External Fantom drive will not connect to new iMac - Big Sur

[jpb822]

I just purchased a new iMac to replace my 2010 era iMac. I had a Fantom external 3 TB drive that I used for Time Machine backups and connected via FW 800 to the old iMac. This drive also has USB 3.0 port, BUT the new iMac does not see the drive connected to the USB 3 port. I ran disk utility to see if it shows there, but nothing. The external drive is the Fantom, G-Force Mega disk that I purchased 2 years ago from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BTCWZWE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just want to use the drive for Time Machine on my new Mac.

Any suggestions?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Perhaps you will have to erase and format the drive to APFS and start TM all over again.

Out of curiosity I purchased a USB3.1 to microB cable to see if my old USB3 Orico case and Kingston SSD would work with the new iMac and Big Sur, but no problems at all with SuperDuper.

 

[joevt]

I just purchased a new iMac to replace my 2010 era iMac. I had a Fantom external C TB drive that I used for Time Machine backups and connected via FW 800 to the old iMac. This drive also has USB 3.0 port, BUT the nrew iMac will does not see the drive connected to the USB 3 port. I ran disk utility to see if it shows there, but nothing. The external drive is the Fantom, G-Force Mega disk that I purchased 2 years ago from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BTCWZWE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just want to use the drive for Time Machine on my new Mac.

Any suggestions?

M1 iMac? Does it have two USB4/Thunderbolt ports and two USB-C (not Thunderbolt) ports? If yes, then connect the Fantom to a USB-C (not Thunderbolt) port.
If it's an iMac with only two USB4 ports, then connect the Fantom to a Thunderbolt 3 dock (or try a USB 3.x hub).

 

[Fishrrman]

"I had a Fantom external C TB drive that I used for Time Machine backups and connected via FW 800 to the old iMac. This drive also has USB 3.0 port, BUT the nrew iMac will does not see the drive connected to the USB 3 port."

Your post above is "all over the place".

Could you explain what "C TB" is supposed to mean?

This is a FIREWIRE drive?
With a USB3 port as well?

Is this a platter-based hard drive, or is it an SSD?

Is it a 2.5" drive, or is it a 3.5" drive?
If it's a 3.5" drive, did it come with an external power supply block?
If so, are you using it?

If it's a platter-based drive...
When you connect it now (with a USB cable), do you hear the platters spin up?

 

[joevt]

Could you explain what "C TB" is supposed to mean?

I think it's a typo. Probably supposed to be "3 TB" as in the size of the drive.

This is a FIREWIRE drive?
With a USB3 port as well?

And eSATA. External drives supporting multiple connections types is not uncommon.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

Is this a platter-based hard drive, or is it an SSD?
Is it a 2.5" drive, or is it a 3.5" drive?
If it's a 3.5" drive, did it come with an external power supply block?
If so, are you using it?

Probably 3.5", otherwise a smaller enclosure would be used.
Probably Platter, since SSDs are not 3.5".
I don't think any of these 3.5" enclosures supported bus power so power supply is definitely necessary.

If there's a problem with the USB 3.0 port, you could get a Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter and connect it to a Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter. But USB 3.0 is much faster than FireWire. FireWire 800 is not sufficient for full speed 3.5" HDD transfers.
See benchmarks at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QH7T2.0/

 

[jpb822]

M1 iMac? Does it have two USB4/Thunderbolt ports and two USB-C (not Thunderbolt) ports? If yes, then connect the Fantom to a USB-C (not Thunderbolt) port.
If it's an iMac with only two USB4 ports, then connect the Fantom to a Thunderbolt 3 dock (or try a USB 3.x hub).

It does have 2 USB 4 and 2 USB-C - and yes I know the disk drive should only work with USB 3 or C.

 

[jpb822]

I think it's a typo. Probably supposed to be "3 TB" as in the size of the drive.(It was a typo - I fixed it. It's 3 TB)


And eSATA. External drives supporting multiple connections types is not uncommon.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB


Probably 3.5", otherwise a smaller enclosure would be used.
Probably Platter, since SSDs are not 3.5".
I don't think any of these 3.5" enclosures supported bus power so power supply is definitely necessary.

If there's a problem with the USB 3.0 port, you could get a Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter and connect it to a Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter. But USB 3.0 is much faster than FireWire. FireWire 800 is not sufficient for full speed 3.5" HDD transfers.
See benchmarks at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QH7T2.0/

 

[jpb822]

I put the link to amazon there because it shows the details of the model I have. It does have three interfaces, FW, eSATA, and USB 3.0. I have already tried to use the USB 3.0 to USB C cable on the new iMac, but it does not work.

The drive has its own power supply. I did not really want to try other adapter cables because this drive claims to support the USB 3.0 to USB C connection.

 

[joevt]

It does have 2 USB 4 and 2 USB-C - and yes I know the disk drive should only work with USB 3 or C.

Your M1 iMac has 4 USB-C ports. Two of them also can do Thunderbolt but that doesn't matter since your enclosure is USB. Thunderbolt ports can do USB. Did you test all 4 USB-C ports?

If none of them work then probably the USB port of the enclosure doesn't work. Did you test it with a different computer to verify that the USB port of the enclosure works?

If the USB port of the enclosure doesn't work, then you need a new enclosure or you need to switch to FireWire or eSATA connection.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Do you have access to ANOTHER MAC?
A friend's, perhaps?
If so, could you try connecting with that Mac?
Just to see if it will mount on that one?

I suggest you try another cable, some examples:

Amazon.com: Usb3 Cable B To Usbc

Amazon.com: usb3 cable b to usbc

www.amazon.com

ANOTHER APPROACH:
Get:
- An Apple thunderbolt3 to thunderbolt2 adapter cable
and
- An Apple tbolt2 to firewire 800 adapter cable
and
- A firewire 800 cable
then
Connect it all together and see if the drive will mount that way.
I suggest that you BUY USED ADAPTERS on ebay to save $$$.

IF THAT DOESN'T WORK...

My next suggestion would be to examine the Fantom drive enclosure carefully, to see if it can be opened. Are there any screws holding it together (although I can't see any visible in the pics you provided in your link above).

If it IS possible to open it, I would do so, and extract the "core" drive (which I will guess is a platter-based SATA hard drive).

I would then put it into a USB3/SATA docking station, connect that to the new iMac, and see if it will "mount up".

IF YOU ARE UNWILLING TO DO ANY OF THE ABOVE:

My final suggestion:
1. Buy a NEW DRIVE. I suggest you get a 1tb (or 2tb) USB3 SSD.
2. Connect the NEW drive to the OLD iMac.
3. Use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper (both of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days, doing this my way costs you nothing) to create a cloned backup of the OLD iMac onto the NEW SSD.
4. When done, take the SSD to the NEW iMac, connect it, and use that to migrate your data.

 

[rpmurray]

A lot of one star reviews on Amazon for this enclosure where drive just fails, either the power or the drive inside the enclosure itself.