External USB not showing on startup

Discussion in 'macOS' started by muradc, Oct 27, 2012.

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  1. muradc, Oct 27, 2012

    muradc macrumors newbie

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    Oct 27, 2012
    #1
    I am using an iMac with Mac OS X 10.6.8. I have an external "Western Digital My Passport Essential SE" permanently connected to the iMac. The drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended.

    Earlier whenever I started the system the hard drive would show up in Finder & it worked great. Lately for some reason the hard drive does not show up. When I go to "Disk Utility" I do not see it there either.

    I have to physically disconnect & re-connect the drive for me to use it. Does anyone know why this is happening? I simply want the drive to be good to go when I start the system without having to re-connect it every time.
     
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  2. CASLondon, Oct 27, 2012

    CASLondon macrumors 6502a

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    #2
    Try resetting the SMC (google it), switch USB cables, switch USB ports.

    Does this drive have any other port? Firewire, etc? If so, try that.

    I'm having this trouble with two of my bare drives in a USB docking station, I haven't had luck but I had someone clone them to my firewire drive, as he could mount them fine
     
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  3. muradc, Oct 28, 2012

    muradc thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #3

    I tried replacing the USB cable, connecting it to different USB ports but to no avail. After resetting the SMC with everything unplugged it didnt work but I was using the hard drive.

    This morning for some reason whenever I connect the hard drive it shows up in Finder for about 20 secs & then disconnects with the error as though it was physically disconnected without it being ejected (see attachment).

    Any idea why this is happening. I connected another drive to ensure it wasn't a problem with the USB ports. In fact right now I have my mouse & keyboard connected to those USB ports I was checking earlier.
     

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  4. CASLondon, Oct 29, 2012

    CASLondon macrumors 6502a

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    #4

    Do you have access to another mac to try this drive out on? Is this a bus powered drive, or a powered one? If powered, do you have access to an alternative power supply that matches the one that came with it. It sounds like it could be power supply related, possibly.

    After that, I might pull the drive from the enclosure and try it in a docking station (like one from OWC) as a bare drive.
     
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  5. yjchua95, Nov 2, 2012

    yjchua95 macrumors 604

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    #5
    Permanently connected to the Mac? Congrats, the hard drive is probably physically broken on the inside.

    I've had the same problem myself too, with a Buffalo HD-PCTU3 5400rpm external drive connected to my Mac very often. Not to mention stuffing the drive into my pocket (my pants are quite baggy) after using, which means the hard drive's gone through quite some bangs and knocks.

    As time passed, that drive made clicking noises. And not too long after, the hard drive failed completely (exact same scenario as yours).

    Sent it to a repair shop and was told that the hard drive was kaput.

    If your hard drive's not in a horizontal, flat position, congrats. It's most probably broken if it's not an external SSD.

    Learnt my lesson after that, and switched my Macs to SSDs soon after.
     
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  6. muradc, Nov 5, 2012

    muradc thread starter macrumors newbie

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    #6
    Thanx for all your suggestions. I did have a backup of that drive so I am good. Will replace the drive.
     
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