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FORMATING Internal HD(from PC) to External HD for mac

T

TMonty182

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 30, 2011
8
0
I took my old 320GB SATAII Internal hard drive out of my old Windows XP PC, bought a NexStar CX enclosure to make it an external HD plugged it in and it didn't work on my MBP. So, I assumed it was a formatting issue, The HD is formatted to NTFS. I attmepted to completely format the disc but XP wouldn't let me saying (paraphrased) "you can't do this because it will make your computer not work." So I partitioned it and made the partition Fat32 because mac's can read/write this format (yes?), but it still doesn't recognize the HD at all.

How can I get this to work? How do I format the HD from my PC (because the PC is the only thing that recognizes it) for mac?

I'm not sure if I've provided enough information for you so questions are welcome.
 
If you run disk utility on your macbook pro with the drive plugged in, does it show up on the left side with the other devices?

Even if the mac will not read it at first, disk utility should be able to format it so the mac can properly use it.
 
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
  • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
  • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)
  • Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
    [*]Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
    [*]To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
  • To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
  • Maximum file size: 8EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 8EiB
exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
 
kaioshade: No, It does not show up.

GGJstudios: I installed the NTFS-3G for Mac OS X and it still doesn't show up.
 
I don't have Snow Leopard. isn't that the first one with 64 bit?
So I'm running 32?
 
I plugged the externalized internal HD into my roommates PC and it recognized it but told me that it has malfunctioned, but it still works when i plug it back into my PC as an internal HD. So I give up... unless someone else can help.
Thanks for your quick replies
 
TMonty182 said:
I plugged the externalized internal HD into my roommates PC and it recognized it but told me that it has malfunctioned, but it still works when i plug it back into my PC as an internal HD. So I give up... unless someone else can help.
Thanks for your quick replies
Click to expand...
Have you tried reformatting it on Mac OS X, with Disk Utility?
 
It doesn't show up under disk utilities at all.
it acts like its not plugged in at all.
 
According to the NTFS-3G user guide, and to my best understanding of it, it's not showing up because of not using Safe Remove Hardware on while the Hard Drive was in the XP's tower. Unplugging the usb cable without removing it safely marks it as "Unclean" so it doesn't show up. I can force mount it by typing into the terminal (found via google+yahoo answers) :

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdc1 /mnt/external -o force

where /dev/sdc1 is the drive you are accessing.
once the command is run, you can find the coontents of the drive at the directory /mnt/external.

if it says it cannot finde sdc1 then type
sudo fdisk -l
which will give a list of all available drives, select the most appropriate /dev/??? from them and run the above command again

Before typing this command make sure you have a directory named external under mnt..
you can create a directory by

sudo mkdir /mnt/external



But the NTFS 3G user guide also tells me that his COULD result in data loss.
How possible is data loss?
On which HD would it cause damage? My Macbooks internal hard drive or the attempted external hard drive?
How detrimental would this data loss be?
 
Last edited:
Or maybe the drive enclosure is faulty. Does the enclosure have an external power source? Perhaps the HDD you used can't get enough power from the USB port to spin up.
 
yes, the power source is plugged in and the drive does spin. So I guess the enclosure might be faulty. but I'm not going to spend my money on another one.
 
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