MBP can't recognise external devices??

We have a Mac Book Pro and it has been working fine till this morning when we attached the external hard drive and the icon didn't show up on the desk top like it usually does, I did a search for it and couldn't find anything. I attached the external hard drive to my Mac Book and it showed up no problems with all the files etc. I restarted the MBP and reattached the EHD and the computer won't recognise it. Also the firefox icon in the dock was blanked out and the program has disappeared all together! I restarted the computer and now everything seems to be scrambled with nothing in it's normal place, I can't open normal things like the trash, but can open things like text documents. Disk Utility won't do anything, it just opens and says it is searching, I left it for 15 minutes and it was still searching. If I go into find the same thing happens, it just searches and won't bring anything up. I connected another external hard drive and it won't show up and I also connected my ipod and it won't show up, however I can access it through itunes. I put a blank CD in so I could burn some files to it so I won't loose my stuff if there is something major wrong, but the computer doesn't even recognise that there is a CD in there.
I have switched the computer off now, because it seemed a little hot - no more than usual but I don't think I have heard the fan run at all today and I don't want to make the problem worse by running a hot machine.
Does anyone know what could be wrong and how I could fix it? There are a few really important files on there that I can't risk loosing, so want to back them up (that's what I was trying to do this morning!) before I do anything major, but don't know how to do this when the external hard drive, USB or CD can't be recognised????? What's the possibility of attaching the MBP to my MB and transferring that way? I don't want to risk corrupting the other computer...
Any help or advice would be appreciated!!
Thanks,
Kat

Hi akgalle
Greetings and welcome to the Apple Discussion boards
Try resetting the PRAM: Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

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Fire Wire: MBP OS X.4.11 Can't see external devices. PLEASE HELP!

Fire Wire: MBP OS X.4.11 Can't see external devices. PLEASE HELP!
My MBP will not "see" my new MB or my back-up drive—both connected via a firewire 400 (6 pin) cable. Both running Tiger X.4.11
I have used this cable to connect my MBP and a TiBook in the past as well as to back-up onto the LaCie e-drive.
I have run "disk repair" and "permissions" on both machines.
BTW—"permissions" are regularly out of wack on the MBP. But, the disk is OK according to Disk Utilities.
I also cannot put the machine to sleep after logging out. Has a hard time shutting down as well. Sometimes I need to force a re-boot.
Can't run Disk Doctor because I don't have a bootable disk yet. It's coming via snail mail.
The new MB "sees" the e-drive connected with the same cable.
I can't transfer my files to the new MB nor can I back up.
Is it time for a "clean install"? Makes me nervous that I cannot backup before trying anything drastic.
Can someone please help me?
Thanks in advance.
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Put the more recalcitrant computer into Target Drive mode by starting it with the T key down until you see the yellow on blue screen. Then connect it to the other machine by firewire cable while both are already awake.
I hope that you did not do any upgrades while you had external drives connected... that is an automatic problem. Always disconnect from externals and accessories before doing any upgrades. Always back up before doing any upgrades.
Firewire networking is not the same as using a computer in Target Disc mode. In Target disc mode, you are using the internal drive of the Td computer as an external. That should allow you to run disk utility. Do use the proper disc utility version for the OSX version that is on problem drive. ie don't use the Leopard disc utility for the Tiger disc or vice versa.

Macbook pro(2008 later) can not recognise external monitor(NEC UXI2090) with mini-DP to DVI adapter with 9600GT

I bought mini-DP to DVI frome Apple several monthes ago and it worked well in that time until yesterday the external monitor show me no signal sign. Other PCs were connected with the same cable and monitor and they are fine. I am wondering there is something wrong in the adaptor or macbook pro. Furthermore I found the external monitor can display nornally when I switched to 9400 graphic card and used mini-DP to VGA adapter. If I switch to 9600GT no signal again. If I switch 9400 using mini-DVI, it is shown on the external screening: Out of range... In a word, In the mode of 9600GT, mac can not recognise external monitor(I can not detect it in the systerm preference even I press detect display buttun) and 9400 works in VGA mode. However when I connect adapter to mac, the screen showed blue flash.
I reseted SMC, no use; I created a new account or enter mac to safe mode, no use; so far I did not reseted PRAM beacuse of something wrong of my system. I am downlaoding Mountain Lion OS and will install it. Then I will reset PRAM and try again.
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I turns out that the logic board of my MacBook Pro was faulty (despite being brand new).
I took it to the Apple Store, presented the problem, and one of the Tech's came to the same conclusion that I had -- hardware failure. Phone support was no help in the matter (and even told me that what I was trying to do wasn't a supported option, which is rediculous). However, the Genius Bar did take care of the problem, and my MacBook Pro was back to me with a replaced logic board within a few days.
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How can I control external devices using a touch screen with a standalone LabVIEW app

For my senior design project my group and I created a hybrid extended range vehicle with 90 Li+ Batteries thats charged by a 15 kW generator and/or that is also being charged by a 5 kW fuel cell. Currently, our system is capable of measuring voltages off of the batteries and displaying them on a laptop via LabVIEW. To process this data, we are using a cRIO FPGA. What we would like to do now is have a touch screen for the driver to choose what power source charges the batteries as well as monitor a pressure reading coming from the fuel cell tank.
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Solved!
Go to Solution.

That sounds like a pretty interesting project. If you are interested, National Instruments hosts a Student Design Competition where you can win cash or a trip to Austin for NIWeek.
steve215 wrote:
What sort of small touch screens allow for LabVIEW to be uploaded on and used for controls?
NI does sell Touch Panel computers that can be used to control LabVIEW applications. You can find more information here: HMIs and Industrial Touch Panels and here: LabVIEW Real-Time and Touch Panel Deployment and Replication Resources. Our 6-inch touch panel computers run Windows CE, so programming on them is a little different than programming on a full Windows OS. You may find the Getting Started with the LabVIEW Touch Panel Module useful.
You can use third party devices with the LabVIEW Touch Panel Module, although you will need a deployment license for it. More information can be found in the getting started guide.
If you were able to send the cRIO information over a network (which from your description sounds unlikely), you may be able to use a smartphone to control your application. More information can be found on our Community Smartphone Group.
steve215 wrote:
Does a cRIO have the capability to power such a screen and handle the data transfer from the fuel sensor and switching relays (for switching on and off powersources)?
If you were using the 6-inch touch panels, they require 18 to 32 VDC (the fuse becomes an open circuit if input level exceeds 33 VDC). The data transfer from the switching relays can be monitored and changed with the touch panel.
steve215 wrote:
Do I need an additional license for creating standalone applications and how would i go about creating a standalone app?
If you went the touch panel route, you would need to purchase the LabVIEW Touch Panel Module, and a touch panel. The NI touch panels come with a touch panel deployment license. Step-by-step guides for creating the standalone app can be found in the Getting Started with the LabVIEW Touch Panel Module guide.
Regards,
Elizabeth K.
National Instruments | Applications Engineer | www.ni.com/support

Fire Wire: MBP OS X.4.11 Can't see external devices HELP!

My MBP will not "see" my new MB or my back-up drive—both connected via a firewire 400 (6 pin) cable. Both running Tiger X.4.11
I have used this cable to connect my MBP and a TiBook in the past as well as to back-up onto the LaCie e-drive.
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Is it time for a "clean install"? Makes me nervous that I cannot backup before trying anything drastic.
Can someone please help me?
Thanks in advance.
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Connect the drive and open a finder window.
Does the drive show up in the sidebar with your Macintosh HD.
If it does you have a software problem and let me know so we can troubleshoot that problem.
If it does not show up, it could still be software but we should proceed as follows.
First, reset the pram.
From the instructions on the apple support site.
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (the key with the apple symbol), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4.. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
If still not visible, follow this article's instructions.
What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire or USB device
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88338
After this if it is still not visible:
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, click More Info, and then click FireWire.
If the device appears then you have a software issue.
- now we would resume troubleshooting software
If the device does not appear you likely have a hardware issue.

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MBP can't recognise external devices??

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