MacBook + USB External Drive (enclosure)

Hi there!
I'm new to Mac, and new to this forum. I've tried searching through previous posts and couldn't seem to find anything to match my case exactly, so forgive me if this is a duplication.
I currently have a 2.0 GHz MacBook (white). No upgrades, except 1GB of RAM.
Coming from PC, I decided to make use of some of my old HDDs. I bought an external USB2 HDD enclosure. I put my 40GB ATA133 Maxtor in it and attached it to my MB. It seemed to work.
I backed up all of my old PC data properly. Since it was in NTFS format, I decided to reformat into Mac. In Disk Utility, I chose to "Zero Out" the disk. After some time of "writing zeros to disk" (status bar almost complete), I suddenly got a message saying "erase/format failed. input/output error."
Now, I cannot seem to find the drive in either Win explorer of Mac Finder. Both my PC and Mac, however, detect it as a local drive, with proper brand and size specs, in Device Manager (Win) and Disk Utility (Mac).
The activity light on the HDD enclosure only lights up when I fire up the unit. Then, it stays off. Now, I cannot seem to format it in my Mac. All I get is "input/output error." On my PC, the option (format) doesn't even seem to exist for this drive.
I'm afraid that, if I try the same procedure with my remaining 2 HDDs (Maxtor 80GB and 20GB), I will get the same result.
Any feedback on what might have happened?
What did I do wrong?
Is there still hope for this HDD unit?
Is it possible that my HDDs simply cannot work with Mac?
What should I do to get a proper result the next time?
Thanks!
MacBook 2.0GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Thanks for the tip, Michael.
I will certainly give this a try, probably over the coming weekend. And I do hope that it works.
Now, whether it does work or not, I do want to know what you guys think: did I do nything wrong? Skip any step? Choose any option wrong?
I'd like to be able to still use my 2 remaining HDDs, but I want to avoid the hassle of something similar happening when I reformat.
Thanks again!

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ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 external drive enclosure USB 3.00 can't see my data!

ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 external drive enclosure USB 3.00 can't see my data!
Hello to the community,
So indeed a pretty self-explanatory title. However you might not think so later.
I just received the ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 today from ebay. (But it's a product of RaidSonic) over in Germany see link:
www.raidsonic.de/en/products/external-cases.php?we_objectID=8887
The problem:
I have a large 1.5 TB seagate drive (15mm in height) which was originally in a iOmega external case (which was poor, thats another story).
The ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 is an extremely portable hot swappable enclosure/caddy. (Please do see the images from the above link). However when I plug my seagate HDD into the ICY adapter, it, my Mac cannot see the data I have on it whilst using this adapter! But If I use the old one my data can be seen, see images!.
You see in disk utility, before the above. A small dialog box giving me three options "initialize, and two others" appears, initialize takes me into disk utility. Shows as "ASMT 2105 Media" (not one of the partitions on the drive).
Below see connected to new ICYBOX enclosure/case: (don't ask me why it inserted upside down?)
And below using the old USB3.0 sata cable and adapter from the previous enclosure. Note that it works, my data can be seen, read and wrote. On the monitor you can see my "Data core" partition mounted!
As you can see the above is the drive plugged in using the old adapter and cable (SATA chip + USB 3.0) from iOmega. This works no problems you can see my partitions mounted and yes they do work.
This is disappointing as far as the ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 is concerned for me. It should just work out of the box. But no it can't mount or even in anyway see my partitions that are definitely there. I want to use the ICYBOX IB-AC6031-U3 for this drive and should be able to but I cannot reformat and don't want to as this is the biggest drive a have at the moment.
There has to be a way around this, I have contacted RaidSonic who make the adapter and await a response. I have also done some web searching but nothing promising has turned up.
Your input will be greatly appreciated,
Many thanks,
B-B

bb-bump...

Imovie9, 13"macbook aluminum and USB external drive

I know firewire is better, but is it totally impossible to use USB. Others have said its ok. Tom Wolsky on the FCE forum said that many people are returning the macbooks without firewire. I did a search on other discussions and some say its ok, while others say no.
Please do i really need a macbook pro or a white macbook. I will be editing HDV and eventually AVCHD.

Thank you! Yes. I have HDV today with an imac. I am deciding between the new macbook and the new white macbook. I really want the small form factor. I should really just buy the white one since it has firewire, but I don't want plastic and i like the new touchpad. I also want to get a flash drive HD camera that uses USB. I got concerned using a USB External drive for the AVCHD because of file sizes and making the USB drive unstable. I think i will ensure that i keep enough hard drive space on the macbook to do all editing and then move as much as I can to the external drive.

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Searching through the web, it seems this is an common/known problem. Does anyone know the solution?
Thanks,

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.
Feedback

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I have the oldest macbook (1.83. 2 gigs ram, 60 gig internal hard drive)
I have all my logic content on my external maxtor firewire 400 drive (usb 2.0 is actually faster than firewire 400) and everything is fine. the good thing is if your external drive has 7200rpm, but the ones with 5600rpm should do as well.
Once you drag your apple loops to logic from your external drive, logic will remember for the next visit. And when you are opening a project which is on the external drive , just find it with logic finder and all should be fine.

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Today, I decided to erase the time machine disk, zero the data, and re-allocate the drive for time machine backup. After setting these preferences in disk utility, and clicking 'erase', the disk again erased itself, with the error message :
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I was able to do a simpler format function on the disk via disk utility, the disk will mount, but the allocated disk space previously used by time machine is still present, and the format has only done that remaining space on the disk.
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Welcome to Apple Discussions.
When you use Disk Utility to erase totally you need to click on the LaCie drive name not the name that appears on the desktop. Select how many partitions you want and give each partition the name you want it to have and perhaps also the partitioning scheme and other options that are available, then erase.
Doing this will of course make all that is on the drive unavailable to you.
These are LaCie's directions for their drives.
Some LaCie drives might also have firmware updates available - worth a check on their website.
Note that LaCie seem to have 2 yr warranty on their drives, at least the one I looked at on their website. If the drive is younger than this you might have a warranty claim.

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My USB external drives are NOT showing up in finder or my disk utlity.
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Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
MacBook Pro
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I reset my PRAM and it works now. I've no idea what that did...
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Really hope someone can help me with this.
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Really hope someone can help me with this.
I've got a late 2011 Macbook Pro, and was running Time Machine on a 500GB GDrive USB external drive. Was working fine when I last attached it on Feb 29. The Time Machine backup was encrypted.
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I managed to de-encrypt the drive using Disk Utility, but now I get a Kernel Panic everytime I plug the **** drive in.
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let me start by saying i love my new intel imac i bought in march. its doing what i need it to do and much much more.im going to need backup space soon for photos,video clips,audio ect. i was hoping for any advice on what are my best options for usb external drives.
p.s.im waiting till i can back up all my OSX stuff before i install bootcamp
looking foward to playing around with that !
thanks............

My advice is to not bother with USB. Get a USB/FireWire drive instead. It is more flexible - meaning you can use it on older Macs and PCs without USB - without sacrificing the speed and reliablility of FW.
The USB/FW drives do not cost that much more than a plain USB drive. Be sure to get a drive with the Oxford 911 chipset as they are the most stable and reliable chipset out there. Avoid the Prolific chipset.
I like the Mercury Elite Pro drives from OWC. Mine has never let me down and I plan to get another one soon. You can also buy the enclosure and add your own drive. It is very easy to do.
First Gen 20" G5 iMac, upgraded 320GB Western Digital HD, 2GB Patriot RAM, AE/BT Mac OS X (10.4.6) 160 GB OWC Mercury Elite Pro USB/FW drive, Logitech Z-2300 speakers

Having troubles reading usb external drives.

I have a macbook pro, mid 2010 is when I got it. The issue I've ran into for about 6 months now is my usb external drives are not currently being recognized. It's only external drives and thumb drives though. My mac recognizes my iphone, charges my camera usb, lets me use a usb midi controller. About six months ago I was having trouble connecting a usb dmx lighting interface. I called the company and they sent me to a workaround and it worked. http://groups.google.com/group/dmxis_users/browse_thread/thread/c5746c10c618bf19 ?hl=en_US
Ever since then, it's never been the same my external drives don't work. I even took it to an apple store and replaced the internal boards. (Sorry for not knowing specifics) Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

That would explain your problem! If you have a backup then see if it's on your backup. Otherwise, you will need to restore it from your installer DVD using Pacifist:
How Restore Deleted or Missing OS X Components
A few of the basic OS X installed applications can be restored from the Optional Installs installer located in the Optional installs folder on your Installer DVD. However, if what you need is not there then follow the instructions below.
How to Use Pacifist to Restore Deleted or Missing OS X Components
Insert the OS X Installer DVD into the optical drive. Use a simple utility like TinkerTool to toggle invisibility so you can see invisible items. Alternatively, open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder and at the prompt enter the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles Yes Press RETURN.
To turn off the display of invisible files repeat the above command substituting No for Yes.
The install packages are located in the /System/Installation/ folder on the DVD.
Download the shareware utility Pacifist from VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Use it to extract a fresh copy of the missing item(s) from the file archives on your OS X installation DVD. The file archives are in the /System/Installations/ folder (use Go to Folder option in the Go menu of the Finder.)
Here are Four Basic ways to use Pacifist (courtesy of George Orville.)
A. Drag a .pkg icon onto the Pacifist window .....proceed to step 7.
B. Click on “Open Package ....” and navigate to package desired and click “Open” in the open/save window.....proceed to step 7.
C. Insert Mac OS X installer CD and when it mounts, navigate to .... Menu->Go->Go to Folder. In the path field enter or paste ....
/Volumes/disc name/System/Installation/Packages (where disc name is the name of the CD/DVD that you inserted.
• Click on the "Go" button ..... • Drag a .pkg to Pacifist..... proceed to step 7.
The package you'll need will have to be discovered by trial and error, but for most applications you should start with the Essentials.pkg and/or Additional Essentials.pkg.
D. Insert your Mac OS X install disk 1 .... and open Pacifist.
1. In Pacifist, select "Open Mac OS X Install Packages" ... dialog may appear asking for disk 2, then disk 3 and finally disk 1 again.... {if DVD is not used)...If “Stop Loading” is selected...the procedure will stop!!!
2a. When loading is complete, a new window appears, click the triangle to display contents of each package...Select item and proceed to step 7.
2b. or click the “Find” icon in the Pacifist window and type the name of the software you need.
3. In the list that comes back, click the top most entry for the item that you want. ..... that is the one for the English language.
4. On the top of the Pacifist window, click “verify” .... you will probably be prompted for your password.
>5. Enter checks for.... “verify permissions” and “verify file contents.” and click “verify” ....enter password when prompted.... you will get back output which may look like this:
20 files were scanned. 20 of 20 files were present on the hard disk. 0 of 20 files had file permissions that did not match those specified in the package. 0 of 20 files had checksums that did not match those specified in the package.
6. Click “close”. Go to step 7.
Extract or Install........
7. In the Toolbar (upper left), you now have the option to extract or install. Click a file in the lower list and those two icons will be enabled.
8. If “Extract to...” is selected.... navigate to the location where the file will be placed, select “choose”, select “extract” in new dialog that appears,authenicate , if prompted, click “OK”.
9. In the next dialog, click “Extract”.
10. If “Install” is selected... dialog will appear with the location/path of the installed software. Click “Install”
11. Type in your password, click “OK”
Pacifist will begin to extract files.
12. In steps 8/10ß.... you also have the choice to “cancel”
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Pacifist may find that a file it is installing already exists on the hard disk. Pacifist will present you with an alert panel....
Stop Leave original alone Update ..... Default selection Replace .... Replace option should only be used on full install packages

USB External HDD Enclosure with a 500GB HDD!!

Hi All,
I was just wondering if anyone has come across using a 3rd party USB external HDD enclosure with a hard drive (mine is 500GB HDD). What I am trying to do is to format the HDD so both PC and MAC can use it but it will be mainly connected to my iMAC. I have tried by using PC to format the HDD to NTFS but MAC will not show the HDD on the desktop when I plug the USB to the back of the iMAC.
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Headache!!
Dave
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Windows can use, but not format, large FAT32 partitions. Microsoft wants to discourage using FAT32 for portable storage (for marketing reasons).
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I have a WD USB External Drive which was formatted for use with my old windows based PC. Bought iMac G5 and at first recognized but now does not and when i run disk verify in dissk utility get following error message:
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** /dev/disk1s1
** Phase 1 - Read FAT
** Phase 2 - Check Cluster Chains
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Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
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MacBook + USB External Drive (enclosure)

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