Western Digitial external USB drive recognition problem

Hi
I recently bought a Western Digital USB 250gb external drive. I connected it to my G4 Powerbook running OSX10.2.8 and it had no problem recognising it. I then dumped across a load of data successfully.
A few days later I upgraded to Tiger and now the G4 won't recognise the external drive at all. I have scoured the forums for an answer but have found nothing to fix a drive problem where the drive just doesn't appear at all in disk utility (or on the desktop)!
I didn't partition the drive when it was first recognised in 10.2.8 (which i now realise was a mistake). The data on the external drive is unimportant to me - I just want to be able to use the drive - maybe there's a way or reformatting and starting again? (The Western Digital site doesn't provide any drivers for Tiger - cos it's just meant to recognise it automatically..)
Any information appreciated.
Many thanks,
Mark

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Do you have any other USB devices connected to your Powerbook?
Is this a recognition problem right after the computer boots up? Or had the computer fallen to sleep prior to your connecting it? Sometimes I've seen USB ports fall into a low power mode causing problems recognizing USB devices until the machine is next rebooted.
If you have critical data on that drive, you may want to try Prosoft Data Rescue to see if it can see what is on that drive. You can also buy an external Firewire enclosure and try to move the drive to that, or find someone with a PowerMac G4 or G3 tower to see if it can be taken out of the case and put in the tower for recognition. If you do the latter, be sure that the jumper is set for the master/slave setting that matches the cable you are connecting in the drive.

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I posted this as a reply to a similar thread also.
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Hi
I have had problems getting a Mac to recognise a memory stick and I've found that rebooting OS X can sometimes help, as can plugging and unplugging it several times.
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[SOLVED] Problem with external USB drive started yesterday

My system freezes for about 65 seconds at the login screen. After 65 seconds, I can login and everything is normal afterwards.
I discovered that I can eliminate the freeze by disconnecting the external USB drive from the PC. Here are the error messages from kernel.log when the drive is connected:
Oct 15 23:10:14 localhost kernel: [ 17.035091] usb 1-1.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Oct 15 23:10:29 localhost kernel: [ 32.155955] usb 1-1.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Oct 15 23:10:29 localhost kernel: [ 32.325394] usb 1-1.3: new high speed USB device number 4 using ehci_hcd
Oct 15 23:10:31 localhost kernel: [ 34.045126] MediaState is connected
There is supposed to be a kernel boot option (irqpoll) to prevent this from occurring. However, that option seems to no longer work for kernels after 2.6.39. If I try using it with Arch, the system will not boot, saying all the CPU's failed.
I also don't understand why this just started happening yesterday, as the USB drive has been connected to the PC longer than I've been using Arch. Also, my kernel has not been updated since I installed Arch on Oct 8.
Does anyone know another fix or workaround for this problem?
Thanks,
Tim
Last edited by ratcheer (2011-10-17 01:30:08)

Problem solved
I feel stupid, but I also feel better. I turned off the PC, disconnected the power from the USB drive for about 15 seconds, reconnected the power, rebooted, removed the irqpoll kernel option, and Ubuntu started, perfectly. I need to learn that the USB drive just goes freaky sometimes and remember to do this. But, this is only the second time I've had to do this in months of use.
Tim

Problems with a shared external USB drive

I have setup an external USB drive on my iMac 10.6 and use it for Time Machine backup. When I try to access this drive over my wireless network from my PowerBook 10.5.8 for TM backup, I can only see the drive under Shared as a Folder, not a drive icon. It is not available for the PB's TM app. This is a HP 1 TB drive formatted in 1 partition MacOS Extended journaled GUID .... and it works as a backup drive for the desktop 10.6 TM.
The very same thing happens if I connect this USB drive to my Airport Extreme only both the PB and the iMac see the drive as a folder and neither can use the drive for a TM backup.
So, how can I see the drive as a drive icon from the PB and have it available for TM backup over the network?

Douglas McKibbin wrote:
The very same thing happens if I connect this USB drive to my Airport Extreme
Do not attempt to back up that way -- it's "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple.+*
It sounds like you've missed a step in the setup. See #22 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Be sure to note the advice there to partition the drive, so each Mac has it's own, exclusive space.

PowerBook G4 external USB drive problem

I've got a 12" Powerbook G4.
All of the following operations were performed with the laptop plugged into the power adapter.
Today I connected a Bytecc external USB drive model 7050 containing a Maxtor 6 L060J3 60 GB and started backing up my main drive and moving some movie projects to it.
I initialized the drive using the Disk Utility.
I used Finder to copy almost 55 GB of data to the initialized drive.
I attemped to use the 'eject' icon in finder to disconnect the drive so that I could remove power and move some things around my desk. The drive did not 'eject'.
I disconnected the USB cable from the G4 and got the warning message from OSX.
I powered down the drive and moved things around then attempted to reconnect the USB drive.
I repeatedly got a "Volume not found" error with the correct name of the drive. The drive still appeard in the finder pane.
I attempted to verify and repair the disk using the Disk Utility, which still recognized the disk, but was still getting the "Volume not found" error when I attemtped to access the drive using Finder.
I used the disk utility to verify and repair the G4 system disk, at which time the USB drive dissapeared from the Finder window.
Now, attempts to reconnect the drive, do not show the drive as present in the Finder window, yet:
- when I disconnect the drive, I get a warning about stopping a device
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Any ideas on how I can get this drive to work again? I spent a lot of time dumping video into iMovie from my digital camcorder and I'd like to avoid reformatting the drive.
P.S. What is the correct way to shutdown and remove an external drive?
Thanks,
Larry Ice
12" Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

The proper way to shut down and remove the drive is to unmount it (drag it to the trash) and then power down the drive before you unplug the usb cable. If the eject icon didn't work you should have tried dragging to the trash. If that didn't work go to Disk Utility and unmount from there. if that didn't work try Repairing the drive from Disk Utility. I would not have pulled the usb cable as you did.

Hp Pavilion HPE PC H8-1214 won't boot up after installing a Western Digital External hard drive

I just recently installed a 3TB Western Digital External hard drive to use for backing up photos and since then I am now having problems with my computer.
I will turn the computer on, but nothing happens. The power button lights up, but the small stack of CD's that would normally light up on the front, while it is powering on, does not light up. My monitor screen just stays blank and nothing happens.
If I turn off the desktop and unplug the external hard drive from the USB, let the the PC sit for 30 sec to 1 minute and then power it back on, it works properly.
PC is an HP Pavilion HPE PC h8-1214
Product #: qw701aa#aba
Running Windows 7
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your reply. I'll answer one at a time:
During these times when the computer seems to turn on but doesn't load Windows, do you get any type of image or error on the screen? Nothing appears on the screen at the time of boot. I don't even see the 'HP' logo or BIOS prompt.
Have you tried switching the power cable or testing the power cable in a different wall outlet (especially if it is plugged into a power strip, try it directly plugged into the wall). Yes I've plugged it into multiple outlets with and without surge protection with multiple power cables. The power supply doesn't seem to be the issue as it engages all fans etc.
If you've tried a known good power adapter in a known good outlet, it may be an issue with the power supply or a loose connection inside the computer (RAM, power, video card). I've re-seated all components, cables etc to no avail. I'm reasonably experienced in IT support and have never experienced an intermittent problem such as this.
The PC has been plugged in since I made my original post on 02/23/13. Each day I've powered it up to see if it would boot and had been unsuccessful. This evening, I walked by and hit the power button and instantly the drive 'disk' lights lit up, keyboard and mouse lit up, and it booted successfully (after 10 days of no luck). Now I'm afraid to shut it down b/c I never know when it will boot again. There are no system errors and it's running without any issues - until I shut it down again. The IT support guru's at my place of employment feel like it may be an issue with the motherboard since I don't see a bios prompt when this issue occurs. The unfortunate part is that I bought this re-furbished and the HP 90 warranty has expired...
Any further advice or troubleshooting assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

HELP!!!!! How do I back up using Western Digital External Hard Drive

I just bought a western digital external hard drive dual option media center and combo external storage. It came with a Dantz Retrospect Express backup software. I can't seem to get it to work. It installs ok, but when I try to open up the software it opens and closes with an error message. What am I doing wrong? How do I back up my files, programs, iTunes and Movies? Is there an easy way to do this? I've ask a lot of people and know can seem to give me a straight answer. PLEASE HELP!!

Hi Marc and welcome!
It is possible that the version of Dantz Retrospect does not work with Tiger. You do not need to use that program. In fact, a lot of people feel it is rather clumsy and feature-crippled to the point that it is not really useful.
Is that drive a combo FireWire and USB drive? IF so, there is a phenominal program called SuperDuper that does much, much more than Retrospect. It will clone your hard drive which means it will make an exact copy of every last bit and byte and then make it bootable so you can actually boot your Mac from your external drive in the event of a hardware or software problem. It costs only $27.95, but it is well worth it and highly recommended.
There are other programs that do what SuperDuper does, but I like SD best. Carbon Copy Cloner, and LaCie's SilverKeeper are the others most often mention, but their support is not as good as SD's. Both required updates to work with Tiger while SD worked from Day 1.
Plug the drive in and open your Mac's Disk Utility and partition it if you want. One it is formatted in HFS it will work fine.

Hallo ,why is it that when I delete a photo ,which is backed up by time machine and western digital external hard drive , that I am able to restore the photo okay but not the titles and descriptions . I have a Macbook 4.1, mac osx 10.5.8 . Iphoto 7.1.5 ,

QUESTION.
Hallo , my question is ;whenever I delete a photo and restore it through Time machine and Western digital external hard drive , I am able to restore the photo but not the titles and descriptions . Western Digital inform me that it isn't their external hard drive problem and suggest that it is an Apple software problem ?
I am using a Macbook 4.1 , with Mac OSX 10.5.8 . I photo 7.1.5 , last modifie4d 01/05/2010 -universal . Should I be upgrading Iphoto ?
I hope that someone is able to help in this matter , as i have to restore 12000 photos !
Thanking you in anticipation.
Alan from Wigton

Hallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan

My Western Digital external hard drive suddenly stopped showing up on my Macbook Pro and disappeared from Disk Utility. It works on a PC.

My Western Digital external hard drive suddenly stopped showing up on my macbook pro and it disappeared from disk utility. I have tried making invisible files visible but nothing has worked and my hard drive shows up on a PC but not my Mac anymore.

What is the manufacturer of the external and how old is it? Does it have its own AC power supply or is it USB bus powered?

My external USB drive is not recognized by Win XP

Hi!
I have an external USB drive that is HTF+ formatted. It is not recognized by Windows XP. If I start the windows disk manager it gives me the option to initialize the drive. Do I dare to do this? Will it not erase the information on the drive?
Thanks for any help!
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Hi Anders and welcome to Discussions,
I have an external USB drive that is HTF+ formatted. It is not recognized by Windows XP. If I start the windows disk manager it gives me the option to initialize the drive. Do I dare to do this? Will it not erase the information on the drive?
Yes it will !!
Although with the BootCamp 3.0 Drivers (from the OSX Snow Leopard DVD) and the 3.1 Driver update (downloadable) Apple has introduced read-access to HFS+ partitions from Windows this feature seems to have some serious problems for some people.
Personally I see this feature as "experimental" at the moment.
XP itself knows nothing and therefor can not use/see HFS+ partitions and GPT (GUID partition table) harddisks.
You might wanna have a look (or buy) at MacDrive http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/ which right now is the better solution.
Thanks for any help!
/ Anders
Hope it helps
Stefan

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Hi amyta pdx-
I'd be careful jumping to conclusions or the troubleshooting process may get clouded. For one thing those WD drives are junk and most people using them eventually have problems.
What happens with everything disconnected from the Mac except a mouse connected to a USB port on the Mac and the monitor connected to the video port only?
Luck-
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Hi!
I just bought a 500GB Western Digital External Hard Drive (uses Firewire 400), primarily for storing HD iMovie and Final Cut Express files. When I checked the iMovie support, it recomends to format the external hard drive as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). I opened Disk Utility, selected the hard drive (My Book) and followed the steps to both erase and reformat it. I have gotten an error numerous times that says:
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FYI: I have an Intel iMac and Mac OS X 10.5.2, along with any of the latest updates for it.

Try doing it this way:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
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6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

Trouble accessing files on external USB drive after 10.6.8 update

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Also having intermittent issues with another external USB drive, which is the one I use for Time Machine - about one in every five backup attempts is successful, the rest of the time I get a message saying the backup couldn't be performed.
I have two external FireWire drives as well, and I'm having no trouble with either of those - so I'm assuming the problem is USB-related (and 10.6.8 related, since none of this was happening before the upgrade).
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Thanks baltwo - the PRAM tip was helpful. For some reason I still have trouble accessing a few files, I'm putting that down to them being somehow corrupted. Eric, thanks, but I tried using Disk Utility and the communication problems I was having with the drive meant that the repair couldn't be performed. I may try again now that that side of things seems to be running a little more smoothly. Anyway, thank you both!

Time Capsule external USB drive won't reconnect remotely over Back To My Mac

I'm running a Mac Mini at work, connected via ethernet to an enterprise network (I have no idea what routers they are using, or how they are set up).
At home, I have a MBP laptop and a Time Capsule (hardwired to cable modem) with an external USB drive attached.
All 3 machines (Mac Mini, MBP, TC via Airport Utility) have Back To My Mac switched on.
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The Mac Mini is a 2.3GHz Core i5 with 8GB RAM and plenty of HD space.
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J

Sorry that did not work. This works well for me using Lacie drives, but I haven't tried Iomega.
Have you checked Iomega's site to see if any software/firmware updates available?
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http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=iomegadrive+won%27tmount

Western Digitial external USB drive recognition problem

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