fails. However....after restarting the Mini, the connection works again.
My first thought was that the corporate network / firewall / etc was causing the problem - not leaving correct ports open, or someting to that effect. However, I realised that if that were the case, restarting the Mini shouldn't help, but it does.
Does anyone have any idea how sleeping breaks being able to access a TC's external drive remotely over BTMM?
The Mac Mini is a 2.3GHz Core i5 with 8GB RAM and plenty of HD space.
The MBP is a 15" late 2013 retina, 2.6 GHz Core i7, 16 GB RAM, also plenty of HD space.
The TC is a 2 TB 4th generation model.
Thanks!
J

Sorry that did not work. This works well for me using Lacie drives, but I haven't tried Iomega.
Have you checked Iomega's site to see if any software/firmware updates available?
Also noticed during a quick search that a number of users are reporting mounting problems with Iomega. Not sure if this applies to you or not.
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=iomegadrive+won%27tmount

EXTERNAL USB Drive will not open with Snow Leopard

External USB drive will open with SL. The drive icon appears on the desktop. When I click on it, Error message, "The alias USB Drive can't be opened because the original item can't be found." When I click on "Fix Alias", a window pops up and shows the usb drive in a list but does not respond when I click on it. I then tried disk utility and tested the disk and it tested OK. The drive still will not open. This problem started after I installed Snow Leopard. Need Help.
Message was edited by: PHAT ROB

The same error is produced when I try to mount a smb share.
I select the "connect to server" (cmd-K). Input the share info "smb://<user>@<server>/<share_path>
At the auth prompt, I input my credentials.
The error pops up, same as original poster.

Can i include external usb drives in Time Machine backups

Can I include external usb drives and sticks in Time Machine backups?
This was the question I searched a week for. My machine is a MBAir with Yosemite. I have a bunch of USB HD and sticks. This is a sharing of what it took to solve. I lost a couple of important document revisions lately because of not having differential backups on them, so wanted to include them in Time Machine.
Yes it can, I found. But it's a wee bit backwards. And apparent inconsistencies drive you crazy. Time Machine is supposed to do this by default, and wants you to tell it what NOT to include. Trouble is, formats create many troubles.
But the USB sticks and HD's you buy are PC formatted. And you'd like to share, as the Apple does with FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT (to overcome the 4G size limit on the others). Even NTFS can be plugged in and be read-only. Turns out you just can't incorporate into TM backups.
Open Time Machine Options, and look at the drives listed in the exclusion window. Drives that you know to be plugged in and registered by Finder, may or not be registered in the exclusion window, and if registered and their icons may be bright or dimmed. Bright will NOT be included. Dimmed are excluded. Normally the operation is to use the or to exclude these drives from your next BU operation. (this instruction is lost the next time in manual mode). So if a drive or stick is shown and is bright it WON'T be backed up. If you it from the window, then it will grey out and WILL be backed up. If it's not there to offer you exclusion, you can browse to such a file or device so you can exclude it. TM's exclusion window will show the PC formats: FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT greyed out (as not included). NTFS is bright looking like it might work, but when doesn't dim, it disappears, and is ignored in the actual BU.
Sources are supposed to be included in the backup if it isn't shown bright in the exclusion window. In this respect I only use TM manually, and not for programmed BU's, so I cannot speak to that.
If everything you have is formatted for the Apple disc system (Mac OS Extended) then there are no contradictions or partial equivalences. The mounted disc or stick will show in TM exclusions window, and if you it, you'll see it in the Time Machine pile of calendared directories, with all the files. And of course it will do the differential backups for it that we use TM for in the first place. Just remember to prepare the BU by not excluding.
BUT NOW THE VARIABLES. It now depends upon the formats. I use the Paragon NTFS program to permit writing NTFS. (Apple can normally read but not write NTFS). Paragon is lovely because for normal computer use, I can read and write both Apple and PC files and disc formats in Finder (for 3 years now). But Time Machine cannot be reached by Paragon so it's NTFS behaviors are outrageous. Paragon reaches Disk Doctor so you can read, write, format and heal both Apple and PC formats. And this really confused things respecting Time Machine. I literally worked through every variable, from stick to disc to prove what did work, and when false appearances of working showed up.
Respecting that very Time Machine display of Finder windows piled backwards through time there's a confusing bug. When first opened, TM shows NOW as the current setup and works just like a Finder window in present time. And the outboard discs and sticks show as in Finder. BUT working back in time, the left window DOES NOT SHOW THE CONDITIONS AT BACKUP but rather in all left windows shows the present setup. So you need to work from the right hand side dates and times to go back and see when you had that stick or HD plugged in. And then, finally, you will see the files you wanted saved. But if there is a stick on the left than TM doesn't like but Finder likes you'll see it left but nothing will be in the files. Clicking on the pretender just jumps to the root.
My Disk Doctor provisions (with Paragon) show, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive Journaled), MS-DOS (FAT), exFAT, Windows NT Filesystem, Windows NT Filesystem (compressed). It's a better utility than in Microsoft and I use it for such maintenance.
Bottom line, I like TM very much. 2 years ago I lost my air and TM was able to reconstruct my machine many times in the course of the troubleshooting - all the way from the start to the last without ever missing a beat or a file. So I accept this limitation and make copies to another HD formatted in NTFS when I work on PCs.
Hope's this sorts out being lost in the desert for a few of you.
Jock
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Storing normal data files on the Time Capsule is unfortunately not as easy as dropping the folder on the Time Capsule.
Open up Macintosh HD on the Mac
Look for the SHARED heading on the left
Click on the Time Capsule icon and a folder named "Data" will appear (unless you have renamed it)
Double click the "Data" folder to mount the drive on the desktop. You may need to enter the device password for the Time Capsule when you do this the first time
Once the drive icon is on the desktop, you can drag data to the icon and drop it there. Double click the icon to open up the drive and see the files

FSCK and reboot issues with external USB drive

I'm having an issue with an external USB hard drive I'm using. I've always had issues with this drive cause my reboot to "freeze" when it's mounted. Basically the system message with be sent out, but it doesn't actually proceed with the reboot. No switch to init 6 or anything, but the shutdown process is still active. I can continue to use the computer as usual, but I can't cancel the existing shutdown or try to enter init level 6 by hand. So I just got around this by unmounting the drive before I shutdown. However, lately when I try to unmount the drive I get an error saying that the drive is in use and I should check to see what processes are using it by runing lsof or fuser.
Yesterday I tried copying dsome files from the drive but there wasn't and activity on the drive. cp didn't report any errors though, it just sat there and did nothing. I tried running fsck on the drive, but didn't get much farther. I'll see some activity on the drive for about a second, then all activity stops and fsck just sits there. When I try to kill fsck, it won't. Even with a kill -9.
I'm really confused as to what is going on. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone have any ideas what could be causing all this or what I can do to stop this? Thanks in advance!
David
[email protected]

Press the reset button on the device. It is located between the USB and power ports. Make sure to take-out the external USB drive before you reset the device. Or you can also restore the defaults by accessing the Administration tab > Factory Defaults sub-tab in the router’s web-based setup page. Check out this link for the set up; http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=32cffead811249aea7e9fc6730bf59ad_KB25681_EN_v1.xml...

External USB Drive Not Shown in Finder... HELP!!!

After upgraded to the latest OS X Lion, external USB drives plugged to my macbook pro (named A) won't show anything. I've tried cmd+opt+r+p twice but no luck; however, i am able to see it in Disk Ultilities and Storage in About This Mac...
Another same macbook pro of mine (named B) did the upgrade and it is working just fine - external drive is shown as normal whenever plugged.
Help please because my daily work depends largely on document on external usb drive!!!???

I've surfed around already before having my problem posted here because it's so frustrated…
AnaMusic: I've tried that but it isn't worked
Eric Ross: it's checked
LexSchellings: I did run "verify disk" and "repair disk" -> but no luck… My hard drive isn't mounted to Lion as shown in status. Is it something to do with NTFS format? I came across some forum and read that Lion is design to natively support NTFS..
Are there any ways around???

Installing Leopard on external USB drive

Hi there,
I am trying to wipe a drive clean via an external USB drive box. Might somebody explain how I can do this? When I boot on the Leopard DVD I arrive at the drive choice screen and there is a big red "exclamation point" on the external USB drive mount icon. What can I do to get around this problem?
Cheers,
Noah

Noah Wallach wrote:
Hi there,
I am trying to wipe a drive clean via an external USB drive box. Might somebody explain how I can do this? When I boot on the Leopard DVD I arrive at the drive choice screen and there is a big red "exclamation point" on the external USB drive mount icon. What can I do to get around this problem?
Cheers,
Noah
Although you can boot some systems via USB, the drive must first and foremost be bootable. Not all external drives are bootable. The firmware must support booting. For example, my Maxtor 160 that I use for TM on my G5 states in the manual that it cannot boot.
You are having a somewhat different issue, in that you are not yet ready to boot, but the drive cannot be seen by DU.
I would see if the external drive can first be partitioned and formatted in Leopard directly by running DU in the Leopard Utility folder, not from the DVD.
I would check for a firmware update for your drive box.

Suddenly can't share external USB drive

I have all of my iTunes music on an external USB drive called 'iTunes_Drive', attached to my G5 iMac in the basement. For a long time, my wife would just run iTunes on the G4 iMac in the living room and play music through the Shared Libraries feature. However, this is slow to start up each day, so I came up with the idea of just sharing the external drive, and having her maintain her own library based on the music in the shared drive.
Just today, it became impossible to access this shared drive from the G4. Interestingly, when I shared a FireWire external drive with the same settings, then that drive WAS visible as an available shared folder when connecting from the G4.
Rebooting both computers hasn't changed anything. The firewall on the G5 is turned off, and it's allowing AFP, SMB and FTP sharing of the drive. The G4 CAN mount the iTunes_Drive using SMB, but iTunes doesn't recognize it as the same drive (possibly because under SMB it's called "ITUNES_DRIVE:" whereas in AFP it's "iTunes_Drive").
Is there something new in security which is preventing AFP sharing of external USB drives? Neither googling nor searching through this forum has turned up anything that helps me.
I should note that the G5 is running Leopard 10.5.1, and the G4 is running Tiger 10.4.11, and I just ran Software Update on both computers last night, with the attendant reboots this morning.

I've experienced a similar problem with my two external hard drives connected to my AirPort Extreme Base. Since installing yesterday's security update, I can no longer see either hard drive. From my Shared folder in Finder, it's now constantly in 'Connecting' mode. I've tried rebooting and checking everything to no avail.
Any help out there would be appreciated.

External usb drives 3,5" dont mount

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for