I can't read my External drive

I bought a 3.5" hard drive enclosure from FRY'S (a Thermaltake) and put an old PATA 160gig HD in it. I just got my first Mac last week (MacBook Pro 15") and reformatted the drive and backed up the laptop with Time Machine. I then proceeded to install XP with bootcamp with an NFTS format. Ever since, my laptop won't even recognize the drive is there. I tried it on my brother's MacBook (with OS 10.5 only, no windows) and on my old windows machine and neither of them could read it.

Yeah, that's pretty much all I've been able to find out though. Thermaltake is being completely unhelpful and isn't even responding in full sentences.
I'm running OS 10.5 and XP. My windows partition is only about 25 gigs. I've got two games on it and that's all I use it for.
If I re-format windows under FAT32, would that solve my problem? It'll take a little bit of time, but nothing compared to not having a backup.

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MBA no longer reads the external drive - can anyone help?

Hi
My MBA no longer reads the external iOmega HD. I use the iOmega to store all my files and for the TimeMachine.
My old Powerbook G4 continues can read it so it's not a problem with the external drive. Also, the MBA can read another external drive that I have. So the problem is specific to this MBA and iOmega drive. I suspect, but am not sure that the problem is due to a recent system update.
Can anyone figure what went wrong?
Thanks.

is the drive's firmware up to date?
is the drive being powered from the usb port? perhaps it is just on the limit of the power the mba can supply, can you try it with an external power supply?

Mac OS 10.3.9 can't read new Fantom Drive external disc.

I have a Fantom Drive with Firewire & USB 2.0 capabilities. I use it to back up my MacBook Pro (OS 10.5.8). My MacBook Pro reads the drive without any problem when I hook them up. My wife’s MacBook (OS 10.5.2) also reads it. The problem I have is with my older PowerBook G4 (OS 10.3.9) — it can't read ("mount") the drive. When I connect the PowerBook G4 with the drive I get the following message: “You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read. To continue with the disk inserted, click ignore.” I click “ignore” and nothing happens. The other two options are “initialize” and “eject.” Obviously, I don’t want to initialize the disk because that would erase the contents. The Fantom Drive is supposedly compatible with Mac OS 10.2.x and higher.
When I queried Fantom Drives tech support I received this reply:
The drive is working fine. Your OS on the 10.3 machine simply cannot read the file system on the drive. Most likely you’re using a file system that is supported on 10.5.x, but not 10.3.x. Apple or Apple enthusiasts may have some software that would enable you to circumvent this limitation, but we cannot offer any guidance here.
Are there any "Apple enthusiasts" out there who can advise me on this?

You would have to do a little research to see if reformatting the
external drive with the older OS X's disk utility could provide a
format scheme that both the newer Intel-based Mac & its kind
of format, as well as the older PPC Mac which uses a diffferent
kind; could both use. Actually, depending on use, the partition
mapping may be the root of the problem. Or something else.
Or if the drive is used only for storage and not sharing between
the computers, some users would use a mapping scheme that
would not allow an otherwise bootable external drive (such as
some use with a clone and a boot copy of the OS X) feature to
exist in that drive.
Depending on the purpose and intent of both computer types
with the external drive, there are variable choices in format.
Even a Fat-32 windows format can support storage; just like
a USB Flash drive ships with by default.
So, when you decide what format and future use the new
drive may see between those two computers, then choose
to reformat the drive so either one or both can use it. But,
if the external drive does support bootable OS X clones,
and you decide to use it that way, the new Intel Mac needs
a different mapping scheme than the older. GUID for new,
APM for the old; and HFS+ formatting for Mac OS, default.
Of course, I would do further research into this matter and
decide what future use the device may have, and with what
computer (and how.)
The older G4 Macs generally can't boot from a USB drive,
and so they'd prefer a FireWire enclosure for their HDD.
The USB speeds are sometimes too slow for best use in
the older Power PC Mac. That is a matter of consideration.
If the Mac uses USB1.1 data storage could be slow if an
external drive was used to save large files to, & retrieve.
The external, if the Apple Partition Map were used, and
the drive reformatted to HFS+ this could be used for
both kinds of Mac computer for storage. Since the drive
is in a USB enclosure, it can't be used for PPC booting
even though that format (APM) supports it otherwise.
Sometimes, an older disk utility may not give the same
options in disk tool availability than a newer one; so
when choosing to change the external drive's format &
other schemes, check into what the newest OS X's
Disk Utility offers; the older 10.3.9 one may be OK for
the basic APM kind of partition map & reformat HFS+
for storage uses. System booting for Intel-Macs in
USB2.0 may be possible; booting Macs in FireWire
may be problematic if the chipset does not support it.
And a self-powered external hard drive enclosure with
its own AC Adapter is better for use with boot volumes.
{Generally, Disk Utility in Mac OS X can do the main job.}
Good luck & happy computing!
PS: while there may be a way to partition free space in a
drive, without erasing content, the partition mapping may
be something so root-level as to not be possible to change
it without losing the existing content on that drive, to do it.
{ edited 2x }

Updated to Mavericks OS X but can't use my external drive by WD My Passport. The Mac reads it but I can't add/remove files to the external drive. Help?!

Updated to Mavericks OS X but can't use my external drive by WD My Passport. The Mac reads it but I can't add/remove files to the external drive. Help?!
The WD My Passport, I purchased back in early December 2013 & I just used it the other day after I updated my Macbook... & of course it says in the online manual it works for Mac Lion, Mountain Lion, Snow Leopard but not this new Maverick update. Is there anything I can do?

I like the free demo of SuperDuper to make clones. It's free, Tiger and Leopard ready and is easy to use. If you buy the full version you can do incremental backups.
You should use Disk Utility to do a Disk Repair, as shown in this link, booted up on your install disk, before you make a clone of it.
I then partition my external disk, in Disk Utility, with a partition that is the same size , actually a tad bigger, as my system disk. I then use SuperDuper to clone my system disk over to that partition.
With a clone on an external FireWire drive (USB drives are not bootable on some Macs) you can bootup on it to do your repairs or just run your Mac anytime you have trouble with your main drive. Be careful, there are a few external FireWire drives out there that are not bootable on Macs. Check the drive's manual to be sure.
 DALE

My macbook pro can't find my external drive after upgrading os

I have a macbook pro from 2009. I recently upgraded to Yosemite and now it won't read my external drive (Toshiba). I am able to find it in disk utility but I am not able to open it. The device works fine in other computers. I have all my pictures there. How can I fix this problem?

Have you tried following through the trouble shooting tips in this knowledge base article on Firewire?

Started to run recovery disc assistant on a backup hard drve-stopped when it said it would erase all data-but now can't inialize the external drive nor repair it with disc utility?

started to run recovery disc assistant on a backup hard drve-stopped when it said it would erase all data-but now can't inialize the external drive nor repair it with disc utility. what to do?

Activity Monitor – Monitor Performance Problems
Performance Guide
Why is my computer slow
Why your Mac runs slower than it should
Slow Mac After Mavericks
Things you can do to resolve slowdowns see post by Kappy
Try running this program and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read.
Etrecheck – System Information

HT201250 I've just used an external drive to back up my Mac with Time Machine. I have Lion, but didn't click and check the "Encrypt Backup Disc". What should I do? Can I delete the external drive and start again, or can I encrypt later?

I've just used an external drive to back up my Mac with Time Machine. I have Lion, but didn't click and check the "Encrypt Backup Disc". What should I do? Can I delete the external drive and start again, or can I encrypt later?

I guess if stolen or lost it would protect my "stuff", and if I'm travelling would protect my privacy.
You must understand the purpose and implications of encryption before deciding whether to use it.
Encryption locks your data with a password. If you forget that password, the data is lost beyond any chance of recovery. Neither Apple nor anyone else will be able to help you recover that data if you don't know the password.
By the same token, the password must be strong enough to provide the security you want. For example, if you're the potential target of industrial espionage by a government or large corporation, you need the strongest possible password. To create and manage such a password safely is a task in itself, not to be undertaken lightly.
If you're only concerned about casual snooping by someone with no special skill, a weak, easily-remembered password is appropriate.
But regardless of the strength of the password, if you lose it, the data is gone forever.
Another point to remember is that if you encrypt your data on one storage device, you must also encrypt it on all other storage devices that would be accessible to the same attacker. Otherwise the data isn't protected. For example, if you keep your computer and your backup drive in the same room, and the internal drive of the computer is not encrypted, then there's no point in encrypting the backup drive.

Can't Boot From External Drive

Situation:
Prior to upgrading to Lion I used SuperDuper to create a copy of the existing internal hard drive on an new external drive (iOmega eGo 500GB).
Tested booting from the external disk and it appeared to work correctly.
Upgraded to Lion.
Several days later attempted to boot from the external disk (by setting the start up disk in the system preferenes ) but it fails.
The system always boots into Lion.
What I've tried:
Setting the start up disk through system preferences
Holding down the option key to select a disk on startup - interestingly enough I only see the internal hard disk and a recover HD. No sign of my external disk.
Using a clean partition on the external hard drive I installed SL from the retail DVD. This produces the same effect of system booting to Lion on the internal drive, which suggests that the problem is not related to the copy I made using SuperDuper, but rather has to do with the external drive or something in Lion that prevents using an external drive (but I've never heard of such a thing).
Talked to technical support at Apple since I had newly purchased Lion. They couldn't offer a solution but did give a lot of thought and suggestions - but they don't support booting from an external disk.
Talked to iOmega technical support. Not helpful but did figure out at the end of an online chat that they don't support their disks being used for external booting.
Emailed SuperDuper. Very helpful. They offered some suggestions but in the end these didn't work.
Characteristics
Lion 10.7.4
iMac 2007
External Drive Interface FW800
I'd appreciate any suggestions as to the cause of the problem and possible fixes.
Thanks

@shootist007
Still no success but more information:
I found the USB cable for the drive, connected it to a powered USB hub (note that there are two cables going into the hub that must merge and go into a single connector for the USB interface on the drive). with both cables plugged in I still can't get the external drive to boot.
I need to do one more experiment on this. The hub is fully loaded so I'll try removing as much load as possible on the USB to see if I can get it to work.
Regarding your question, there is no way to get power to the drive. (Now I think about it, the design is for a portable drive that you can carry around with you so iOmega aimed the design at not needing a power supply to make it very portable). Hmmm, didn't think about that when I purchased it.
If reducing the load on the hub doesn't make it work then I'l have to get a replacement drive with its own power supply.
Thanks for your help. Even though no success yet I suspect you've identified the problem.

Can't find my external drives in Lion. Where did they go in Finder when I upgraded?

Can't find my external drives in Lion. Where did they go in Finder when I upgraded?

Check the settings in the General and Sidebar tabs of the FInder's preferences.
(66775)

Can't see my external drive on fcpx

Hello,
I saw an earlier discussion in Apple support about my problem, I did make the recommendations,
But i still can't see my external drive in FCPX.
Please help.

I'll try again.

Can't see my external drive anymore after updating to 10.5.5

Hi! Another problem after updating to 10.5.5: I can't see my external drive anymore. It's a lacie quadra, plugged to my iMac via firewire 800.
Really hope they fix this update really soon...
Any of you knows how much time Apple usually takes to solve upgrade bugs like these we're all experiencing with 10.5.5? Do they do it fast?

Hi Barry, I'll eventually do, but there are other people that have had the same problem right after upgrading to 10.5.5. I really think it's an os x bug, just like the other graphic problems that people are reporting now.
I think Apple should take these reports quite seriously.
Anyway, also think that probably these bugs are confined to iMac intel, as some one else pointed out before in this forum, because some friends of mine upgrading their MacPro, didn't have any trouble.
Bye!

How can i format an external drive so as to read and write from both windows and mac side

i recently bought a macbook pro and used bootcamp so as to be able to run win7 and mac. I now wish to have an external drive so as to backup and tranfer files between the two os's. Specifically to read and write form either windows or mac. How can I do this?

Format it as FAT.

I can´t read my external Hard Drive Anymore

Hi, I just got a new Imac, the slim 27 in. one, I connected an external Hard disk to it and everything fine for the first two / three days. Now It won´t even recognise it, the light on the HD is on but there´s no sign that the computer is reading it. I actually have the same problem with my Mac Book Pro, at first it read my Hard Drive and now it doesn´t recognise it. i did the Hard disk utility and I got nothing.
Please Help!

You can try to do a Intel iMac SMC and PRAM resets several times, if that doesn't work then try another cable. If the new cable doesn't work your EHD may have failed.

Can I configure an external drive to be password protected or do I need to buy an external hard drive already password enabled

I asked at a Hong Kong apple shop if they had password protected external drives. They didn't, I bought one anyway.
I'm wondering can I configure this drive. If yes, what do I need to do?

This looks like the easiest and most direct method and since it uses Disk Utility it would work on any OS.
http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/25/password-protect-external-drive-mac-encrypted-par tition/

I recently bought a new iMac as well as a wireless time capsule and have it connected how can I use this external drive as the location to store all my files for iTunes, or is this even possible?

New iMac user here, I recently bought a new iMac and Time capsule and have the whole network up and running now. I have connected another external HD to the time capsule as well and have a total of 3 TB of storage connected wireless to my new iMac. My question is can I use this location as the default location for iTunes? I doubt I am gonna run out of room considering the iMac has 1 TB of storage already, but I'd prefer to keep my movies and music off the Mac to keep it running smoothly. If this is possibly, I'd like to do this with iPhoto as well.

I would advise against placing your iTunes library on a Time Capsule.
The Time Capsule is designed as a backup device and not for wireless streaming of video.
Before you do anything more, can I suggest you put into place a reliable, redundant backup strategy.
Unless you are prepared to risk loss of your iTunes library due to a hard drive failure, I would not put iTunes on the Time Capsule.
Leave your iTunes library on your iMac until such time as your internal drive is full. Backup to Time Capsule using Time Machine and create a clone of your internal iMac HD to your external drive.
That's my 2 cents worth. Others may have a different opinion.

I can't read my External drive

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