USB memory drive won't mount

I tried to mount a USB memory drive on my relatively new MBA (10.6.4) today, but it doesn't mount. Sometimes it doesn't even show up in Disk Utility. When it does, only the disk shows up, the disk's name doesn't show up, it is grayed out. I did disk repair and verify and they are OK. It is USB 2.0. I have tried both USB slots.
I have tried the same USB memory drive on an older MacBook Air (Rev C, about 15 months old) and on a Powerbook and the USB memory drive mounts fine. I can open the drive and see the contents and manipulate the files etc.)
The USB drive is formatted "extended OS Journal".
I also tested out another USB memory drive and it too fails to mount properly as well on the new MBA.
I don't know whether it's a hardware issue or a Mac OSX issue so I posted here first.
The older MBA has 10.6.4 too.
Earlier this morning, the USB memory drives did mount on the new MBA but it was touch and go. Sometimes they did mount and I could manipulate files, but other times they didn't mount.
Now, this evening, they won't mount at all.

I checked Verify permissions and I repaired permissions after I tested out the USB drives. Seems like there were many permissions to be repaired even though I had just repaired them before.
I think sticking in the USB flash memory drives mucks up the permissions. I don't know why that is.
Maybe they have files created from older operating systems (10.6.1, and 10.3.9) that caused this.
In this case, I might have to check permissions and repair them every time I use one of these thumb drives especially if they contain files and folders from the older Macs.

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USB flash drive won't mount

I have a strange problem with a USB flash drive which refuses to mount on the desktop of my MDD FW800. It registers in System Profiler but not in Disk Utility. I can't get it to mount using Terminal either. The Terminal screen says it has mounted but it doesn't appear on the desktop and I can't access it. However, if I do a restart with the the drive plugged in, it does mount. If I eject it and then try to plug it in again, it won't mount! Very frustrating.
It works fine on my Powerbook and my Digital Audio so it can't be the drive itself that's the problem. Not quite sure when this started but it may have been after I installed a PCI USB2.0 card (a Ratoc Rex-PCIU3). The card itself works fine with other USB products and I don't have any deep sleep problems with it either. I'm stumped.
Any suggestions anyone?
Alex
G4 1.25GHz Dual MDD FW800; G4 Digital Audio; Powerbook 800MHz DVI Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hello rickame
Click on the desktop then go up to the menu bar and select Finder / Finder Preferences / General and make sure the box's are checked for Hard disk, External disks, etc.. then reconnect the drive. If you still don't see it on the desktop it may have been improperly disconnected from the iMac while mounted, look to see if it show's up in Disk Utilities and the System Profiler on the USB bus. If you are plugging it into the keyboard, try one of the USB ports on the back of the iMac or a powered hub. There also could be a conflict with other USB devices, try ejecting and disconnect things like an iPod, a printer/scanner or camera, then restarting the iMac and connect only the Flash drive.
Dennis

Usb flash drive won't mount in disc utility

running mountain lion on new imac .... usb flash drive was working, the next hour inserted it again and it doesn't show up in "devices". Opened disc utility - it shows up there but won't mount and all the "verify disc" and repair disc" functions are greyed.
Same result when I insert it into my macbook.

Did you put it in another computer and save data to it since it last worked? did you properly eject the disk?
sounds like you need to reformat the flash drive
If you need to save the data , plug it in to a pc and see if you can copy to hd.
Then take to your Mac and format it in disk utility. I recommend using windows format.
Then plug in to your PCM and get the files.
Then.. Eject the USB disk, don't just pull it out. Take to your Mac and it should mount

USB hard drive won't mount on startup

I recently (2 days ago) purchased a new 21.5" iMac (mid 2011). Yesterday I installed the update to 10.6.8, and since then have had an unusual problem. I own two external USB drives. One for Time Machine, and another that houses my iTunes library. Both are formated to Mac File System (Journaled). When I originally set up the computer, and completed the transfer of my data and accounts from my old Mac, both of the external drives mounted on the desktop exactly as they should and everything worked without issue. But then I did a Software update, which installed a bunch of updates to iTunes, Java, etc. This update included the update which took the system from 10.6.6 to 10.6.8. Now whenever I reboot the computer, the drive that houses my iTunes library will not mount when my desktop loads. I have to reach around the computer and physically disconnect and reconnect the USB cable before the computer will recognize the volume. Disk Utility won't even see it until I do this. Once I reconnect the cable, the drive works as it should until I reboot again, and I have to disconnect/reconnect the cable again to get it to work.
I don't believe this is a problem with the hard drive itself, because it worked as it should up until the software update, and it continues to work as it should on the old computer that it was hooked up to before I upgraded.
I have searched google, and apple.com for similar situations and I have come up empty. Is there anyone who might have any ideas on how to fix this? it's rather annoying to reconnect the drive each and every time I turn on the computer.
Thanks!

Repair Disk Permissions on the internal HD and also on the EHDs. Then do restart in Safe Mode and then do both SMC and PRAM resets.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Roger

USB LaCie Porche 500gb usb external drive won't mount

Here is the scoop.
A few days ago I was using my LaCie 500gb external drive and the usb chord was accidently yanked out whilst adding a photo to iphoto.
So i thought uh oh better close everything disconnect wait a while then restart.
So I did...plugged it back in...it made all the normal start up noises little amber light came on but it didn't appear on the desktop..nor in disk utility. But it did appear in system profiler.
Yesterday after resetting the "pram" or whatever it is that happens when you hold p + r + the apple key and alt....or ctrl and still no relief.
So i leave it plugged in over night to see if it is merely slow for some reason. When i awake this morning it is in disk utility even with the "time machine" volume...so presumably all the files are more or less still intact. But it still isn't mounting. So after clicking repair disk ....three or more hours later i get this in the log
2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100: Verify and Repair volume “Time Machine Backups”
Starting repair tool: 2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100
2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-07-18 10:07:22 +0100: Checking Catalog file.
2008-07-18 10:14:21 +0100: Checking multi-linked files.
2008-07-18 10:23:17 +0100: Checking Catalog hierarchy.
2008-07-18 10:42:25 +0100: Checking Extended Attributes file.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Invalid sibling link
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Repairing volume.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Rechecking volume.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-07-18 10:42:46 +0100: Checking Catalog file.
2008-07-18 10:49:46 +0100: Checking multi-linked files.
2008-07-18 10:58:37 +0100: Checking Catalog hierarchy.
2008-07-18 11:17:59 +0100: Checking Extended Attributes file.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Invalid sibling link
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Repairing volume.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Rechecking volume.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-07-18 11:18:20 +0100: Checking Catalog file.
2008-07-18 11:25:15 +0100: Checking multi-linked files.
2008-07-18 11:34:06 +0100: Checking Catalog hierarchy.
2008-07-18 11:53:38 +0100: Checking Extended Attributes file.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Invalid sibling link
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Repairing volume.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Rechecking volume.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-07-18 11:54:01 +0100: Checking Catalog file.
2008-07-18 12:01:19 +0100: Checking multi-linked files.
2008-07-18 12:10:29 +0100: Checking Catalog hierarchy.
2008-07-18 12:28:25 +0100: Checking Extended Attributes file.
2008-07-18 12:28:46 +0100: Invalid sibling link
2008-07-18 12:28:46 +0100: 2008-07-18 12:28:46 +0100: The volume Time Machine Backups could not be repaired after 3 attempts.
it would appear that the problem is "invalid sibling link"
Any ideas people.

nonononon...
Every tech will offer to reformat the HDD or suggest its broken.
The table of contents are corrupted.
What I do is remove the drive from the case and put it in a PC and run "mac drive" software then choose repair volume and your good to go.
Iv done this as a PC tech for several of my mac customers.
But for the life of me I cant appear to reproduce the issue and don't know what the issue is.
Several macbook guys have given me their "broken" USB drive and the TOS is corrupted. Its really a royal pain in the back side.
What is the issue, how to make it stop?

External usb hard drive won't mount on G4

I just bought an external USB 2.0 hard drive enclosure for a 30 gig HD I had in my old G3 Powerbook.It mounts fine on the older powerbook G3 with OS X 10.1.2, but not on the G4 titanium 10.3.9 I bought it for. Please help!

http://www.doubleh.com.tw/download/IDE%20Enclosure/Usb2.0%20IDE%20Enclosure/Alum inum%20case%20Enclosure(Genesys)/driver/Mac/Mac%20%2010.2x/
There used to be a couple of explanation on some ones' nomepage - the idea is (I think ) that hardware developers think it comes with OS and apple think that it comes with hardware driver.
Here is a discussion board in Swedish, but there used to be some English page somewhere ...
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:KRxGo5q6MJcJ:www.99mac.se/forum/archive/ind ex.php/t-40336.html+GeneIOUSBIDE230&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&client=safari

Firewire and USB hard drives won't mount on Xserve - 10.5.8

I have a triple interface drive set for rotating backups, and they've stopped mounting on my Xserve. Disk Utility can't see them at all, but System Profiler sees when I plug them in. The drive specifics for the volume are missing, but they ID correctly. Same drives plugged into an iMac and a MacBook Pro mount perfectly every time, both over USB and Firewire. Disk Utility via the iMac shows no problems at all. I've tried rebooting the Xserve... doesn't help.
I kinda need my backup to run on my server. Thoughts on how to resolve?

Sounds like you should be posting to the Xserve forum.

USB Hard drive won't mount

I have a problem with a hard drive connected in an external USB enclosure to a Mac Mini Core Duo, that occasionally fails to mount automatically when powered up. Apple's System Profiler "sees" the drives (and both formatted partitions on it), but I cannot access the files. Is there any type of utility that will allow me to mount the drive manually?
Thanks in advance,
Robert

try Apple's Disk Utility
/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
regards,
Pete.

Upgraded my PowerBook G4 to Leopard 10.5.8 - USB/Jump drives won't mount

I just upgraded my OS to 10.5.8. Now, when I boot with any attached jump drive it pops up on my desktop for about 10 secs and then gives me a dialog box with a big stop sign w/exclamation point and reads "device removal" - the device you removed was not ejected properly....the 'icon' for the drive disappears and if I try to re-insert it, it doesn't read it. Any ideas why that might be? I have run all the software updates earlier today. What could I be missing?

Thank you so much for the suggestions. You are correct, in 'wiggling' the drive it seems to read and then not read...the jump drive is definitely damaged. I will make attempts to pull files slowly, one at a time. Yes, I wish I had a back up but I don't. I should have burned the files on a CD as a second back up but didn't,my bad. It's okay, I'll have to manage. I'm happy it's not my USB port but a faulty drive. Thank you again for helping me out, greatly appreciate it.

Buffalo USB Hard Drive won't mount after 10.4.10 upgrade

After updating to OS X 10.4.10, my Buffalo Drivestation wouldn't mount. My MacBook could see that it was connected in System Profiler, but I couldn't access it. I (rather painfully !) backed out the update and reverted back to 10.4.9. Has anyone else had this problem ? Is there a solution that lets you use 10.4.10 ?

I have the exact same problem! I tried accessing it through my Windows, and it worked, but I have to say this is very disappointing and upsetting.

External Hard Drive Won't Mount Via USB

I have a Western Digital (Model #WD2500...) Hard Drive that is about 3 years old. I initially set it up on a PowerBook running Mac OS 10.3.x. I have two newer laptops both running Snow Leopard, and neither will recognize my drive via USB 2.0.
The weird part is that the drive will mount when connected via Firewire (400 in this case). My newest laptop is on of the new MacBook Pros and it only has Firewire 800. I'm guessing I could probably get a 400 to 800 Firewire cable, but it would be much easier to just use the USB 2.0 connection. Any idea why the drive won't mount over USB 2.0?
I went to the Western Digital site, and there didn't appear to be any new drivers or firmware for this product. The drive seems to run perfectly well over the Firewire connection, so I don't see what the issue is with USB. The documentation that came with the drive indicates that it should work with USB. This is very baffling to me, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!!

In most external drive enclosures that have both USB and Firewire interfaces, the Firewire interface is able to draw enough power to run the drive. Firewire can provide up to 45 watts and up to 30 volts of power per port (not all devices supply the full wattage; my MacBook model provides up to 8 watts). USB 2.0 and earlier can only provide 5 volts at 500 milliamps (up to 2.5 watts). Some newer laptop drives are at or under 500 milliamps, but just barely, and the enclosure itself needs some power.
It sounds like the USB port on your enclosure is bad. Firewire is going to provide faster transfer rates anyway, and you don't have to bother with the power supply. Based on your comments, I suspect it still might be a bad power supply, or maybe it's not the right one for the drive. Those things are easy to mix up.
If you're brave enough to crack the external drive open, what you'll find inside is a standard off-the-shelf hard disk drive, with either a SATA or PATA interface, in an enclosure. You can move the drive to a new enclosure easily.

Verbatim 320GB FireWire/USB Portable Hard Drive Won't Mount

Hello ... I have a Verbatim 320GB FireWire/USB Portable Hard Drive that won't mount. The drive has only been used a handful of times ... it is self powered. I accidentally disconnected the drive without dragging it to the trash first .... so I got the "improper disk removal" error. Now the drive won't mount at all. Is it dead or in some kind of frozen state? Any ideas how I can get it back up and running??
Thanks

Might try Data Rescue II...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
Or FileSalvage...
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?%20mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
to recover what you can.

New partition on external hard drive won't mount

I have an 2TB external drive connected by FireWire to my 24-inch, Early 2009 iMac. I created 2 partitions 1 that is about 35 GB and another that is the rest of the 2TB. The 2nd largest partition mounts fine and is being used by Time Machine for my back up. The 2nd one I wanted to use for a Tech Tool Pro eDrive. However the 35 GB drive won't mount. Well it mounts, but after a few seconds it unmounts itself. This is the message I get as it unmounts itself:
8/18/13 7:18:45.788 PM fseventsd[43]: Events arrived for /Volumes/eDrive after an unmount request! Re-initializing.
8/18/13 7:18:45.789 PM fseventsd[43]: creating a dls for /Volumes/eDrive but it already has one...
8/18/13 7:18:46.039 PM fseventsd[43]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd/00000000030d4f84 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd
8/18/13 7:18:46.039 PM fseventsd[43]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd/00000000030d4f84 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd
Any ideas?
I've checked the partition with Disk Utility and no errors.
Regards,
Chris Johnson

If the drive has more than one interface (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, eSATA), try one of the other interfaces.
Check that the data cable is securely inserted at both ends.
Try a different cable.
If you're connecting the drive through a hub, connect it directly to a built-in port on the Mac.
If you're connecting it directly, try a different port.
Disconnect all other devices on the bus, or as many as possible.
Test the drive with another Mac. Test another drive with this Mac.
If the drive is bus-powered, but has an AC adapter, connect the adapter.
Boot into Recovery and launch Disk Utility. Does the volume mount?
Start up in Safe Mode and test.
If the drive doesn't work under any of the above conditions, and if another drive does work with the same Mac, then the drive has failed. You may be able to salvage the mechanism by removing it from the enclosure and installing it in another one, or in a drive dock.

External Hard Drive Won't Mount- Need to recover files

Hello Everyone,
I am hoping that one of you fine mac experts may be able to assist ~
Problem: External Seagate FreeAgent Desktop USB external hard drive
won't mount on desktop=ie: no access to my important files.. Please Help!
Details:
External seagate freeagent 500 GB Desktop USB HD ( only 2 months old)
(using for document / file backup-not as a startup disc)
on my Mac G3 350 MZ Blue & White Tower /768 ram/ running OSX 10.1.5 & OS9.2~
~
Problem: Started using the external 500 GB HD 2 months ago -with no problems-until this morning. Tried to double click to open it to access files
and got the "beach ball of death" and needed to restart.
My trusty G3 started up fine, however, the external HD was now
not showing up on the desktop as normal. I troubleshooted -by restarting,
trying different a/c plugs/ different USB ports , ran disk utility..called
seagate -not much help . Seagate said to try the HD on another mac-which I did-
a G5 tower- same problem.
~
The External hard drive will show up in disk utility, but is grayed out.
and when click "mount" same two messages keep showing:
message 1: "a disk attempting to mount as unknown has failed verification or has failed to
mount.please use disk utility to check the disk"
~
message 2- when unplugging and repluggin the usb in-and upon
restart:" you have inserted a disk containg no volumes that mac osx
can read to use unreadable volumes,click initialize to continue with the disk inserted ,click continue"
~
( I really need access to these files- and do not want to re-initialize the HD!!)
I ran Disk Utility /first aid "verify & repair , the following info came up:
Repairing disk "main backup 2007 ".
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid key length ( <<<IN RED )
Repair completed. "
~~
Though it said the repair was completed, the "invalid key length" issue
still comes up when re-running disk utility...Hard drive would still not
mount on desktop-even after restarting .
~~~~~
If there is a mac genius out there that can help?- it would be greatly
appreciated. I have tried to call seagate several times in the last several hours-
1st time-they disconnected me after being on hold 10 minutes-2nd call
I was put on hold for 40 minutes ..Finally spoke to someone ( they are not mac users or mac experts!)and he said I would need to send it to Seagate's Data Recovery-... for a fee of course!
~~~
At this point, I am hoping to just get the files and photos off
the hard drive- I heard about Disk Warrior-should I use that and if so
what version?
Thank you very much!
L

Will zapping the PRAM be of any use in getting the external to mount on the desktop?
Your external Hard drive is already recognized. But it cannot be mounted on the desktop due to its directory damage. You can certainly Zap the PRAM, and it will not hurt anything, but I am skeptical that it will change the situation.
Do you think the Disk Warrior 4.0 cd will even work on my G3 350MHZ running Mac OS 10.1.5?
If you boot from the CD and run it from the CD, absolutely yes. If you attempt to INSTALL it from a download or a CD, probably not.
Have you ever used Disc Warrior and is using it complicated?
I own and use Disk Warrior. You select the drive to be rebuilt, it builds a proposed new directory from the information and file fragments available.
When complete, it will provide a list of problems encountered, tell you what files have been placed in the "Rescued Items" folder, and allow you too look at your drive using the proposed new directory. Your only decision is whether the new directory seems to be an improvement over the old \[in your case, hopelessly corrupted] directory. You then tell it whether to replace the old directory with the proposed new directory, or to abandon its work and leave your Hard Drive unchanged.
Is there a good chance that the ext HD will still have my files on it- or do you think from what I've described that they are gone ?
From what you have described, your files are very likely to still be there. Sometimes in a situation like this, a handful of files cannot be recovered.
My other thought was to take the external HD there and have them try to recover the files.
Make sure you completely understand the costs involved. File recovery using a service like DriveSavers can run into many hundreds of dollars. They are prepared to disassemble your drive in a clean room and replace controller boards and read/write heads to achieve success. Your drive has serious, but not fatal, Directory damage. The Hardware, and most of your files, are likely just fine.

External hard drive won't mount, even after disk repair.

My Toshiba external hard drive won't mount on my MacBook Pro 10.8.5. I can see it in my disk repair, and when I repair, "the partition map appears to be ok." But I can't access the icon to be able to open the hard drive contents on my desktop. Help!

Hello maccynicwhoalwayshasmacs,
Thanks for the question. After reviewing your post, it sounds like trouble with an external HD mounting. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help you resolve or isolate the issue.
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

USB memory drive won't mount

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