I have a Mac OS X. I have three different external hard drives, not all plugged in at once. Recently, my Mac has been ejecting them randomly and then telling me that the device was not ejected properly. In order to get it back, I have to unplug the hard drive and plug it back in. Sometimes it takes a long time to load up. Can you help?
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External Hard Drives being removed by MAC
- Thread starter all-adrft
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Hi,
which Mac ?
Do your external drives have their own power supply, or are they powered by the USB cable ?
which Mac ?
Do your external drives have their own power supply, or are they powered by the USB cable ?
I've never posted on any forum before. Taken by surprise. Thank you so much. It is happening in different ports. I also have a multi port plugged in and it is loosing them from there too.
The hard drives don't have their own power supplies.
I'm not sure where it is happening. My only solution was to unplug and plug again.
The hard drives don't have their own power supplies.
I'm not sure where it is happening. My only solution was to unplug and plug again.
Most likely, your external drives don't get enough power from the USB ports.
Do you use "single" USB cables or "Y" cables (2 USB plugs on the computer side) ?
Google this (Pictures) if you don't see what I mean : "USB cable y"
Do you use "single" USB cables or "Y" cables (2 USB plugs on the computer side) ?
Google this (Pictures) if you don't see what I mean : "USB cable y"
Single cables.
I do see lights flashing on the hard drives. Two of the hard drives which have been ejected today, have their white lights on.
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The Lacie hard drive did have something about a time-out choice when I set it up. But I didn't alter anything. I didn't notice anything on the Freecom one.
I do see lights flashing on the hard drives. Two of the hard drives which have been ejected today, have their white lights on.
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The Lacie hard drive did have something about a time-out choice when I set it up. But I didn't alter anything. I didn't notice anything on the Freecom one.
Yes, the lights can be on and flashing, however the drive itself does not get enough power, hence it gets ejected.
I asked "which Mac ?" because some models (i.e old white non Unibody Macbooks) have "weak" USB port supply and cause this very same problem (*) if you use a "single" USB cable. Using an "Y" cable solves the problem.
(*) it depends on what external drive you use. Some drive need more than the max. 500 mA that a USB port delivers.
Also, you might try a SMC reset : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US
(the SMC controls the USB port power supply).
I asked "which Mac ?" because some models (i.e old white non Unibody Macbooks) have "weak" USB port supply and cause this very same problem (*) if you use a "single" USB cable. Using an "Y" cable solves the problem.
(*) it depends on what external drive you use. Some drive need more than the max. 500 mA that a USB port delivers.
Also, you might try a SMC reset : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US
(the SMC controls the USB port power supply).
I don't want to complicate things, but could it be relevant that my old (externally powered) hard drive was, long ago, locked out as 'view only' by my Mac. It works fine on a PC.
Two of my hard drives come up as full on my Mac (that's why I bought another one) But even when I delete large files, it still tells me it is full. I can reverse the action I took to delete the files, and they go back on fine!
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In a way it is similar to being locked as I can't add to it.
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Thank you.
I do have a lot of things plugged in.
It is a Mac OS X.
Two of my hard drives come up as full on my Mac (that's why I bought another one) But even when I delete large files, it still tells me it is full. I can reverse the action I took to delete the files, and they go back on fine!
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In a way it is similar to being locked as I can't add to it.
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Thank you.
I do have a lot of things plugged in.
It is a Mac OS X.
This might be because your HD is in NTFS format : read/write on a PC, but read only on a Mac.
Did you empty the Trash while the drive was connected ?
If no you didn't delete the files.
The question is : which model of Mac : is it a Macbook, a Macbook Pro, an iMac, etc...
I don't seem to have a problem when I am using the hard drives, they get ejected when I leave them alone for a period.
No I did not empty the trash!
iMac. Sorry I'm an idiot when it comes to computers.
Thank you SO much for your help.
I've got to go out now, but I'll try a few things.
No I did not empty the trash!
iMac. Sorry I'm an idiot when it comes to computers.
Thank you SO much for your help.
I've got to go out now, but I'll try a few things.
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