I have an external Hard drive but I connect it and its not reading it . On the windows laptop i got it reads it fine . I'm asking for help because I'm new to this whole experience . First Mac os product . Is there anything I'm MISSING ?
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I just got a Retina Macbook Pro and have a little problem.
- Thread starter ramonini
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Yes, an external hard drive formatted to a windows computer cannot be read/written to by a Mac unless it is formatted correctly to be read by both - something to do with an MS-DOS file storage system. Flash storage, like a memory stick will work fine between both but a hard drive won't be able to read/write without reformatting.
This article (and this website in general for any other questions you might have) should help:
http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/1-external-hard-drive-for-your-mac-and-pc/
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That's false. Mac OS X can read NTFS formatted drives natively. It just can't write to them natively.
I got a Toshiba one 750 gb .
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I got this one
http://us.toshiba.com/computers/storage/portable/canvio-3/HDTC607XK3A1
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I tried all those and nothing . It seems I will have to buy a USB 2.0 CABLE for it to work , I read that in the toshiba website .
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I got this one
http://us.toshiba.com/computers/storage/portable/canvio-3/HDTC607XK3A1
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I tried all those and nothing . It seems I will have to buy a USB 2.0 CABLE for it to work , I read that in the toshiba website .
I was looking at getting one of those drives too. That doesn't make sense though... a USB 3.0 drive doesn't work in a USB 3.0 port?
This is totally accurate...if it were 1995.
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????
Considering USB is completely backwards compatible that shouldn't be an issue, but using a USB 3 device on a USB 3 port ...well that's just asking for trouble.
Are you certain that it's an issue with the computer or drive and not just an issue specific to you?
rolmao!
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Huh? How's that?
I have never had an issue reading ntfs drives that I can remember. I know paragon makes an excellent app that lets you read and write ntfs in mac os. It's seamless too, never even know it is there.
I always installed ntfs compatibility layers from the get go, so I wasn't aware I could at least read ntfs natively...strange, I don't think I had a mac who read natively, as far as I could remember...
Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)
Choose the appropriate format:
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) *Don't use case-sensitive)
- Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
- Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac OS X system files.
[*]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
- Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits
- You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
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, here are some alternatives:- For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
- For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
- For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
- Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
- Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, 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
- You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
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
- You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. *See "disadvantages" for details.
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
- Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
[*]Maximum file size: 4GB. - Maximum volume size: 2TB
- You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
He is correct. OS X can read NTFS drives without any additional software required. That feature was added in Snow Leopard iirc
If you're wondering about how it works, it's plug and play. Just plug in your NTFS drive and it'll be read by the OS seamlessly.
Don't waste your money on Paragon's software- their free NTFS-3G alternative works great on ML.
They used to offer it precompiled, but now it's source only. Presumably to make regular joes pay for their application.
Just download/install Fuse4X from here: http://fuse4x.github.com
Then download and install this precompiled NTFS-3G driver (it's the latest Jan 2012 version) from here: https://github.com/downloads/fernandofig/ntfs-3g_osx_binary_image_builder/NTFS-3G.dmg
After rebooting, open the NTFS-3G dmg again, open the 'Switch' application in Terminal, push 'y' for yes, then all currently mounted NTFS drives will be remounted using NTFS-3G so you can r/w. The setting does stick permanently so there's no need to do this every time you plug in an NTFS drive.
Source: http://fernandoff.posterous.com/ntfs-3g-20120115-binary-installer
Leopard was able to read NTFS, as well. I don't know about Tiger and earlier.
I stand corrected. In my defense, Leopard was a long time ago
I know that Tiger did not have factory NTFS read for sure though.
I stand corrected. In my defense, Leopard was a long time ago
I know that Tiger did not have factory NTFS read for sure though.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050521110452194
Now that is odd. I distinctly remember being unable to read my NTFS-formatted hard drive on my first Intel MacBook. Might have been an issue with my partitioning then as I just formatted the drive to OS Extended/Journaled immediately afterwards.
Apple used to suggest against Fat32 due to potential long term corruption issues when using such a volume under OSX. I'm not sure if this ever changed.
Ok I'm not up to speed with file systems any more, but I'm keen about how USB 3.0 external drives such as the WD My Pasport USB3.0 and 2.0 drive will perform on my new (still processing) rmbp.
http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=70920&...acture=Western Digital WD Retail&promoid=1207
http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=70920&...acture=Western Digital WD Retail&promoid=1207
There is a known issue with retina MBP and USB 3.0 drives and devices. My WD Passport and Lexar USB 3.0 card reader didn't work, but the latest update solved that for me!