FireWire does not recognize external drives anymore

FireWire devices are not recognized after using software upgrade. USB 2 still works but firewire port does not mount any external drives. How can I check if my MacBook Pro has a hardware or software problem? I appreciate any help.

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 didn't 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.
If that still didn't 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! Also, here is Apple doc.#88338 on getting FireWire to work.
Here's another Fw Faq.
DALE

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Hi,
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Welcome to Apple Discussions!
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I have an external WD 2TB drive which I use as my Time Machine back up drive. When I restart the iMac desktop the Time Machine drive does not start automatically and I must open Time Machine each time and remember to identify the external drive that contains my Time Machine back up data. Is there some way to make this drive the default Time Machine back up device when the system starts? It is annoying to have to remember to do this each time my machine restarts. I have a drive icon that displays as "My Book" on restart where the Time Machine icon is located but this icon is yellow and my Time Machine drive icon is blueish green. Once I set the correct drive it will go into the mode to refresh the backup (usually in 118 seconds) and then once the backup is updated then the icon become blueish green and all works normally. Please help! Thx Tom

I called Apple tech support and went through the recommended actions with doing the disk check with the Utilities and all checked out okay. They had to ask the senior support advisor and was told that it does not automatically start the Time Machine drive until the next scheduled back up. There was a misconception that this drive SHOULD be identified as the Time Machine drive on boot up but that is not the case. I waited for the next schedule back up after reboot and it DID recognize the drive and it appears to be working fine.
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this *****, pardon my language. I tried using a usb connection on a netgear router and that didn't work. someone on one of the mac forums told me it would work with an extreme base station. The description of the base station said
>>
Share your hard drive.
You can share an external USB hard drive over your wireless and wired networks by simply connecting it to the USB port on your AirPort Extreme Base Station. Called AirPort Disk, this feature is perfect for sharing files and more.
>>
like I said earlier, it did work for 10 months then just stopped. I did read the link you provided. So as it stands I just have to wait until I can dig up more cash for a new base station which isn't happening anytime soon.
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I recently moved and had to disconnect my WD My Pro Edition II 2TB external drive I had been using for backup. Its been several months and now when i try to reconnect the external dire (Use a firewire cable) it does not recognize the drive is there. I a

I recently moved and had to disconnect my WD My Pro Edition II 2TB external drive I had been using for backup.
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First of all, you do not really want to use their software; if you want a bootable clone, use either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. If you simply want to drag and drop some files, you don't need software to do that. The important thing on any external drive is that you format/partition it correctly (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and using GUID partition scheme).
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HT204135 I update my Mac to version 10.9.2 and now my printer does not work anymore. I did all the software updates and I do not understand why my mac does not recognize the printer anymore?

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Hi all,
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So you're in Japan too?

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My iMac does not recognize my external hard drive. Disk utility recognizes it and a test of the hard drive does not review any error. I use the hard drive as a back up for the time machine. This problem comes and goes. It comes when I turn off and turn on the computer, with the hard drive attached.
Please help.
Insightful

can be this reasons
01 , you have problem with connection ? check the port if you can find any problems physically .
02. if not try to change the cable and with connection ,
03. may be its good idea to check the hard drive with another mac ?(if you have )
Did you note any diference of sound from Hard Drive ? listen to it that carefully to note some unusual sound comes when the hard drive works.
check this link this might usefull: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjgOSxKy-FQ

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Please try steps mentioned on blog: http://psekb.blogspot.in/2013/03/how-do-i-reconnect-missing-files-in.html Let me know if it doesn't help.
~Andromeda

Computer does not recognize exteranl drive

I have been using a Maxtor OneTouch II FireWire 800 external drive as backup for several years and it has worked fine until recently. Recently when I turn on the drive the computer does not recognize that the drive is connected on either the FireWire or USB port. I disconnected the drive and shut down the computer several times with no success. When I connect the drive to my Windows Dell laptop the laptop recognizes that the external drive is connected. Any ideas about what could be the issue with my iMac?

All USB 1.1 devices will no doubt work on a USB 2.0 port (as long as the running system has the proper driver for it). However, not all USB 2.0 devices will work on a USB 1.1 port.
Any suggestions about how to isolate the issue?
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Also is there anything I can try from a software perspective?
You can start up from your Mac OS X installation disc for Panther (10.3), by inserting the disc and holding down the C key during a restart. When you get to the first Installer screen, go up to the Menu Bar under the Installer menu and select the command to run Disk Utility. See if the hard drive shows up in the Disk Utility sidebar, when you are started up from a different system.

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Hi Terry Temple
Is there at least any power going to the USB ports? ( as in if for example you plug in a USB light, will it switch on? )
If there is power in the USB ports it might be a software problem.
Try resetting the SMC see link: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
also try re-set the PRAM see link: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
However if you do not have any power at all it probably is a hardware problem.
Is it still under warranty?
Regards,
Andrew
Message was edited by: iddrew

FireWire does not recognize external drives anymore

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