Usb external drives not showing up in lion

My USB external drives are NOT showing up in finder or my disk utlity.
But they are showing up in my System Information!?
In addition, they both work fine on my other laptop.
I can I troubleshoot this on my mac?
Relevant Info:
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
MacBook Pro
USB Kindle Updated OS
USB External Drive

I reset my PRAM and it works now. I've no idea what that did...
Thanks for the help.
MC

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yosemite won't work with ntfs drives for some reason, i've had the same issue with my toshiba. i thought ok lemme buy another one, and transfer it over maybe it's a driver issue which i've tried over and over, apple support can't figure it out.
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http://guides.macrumors.com/Formatting_an_External_Device
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I have tried 2 USB 2 external drives with my Powerbook. Neither is recognized by the OS so I can't even try to format them. I was able to format the first one on my old 500 mhz Powerbook (Pismo, I guess) running OS 9.2.2 and turning it into a Standard Mac OS, Mac extended and then a DOS drive. None were recognized by the newer Powerbook and once I had formatted the drive to DOS I couldn't format it any other way. That drive, a WD My Passport Essential, was formatted when shipped as a Windows (FAT32?) drive.
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You can call Western Digital, but most likely they will give you the advice they gave another user recently to send it to Drive Savers for data recovery. Drive Savesrs quoted him a price of $999 to just recover his photos from the drive.
There is software you can try. Both have demos.
FileSalvage $90
Data Rescue $99
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Drive Savers
http://hard-drive-recovery-services-review.toptenreviews.com/drive-savers-review .html
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I had the same problem with my iMac, first I repaired the disk, then I ejected the disk, restarted, and then reinserted the USB in a different port. All of my files magically showed up. I don't know what caused the error but it has been working fine since.

USB Hard Drive not showing up in AirPort Utility

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Having a USB hub is not a long term solution not that it's working anymore anyway. I would appreciate any suggestions you may have, thanks!

Weilishu wrote:
Thanks for the response. However, I'm not sure what you mean.
So far my experience is far from "Just connect the external hard drive to the USB port on the back of your AirPort Extreme and — voilà".
did you read the support article Daddy linked ? it clearly says
JGG

External drive not showing up

Hi everyone, I'm having some problems with my latest upgrade to Mavericks. Since I upgraded my 1 of my external drives is not showing up. I was able to find it in disk utility, but the name is grayed out. I've tried first aid on it which seems to be successful, but it won't mount. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have a MacAir. I did not have any problems previously to this, so any suggestions would be appreciated. However, reformatting is not an option. I have too many pictures and documents on this drive (business), but I have to be able to view it. Thanks in advance.

Hi, just some ideas that might help. Is it possible that the drive is just not showing up in the sidebar? Have you checked by looking under the Devices section in the sidebar of the Finder and clicking on your computer?
I'm assuming you are probably looking on the desktop for the drive to show up though. If it is not showing up there at all, I would suggest trying some of the suggestions in this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24530176#24530176
That is, can you connect the drive to another computer and see if it mounts there? Does it show up in the system profiler?
Do you own any disk recovery software in case there is a problem with the disk that Disk Utility can't repair? e.g. Disk Warrior.
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Ivan

Maxtor USB external drive not displayed anywhere. How do I navigate this?

The drive is plugged in the USB port, however it does not show up on my MacBook air. It is formatted for PC and I wish to download music files then reformat it to use with my MacBook. Thanks for the help in advance.

Howdy matthewjh,
It sounds like you have this USB external HDD that does not appear anywhere on your Mac. Assuming it is formatted as FAT-32 I would use the troubleshooting information for USB devices not working in Yosemite, named:
OS X Yosemite: If a USB device isn’t working
If your USB device isn’t working, there are several things you can try to solve the problem
If a USB device isn’t working properly, make sure you connected it to your computer correctly, plugged it into a power outlet if it has a power cord, and installed any software it needs.
Check power and cables:
Make sure the USB device is turned on and its cables are properly connected.
Check for missing software:
Make sure you installed the latest software for your device. Visit the manufacturer’s website for any updates.
If the device is connected to a USB hub:
Make sure the device and the hub are the same speed. Connect USB 3.0 SuperSpeed devices to a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HUB, USB 2.0 Hi-Speed devices to a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed hub, and so on.
If the device doesn’t have a power cord and is plugged into another USB device that doesn’t have a power cord:
Try plugging the device directly into your computer’s USB port or into a USB device that does have a power cord. You might need to disconnect and reconnect the other device as well, if it has stopped responding.
If you have many devices connected to your Mac:
Disconnect all USB devices except the device you’re testing, an Apple keyboard, and an Apple mouse. Make sure that the device is connected directly to the computer, and that any hubs or extension cables are disconnected. If you can use the device now, the problem may be with one of the other USB devices or hubs you had connected to your computer. Try reconnecting them, one by one, to your computer. When you find the device causing the problem, review its documentation for further troubleshooting steps.
Verify that the device appears in System Information:
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. In the window that appears, click Overview, then click the System Report button to open System Information.
In the window that appears, see if the USB device is listed below Hardware in the Contents list. If the device appears but does not work, review the device’s documentation for further troubleshooting steps.
Restart apps:
Quit and restart any apps that use the device.
Restart your Mac:
Choose Apple menu > Restart.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

Usb external drives not showing up in lion

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