My G5 will no longer mount any external hard drive

I am running a G5 Power PC on OS10.4 and am recently unable to mount any of my 4 external hard drives via firewire 400, 800, usb on either front or rear buses. I have tried multiple cables, power supplies, and have run disk utility but still cannot see any of my external drives. I have disconnected everything and shut down my computer for 15 minutes, restarted with one drive at a time, and still nothing. Any other ideas before I lug my desktop in for repair?

I have disconnected everything and shut down my computer for 15 minutes....
Don't just shut it down, shut it down and disconnect it from wall power for 10-15 minutes.

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Since upgrading to Lion I can no longer mount my external hard drive

I backed up about 10 minutes before installing Lion when I was on Snow Leopard. I know my drive works fine and there are no issues with it.
However, when Lion was installed, I wanted to perform a Time Machine Backup, but it said my backup disk was unavailable. I checked in the Finder and it wasn't showing up in the side bar, even though it was connected to my Mac and the indicator light on the hard drive itself was flashing - suggesting drive activity. I can also hear the drive spinning.
I opened Disk Utility and the external hard drive appears in the side bar and it says 'WD My Passport 071A Media'. Underneath that is the 'Time Machine Backups' drive which is greyed out. I have tried right clicking on it and choosing Mount but it won't mount, and I have also tried Repair Disk which doesn't finish, but also doesn't report any errors either. If I run Verify Disk and Repair Disk on the 'WD My Passport 071A Media' drive (which is the same drive) it does not report any problems and says the drive is working fine.
I have tried updating the drive's firmware and using different ports but neither have worked. I have also tried rebooting my Mac.
I really need to use this drive to backup and I can't format it because I can't afford to lose any data on there. Could someone please give me some advice or tell me how to fix this? I would appreciate it so much.
Thanks,
Nathan

Nathan Miah wrote:
Is there absolutely anything else I could do to sort this such as phone Apple Support
If you want.
or maybe install Snow Leopard using the disc it came on with my Mac and just set it up from a Time Machine Backup on my external hard drive (since it works under SL)?
Did you install Lion on an empty partition, or did you upgrade Snow Leopard? If you upgraded, I'd not recommend erasing it, since your backups are apparently gone. It's doubtful Snow Leopard will recognize them.
It's not just backups on the drive either, there are other important things on there, so why won't they show?
Mixing Time Machine backups and other data is not a good idea. See #3 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. It sounds like the whole disk is corrupted.
I just really don't understand how this happened. Could it not be an issue with WD because they haven't issued firmware to support Lion yet?
If this is a simple external HD, connected by USB or FireWire, no, unless you installed some of WD's software on it. That shouldn't prevent it from being seen at all, but anything's possible.

FCP X will no longer recognise my external hard drives

I have been using an external (Gtech)hard drive with no problem - events & projects have loaded fine
Now I have added a second (Mybook) drive and backed up the iMac & G drive to that - the result? FCPX no longer recognises those drives. all the files are on both external drives, according to Finder. Some forums suggest Time Machine is the culprit but (a) I did look at it and may have pressed the wrong buttons (b) don't know how to disable it if that is the problem.
So, I am up that creek and seem unable to paddle.
If there is a saviour out there then please put me out of my, total, misery!
Hugh

Tom,
You are kind to help.
I understood that th hard drives came pre-formatted so did nothing to them.
I have used the G drive for 2 months to run FCP X.
When I plugged in the Mybook 1 drive it seemed to work fine so I used Carbon Copy Cloner to back up:
- the iMac to MyBook1
- The G Drive to MyBook 1
As you can see below Event Manager is now not even recognising the drives at all.
I only used VLC to open one clip just to check that I hadn't lost all my work.
I do have a second, unused MyBook drive for future storage - can I use that in any way to move work?
Time Machine seems to keep popping up and some seem to think that this could be the problem.

Laptop no longer can mount my external hard drive

After updating to Mavericks, my laptop no longer can mount my external hard drive. What on earth is going on here and how can I fix this?

The drive is spinning and I was using it the night before I updated my macbook. It is viewable in disk utility but not in finder, and attempts to mount it are thwarted. The problem is literally coincident with updating the mavericks. When I click verify it didn't appear to have any problems but I will retry when I am back at home and report the findings.
It is a Toshiba 1GB external hard drive and has adequate power. Lights are on, etc.
I have not checked on another computer as do not have one available, but that will be my next step.

Can I mount my external hard drive which will be compatible with both Mac and Windows?

Hello,
Can I mount my external hard drive which will be compatible with both Mac and Windows? If yes, then please let me know, because I intend to use my hard drive for both Windows and Mac, without losing any file.

Yes. By default, Mac OS X and Windows can read and write drives which are formatted as FAT32 or exFAT; NTFS drives aren't writable from Mac OS X without additional software.
(124553)

I mounted my external hard drive to a pc and now I don't have edit or write permissions on my Mac (read only). How do I get them back without erasing the drive?

Hello all, I am a photographer and have my portfolio, edited and raw images backed up on a Seagate Free Agent External Hardrive. I mounted my external hard drive to a pc recently and now I don't have edit or write permissions to it on my Mac (read only). How do I get them back without erasing the drive and loosing my valuable work?

If you re-format it you will lose all the data on it!!!!! So make sure you have backed up the drive or moved all the data on it to another external HD or the internal HD on your iMac.
Below is an Apple Advice letter that explains how to format an external HD, it's written for Aperture but you can use the instructions to formate any external HD.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3509

Will Time Capsule work as External Hard-Drive?

I'm looking for a device to move all my pics and video to as my MacBook Air is running out of storage. I was told by a sales guy at a Mac Store (not apple store) that the Airport Time Capsule would not work because it only does a mirror back-up and any files that I delete off my MacBook would also get deleted off the Time Capsule. First, is this true? Second if so what device will work as a wireless external hard drive for my MacBook?

I was told by a sales guy at a Mac Store (not apple store) that the Airport Time Capsule would not work because it only does a mirror back-up and any files that I delete off my MacBook would also get deleted off the Time Capsule.
There is some confusion here between Time Machine and Time Capsule.
The software that backs up your Mac is Time Machine.. it is not going to provide an alternative to storage locally.. so if you delete items from the Mac hard disk .. TM will delete the file from the backup.
What the Time Capsule basically is.. a wireless router with a dumb hard disk inside.. that has nothing to do with backups... but neither is it a fully fledged NAS.. it is kind of like any low level router to which you plug in a hard disk.. the fact that TC has it internal helps its speed but adds nothing to its functionality.
You can indeed store your files on a TC..
With the following provisions..
1. Time Machine will no longer work. TM is limited to local disks..
2. iphoto in particular is specifically stated by apple to be an application that needs a local disk.. using network disk.. ie TC will result in corruption.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168
Although mostly about FAT32 it adds network drives.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198
Note this applies to all network drives.. not just TC .. everything.
3. No backup.. your files are now sitting on a Time Capsule.. TM cannot back them.. and here TC fails to be a NAS.. all NAS can back themselves up to a backup USB disk.. TC cannot do this.. there is no incremental backup available.. and so if you want to backup your files you must do it manually ie copy and paste .. or use a decent backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner.. since it is beyond TM. And then the question arises . .where are you going to target the backups.. the very worst location is over wireless to a USB on the TC.. since that will make for extraordinarily slow backups.
I'm looking for a device to move all my pics and video to as my MacBook Air is running out of storage.
The correct place to do this is an external drive plugged into the MBA. So TM can continue to backup the files to the TC.
if so what device will work as a wireless external hard drive for my MacBook?
There is no such thing as a wireless external hard drive.. you must plug an external drive into the MBA by USB or FW or Thunderbolt depending on the age of the unit.. All wireless drives are network.. very few exist.. Most NAS are devices you plug into a wireless router.. and I would recommend against wireless built into a NAS.. it will not be as good or fast as a wireless router.
TC can be pressed into service.. as long as you are prepared to deal with backups.. and the fact that you will eventually corrupt your iphoto library and should really use TC only for storage not live files.

Mount an external hard drive in single user mode

Do any know how to mount an external hard drive in single user mode:
I've issue the following command:
/sbin/mount -uw /
mkdir /Volumes/ex1
/sbin/mount_hfs /dev/disk2s3 /Volumes/ex1
(I've checked my external hard drive using df -k showing the device is disk2s3)
Result:
Permission denied

Hi leung wai,
   I wouldn't mind knowing the answer myself. I think the problem with doing it in the manner you attempted is that the device tree hasn't been created yet so the mount command is certainly not going to work. I assume that the answer is to start up enough of the system to have the device tree created. Unfortunately, I don't know where in the startup process that occurs. You could try the following command after making the boot volume writable:
/usr/libexec/registermach_bootstrapservers /etc/mach_init.d
Then check to see if the /dev virtual filesystem has been created. Of course it wouldn't surprise me if that didn't also mount your disks. If not, try the following:
/sbin/SystemStarter
It should have been created after that because at that point almost the whole system has started.
Gary
~~~~
   You've been telling me to relax all the way here, and
   now you're telling me just to be myself?
         -- The Return of the Secaucus Seven

Why does my iMac (with Mountain Lion) no longer recognize my external hard drive I have used as a back up via Time Machine after the hard drive was accidentally unplugged?

Why does my iMac (with Mountain Lion) no longer recognize my external hard drive I have used as a back up via Time Machine after the hard drive was accidentally unplugged?

Do you mean the external hard drive is not mounted on the iMac desktop?
Check if Disk Utility sees the drive. Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility. If the external shows up in the left column, select it and click on Mount.
If it does show up this way, I recommend using DU to Repair Disk.

Any external hard drive?

Hi there
Just a quick question, can I use any external hard drive with my macbook pro to back up? And for it to work on time machine
Im looking to get about 1TB
Thanks

Any external USB drive will work with your MBP. I use WD 1TB disks on mine. The main question is whether to rely soley on USB to power the drive or to get drives that use an external power supply for critical backups. I play safe and use the latter though I do have a small form factor drive that uses USB power for portability.
I use both TM and SuperDuper for my backups.

My MacBook Pro won't let me mount my external Hard Drive. Just trying to restore my iTunes library.

My MacBook Pro, less than a year old, started acting weird. I backed everything up, took it in to Best Buy, who sent it out to Apple Repair and they put in a new motherboard.
It's running on Mac OS X Version 10.7.4
Now I am trying to put everything back on the computer from my external Maxtor 80GB Hard Drive. MacBook Pro won't recognize the external drive.
I tried Disk Utility. I can see the external drive, and did a repair disk and verify disk. Several times. Each time it says "This partition map seems to be ok."
However, I am not able to mount it, as that option is greyed out and i can't select it.
Also, under the Icon for the external hard drive, it has the Macintosh HD Icon (essentially my computer). I tried to restore this way, didn't work.
I need this to mount, as it has all of my itunes stuff on it; dozens of my sons movies, and my entire iTunes library.
PLEASE HEEEEELP!! HOW CAN I MOUNT THIS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE? Thank you in advance

Try things in this USB/Firewire faq.
DALE

After I installed Lion, my MacBook Pro can no longer detect my external hard drives or my USB flash drives. What should I do?

After I installed Lion, my MacBook Pro can no longer detect my external hard drives or my USB flash drives. What should I do?

And me -- My Mac at work running Snow Leopard reads the drive normally. My home Mac (on Lion) can't even find it....
Yet another Leo let-down.....

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.

Since I upgraded to 10.9.5, my macbook no longer recognizes my external hard drive. How do I fix this? External hard drive is a 1TB Toshiba formatted for mac. Worked fine until latest upgrade.

Since I upgraded to 10.9.5, my macbook no longer recognizes my external hard drive. How do I fix this? External hard drive is a 1TB Toshiba formatted for mac. Worked fine until latest upgrade.

Solved the problem by dumping my external HD onto another computer. Re-formatting and re-installing the data. Not what I wanted to do but it solved the problem.

I upgraded to Maverick and now Time Machine will not connect to the external hard drive to back up files. The external hard drive is a Western Digital "My Book Live" 2 TB. How do I solve problem?

I upgraded to Maverick and now Time Machine will not connect to the external hard drive to back up files. The external hard drive is a Western Digital "My Book Live" 2 TB. How do I solve problem?

I also had problem accessing my WD MyBookLive after upgrading to Maverick.
To resolve the problem, I used Connect To Server (Cmd K) to specify the IP address.
Then I enter a user id and password I created in the MyBookLive.
You can also verify that you have admin access to the MyBookLive using Safari or Chrome.
Just enter the MyBookLive IP address as the URL.

My G5 will no longer mount any external hard drive

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