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Disk Utility problem

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elderchunti

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2011
16
0
Having trouble with my external hard drive. Won't appear on my finder, but does on the disk utility, but really can't do anything as all the buttons for repair disk, verify disk, etc are all grayed out so I can't press them. I want to access the hard drive, just at least to see what files are on there. What happens when I click partition, and or the erase tab (and the dont erase data option)?

Screen shot 2013-07-30 at 1.03.42 AM.png
 
Darth.Titan

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
That screenshot shows the drive is unformatted. Click the partition tab to create and format a new partition. Then it will mount.
 
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wordsworth

macrumors 6502
Apr 7, 2011
306
268
UK
Is it the same external hard drive you referred to in your previous thread?

"Please! Need help, a lot of information is on this hard drive, mostly videos I filmed and stills. It's a
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex External Hard Drive, over a year old, used it over the weekend, connected it last night, I got that message, it won't appear on the Finder. What can I do so my mac reads the hard drive again and show my files? I don't want to do anything yet because I'm afraid I'll erase any data on my hard drive."

What is the usage history of the hard drive? Was it originally formatted for Mac or for Windows?
 
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elderchunti

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2011
16
0
Darth.Titan said:
That screenshot shows the drive is unformatted. Click the partition tab to create and format a new partition. Then it will mount.
Click to expand...

If I do a partition will it erase my data on my external hard drive?
And yes it's the same HD from the last thread. And since I use it mostly for my mac, I think it was formatted for mac, but that was back in late 2011 don't remember that well. It's all mostly pictures and camera videos. Oh yeah, and I ocassionally plug it into a windows laptop, but mostly to play the videos on there, rarely to write on the hard drive.
 
W

wordsworth

macrumors 6502
Apr 7, 2011
306
268
UK
If you plug the drive into your PC and it works on your PC but not on the Mac then it sounds as though it's formatted for Windows and NOT Mac. If it worked on your Mac recently and you're sure that''s the case, then we're back where we started.

Try it with a Windows machine. If it works, make a note of the disk's formatting.
 
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elderchunti

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2011
16
0
would I be able to recover that information with data recovery software? And what does the "Don't Erase Data" do in Disk Utility?
 
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elderchunti

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2011
16
0
in disk utility, erase tab, under security options. Also, why does it say it's a 2.2 TB hard drive when it's actually 500 GB?
Screen shot 2013-07-31 at 10.14.02 AM.png
 
pastrychef

pastrychef

macrumors 601
Sep 15, 2006
4,753
1,450
New York City, NY
Checking that option will cause Disk Utility to NOT zero out every sector on the drive.

As to why it says it's a 2.2TB drive instead of a 500GB drive, I don't know. I have never seen that symptom.

Were I in your situation, I'd have given up and tried repartitioning the drive long ago.
 
Darth.Titan

Darth.Titan

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2007
2,905
753
Austin, TX
  1. Disk Utility says the drive isn't formatted, even though you know it is.
  2. Disk Utility is incorrectly reporting the size of the drive.
Sounds to me like that drive is failing. The data on it might already be history.

Or... are you sure that the drive you have plugged in is the one you think it is? Have you got it mixed up with a different hard drive altogether?

Just trying to eliminate the simplest solution.
 
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