USB Hard Drive not mounting til after restart

This weekend I put a new internal hdd in my Power Mac G5, and decided to use this opportunity to go ahead and put Leopard on one of my macs.
I'm finding that it doesn't mount some my USB External Hard Drives (3.5" externaly powered cases) unless I plug them in, and then restart the computer. (It also works just starting up if the G5 is off.) The drive needs to be turned on before the start up.
This is the case with an older IDE->USB 5 inch case, a brand new sata->USB 3.5 case (with the former g5 drive inside, and a sata->usb newertech bridge on the g5 drive. A bus powered 2.5" one mounted fine without the restart. I have not tried any flash drives.
I've tried the different USB ports on the G5 with no difference. I have not tried plugging it into a hub that's pre-connected (either powered or non).
They don't show up in Disk Utility during the time they don't mount. They do after the plugged-in restart, though. They also unmount then remount fine after the plugged in-restart.
The drives work just fine on my MBP (running Tiger). They worked just fine before the Leopard upgrade. If I boot into the Tiger partition on the G5, they work just fine.
I've seen references to other people having what sounds sort of like this problem in google searches but nothing exact, and those threads seem to get sidetracked with useless comments (like "Well, you should just use Firewire!" etc).
Has anyone experience this...and moreover, anyone found a fix.

Two things to check:
The drive must be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or FAT 32
You almost always have to use a powered USB hub with the under powered port on the Time Capsule, even if the hard drive has its own power supply
Where are you expecting the drive to "show up"?

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External Hard Drives not Mounting after Yosemite Upgrade

I've just upgraded to Yosemite, and none of my external (USB) hard drives are mounting (they don't even appear in Disk Utility).
Any ideas?

MacBook Pro 2009. 250 SD, HD 8Gb Ram.
I have had this issue for about a year...with no resolve!
Apple and the User community have not been able to solve issue.
I have had to work around it since the Oct 2013 Mavericks upgrade which “killed” (rendered unmountable) both my USB and Optical drives.
Hundreds of replies and remedies have not corrected my issue. Hundreds of replies stating that if there was a global issue it would of been fixed by Apple, not true. And dismissive replies stating that there must be a hardware issue are very discouraging.
So now, hoping to help the voiceless masses, I'm forced to share my experience.
As I stated, I have been having the issue since one of the Mavericks upgrades. The upgrade rendered externally attached drives unmountable...They are all seen in Disk Utility. They are just not mountable. Regardless of the flavor of the disk format, either Mac or PC, they are found, seen and refuse to mount. I can see them using Terminal commands, I can see them in System Report. I can reset all the memory I want...turn it off, reset, sleep, turn on, restart...NOPE...And the optical drive takes in disks but ejects them after an attempted mounting. Keep in mind, there are no physical issues with either USB or optical drives.
So now...I have had enough and need to correct the issue or buy a new equipment - starting to get into software development and need working equipment!!!
For the past month, I have been visiting the Apple store to assist in my issues...Back Story: I'm an IT Field Tech for the largest department store in the country and I have the good fortune of dropping in the Apple store anytime I want...The Geniuses booted the MB with a bootable image of Mavericks, and the USB and Optical drives WORKED fine...So, after I had stumped the Geniuses with my problems, we agreed that we would attempt to format and re-image the MacBook...Fine, do it, it's backed-up, how you ask? - Via my wireless My Book Live 3T drive, which only took 24 hours to backup, AKA Time Machine!
Great news! The re-image of Mavericks proved to work! I WAS able to mount external drives attached! How is that possible? Don't know, don't care! It just worked! So happy!
But wait! I then took the laptop home. Connected to my WiFi, to update Mavericks to the latest version...Good so far! Then it came time for a Time Machine restore, AKA Migration Assistance restore...So, I proceeded to migrate data back to my MB via wireless drive, good so far, booted in Migration Assistant, and I chose to restore everything except the network files, thinking that may be an issue...22 Hours later, the MB migrated without issue...all apps and personal files had migrated! YAY!
BUT NOW THE USB AND OPTICAL DRIVES FAILED TO MOUNT!!!
Great now what? I know, I will just re-image and start again...WAIT, I don't have a Mavericks Install Disk, no problem, I will just create a bootable USB drive with the Mavericks Install Image I downloaded onto my MB this month...NO YOU CANNOT, because you have no use of the USB drives!...And, Apple stopped making OS CDs back in 2009...Oh, and that wouldn't of done me any good, because the optical dive was unusable, anyway!
SO, back to the Apple store with my head hanging! At this point, Yosemite came out the previous Thursday, so no more Mavericks images, great! Perhaps the new OS will alleviate my nightmare!!!!...So, they re-imaged my Mac with Mavericks, drives worked again! SO, I took my MB home and attempted to download the new OS, Yosemite...which only took 2 days due to the amount of traffic on Apple's servers!...Anyway, Yosemite finally installed without out issue! Drives still worked! And so, I shutdown and restarted the system...No issues, USB and optical drives worked beautifully! Yay, Yosemite!...Fixed all my troubles!!!...Not so fast...
And so, I, again, attempted to do a Time Machine restore, via WiFi, this time it took 24 hours to restore...AND it worked! All apps and personal files transferred without issue, So happy! Put the laptop in Sleep and left it home and went to work! Came back from work, tested the system without issues. Rebooted...USB and Optical drive are NOT MOUNTABLE!
So now, what is the file that the restore keeps pushing to my MB that kills the USB and optical drives?
I would just stop restoring from a Time Machine backup, but the only way to get into the TM image is to use Migration Assistant. I cannot view the date in time of the image in TM's Star Wars time line. So, I'm forced to back up everything from the image in Migration Assistance. Not sure that it being an encrypted image has anything to do with it...
...Regardless, what is being “restored” to the MB that continues to configure the OS in such a way that makes all external drives unmountable...keep in mind, my external keyboard, hub and mouse are usable via USB.

Usb hard drive not loading after security update

usb hard drive not loading after security update
I can't seem to find any other posts about this problem.
I have three external hard rives connect by a USB hub to my iMac.
Problem is that if I turn on the hard drive(s) AFTER start up I get a message that the drive either was not recognized by the OS or that it was ejected unexpectedly.
I get the same issue but not all the time if I turn them on before I boot the iMac.
I used the disk drive utility to "repair" the drives but they always come back as "probably ok".
If I restart the iMac with the drives connected (on), it seems to work but not all the time.
A bit annoying as I am wondering if the drives are OK or not.
I don't always need the drives as they are for backing up images from my camera using Apreture.
This all began after i did the latest security update.
is the update to blame?
mahalo.

Yes, you can still use those instructions to reset the PRAM.
You said that you booted to your install disk and that your primary drive did not show up at the Select a Destination screen? That usually means that the computer is either not recognizing your partition, or it's not recognizing the hard drive itself.
Start with this article and follow all the steps even if you already tried them. I suspect that you'll get to step 4 and you'll end up having to call Applecare. If you haven't done those steps, they're most likely going to make you do them anyway, so you might as well get them done before the call.

I have received an error message from an attached USB hard drive (not Time Capsule) stating "Disk Name" cannot be repaired. Back up your data and reformat. I opened the Disk Utility in an attempt to repair the disk but am advised that the disk "could not

I have received an error message relating to an attached USB hard drive (not a back up and not Time Capsule) advising that "disk name" cannot be repaired. Back up your data and reformat. When I attempted to verify the disk with Disk Utility, I was advised that the disk could not be unmounted. What can I do to repair the disk?
Write Status is Read/Write
SMART Status is Not Supported
Partition Map Scheme is Master Boot Record
HELP!
timothy7712

You need something stronger, such as DiskWarrior, TechTools Pro, or Data Rescue.

Usb optical drive not mounting

Usb Optical Drive not mounting via MacBook Pro (13inch 2013) since update to 10.10.1. Any positive solutions?

Hello MicroTuFF,
If you cannot get your USB SuperDrive to not mount disks, then take a look at the troubleshooting in the articles below. Start at the Doesn't accept discs section for your specific issue.
Get help with the slot-loading SuperDrive on your Mac computer
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201788
Regards,
-Norm G.

External Hard Drive not mounting after...drop

Hi all,
Not really a Time Machine question, but my wife, not realizing an external USB hard drive was connected to my macbook, pick up the laptop and the external drive dropped on it's corner...slight damage. It is a 320Gb hard drive with three partitions....two for storage and one for time machine backup. The two storage drives are mounting find and seem OK, but the time machine partition is not mounting. Disk Utility sees the partition but can't mount or repair it and gives me the error "Invalid sibling link, unable to verify or repair."
Any ideas on what I should do next (other than back up the other two drives)? Should I try erasing the disk and see if it'll mount?
Thanks,
John

Johnk93 wrote:
Disk Utility sees the partition but can't mount or repair it and gives me the error "Invalid sibling link, unable to verify or repair."
If you have +Disk Warrior+ (4.1.1 or 4.2 only), or another heavy-duty disk repair app (that you're certain is compatible with Leopard), it might be able to repair the partition. DW is about $100, so unless you think you may need it for other things in the future, it may not be worth the chance.
Otherwise, if Disk Utility can erase it, it's probably ok. In this case, though, it would be worthwhile clicking +Security Options+ then +Zero Out Disk+ to be sure it can write to the entire partition.
Long term, though, I'd be a bit reluctant to trust my backups to it. (Perhaps a hint to Santa?)
Additionally, I am having trouble ejecting the two working partitions. It seems to eject them becuase they no longer appear on my desktop, but I get the "unable to eject...." error message. Not sure what this means.
See what happens after erasing the TM partition. That may clear it up. If not, try mounting them again.

2 different brand USB external hard drives not mounting- Firewire ok

Hi, first timer here so apologies in advance.
i have to different brand external hard disks and they both show up fine with a firewire connection. the trouble is that i need to use the usb connection and neither show up. (shows up in system profiler though but not disk utility.) why USB if i can use Firewire? I will be using the disk to connect to a Wii console via usb port and the Wii is not recognizing either disk either?
Any ideas on how to get one of these disks to mount by USB?
cables are fine as work with USB only hard disks.
Thanks in advance

Hello Bob,
Thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately it does not show up at all in "disk utility". But appears in System Profiler under USB. This is true of 2 different external hard drives that mount fine with the firewire cables. One is a 3.5 inch and the other is a 2.5 inch portable. The USB cable is not faulty as tested it with another USB peripheral. Now a big believer in coincidences. Am i doing something wrong?
any other thoughts?
thanks again

Hard Drive Not Mounting After Being Magically Changed to Read Only

I was using a firewire connected, verbatim 1tb drive as a time machine. Everything had been working fine, but I walked away from my laptop for the morning and came back this afternoon to find my hard drive changed to read only. Time machine wouldn't back up to the hard drive; so, I rebooted.
Since then, I haven't been able to get the hard drive to mount. It won't show up in Drive Utility or on the desktop. I have rebooted the hard drive, unplugged it, turned it on and off.
What should I do? How do I fix this? It has my backups and my music. I'm no amused.

I've had exactly the same trouble this morning.
I'm using a MacBook Pro with my Time Machine on a portable Hard Drive. When doing my regular back up the computer froze. I force restarted the computer and the TM drive came up as 'Read Only'.
So, I rebooted again and the drive is not mounting at all. I can see it connected through System Profiler, however the drive isn't showing up in Disk Utility.
Does anyone have any ideas? Coz I don't seem to be the only one with this issue.

External USB hard drive not being recognized

Hello! I'm sure this has been posted before, but excuse my naivety with this sort of thing...
I have a mac mini 10.5.6 (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) and I run the Time Machine function to an external usb hard drive. The hard drive worked fine (plugged into the usb port on an older keyboard), but I went out and bought a new aluminum apple keyboard (because they look so cool ^_^ ) - I plugged the external usb drive into the keyboard and it wasn't recognized, so I tried plugging the external drive directly into the mac mini, but it is still not recognized. It is not showing up in Disk Utility or in System Profiler
Help? I'd hate to have to give up this fancy keyboard...
Thank you!
Dr. E

I believe I had my external drive plugged into the (old) keyboard because with the old mac that I had didn't have a free usb port for it - so when I got the mini I just plugged things back in where they were. But I have always had the Time Machine back up to this drive (connected to the keyboard) though it has been slow (another reason I thought the new keyboard was a good idea).
I tried restarting the computer without the alu keyboard plugged in, but same problem of no drive showing up.
Here is what System Profiler has to say about my drive:
USB2.0 Storage Device:
Capacity: 93.16 GB
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk1
Product ID: 0x6830
Vendor ID: 0x04b4 (Cypress Semiconductor)
Version: 0.01
Serial Number: DEF107920F07
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Cypress Semiconductor
Location ID: 0x3d130000
Current Available (mA): 100
Current Required (mA): 0
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
USB:
Capacity: 92.84 GB
Available: 53.14 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk1s2
Mount Point: /Volumes/USB
I don't know the brand or model as it has 'always' been in the case that in which it currently resides and I didn't physically buy the thing :\ I do know that no software was installed with the drive as I assumed that when I put all the old info from the original mac to the mini that it was the sort of thing that would carry over.
Sorry I'm not terribly helpful - Thank you!
Dr. E

USB hard disc not mounting.

I've just got a new USB 2 hard drive (20GB Smartdisk Fotochute FAT32 formatted)) but I can't get it to mount on my iMac (C2D 24") in OS X (10.4.10).
The drive works fine on my iBook G3 (700mhz 10.4.9) and also on the iMac in bootcamp, it appears in system profiler but not in Disk Utility. The oddest thing of all is that it works fine when connected via the USB port on the keyboard. I've tried connecting through my belkin hub and directly to all 3 ports on the iMac with and without the drives external power connected.
I have 2 other USB hard drives that connect just fine (one FAT32 and one HFS+ formatted).
Any ideas what might be stopping the drive from mounting?
24" iMac Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Hi FonzCam
Shut down and disconnect all USB devices (including hubs and extension cables) except for your Apple keyboard and mouse. Restart, then connect your External HD directly to your computer. If your External HD now mounts and works properly, there is a conflict between that device and one of your other USB devices or hub. There maybe another device (iPod, jump drive, scanner, etc...) already mounted on the (USB string or chain) causing a conflict.
Have a look at this article> USB and FireWire Quick Assist
Dennis
17" iMac Intel Core Duo - 2GB Ram - Mac OS X (10.4.10) - Maxtor 300GB FireWire - Creative Inspire 2.1 - 2G Nano

WD hard drive not mounting on startup...

Grrr! This is driving me nuts! I have a WD MyBook Essential 2.0T USB hard drive connected to my iMac 27" i7, and every time I reboot the iMac, the drive fails to remount. Disk Utility doesn't recognize it, either. My only option is to disconnect the USB cable and then reconnect it. The drive then shows up. But pulling a cable is so very not an acceptable solution! Don't think data can be corrupted if the drive hasn't mounted, but still....
I have four other, older WD drives and none do this. I had a more recent WD MyBook Essential drive that also wouldn't mount on startup on my old MacBook Pro, wouldn't take the updated firmware, and kept corrupting files, and I ultimately replaced it with this new 2.0T drive shortly after getting the new iMac. But even with a new drive, new iMac, and different cable, I still can't get the WD drive to mount upon reboot. Arrggghh!
Has Western Digital done something different with these newer drives? How can I get this thing to mount after a reboot?
Thanks!

Steve Porritt wrote:
Has Western Digital done something different with these newer drives? How can I get this thing to mount after a reboot?
Thanks!
Western Digital has been playing with their firmwares for years. They keep trying to maximize power efficiency to anticipate when the computer will use the drive and shut it down when it's not required. This isn't really a good thing for Time Machine, and I don't want any vendor to constantly change their firmware for their purposes. Many other companies seem to be able to build drives that just work.
I've updated the firmwares on many of these drives for clients because they performed so flakey with both USB and Firewire. I think there are problems with the firmwares being designed to maximize power consumption at the cost of not being always ready for Time Machine. Some of the WD firmware is actually on the drive itself, not the interface chipset, so problems return when you swap out the drives in the cases...
In addition, I have no need for all of the freeware/backup programs and other features they junk up these drives with. I just want reliable drives for backing up files, without having to uninstall their embedded programs. I found this review that pretty much sums it up for me: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1FBX79QK9IR9N/ref=cmcr_prviewpnt#R1FBX79QK9IR9N
Looks like you've been burned twice by their eager, innovative engineers.
I buy all of my external hard drives from OWC at http://www.macsales.com

2.5" external USB hard drive not recognized by my iMac

I have a small 2.5" external USB hard drive that my intel iMac will not mount or see. My 12" G4 Powerbook sees it fine and it is formatted in Mac OS Extended. My iMac is bootcamped and XP on my iMac sees the drive but not OS X Tiger on the iMac, (wierd) I have Tiger on both my Macs too.
Why does the intel based OS X refuse to see this external 2.5 HD. It sees a 3.5" USB one I have but not the small one. I know it is software.

Hey coby,
Well thanks for the star. Not sure I deserve it.
i then tried connecting the drive to each USB port again, and voila! i have found one it works in. I guess my computer's ports must be a little worn.
Hmm well try looking inside and see if there's some smutz in there, if the contacts are dirty or bent or worn.
i was starting to think i would have to go out and get a USB hub to give it some more power.
Is it powered off the USB? If so that actually might be a good idea since that puts a lot of strain on the connectors. Even if it's self powered it might be a good idea since it would take the strain off an obviously flakey USB.
richard

USB Hard Drive not showing up in AirPort Utility

I have been using this AirPort Extreme for over two years now and it's been working fine. I finally decided to buy a self-powered USB hard drive so I can share it over the network. However, after I unpacked the hard drive, connected it to my Mac and reformatted it to HFS+ Journaled and GUID. I plugged the hard drive into my AirPort Extreme's USB port and waited. I looked in my AirPort Utility and saw nothing in the disk list.
I spent hours searching online and discovered that I am not alone in this problem, although solutions are rare. I did try one solution where I hooked up the USB hard drive to a powered USB hub and the hub into AirPort Extreme. It actually worked once and after I rebooted everything, even though the hard drive still showed up in the disk list, no computers can connect to it. Although if I connect the hard drive directly to a Mac, it would still work perfectly.
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

USB hard drive not detected on reboot

I am running Windows 7 Ulitmate 64-bit on my 2011 15" Macbook Pro. I have a USB Hard Drive (WD My Passport SE - USB 3.0/2.0 - 1 TB).
The hard drive is formatted for HFS+ and I am running Mac Drive 8 to detect it in Windows.
For some reason when I reboot (in Windows), the hard drive won't be there until I unplug it and plug it back in.
This is really annoying! Can anybody help me? I'm pretty good with things like this but I can't think of any reason this shouldn't be working right.
HELP =T
Message was edited by: PTHEOFYL
Message was edited by: PTHEOFYL

I am having the exact same problem. WD 1TB Passport. USB 3.0 drive. Running on Windows 7 Pro 64 via Bootcamp.
My 1TB Passport is formatted with FAT32 and works with Windows and Mac OS.
I was getting the same problem when I was running Windows XP Pro on the same MacBook Pro. I was hoping the upgrade to Windows 7 would remidy the issue but it did not.
The drive light is on in a steady state when I boot and I have the same symptoms as reported by everyone else above.
In my research, I am leaning towards thinking that it is a power issue related to the cable used to connect the USB 3.0 Drive or something to do with the USB driver for Bootcamp, but researching the WD site suggests it's a power issue, not a faulty or failing drive.
I have a 500GB WD Passport USB 2.0 also attached to my computer, also running FAT32 and it starts up no problem. It's just the USB 3.0 drive that is having this issue.
Also worth noting; the drive is detected properly when I boot in Mac OS X. It's only the Windows side I have to unplug and plug back in to access the drive.

External USB Hard Drive not showing up on Time Capsule

Hi all,
I have a 500 Gb Time Capsule that used to be able to detect my external USB hard drives. I had to store my things for a while and have just started using the Time Capsule again. The TC works fine, however, the same USB external hard drives I used to connect to the TC are not showing up anymore :s They show up on the desktop when I connect them directly to my MacBook via USB. I have been through most of the file sharing options in Airport Utility and System Preferences but have not been able to solve this. I can't think of any settings that would have changed from when they were showing up in the past. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thx

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.
here's a simple fix, but the problem is i have an external where all my photography and video files are stored, so i can't access them right now and it's making my life ****.
http://guides.macrumors.com/Formatting_an_External_Device
that does work and make the drive mountable now, but problem being i can't obviously reformat the old drive and lose everything. once the new drive is formatted for mac i can't plug it into a pc to transfer the files from. which is the only problem now. but formatting the drive for mac only DOES work. but you're just screwed and not able to use it ntfs. hope the link helps SOME people.

USB Hard Drive not mounting til after restart

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