Problem with Western Digital Combo Ext Hard Drive

I recently bought a WD 160GB Ext. HD to use as a backup. Unfortunately I found that when using the Firewire port data transfer would just stall after a while making it difficult to upgrade from Panther to Tiger which can only be done over the Firewire port. Qusstion:
1. Has anyone else has experienced this problem with WD hard drives
2. What HD would you recommend so I don't have this problem
My goal is to upgrade to Tiger on 1 partition of my ext. HD and have a backup of Panther on the other partition. WD said they would replace the drive so I may try that in the hope that maybe I just got a bad one and it's not a design defect.

Hi everybody,
as i wrote a few weeks ago in another similar topic, i have exactly the same problem with a WD MyBook home 1 To. Plugged on USB port, everything's fine. On the Fw400 port, the device is "unknown"and won't mount... So i bought a new cable with FW400/FW800 and plugged it on my Imac's FW800 port and there, the disk mount on the desktop and it works perfectly! I read lots of posts in differents forum which describe the problem with the Imac's FW400 port.
So, i think you have to buy a fw400/fw800 cable and plug it on your Imac's fw800 port !
P.S. : excuse me for my english, i'm french

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Cannot Erase/Format External Western Digital "My Book" Hard Drive

I have a brand new Western Digital "My Book" Hard Drive that I would like to use for SuperDuper clone backup. I am attempting to format the disk for Mac-OS Extended first.
When I connect the HD to my MBP via USB, an error message pops up saying "Disk Insertion - The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer." I then enter Disk Utility. The Western Digital HD is shown in the left pane as a 596.2 GB External Media. The Volume Format is shown as MS-DOS (FAT).
I attempted to erase/format for Mac-OS Extended (Journaled). Selecting the volume in the left pane and then clicking erase returns the error message "Disk Erase Failed with the error: File System Formatter Failed." Just for kicks I tried to erase/format for regular Mac-OS Extended, same result. It will let me erase/format for MS-DOS (FAT), but that's how it's already formatted and doesn't help me.
I tried to erase/format on my wife's MBP, exact same results. Am I doing something wrong or do I have a problem with the external hard drive?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Barry

Thanks for the feedback. Good computing and welcome to the Mac world. Since you're new, see these:
Switching from Windows to Mac OS X,
Basic Tutorials on using a Mac,
Mac 101: Mac Essentials,
Anatomy of a Mac,
MacFixIt Tutorials,
MacTips, and
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition.
Additionally, *Texas Mac Man* recommends:
Quick Assist.
Welcome to the Switch To A Mac Guides,
Take Control E-books, and
A guide for switching to a Mac.

After formatting Western Digital 4 TB hard drive to Mac OS extended (Journaled) 1.11 TB of space has been used. Number of folders 11 number of files 59. I am running lion Is this a normal use of space?

After formatting Western Digital 4 TB hard drive to Mac OS extended (Journaled), 1.11 TB of space has been used.
Number of folders 11. Number of files 59.
I am running lion10.7
Is this a normal use of space?

Wait.... can the BIOS on your machine support greater than 3TB?
Most cannot.
4TB drives, from what I've read, require an all new drive controller. As older drive controllers would max out at 3TB's.

Problem with the connection to the hard drive.

G5 Single core 1.8GHz stop working. I was told that there is a problem with the connection to the hard drive.
It boots but freezes after a few minutes and fans go full blast.....
Is this a logicboard problem, or something that can be fixed with a little work?

Hi j hallow-
Whose diagnosis declared a bad connection?
Have you opened it up and looked inside? It may need to be cleaned out.
You could install a second know good SATA drive and see what happens: Hard Drive Replacement Instructions
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

I had problems with my MacBook pro's hard drive.

I had problems with my MacBook pro's hard drive. And I have this question how can I end up getting a replacement for it like get a new one.

The recycle program makes it easier for you to trade in your old Mac and buy a new one. Apple has a partner that will take the old one and give you a gift card for the value -- if your old Mac is in pretty good condition and doen't have problems (passes the diagnostics).

Has anyone else had a problem with obtaining funds for replacement hard drive?, Has anyone else had a problem with obtaining funds for replacement hard drive?

Has anyone else had a problem with obtaining funds for replacement hard drive?, I have had difficulties obtaining replies as the funds appear to have gone astray and Apple aren't prepared to give me their bank details so my bank can try and locate them?

Might thry this if you are in N. America. It is a escalated level of support:
Apple Customer Relations 1-800-767-2775

Western Digital USB3 external hard drive (attached to new MBP Retina) seems to randomly "eject" itself when I'm trying to back it up via time machine. When this happens, I can't even shut my machine down properly. Ideas?

The backup process will run for sometimes 30 minutes or more. But, it's as if, at some point, the drive just can't be found. I get the message "this drive was ejected improperly". When this happens: my machine won't shut down, disk utility won't run. I have to press and hold the power button to force a shut down. Any ideas what's going on here? A MBP Retina issue? A USB3 issue? A western digital issue (although this drive has been functioning fine on old MBP)?
Thanks!

When you say that you've applied the latest 'patch,' I'm assuming that you mean the latest (July 18) software update for mid-2012 models? It was supposed to address some of the problems with the USB 3.0 ports. I don't think that, in most cases, it's a problem with the drives themselves (USB 2 or 3), rather it seems to be a port problem.
If it wasn't fixed for you using the July 18 Software Update the only thing I can recommend at this point is to see if Mountain Lion - soon to be released - will be able to fix the problems. If not, I would take your unit back to the Apple Store and let them know that you are continuing to have problems with the USB 3.0 ports. They may offer to switch out your logic board, etc.
Good luck,
Clinton

Problem with backing up to external hard drive and then " recovering " files, apps etc.

Hi there,
I hope you can help me please, I have messed some things up from not knowing what I was doing : ( and would like to fix them if possible.
I will try to be brief and concise. Here goes....
1. My 2006 iMac 4 running Leopard OSX was starting to run very slowly. My hard drive had 232 GB of which 220 GB were being used. The thing using most space was iPhoto, over 60 GB of photos.
2. I downloaded Mackeeper and ran their cleaning program, getting rid of duplicate files, clearing caches etc. but it didn't release much extra space, just a couple of gigs.
3. I read an article from Maclife " 25 ways to speed up your Mac ". One of the tips was to reinstall the operating system which I did, using the " archive and install " instruction.
4. I now have Leopard OS under a new account name which is running faster but I cannot access various apps such as iPhoto, Photoshop CS4, Keynote, Pages etc.
5. Everything prior to me messing around is now in a folder called " previous system ".
6. I realize now that I should have first bought a new external hard drive, which I now have done ; an Iomega 500 GB with USB 2.0 and that I should have backed up everything first before messing around. Hindsight is a great thing.
7. Having connected the ext. hard drive, I was looking for info on what I should do next when Time Machine kicked in and automatically started copying everything, without me having to do anything such as formatting etc.
8. Everything that was on the hard drive ( 220 GBs ) has been copied to the ext. HD so I hope I haven't lost anything, especially my photos on iPhoto and CS4.
9. Other 3rd party apps haven't been effected but now I would like to integrate everything back into one seamless, quick flowing system.
10. How can I do this ?
Any advice or help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Sean.

UPDATE : I have re-installed from disk, various apps that were no longer functioning such as iLife, iWork etc. So, I now can access my photos again.
Also, I had to re-install all the software for my printer ( Stylus Pro 4880 ) and reset it so the printer is working again.
Photoshop CS4 won't open. I think I will have to get in touch with Adobe as basically, I guess they have a built-in "blocker" which prevents me from opening the app as the license is for only 1 user and having re-installed the OS, there are now, in effect, 2 users ( Me and Me 1, I think ).
So, having added on a new external HD, Time Machine has made a copy of most of the files, folders, apps etc onto the external HD. The internal HD is still nearly full ( 220 GBs out of 232 GBs ).
I am guessing the way to go now in order to free up space on the internal HD is to delete/trash older photos from my iPhoto library and hope that if needed, I will be able to access them on the external HD.
Am I correct ? Please advise before I do something I will regret.
Thanks, Sean.

FCE rendering with Western Edition MyBook External Hard Drive

So i am having some difficulty with this project i am working on (i am learning as i go) and was wondering if anyone can shed some light...
Ok, so i am using final cut express to edit video footage. I uploaded about 2 1/2 hours worth of HD footage into my hard drive and realized that it took up pretty much all of my memory...
So i bought a Western Edition MyBook external hard drive and i imported all of my files into it and that cleared up my memory on my labtop.....
But now, when i try rendering the movie in order to turn it into a DVD, instead of the render file going to the hard drive, it seems that its still going to my computer's hard drive. I mean, the quicktime movie logo shows up on the external hard drive, but each time i check my computer's hard drive, the GB keeps lowering instead of the external hard drive. I dont know if this is normal or not. Does this make sense????
If you think i am doing this right or wrong please let me know....I appreciate any help!!!Thanks.....

Hi
And Your external hard disk are.
• a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly
• Mac OS Extended formatted - Mac OS Exchange/UNIX/DOS/Fat32 Doesn't work OK
Yours Bengt W

Has anyone tried a Western Digital SATA RAID hard drive on a non-RAID controler?

Because of a compatability problem, I want to try a different brand of SATA II drive on my non-RAID motherboard. The WD RAID drives have great specs but I don't know if they will work. WD says they are ONLY for RAID and not to put them on a non-RAID board. My theory is that they will be more reliable over the long term because they are a heavier duty drive.
Has anyone tried this and if so, what were the results?

I think there was some confusion about what I am asking. It is definately not a duplication of my other post and some of the information in that other post is incorrect because I JUST found out that my motherboard controller IS a RAID controller even though I am not using it as one. I will correct that when I am finished with this post.
The other post was about a specific model of Maxtor drive that doesn't work on my motherboard. This post is about Western Digital. The only reason that I even mentioned the word RAID in my previous post is that there is a known compatibility problem with RAID controllers and that drive. I wanted to emphasize that my problem was not the one of that known compatibility problem, but because it is a RAID controller, it might be that problem.
When you use the motherboard's controller as a non-RAID controller, you do format the drives individually, not as a RAID. I know that because I did it that way, not realizing I even had the option of using RAID on this board. That works fine on one model of Maxtor hard drive and does not work at all on the other model of Maxtor hard drive.
What I want to know now is: Will the Western Digital RAID drives will work on a non-RAID controller. The controllers on my add-in card is not RAID. Also, will that drive work on my motherboard's controller even though it is not being used as RAID.
Here is a link to the WD site's description of one such drive. There are several other WD RAID drives, this is just one example... http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=238&Language=en It does not state whether or not they will work well in a non-RAID environment.

How do I erase an older Western Digital 1TB mirrored hard drive? Newer drives can be erased via a WD Utility, but the WD site says to "ask Apple" about the older ones.

I have a MacBook Pro with OSX 10.7.5. The hard drive is approx. six years old - a Western Digital for Macs, mirrored with 1TB on each half.
Because the drive is "infected" with Time Machine backups that I can't erase, I have removed all important files from the drive and now want to wipe it clean. I've done this with new drives, via the WD Utility that came with the drive, but the older drive doesn't have such a utility. The WD site only has a protocol for PCs.
I find nothing on the Apple site itself. Can you community members help??
(I've tried various ways of deleting the Time Machine backups, but nothing has worked. The instructions for that, which I read on a community support site, were too advanced for me to understand. A Mac IT guy tried to erase the backups, but he didn't know how either. So that is why I'm erasing the drive totally. I've learned my lesson and have a dedicated Time Machine drive now.)

Please be clear:
This is a mirrored RAID that you use as the startup disk?
You now have a different startup disk and wish to erase the RAID mirror?
Do you wish to continue using the RAID for backup?
If all you want to do is erase the RAID to get rid or the Time Machine backups, the use Disk Utility to erase the mirror disk mounted on the Desktop.

What is the problem with Western Digital HDD and OS X.9?

I received an email from Western Digital saying that OS X.9 could cause my files on my WD drives to be erased and to unplug all my WD drives until a fix is done. Is this a real problem and if so when will Apple get the fix out. I have joibs I have to get out to clients and this is a major problem for me.

Western Digital has found that their applications have got serious compatibility problems with OS X Mavericks, and they have to be updated to make them compatible with Mavericks.
Until then, keep the OS X version you have got. This is a Western Digital problem and this is why your main computer shouldn't be upgraded just after the release of a new Mac OS X version

Ipod with Western Digital 160 gb External Drive

What do I need to do with the Itunes configuration to use the Western Digital External Drive. I have so much music that I want to use the external drive to store all of my music files. The Music Files on my lap top were taking up to much space on my Laptop....I have copied all of my music files onto the External Drive......I am not sure aht to do next.....
ANY IDEAS OUT THERE
Bernard
Dallas, Texas

To move your iTunes music...
Quit iTunes.
Move the entire iTunes folder including music to the external drive.
Click on the iTunes icon to start it, then immediately press an hold the Shift key in Windows, Option key in Mac.
iTunes will ask to Create new library or Choose existing library. Select Choose existing library and select the library in the folder you just moved.
Move the old iTunes folder to the trash but do not empty it.
Restart iTunes normally and verify the songs work. If they do, empty the trash.

Problems with time machine and external hard drive

Hi all
In 2009 with my imac I bought a WD external hard drive which the computer says is 148GB formatted. I recall that the hard drive contained folders with files for the running of the hard drive when I bought it - and after it had been plugged in to a mac and used as a time machine, it no longer worked on windows computers.
Now I have used 195 GB on my computer's internal hard drive and wish to stop using the external hard drive as a time machine and instead use it for swapping files between computers and the like.
How can I wipe the time machine back ups and start using it as per usual again? do i need to obtain the WD files from somewhere?
thanks in advance
Nick

Hi Nick,
Avoid the WD files completely, not needed & often a problem.
You need to erase the Drive, & to use it on both Format it MS-DOS/FAT32, on the Mac or PC, but will have a 4 GB filesize limit, as well as other limitations.
One option not mentioned yet is MacDrive for your PCs... allows them to Read/Write & Format HFS+, so no need to reformat it...
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/

Problem with momentus XT ST750LX003 hybrid hard drive in my macbook aluminium 2009

I have change the hard drive in my macbook aluminium 2009, the new drive is Seagate (Momentus XT ST750LX003) hybrid drive.
Each time osx turn off the drive all the applications are killed except osx. I have tested 2 different drives and i have the same problem with both. Seagate do not have anything about this problem.
I even turn off the power saving of the computer and the hard drive... but after an hour of inactivity all the apps are killed ( except osx).
Anyone can help?

Mid June 2012 bought a Momentus XT 750 for the just released 15" MBP. It was manufactured in Oct 2011 according to the box and firmware was SM12. I liked the speed and most of the time it would seem to work fine, however there was a problem with corruption of large files - few hundreds of MB and larger. Archives wouldn't unpack properly, md5 hash would report different results, VMware virtual machines (using huge files as virtual drives) would fail randomly.
It took me a while to narrow it down to the HDD, as this Mac also had freezing issues with graphics drivers (these now seem to be fine with OS 10.8, also upcoming 10.7.5 should help, although pre-11G30 builds were junk). On top of this I installed 16 GB RAM which is not supported by Apple so I wasn't sure what's causing trouble...
I returned the XT 750 (Best Buy) after reading numerous similar reports on the net and finding that there is no firmware update for this model yet (500 GB version had similar issues which were eventually addressed in firmware). I noticed that they had a new batch of these drives made in April 2012 and the PN was different: 9JB1A1-575 instead of the older drive's -574. However when I unpacked it the label still said SM12 for firmware, so I won't bother installing it and I'll go with a regular 7200 rpm 750 GB drive (got a Hitachi drive) and delay the upgrade for a real SSD when the prices go down.

Problem with Western Digital Combo Ext Hard Drive

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