My external hard drive doesn't show up on my desktop screen

I have a 1TB external drive that connects by USB. I use it as a Time Machine and for other storage. It worked fine until a few weeks ago. Now, when I connect it, the drive starts spinning, but it doesn't show up on the desktop screen or in Disk Utility.
Other USB drives and devices work fine when plugged into either of my USB ports. Also, this particular 1TB drive works fine with my older MacBook. It's just that this particular external drive and this particular MacBook Pro don't seem to be working together.
Thoughts?

Does it show up in disk utility
remove and reconnect the USB connector on the drive end., check Finder > prefences > general ....is hard disks checked?
Have you used this HD on that Mac before?
Does this HD show in another machine/ Mac?
Work the process of elmination. Report back.

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My external hard drive doesn't show up in finder, is it dead?

My external hard drive doesn't show up in finder.Time machine can't find it. Does this mean my external hard drive is dead?
I borrowed a friends and switched mine with hers. My acted the same way in her macbook. I switched the cords on the external drives, no change.
Also, Is there a way to retrieve the information from my sick external hard drive? Thanks for your help.

If the Disk Utility sees it, you might be able to repair it or recover the data on it with a product such as DiskWarrior or Data Rescue.
If the Disk Utility doesn't see it, contact professional support.
(64290)

My external hard drive does not show up on my desktop

My external hard drive does not show up on my dest top but, does shows in my Windows (vmware fusion) end although I can't see it ob my desktop but, I can eject it properly like any external drive. I have connected it to my windows and ejected properly (per the suggestion of someone on this forum) but, it still doesn't show on my Mac. I see the blue light and hear it running though. I have looked for it in disk utility but, still can find it. I have changed the cable and it still did not show on my Mac. I connected another external drive and that showed up on my desktop.Any help????

if it is NTFS then you need Paragon Software NTFS for Mac.
NTFS volumes are suppose to be read only but in practice external drives don't always mount or work.
If it is not NTFS then you need more details. Need more anyway.
PS: this is not a MacBook area, it is Mac 65lbs tower related forum.

External Hard Drive doesn't show up

hi.
i'm having an issue with my external hard drive. this morning i went to plug it in since that's where i store all of my music, and for some odd reason it didn't work. i have a feeling it's because the night before i unplugged it without ejecting it. my mistake, i know, but now the drive is all messed up. earlier i was able to view the volumes on it in disk utility, and before deciding to erased anything i plugged it into my sister's dell where i transfered everything on the drive. now, when i plug it in my macbook it only shows up in disk utility without the volumes, it doesn't show up on the dell anymore, and when i go to erase everything it tells me "operation timed out".
i'm at a loss of what to do. i tried restarting the macbook, unplugged the cables... nothing seems to work. i would really like to get the thing back to factory settings if that's possible. so if anyone can offer help, it would be most appreciated. the external drive is a 500GB Maxtor OneTouch

Try this:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
If you plan to use this drive on both your Mac and a PC, then format the drive MS-DOS rather than Mac OS Extended.

External hard drive doesn't show up in /dev. [SOLVED]

After a long period of not taking backups, I plugged in my external hard drive today, but I can't mount it because I can't find it in dev (it used to show up as /dev/sdb, but now my only /dev/sd* is /dev/sda, which is my internal drive). The drive still shows up in dmesg and in lsusb. I've attached the dmesg lines and the lsusb -v entry, in which you can see that the drive is indeed recognized as a mass storage device.
I'm not sure if it's relevant, but lsusb -v pauses for a couple of seconds before outputting the final line.
Any ideas?
Dmesg output:
[160782.137424] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device number 7 using ehci_hcd
lsusb -v output:
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 059b:0370 Iomega Corp.
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x059b Iomega Corp.
idProduct 0x0370
bcdDevice 0.00
iManufacturer 10 lomega
iProduct 11 exernal hd
iSerial 5 1590925965FF
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 32
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 4 USB Mass Storage
bmAttributes 0xc0
Self Powered
MaxPower 2mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk (Zip)
iInterface 6 MSC Bulk-Only Transfer
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
bLength 10
bDescriptorType 6
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
bNumConfigurations 1
Device Status: 0x0001
Self Powered
Edit: fixed code tags
Last edited by jneem (2011-11-19 23:36:18)

So, you're talking about a specific drive.
then try testdisk. it's available in extra.
also you may try to use another cable.
Unfortunatly my system doesn't see any usb drives. But when I boot in stock kernel, everything is OK
PS a few months ago I have bricked my external hdd by inserting it in win7 by mistake. Billy's OS didnt recognised my ext3 partition, and destroed it without any prompt. B****! I still cant forgive it

External Hard drive doesn't show in the event library?

Would anyone know why my external HD mounts to my computer, yet does not show up in my event library window?
Thanks for any help.
Evan

johng67 wrote:
Hi Everyone,
FCPX won't list two of my 6 external hard drives in the Event Library, including my all-important video hard drive (a 2TB drive I use for my videos). There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of my drives. They work in Finder and in every app I have, and Disk Utility says that they are perfectly fine. These two drives show up as "Cameras" in FCPX for some reason. All the other drives show up fine in FCPX, even the drive I use for my Time Machine Backups. The two missing drives are formatted exactly the same as the drives that do show up (Mac Journalled) and they all connect through USB -- there is literally no difference between the drives, so there shouldn't be a problem for FCPX but there is.
Does anyone know why two drives don't appear in the Event Viewer (or appear as "Cameras") while 4 other drives appear perfectly well???
These drives either have names like "Video" or folders inside that are usually in camera drives, like "DCIM".
If you rename the drives or folders that are causing it, FCP X will see them as drives. No need to erase or reformat anything, just figure out what names to change: e.g., renaming a drive "Video" to "johng67 Video" may be all it takes.
Remember that for example an SD card from a camera that you plug in to your mac sd slot appears to the application just as a volume; if you copy it entirely to a pen drive or a large hard drive they would all appear the same.
FCP X has to apply some heuristics to try and figure out if it should treat it as a hard drive or a "camera". No such heuristics can be 100% accurate - that's why they're heuristics.
Message was edited by: Luis Sequeira1

External hard drive doesn't show up on Mac Mini

Working with pre-installed Snow Leopard on a Mac Mini.
External firewire hard drive does not show up on desktop or in sidebar. Also tried the same hard drive connected with USB. Tried another USB drive -- nothing.
What can I try?

If those have a pre-existing format that works with those earlier machines, they may not show as bootable drives....they need to be set up with a GUID map as mentioned. But they should still show up in Disk Utility at least...
If they worked on those other computers, then you should try the Apple article listed above to see if all that is needed is to get the FW ports to cooperate.
If no joy there, try resetting some of the basic hardware involved (PRAM~NVRAM). See this Apple KB for details, etc.:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
If still no joy, walk it in to the nearest Apple Store for a quick hands on.
Good luck in any case.

WD 320gb external hard drive doesn't show up on mac

I just bought a 320gb Western Digital external hard drive. When I plug it into my mac (OS X 10.4.11), nothing shows up on the desktop. I also don't see it anywhere on "Finder". When I plug it into my family's PC it works correctly and I can find the hard drive and put files on it. Any suggestions for being able to access the hard drive from my mac?
Thanks.

Prep the drive for the Mac:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Need help: External Hard Drive doesn't show up

i havent use my external hard drive in 3 months. Before when i connect the usb, the hard drive shows up in the finder and i can transfer files and ext, but now it doesnt show up in the finder at all. I've check the disk utility and the EHDrive appears there, i've tried to click the verify and repair but it doesnt mount in the finder. I've also tried opening the HDrive in my player and it does open..
so please help me with regard to this ..

How is the drive connected to the computer? USB, Firewire......
Do you have another computer to see if the hard drive will mount there?
Restart the computer holding down the command - option/alt - P - R keys before the gray screen appears. Continue to hold until you hear the startup chime for the second time.
Reset NVRAM/PRAM
Disconnect the drive from the computer, shut it down for about 1 minute, connect it to the computer and turn it back on. While, doing that, restart the computer.
Try using another cable to connect the drive to the computer.

External Hard drive not even showing up on my desktop

I am plugging in my external hard drive and nothing happens. Did I do something to erase the whole thing? Why doesn't it show up at all on my desktop?

I get this problem every now and again. I noticed it occurs after being used with a windows pc. For some reason if my external hard drive hasn't been ejected properly when on a windows pc it won't show up on my mac at all, not even in disk utility.
Solution that works for me:
Simply plug it back into a windows pc and properly eject it by right clicking the drive and slecting eject.
If you don't have a pc to hand or can't be bothered boot camping, you can run a virtual instance of windows in parrelles desktop and select the hard drive with the usb devices menu.
Hope this helps someone.

The external hard drive is not showing up on my desktop

I've just brought a new external Hard drive for my mac book pro and when I put the usb cable into the laptop nothing showed up on the desktop. I waited a few minutes but nothing happen and then I turned off the computer and did it again. Will be great help if anyone knows what to do.

Not enough information.
What exactly is this EHD and Which Mac OS X are you running.
Have you ever connected an EHD to your computer before...

External hard drive does not show up on my desktop.

I just got this imac and when I plug in my external hard drive it does not show up on my desktop. On all of the macs at school it just shows up but they are running lepoard and I have lion so I don't know if this could make a difference. I have tried draging it droping it but that didn't work.
PS I am just switching from a pc to a mac so I don't know much.

Start a finder window. In the menubar go to Finder > Preferences > General tab > Check show HDs on desktop.
Captfred

External hard drive will not show up on my desktop?!?!

I have a 2 TB G-Technology G-Drive) external hard drive and when I plug it in to my macbook pro via firewire and turn it on, nothing happens. The light on the HD is on but no HD shows up on my desktop? Any help would be great! Thanks!

Open Disk Utility and see if it is listed in the DU sidebar. If it is, then you will need to prep the drive:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

What can I do when my USB and External Hard-Drive don't show up on the desktop?

I've plugged my USB into my computer after a fortnight and it gives me a message to do a custom scan. I don't know how to do that. Help?
I've followed some threats telling to "verify" and "repair" on the Disk Utility, and the first time I went through it, it said that it couldn't be repaired but before I could do anything else, my USB disappeared from the list on the left of the window. I tried again but this time and every other time I try, it disappears straight after I verify it. What's going on? What can I do? Please Help?
This has happened before to an External Hard-Drive but I didn't ask for help then.

Data Recovery – Best
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Data Recovery – Best
Data Recovery – Disk Drill
Data Recovery – Data Rescue
Data Recovery – File Salvage
Data Recovery – Stellar Phoenix
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My external hard drive doesn't show anymore

Hello Everyone,
I hope you can help me. Today I wanted to put new data on my WD hard drive, I have it for almost a year and always worked fine (it's just USB, no power necessary). But my External HD was almost full so I deleted the "time machine" back-ups. Now, my Macbook Pro or iMac doesn't show my WD in Finder. I can find it in Disk Utility but only for a few seconds. Can someone please help me by giving some tips or own experiences? Thanks!

If you want LR to show the full path of a directory tree as it is on an actual drive, you are going to have to fool it into showing it to you.
a) Place a COPY of a photo, ANY photo, in the directory/folder that you want to show as the root of your folder tree in LR.
b) Using "Import Photos from disk" import ONLY the photo that you placed in the 'root' folder, by DOUBLE-CLICKING on it so that only it is imported.
c) After the import, your folder structure should now look the way that you want it to in LR, matching the actual drive structure from the root upwards.
d) Using LR, delete the photo that you used as a placeholder. The LR Folder structure should remain intact.

My external hard drive doesn't show up on my desktop screen

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