Why can't my macbook pro / macbook air read FAT32 external hard-drive?

I have a USB external hard drive that's formatted as FAT32. It worked fine under Windows and Ubuntu Linux.
here is what it shows under ubuntu:
Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3a39bfa1
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 2048 976773119 488385536 b W95 FAT32
As you can see its file system is FAT32, and as I understand FAT32 read/write is supported on all MACs.
However when I plug it to either a Macbook pro or a Macbook air, it said:
The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
Why is this?

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rortiz77 wrote:
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Connecting to legacy AFP services

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1. never ever have a single choke point of data failure as a single ext. hard drive. always 2 copies off-computer at all times minimum.
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
2. DiskWarrior can repair hard drive issues that Disk Utiity can't.
http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/
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natgray17 wrote:
I don't know about your first question... I went to finder, preferences, then general but I didn't see anything for the hard drive.
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Why can't my macbook pro / macbook air read FAT32 external hard-drive?

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