My computer freezes because of my external hard drive

Has anyone heard of this issue? I am not able to leave my time machine external hard drive on because it freezes my computer. When it happens, I turn off the external hard drive and everything works again.
This is not a good solution as I am likely to loose what is on the hard drive or forget to hook it up again and then not be totally protected.

Disconnect the ext HD, Zap the PRAM and Reset the SMC; then, reconnect the ext HD and see if that fixes things. BTW, I suggest updating to 10.6.8.

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I recently updated the software on my MacBook Pro. Now, my computer no longer recognizes my external hard drive. Could this be related to the software update and, if so, how do I correct the problem?

I Recently updated the software on my MacBook Pro. Now, my computer no longer recognizes my external hard drive. Could this be related to the software update and, if so, how do I correct the problem?

Ari343 wrote:
No, the external hard drive does not show up on Disk Utility. I don't have another computer to try it on.
Perform a PRAM reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Have you tried all the ports?
Have you tried with a different cable?
Have you tested all the ports with other devices to see that they are functioning?
Ciao.

Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive?

Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive (FW800)?
My mac pro started to see programs crash. First one, that wouldn't 'force quit', then a minute later a second. This had happened before last year, so i started quitting apps to restart. At the end, half of them i succeeded to quit and about 4 wouldn't quit. The finder was frozen/crashed, no dock or apple menu or any menu for that matter. The mouse moved. i could shortcut 'force quit' and 'return' on default OKs.
So i powerbuttoned down. On rebooting, the volumes on the Mercury Elite* unit in question didn't mount. I looked for them with disk utility but nothing. So i then examined the unit. A soft clicking noise was emanating and the power adapter was HOT!
The two drives are now in the mac pro internally and are working fine. But before i took them out, i tested the pins on the power adapter with a voltmeter, according to the schematic on the adapter itself and i got 5,5v on the one side and 13 odd v on the other. Apparently what's supposed to be coming out. (5v and 12v)
Can a powerbutton shutdown shoot electricity through the FireWIre bus? Any ideas?
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW924AL2K/

Can a computer crash disable (break) an external hard drive (FW800)?
No, but it could damage files or the directory structure, so the drive wouldn't mount. Disk Utility should be able to fix it by erasing or partitioning, but you would lose the data on the drive.
My mac pro started to see programs crash. First one, that wouldn't 'force quit', then a minute later a second. This had happened before last year, so i started quitting apps to restart. At the end, half of them i succeeded to quit and about 4 wouldn't quit. The finder was frozen/crashed, no dock or apple menu or any menu for that matter. The mouse moved. i could shortcut 'force quit' and 'return' on default OKs.
You may have bad RAM, or other hardware problems. Have you run the extended Apple Hardware Tests. Boot from the install DVD while pressing "D". Try removing any non-Apple RAM modules.
I tested the pins on the power adapter with a voltmeter, according to the schematic on the adapter itself and i got 5.5 V on the one side and 13 odd V on the other. Apparently what's supposed to be coming out. (5 V and 12 V)
Some power supplies will put out more than the rated voltage if there is nothing attached, but 5.5 V and 13 V are not high enough to cause damage, anyway.
Can a powerbutton shutdown shoot electricity through the FireWIre bus?
No.

Opening Lightroom for first time from new computer where library is on external hard drive

There has to be an easy way to open my lightroom library from my new computer where the library is already on an external hard drive because that's where I was told to put it to make this whole process easy. Well, I can't find any information on how to do this and I'd rather not mess up my photos!

Could you be specific about the problem you are having? What happens when you try?
Also please be sure to state your operating system and what version of Lightroom.

I want to put my iTunes library on an external hard drive but leave my favourite songs on the computer to access without the external hard drive and when using iMovie. Is there a way to do this?

I have filled my hard drive, half with music, half with photos. I want to take my music off, and put it onto an external hard drive. However, I would still like to have access to favourite songs and playlists when the external hard drive isn't plugged in. I would also like to access this music to use with iMovie. Is there a way to do this?

You will have to engage a split library which means you will have to start answering questions on this forum because you will need to learn a lot about how iTunes works in order not that have a big mess at the end of it all. It also won't be easy when the time comes to relocate it all to different drives.
You can go to advanced preferences and turn off organize media and copy to items to media folder when adding items to library. Next read about how to selectively consolidate items to the external drive.
Sept. 2010, Consolidate selected content - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2589812 and April 2014, https://discussions.apple.com/message/25414357
"...selected the new tracks directly in iTunes, Control-clicked on the selection, and saw that now you can consolidate selected items." - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090919000326840
Remember that when you start iTunes without the external drive turned on iTunes will present you with a bunch of broken links. If you have automatic downloads enabled with iCloud you may have to turn that off to prevent iTunes from repopulating your drive trying to deal with those "missing" tracks.
If you add tracks in bunches to iTunes and want them to go to different media folders you will need to either add them by holding down the option key while dragging if the desired media folder is not the one set in preferences, or by changing the media folder in preferences. Changing media folder preferences only applies to new files added, not old ones.
Okay, I am going to stop typing because you might just reply to me, "Oh, okay, forget it," and I don't need the exercise.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

Moving library from one computer to another, music on external hard drive

Purchased 60GB iPod and imported approx. 50 GB of music into the library/iPod on Laptop 1. The music sits on an external hard drive (100mb). Laptop 1 only has 20gb drive. Everything was working fine, was able to import CD's listen to music everything that an iPod owner can do.
Laptop 1 no longer recongnizes the music in the folders on the external hard drive. It sees the music folders (titles) but when you click on the folder it is empty- no songs inside the folder.
Laptop 2 - hook up the external hard drive to it. Can see the music/songs within the folders. So laptop 1 can't see the music, yet laptop 2 can.
The iTunes music library is sitting on laptop 1 - how do I get the library over to laptop 2? I can not use the iPod as a hard drive, since the iPod will try to go to the music folder (external)and get the music so it can "transfer" to laptop 2. When I put the iPod into "hard drive" mode it goes to the external hard drive and can't find the music/songs. It does not see the music within the folders.
Both laptop 1 and 2 have 20gb hard drives. The external hard drive is 80gb, with only 23gb still available. I just upgraded laptop 1 from iTunes 5.0 to 7.0. I could use the new functionality to back up onto CD/DVD IF it could see the music/songs on the external hard drive.
All the documentation I've read would work for me IF laptop 1 recognized the music/songs on the external drive. Since it does not does anyone have some ideas to help me get the iPod library from laptop 1 to laptop 2, not using the iPod as the hard drive?
Thank you for any input.

I've got the same type question. Is it possible to transfer my purchased songs from a computer at work via a flash drive? The firewall at work will not allow me to share files with my home computer, however, the computers at work download the songs I buy in about 15 seconds, my slow a** dial up at home takes over 15 minutes per song. I think this is still considered stealing, but I'm not sharing the songs with anyone, I just want to download them at work, then transfer them to my main home computer iTunes library.

Restore to new computer: I did a carbon copy of my old macbook pro computer it's on my external hard drive. Now how do I restore files on to my new macbook pro.

not sure how to restore old files, address book, music, photos to my new Mac OS X 10.7.4. The external hard drive has all the computer (system-apps-files etc) stored via carbon cloner. The formatted volume is Macos extended (journaled) Do I need to download memeo Life Agent program or is there a migration type program already on my new computer? What do I do to restore these bits and parts of my old mac OS X 10.6.8?

Try buttons are meant for Trial installations
Note : Make sure you had Signed in to Creative Cloud using Email ID using which you had purchased subscription .
If you had signed in with valid email ID already , Sign out from Creative Cloud and Sign in.
https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/sign-in-out-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html
Still you are getting Try buttons??
1) Right click on the Finder icon on dock and select "Go-To Folder" option.
2) You will get a text box, type-in below mentioned command and then hit 'Return' key.
/etc
3) It will open the etc folder, please look for file named "hosts" and copy the same to Desktop screen.
4)Double click on Hosts file , it will open with TextEdit .
Let me know whether you can see any Adobe entries like 127.0.01 activate.adobe.com ...xxxxxx.adobe.com.....etc???

Computer won't recognize my external hard drive. I've tried three different drives, including Mac super drive

Computer won't recognize my external cd/dvd writer, althoughI have tried three altogether, one being the the Apple usb superdrive.

Neither hard drive is working on the mac pro. They do not appear in disk utility.
My chords seem fine. I don't have another cable to try on the Mac Pro. but both cables worked on my 2011 macbook pro with my external hard drive. my 2TB didn't work on my macbook pro however... it didn't even appear in disk utility. I wonder though if that has to do with the usb 3. I know my laptop has USB 2 and my external hard drive is USB 3 and i'm not sure if its backwards compatible.
I have tried all of the USB ports on the Mac Pro, the hard wear seems fine.
I will try resetting the SMC shortly and see if that works.

My computer doesn't recognise my external hard drive

My macbook doesn't seem to recognise my external hard drive (OS 10.8.3).
The hard drive connects to laptop via USB, but gets power from another plug in the wall. When I plug it in, its icon does not appear on desktop, or in Finder menu.
The hard drive works fine on my sisters laptop (Macbook, about 5 years old). Other storage devices work fine in my macbook, and appear rapidly on both desktop and finder menu when I insert them.
Have any of you encountered this before? Can you tell me how can I fix it???

Check out KB Article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10866 OS X Mountain Lion: If a CD or DVD doesn’t appear on the desktop

My computer doesn't see my external hard drive

Hello. I have a Power Mac G4, X10.4.6 and for a long time I've used it successfully with my hard drice - and Icecube 800 hard drive connected through a firewire cable. Now i just formated the intern hard disks and now the computer doesn't see the hard drive. The Icecube 800 doesn't require installation of any drivers and it still works perfectly on other computers. And there's nothing wrong with the ports because I can still connect my iPod. What do i do? Thank you, Sebastian.

It does. It may not call it "resetting the port", but this method is what resets the port:
"Tip: FireWire ports are keyed, which means the FireWire cable can only be inserted one way. Check that you are inserting the FireWire cable into the FireWire port in the correct orientation.
If the issue persists, try these steps:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Disconnect all FireWire devices and all other cables, except the keyboard and mouse cable(s).
3. Disconnect the computer from the power outlet and wait for 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Plug the computer back in and turn it on.
5. Reconnect the FireWire device(s) (one at a time if there is more than one) and test. Test with each FireWire port if you have more than one."
If it isn't resetting the port properly, I think your port, cable, or controller is damaged.

My computer will not identify my external hard drive, help.

I have hard drive from windows 98 connected to my windows 2000 with usb 2.0 to ide adapter. my windows 2000 will not identify external drive.

Let me know who is your Internet Service Provider ... so that i can tell you few manual steps to confiogure the router. ...

HT201250 old data transferred to new computer via time machine, is external hard drive still usable

I set up my new macbook from an old macbook via time machine and an external WD Harddrive.
The setup partitioned my macbook to two user id's, now I need to back up.
The old user id is backing up everything again and the new user id wants to create a new backup to my WD Harddrive like it is not used.
I don't believe that my WD was partitioned.
Help! How can I continue using my WD and backup both user id information without losing anything?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
When you turn on the new iMac for the first time, Setup Assistant will ask you to restore a backup, so connect the external disk and follow steps to restore all your files to your new iMac. Your new Mac will have the same settings and programs as your old computer.
In other cases, I would recommend to restore the whole backup without using Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant, but a Late 2012 iMac uses a special OS X build, so the OS X version that you're using on your old Mac won't work on the new one. For more information, see > http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

17" MacBook Pro freezes after Capture to external hard drive!!!!!! HELP!!

Ok, so i just got my new MacBook Pro and Final Cut Studio last week, and i was so excited, until this happened. I was trying to log and capture a clip to my 500GB LaCie Big Disk and everything seemed to be going fine until the clip got to the end of it's alloted time and then the computer just froze. When I closed the lid and let the laptop sleep and opened it again the clip is in place and everything seems fine. I tried capturing then w/ the LaCie plugged into the FW8oo port and my miniDV Deck plugged into the FW4oo, and it froze again after capture and then worked fine after closing the lid. Thinking I was crowding my Fire Wire bus I hooked up an external USB 2.0 drive and my deck to the fire wire , but the same thing happened. So then I tried capturing to my internal and it worked fine. I've captured to an external on my 17" iMac G5 w/ Final Cut HD for years and never had a problem. Any tips? This closing the lid thing just isn't going to work.
MacBook Pro 17" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

nope, david is right on the mark. powermacs with one firewire bus choke like this. i can't understand why apple continues to design with one firewire bus but i'm not a designer. anyone, ANYONE who uses firewire harddrives and firewire tape machines/cameras for editing NEEDS to invest in a seperate sort of firewire card (pick your flavor) and then we'd see this behavior go away. then there will be those that will whine "this never happened before!" it's happening now, firewire cards a cheap insurance against these issues.

Download software to computer or external hard drive?

I'd like to put Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 on my laptop, but before downloading it I'd like to get some advice on whether I should put it on my laptop's hard drive or an external hard drive. The reason I ask is suppose I end up getting a new computer in the next year or two...what would be the best way to still access my Photoshop software? Would downloading it to an external hard drive be a good solution, or are there problems that arise with that?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

You will have to reinstall the prgram on the new computer regardless of whether you install on an internal or external hard drive. Let me explain:
When you install a program under WIndows, it not only creates folders for installation, but also makes changes to the windows registry and often add files to the windows folder. If you simply copy the folders created to a new computer, the registry changes and other files are not copied. Before you ask, there is no way to copy these, as the registry and other files would be quite different on the new machine, because Photoshop installs files based in part on what hardware you have.
That being said, you *CAN* store the files you created on an external hard drive. That way, once you install Photoshop on the new computer, all the files you created on the old computer are available on the external hard drive, which only needs to be plugged in to the new computer.
If you find my post useful or informative, please click the icon below with the plus sign and star to give kudos. Thank you!

My WD external hard drive is no longer show up on my computer-it no longer recognizes it.

I have a WD external hard drive for sometime that I have been using to backup my computer and generally keep some of my bigger things on it(such as degital copies of movies). But suddenly one day my computer won't recognize my external hard drive when I went to plug it in. The light on it that is on when it is plugged in is on when I do plug it in, yet I can't actually find and acess my external hard drive. I don't know whats wrong and how to fix it so I can continue using my hard drive.

dead sata bridge card. very common problem.
see all about it here:
Your dead external hard drive is likely fine! Great hope for your 'faulty' external HD
verify HD on another Mac however, if same, dead SATA card most likely

My computer freezes because of my external hard drive

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