USB Port not reading External Hard Drive

I have a WD External Hard Drive, it has worked well in the past, but all of a sudden it has stopped working when plugged into my USB port. I can't see it in my finder window at all so I can't access any of the files. BUT, it does show up when I open Disk Utility. Why has my Macbook stopped picking up the Hard Drive? Why does Disk Utility recognize it and not allow me to access the information? Please help.

I can click on it and choose to repair or verify it. But neither work to gain access to the information. The Hard Drive shows up in a light grey text somehow signifying that Disk Utility isn't able to tell you what is on the Drive, so it can't tell me how much is stored or how much space is still available for storage. With other Hard Drives, they show up in black text and are able to tell me this information. Is there something else I should try besides verify and repair?

Similar Messages

New external hard drive froze while transferring info to new computer. Laptop does not read external hard drive. Went to Apple store and didn't work. Any suggestions?

Day 1. Went to Apple store because iMovie was not working. It kept shutting down. Prior to going to the store, I called Apple Support and deleted and reinstalled iMovie. Still did not work. Then I went to the Apple Store. After an hour it finally worked but when I got home, it didn't work AND my iPhoto application was missing. Tried to back up on external hard drive but it didnt work.
Day 2. Explained the situation again to Apple employee at Apple Store. I bought an external hard drive that employee recommended and picked out. I went home and backed up my computer on the external HD.
Day 3 (morning). Went back to Apple. Employee verified that my hard drive was backed up successfully. All my photos, music, and documents were successfully backed up. He was going to reinstall the operating system. He did that successfully. He showed me how to install the external HD info to the laptop. I went home and followed the directions. It was going to take about 2 hours. I kept monitoring the progress and everything looked good until....30 minutes remained. 30 minutes remained for a good 20 minutes. The ext hard drive stopped responding. I tried to canel but there were no buttons to push. I exited the program. I called apple support and they tried to walk me through it. My computer still was not recognizing that the exteranl HD was plugged in. I mad another trip to the Apple store and the emplyee confirmed that the extranal HD was not reading. He tried plugging it in to his computer and it still wasnt reading.
He did give me a data recovery number to call. I asked if Apple would cover the cost and he said no. I called then and was quoted $700-$2000 to recover the data.
Does anyone have any suggestions? When frustrates me more is that I followed every instruction and I did exactly what Apple told me to do. Now, ALL of my data is lost and Apple does not want to help.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do next? I need help. =*(

Hi rkaufmann--
Thanks for the response. I can say with confidence that that is not the issue. I have at least 8 of these same WD external portable drives that are powered through their USB 3.0 cables, and I have never had problems with any of them. Sometimes I connect them directly to my computer, and sometimes I use a powered hub. Either way they work fine. The drives with their own power source do not suit my needs.
My question is specifically whether anyone has seen an issue where sometimes they plug a drive in and it is not recognized but then it continues to work. In other words, the question I'm posing to other users is whether it sometimes happens that they connect a drive and it simply doesn't show up, but then they disconnect and reconnect and it goes on working fine as it should.

Itunes not reading external hard drive correctly

I recently moved or at least attempted to move all my music from my old hard drive to an external hard drive.
My original plan was to have all my music on the external and have Itunes pathed to the external so whenever I have it plugged in, all my music would be in my library. Obviously it wasn't that easy, at least not in my case. Throughout the process I ended up losing a decent amount of my music which ***** but what can I do now. My question is, how do I properly have Itunes read my external hard drive and have it show my music? I have the path set to the folder in which my music is at but the issue seems to be that when I consolidated to transfer into the external, all the songs are in individual folders by artists. I'm lost and don't know what to do. If I drag the music folder to Itunes, the music stays on my library whenever the external is plugged in which is what I want. But, many songs are doubled for some reason.
Any help would be appreciated as this is becoming very frustrtating, thank you.

†ry the refresh script from here http://ottodestruct.com/blog/2005/10/20/itunes-javascripts/

DiskWarrior Preview Not Reading External Hard Drive -- Can't back up files

So I recently fell upon the grey screen with the folder problem. After some research I got disk warrior and ran it on my computer (which I got in September 2006). After it was finished, DiskWarrior told me that the disk was malfunctioning and therefore could not replace the old directory with the new directory. What I take this to mean is that I need to get a new hard drive or a new computer altogether.
Per the recommendation that I back up my files, I tried inserting my USB eternal hard drive, however it is not showing up on the DiskWarrior Preview screen (the one where you would be able to transfer files). I restarted the computer and redid the whole process, and the external drive did show up on the list of disks that I had the option of repairing. I chose to rebuild my internal drive, of course, but came back to the Preview window where I could not get the external drive to appear. How do I back up my files???
I will be able to stop by an Apple store this weekend, so I'd like to know if there is anything else I could do to save my computer, more specifically how I can back up my files in the case that something terrible happens to my data.
Thanks
- Liam

Hi,
I was wondering if you ever resolved this issue as i am having exactly the same problem with my powerbook G4 17" With Leopard (i cant remember the exact version and now i have no way to check).
It recently would not boot up past the gray screen and after a while of the apple logo with the spinning bar it shut it self down again.
After going through all try to book from system disk) and getting pretty dismal results i have come to use disk warrior 4.1.
Now i managed to boot the machine from the disk and have run the rebuild option and after a couple of hours i was faced with the message that
"disk warrior has successfully rebuilt a new directory from the disk named macintosh HD" but then "THE NEW DIRECTORY CANNOT REPLACE THE ORIGINAL DIRECTORY BECAUSE OF A DISK MALFUNCTION"
This report then goes on to tell me that it is highly recommended that i back up all the data from the preview disk.
So this is where the problem lies, i can not get any external drive to in the preview window so that i can copy the information. The drives work just fine, have ample space but i just can not access them through preview window.
I did what was said above as well in restart the disk warrior process agian with the external drive already plugged in (with even an option to rebuild that) yet after rebuilding the internal harddrive again i can not see the external. The weird thing is i know that the machine recognises that it is there as i can save a pdf report to it yet when it comes to access through the preview window there is no such option.
Does anyone know what to do? Do i look for another programme or i could hook it up to another mac and perhaps it would recognise that as a disk to send to . I just need a viable option of getting my data from the internal drive to an external source so that i can re format the thing.
I can see it, i know its there yet i just cant figure out how to do it. Very frustrating.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Right USB Port not reading External HD

I'm using Mid 2014, Retina, 13-inch, Macbook Pro. I noticed that my right USB Port is not reading my 1 TB WD External HD but able to use mouse. How to fix it?

According to the fount of knowledge that is Wikipedia…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB
As with previous USB versions, USB 3.0 ports come in low-power and high-power variants, providing 150 mA and 900 mA respectively, while simultaneously transmitting data at SuperSpeed rates.[25] Additionally, there is a Battery Charging Specification (Version 1.2 – December 2010), which increases the power handling capability to 1.5 A but does not allow concurrent data transmission.
It doesn't make sense to me that a 'low power' USB port would output 500ma unless it was working in USB2 mode.
A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 1.x and 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of five unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 1.x and 2.0, or six unit loads (900 mA) in USB 3.0.
You may want to get the genius to confirm the spec for both ports if you go along to a store, I guess they may have limitations.
I would also boot into recovery mode just to see if the disk pops up in Disk Utility via both ports - that could indicate the port is being rendered useless by the OS.
Apologies, you appear to have tried that already.

If I already have an Airport Express Base Station, can i hook an external hard drive into it's USB port and use that hard drive with Time Machine?

If I already have an Airport Express Base Station, can i hook an external hard drive into it's USB port and use that hard drive with Time Machine?

No, and that shouldn't be done with an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule.
(66017)

HT1338 My macbook pro(2010) is not reading the hard drive, but the hard drive works through the USB?

Hi everyone,
My Macbook pro(2010) is not reading the internal Hard Drive. At first I thought it to be a hard drive gone bad, so i bought a new hard drive. My macbook is still not reading the Hard Drive. I am able to use the original hard drive through a external(USB) connection. Also, when the macbook turns, there is a redelling sound. Can anyone offer me any suggestions to what the problem might be?

It sounds like the internal cable connecting the HDD to the logic board is improperly connected or faulty. An appointment at an Apple genius bar might be a good option. The repair should not be too expensive.
Ciao.

Can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed

I can not fine external hard drive for time machine sence lion was installed, it don't reconise it at all.

I have a Mac Mini (late 2009) and I have an iomega 1TB external hard drive connected to my mini via firewire and usb (usb allows me to use the usb ports on the external 1TB drive to daisy chain other devices). Since I installed Lion, my Time Machine and this 1TB drive (and its partitions) is finicky. Sometimes it is mounted and sometimes it is not. This issue has only surfaced post Snow Leopard and in the Lion era. I am not the first to say this but the whole reason I went Mac was b/c of Vista. I am beginning to think that Lion is the new Vista. Sorry for the latter, just venting... b/c this ain't the first issue with Lion.

My time capsule does not see external hard drive

I just got a new time capsule and am hoping to use it as a wireless bridge and NAS.
I've got it set up as a bridge and that seems to be working correctly, but when I plug my external hard drive into the time capsule, I can't see that external drive show up anywhere.
Has anybody else run into this issue?
The hard drive is a WD Elements 3 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive - WDBAAU0030HBK-NESN.

I can't see that external drive show up anywhere.
If the drive is formatted correctly and communicating with the Time Capsule, then it will be displayed when you open AirPort Utility, click on the Time Capsule icon, click Edit, and then click the Disks tab at the top of the next window. Example:
Remember that since this drive is a "network" drive, it will not be displayed on the desktop until you manually mount the drive.

Toshiba 1TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

I was thinking about buying a Toshiba 1TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive at my local Wal-mart. Does it have a fan to keep the hard drive cool or not?
Prince Applejack
Toshiba Satellite Laptop C855D-S5340 Windows 8.1 64-bit

Hi,
If you are going to use it in MAC, what i know is you need to format it to MAC extended journaled
try this link .
hope this will help you.
*********Click on Kudos if it helped you. Thanks! ***********

Toshiba 500GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive Owner's Manual

Hello,
Looking for an owner's manual for my Toshiba 500GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive. I've checked online and on Toshiba's website. Can anyone help?

Hi,
If you are going to use it in MAC, what i know is you need to format it to MAC extended journaled
try this link .
hope this will help you.
*********Click on Kudos if it helped you. Thanks! ***********

Can not get external hard drives to connect to my computer 17" Mac book Pro 10.7.5

can not get external hard drives to connect to my computer I am using a 17" Mac book Pro 10.7.5.
I have 2 iomegas and 1 LaCie. Changed cables. I can feel the external hard drives running and
I can hear them running but I can not get them on the computer any more. They did work at one time.
Can any one PLEASE help?

Nothing appear on my desktop.
I did Repair and Verify the HDDs in Disk Utility>First Aid from the
Utilites App about a dozen times ans they all said everything was good
except for the last time there were erors found and I ran the
Disk Utility from the Start Up Disk and the repairs were made and everything
was subposed to te good and still Nothing on the desk top.
Ginger

Time machine not seeing external hard drive in time line

can anyone help
time machine not seeing external hard drive in time line
before 2013
information say in 2009 is not accessable to view this
i must select external drive from finder
the time machine icon not recognising

thanks for reply
when i open time machine the time line on right side of page
has date ranging from 2014 back to 2010 but only highlight date from 2014 back to 2013
anything before 2013 is greyed out and cannot not be selected
when i touch the pages they only rush towards me a limited amount then stops
also why it shows date as 2014 is strange

DV7 Not reading second hard drive

I have a DV7-4280us and have recently pruchased the hard drive caddy kit and a Seagate M9T 2TB Hard Drive. Once installed the laptop will not read the hard drive. I have looked in disk management and it does not show there either. My next thought was either the cable or the motherboard connection was not working correctly so I installed a WD 1TB drive and it was picked up flawlessly. I then went to my other DV7 laptop, a DV7-3173nr, and it was able to pick up the Seagate M9T 2TB drive with no problem. How can I get my DV7-4280us to pick up the 2Tb drive?

Hi Airopossum7,
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. I have read your thread on your HP Pavilion dv7-4280us Entertainment Notebook and not seeing the new HDD. Here is a link to restoring the BIOS. The restore BIOS to default settings will get the Notebook to look for the HDD. If that does not help try to a hardware test.
Please let me know how this goes.
Thanks.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom to say “Thanks” for helping!

MacBook not showing external hard drive connected to Air Port Extreme

I have a MacBook 5.2 running Mac OS X Version 10.5.7. I am running a wireless network Air Port Extreme router Version 7.4.2. I have connected a 1 TB Western Digital 10EAVS External hard drive and a printer to the Air Port Extreme router via a USB 2 hub. My MacBook sees and I am able to utilize the printer, but the Western Digital 1 TB External drive does not show up. I can see the 1 TB External drive via the Air Port Application setup, but it is not showing up on my desktop or in Utilities/Disk Utilities. I have connected the External drive directly to the USB port on my MacBook, and the drive showed up on my desktop instantly. I partitioned the External drive into two partitions and ran Time Machine which successfully backed up my MacBook. I then disconnected the External hard drive from my MacBook and reconnected it to another USB port in the hub connected to the Air Port Extreme. Once again, my MacBook does not see the External hard drive. I can see the External hard drive via the Air Port Extreme application right down to the two individual partitions. I even removed the USB hub and plugged the External hard drive directly into the Air Port Extreme router, but my MacBook still did not see the hard drive. I've restored version 7.4 and 7.4.1 on the Air Port Extreme, but it did not help. Does anyone have any insight what settings might need to be changed on my MacBook to allow it to connect to the External hard drive while it is plugged into the Air Port Extreme wireless router?

Do you have an older "dome" style AEBS or the rectangular model? The former will not work with TM. Early versions of the former may not work until you enable them to see a TM drive by doing the following:
Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt paste the following command and press RETURN:
defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
The drive should now be accessible via TM.

USB Port not reading External Hard Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for