Having trouble with USB2.0 external hard drive "unmounting" itself

ibook g4 (early 2005)
I have bought an external 120 gig hd and am trying to use it to store files on. when i transfer files to and from it, the hard drive magically unmounts itself and gives an error device removal. I don't know if the HD needs too much power or what. I have tried to update my system... and no help. what can i do... besides taking the freaking hd out of the external case and installing it in my laptop.
I have never had a problem with usb devices before on this laptop. what gives?

I'm not sure of what is the cause for this is, but because it stays alive while it's in use makes me think there is some sort of hardware sleep mode or something. I don't know enough about USB to be sure though. Maybe a temporary fix would be some sort of script we could launch at startup that reads a very small amount of data from the afflicted drive every 10 seconds or so. I have a little programming knowledge. Maybe I can figure the script out. It's definitely not a true fix, but it might get us by for the meantime.

Similar Messages

  • Having issues with permissions on external hard drive.

    I'm very new to my MacBook Pro, and I'm having an issue with my external hard drive. I used it to bring important files (mostly music) from my windows 7 laptop to my mac. Once I finished that I noticed that I was missing some of my music which luckily I have on CD so I uploaded them to another computer and loaded them onto my EH. This is where the problem occurs, when I drag my music from my EH most of it gets copied, but a small number end up giving me an error and won't go to iTunes. I've dug a little deeper into the issue and it all comes back to not having proper permissions to us my EH. However the songs that were imported still open in itunes when clicked on. I've tried looking for the lock symbol under Get Info, and it isn't there.
    Any Ideas?

    Yes - with Windows/Mac 'compatibility, it's really a one or the other compatibility - without third party software. Just as Paragon has software that will enable you to read & write to an NTFS volume on a Mac, so they have software for Windows that will read Mac-formatted drives - http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/.
    NTFS, with Paragon's NTFS for Mac, is probably the best way to go if you want to 'share' the drive with both Macs and Windows machines.
    Clinton

  • External Hard Drive unmount itself

    Help!
    After a I think it was a sucessfull migration to OS X Mountain Lion, My two external hard drives and my card reader unmount itself after 30 second of be connected, every device has the same behavior, any clues to solve this issue?
    Thanks in advance

    I see. Then, assuming the devices don't try to pull more than 5W of power after they are mounted, I don't think you are experiencing the same issue as me.
    Do you have a flash drive (better if USB 2.0)? In general these drives have less complex drivers and if they show the same behavior than it is very likely that you have a problem with your USB ports rather than your OS.
    For the OS part, the following comes to mind:
    1- Turn off your computer. Plug the charger off. Wait for 10 seconds. Turn it on again and try again.
    2- Create another user account, log in with that account and try.
    3- Restart the computer. Open Console.app. Try to mount your USB device. After it gets unmounted automatically, copy and paste the last 10 entries in Console.app
    4- Reinstall the OS. It might be the case that one of your OS/kernel filels are corrupted. In any case, make sure that you back up your computer before trying this. Normally it should not overwrite any of your files, however just in case.
    5- Reinstall the OS after a format. This is clean swipe and the latest choice.
    On the hardware side (less likely since you mention that this started happening after the OS update), if you are still under warranty, I would suggest you to take your computer to apple and show them the same problem. They should be able to debug it better than probably anyone. If there is a hardware defect not caused by user, they almost always change your hardware. Again, before taking your laptop to apple make sure that you backed your computer and you have a genius appointment.
    Let me know if you are stuck at any point.

  • External Hard Drive Unmounts itself

    I have a WD 500Gb external hard drive which I use solely for Time machine. The other day for no reason I got the error message that the drive had not been properly ejected. Since then the Mac does not recognise that the hard drive is attached. I have tried using the Disk Utility to repair permissions and repair disk but this has had no effect. There is some crucial information in Time Machine that I need to recover. Does anyone know how I can get this drive back please.

    Hello Jennsy:
    Welcome to Apple discussions.
    Try this:
    Turn your external disk off. Trash a preference file (com.apple.timemachine.plist) and restart. Turn the external disk on. If the external disk is not recognized as a TM disk, go to system preference>time machine>select disk.
    Barry
    P.S. I do not have a WD disk, but I have read other posts in these forums about people that have had problems with them (FWIW).

  • Having trouble moving files to external hard drive

    I have a freeagent pc&mac ext. hd that i usually use on my pc. I have used it on my mac in the past but i tried trasnfering all of the music from my macbook to my ext. hd and i got the following error message: "The item could not be moved because FreeAgent" drive cannot be modified". Does anyone know how i can resolve this issue? Thank you.

    I'm guessing that you can only WRITE files onto your ext in windows. But you can only READ files in ext from mac.
    FAT32 would support writing files in windows and mac, but I doubt that you can format it to FAT32.
    So if you want to write files to your ext from mac, then simply reformat it using DU

  • Macbook Pro no longer recognises my Verbatim 47519 640GB 3.5" USB2.0 External Hard Drive

    Hi,
    I have got a Verbatim 47519 640GB 3.5" USB2.0 External Hard Drive that I have partitioned since transferring from a PC to my Macbook Pro and have been successfully using the external hard drive since my purchase.
    In the last week, my Macbook Pro has suddenly stopped recognising the external hard drive and I cannot access anything.  There is nothing wrong with the hard drive as I have been able to plug this in to 2 Windows PC laptops and the drive works fine, I can access the Windows side of the drive with no problems whatsoever.
    I have also tried to Disk Utility and also the Preferences from the Apple logo and nothing.
    Has the recent update caused this to happen?
    Thanks in advance if anyone can help.....

    atappe02 wrote:
    but I suppose I could go to an Apple store and plug it in? Haha
    That will work.  Bring your MBP and external HDD to a genius bar and have them check it.
    atappe02 wrote:
    When you say enclosure, do you mean the actual casing of the HHD? I was warned against pulling anything apart!?
    Yes.  I do not know who or why you were warned but I have taken an installed many HDDs in enclosures.  It is not brain surgery and just requires a few tools.  Usually just a #00 Phillips driver is required.
    Ciao.

  • Adobe CS5 programs have trouble opening folders on external hard drives under 10.10.2

    Just upgraded 2 mac's to 10.10.2. One is a late 2013 Mac Pro, the other is a lot-of-the line, BTO iMac 5K. (Processors and Ram are not an issue)
    Both InDesign and Illustrator (CS5) are having difficulty opening folders on external hard drives. Mac Pro is connected to a 5GB LaCie d2 via thunderbolt cable, while the 5K is connected to a 2TB WD my book studio for Mac via FW800 with an apple branded Thunderbolt adapter. Both are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Using the File>open command then drilling down to the selected folder on the Hard Disk drive, the finder sits blank with the spinning beach ball going.
    Other local folders open up quickly and populate file lists with no problems.
    Some folders on the external drive can be accessed through the File>open finder dialogue however they are folders that contain fewer sub-folders and files.
    Update while typing this...
    Both Folders that were giving us problems contained a shortcut. Hiding that shortcut inside anouther local folder seems to have cleared up the trick. This is a short term work around and I am wondering if Apple is aware of this issue or if others have found the same problem as I have and if this work around fixes their issues?

    How long have you been running 10.9?
    In my case the external drives go to sleep and have to wake up. Not much to do with Mavericks, just hardware sleeping to save energy. Note that 10.9 is much more energy aware and may put things to sleep more often.  That may be a fair trade off
    G

  • My external drive is full, how do I piggyback it with a new external hard drive?

    My old external hard drive is full. How do I piggyback it with a new external hard drive? I am thinking of getting. 2tb western digital my studio for Mac.

    Your iMac has four USB ports. If the new drive is also USB, just plug it into one of the unused ports.
    Your machine also has a Firewire 800 port. If it is unused, you can connect a new external firewire drive to it.
    Note - if you plan on using the new drive for booting (backup or emergency), such as by partitioning it and cloning your internal drive to one of the partitions on it, strongly suggest you go with a firewire drive.
    In either case, firewire or USB, it's best to get a drive which has its own power supply.

  • HT201250 How long should an initial time machine backup of tack for 675 GB?s with a USB external hard drive?

    How long should an initial time machine backup of tack for 675 GB?s with a USB external hard drive?

    Not much faster than 40 GBs-60GBs per hour. So, minimally, around 12 hours.

  • External Hard Drive Unmounts

    I posted this in the G5 discussion also.
    Here's the situation. I now have a totally rebuild G5. I purchased two new G5s back in 2004. Everything worked fine until about 2 months ago. I started getting kernal panics on every start up on one of them. Long story short, thanks to the protection plan, I got both G5 processers, Graphics Card and Logic board replaced on that one. Now after several minutes of non use, my external hard drives unmount. I have to shut down, turn both drives off, start up the computer, then turn the drives on before I can use them. It happens everytime the computer sits for more that 10 minutes without use. The second G5 works just fine.
    Two Duel 2.0 G5s & One Mac Pro   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

    Not having a lot of luck with that Mac.
    Have a red of this White Paper, point 3 in particular:
    http://au.wrs.yahoo.com/ylt=A0Je5ajuAzJFFEwBRxUL5gt.;ylu=X3oDMTB2bDEyNXM5BGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDNwRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-/SIG=12jje55km/E XP=1160992110/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wiebetech.com%2Fpressreleases%2FFireWirePortFai lures.htm
    Al

  • I am having an issue with connecting my external hard drive to my airport time capsule.

    I just recently purchased the new AirPort Time Capsule.  The network set-up easily.  However, when I connected my external hard drive (via USB) to it, the external hard drive does not show up in my Finder and I am otherwise unable to access the external hard drive from any computer connected the the network.  When I plug the external hard drive in directly to my iMac, the external hard drive is recognized right away and I am able to access all folders.  Any tips?

    Check to make sure that the drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended Journaled or FAT32.
    If the drive is formatted correctly and recognized by the Time Capsule, it will appear when you open AirPort Utility and click on the Disks tab.
    Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
    Click the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit
    Click the Disks tab at the top of the next page
    If the drive is formatted correctly and not recognized, you will likely need to use a powered USB hub with the drive....even if the drive has its own power supply, since the USB port on the Time Capsule tends to be underpowered.

  • Photshop CS6 not showing as `open-with` for desktop/external hard.drive images

    Hi, I have CS6 and am using Photoshop, but when I try to open any image on my desktop  the `open with` option dosent include Photoshop CS6, only other Adobe applications; even when I browse I can only find the Adobe systems file, with the .exe doc; I have a lot of images to edit, preferably without having to open Photoshop and individually open them from their folders; any advice on how to make Photshop CS6  `open-with`-able for any desktop/external hard drive images?

    Thanks for raising this issue. I found the answer at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/photoshopsupport/discuss/72157630067784368/. Hope it works. I have done it but I believe I must now reboot before trying it.

  • Troubles deleting files from external hard drive!!

    I had my external hard drive plugged into my Macbook but i cannot delete any folder or file in it! There is not 'Move to Trash' option from the drop-down menu! Does this have anything to do with 'Folder Action' thing? please help! sorry i jst switched to Mac from Window recently so still trying to find my way through! Thanks

    Hi,
    Mac OSX can read and write/delete files and folders on harddisks that use the FAT32 file system.
    Mac OSX can only read and not write/delete files and folders on harddisks that use the NTFS file system.
    Use Disk Utility to check what file system your HD uses.
    To enable write access from OSX to NTFS drives, you can either use NTFS-3G http://www.ntfs-3g.org/ or buy Paragons NTFS for OSX http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
    Regards
    Stefan

  • Problem with itunes and external hard drive

    I've have recently downloaded the newest version of itunes, I also have an external hard drive with 40gbs of music on.
    When I open itunes preferences and set library to an external one, none of my music copies to itunes.
    I have tried to individually copy music folders to itunes, but my whole mac freeze's
    Any advice please?

    You might find this article useful: iLounge - Managing your iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive

  • Need some help with backing up external hard drive using Time Machine

    Hi all, I'm trying to work out the best way to back up multiple iPhoto libraries using Time Machine.
    At the moment I have got an iMac and Macbook Pro, both of which have an iPhoto library (with different content).  Currently these are not backed up at all.  So what I want to do is back both up to an NAS drive, which I know is straightforward.
    What I also want to do is create one iPhoto library on an external hard drive that I can use with my MBP, and then delete the iPhoto library on my MBP to free up some hard drive space (it's running slower and slower and I'm hoping that this might help it run quicker). 
    So, as I want to have the library on two seperate drives in case one fails, what I want to know is whether I could use Time Machine to back up my external hard drive as well as the internal drive of my MBP?  Also, would I need to have the external drive connected at all times for Time Machine to "see" it?
    I hope that makes sense, all I seem to be doing currently is going round and round and can't work out whether what I want to do is possible or not.
    Thanks in advance

    If I understand your goal correctly, you're considering using Time Machine as external storage, and it doesn't work that way.  Time Machine keeps around what it can, and older stuff gets flushed as the storage available to Time Machine reaches its lower threshold due to the addition of newer stuff.  When the older stuff gets flushed is not predictable.
    It is possible to have several Time Machine backups aimed at the same target (this can be done with Apple Time Capsule, for instance), though you might want to partition the disks to ensure that the intended amount of storage is available.  Different NAS drives have different features here.
    NAS is only as fast as your network connection, and that's almost always much slower than the in-box I/O connections; a local disk will be far faster than a NAS disk, just because of the bottleneck that is wired gigabit Ethernet, and most WiFi is slower and sometimes far slower than wired gigabit Ethernet.  FWIW.
    If your MacBook Pro is old enough and you have $$ but aren't in a position to spend $$$$$ on a newer model, then consider an in-place drive upgrade.
    If your network connection is fast enough to transfer the amount of data you're dealing with in a reasonable time, there are also hosted storage options.
    You can use a NAS drive as storage independent of Time Machine, and relocate stuff there.  (You'll still want to have backups of that data, as NAS drives — even NAS with RAID — can still lose files, become corrupted or otherwise ruin your data day.
    As for your performance, keeping about 10% or so free on the disks is the local preference, but it's worth reviewing the performance of the whole system — Performance Monitor, Console.app, etc — to see if there's something else going on, or if your system load and personal performance expectations are exceeding what your MacBook Pro can provide.

Maybe you are looking for