New Mac + Drive Mate

[marishamaromi]

A few months ago my laptop crashed (an old Vaio), and being my impulsive self, I took the thing apart to retrieve the hard drive. Today, finally, I got my MbP and with the help of a USB 2.0 Drive Mate I planned on moving my data. Only problem is...it isn't showing up in disk utilities.

I've plugged in one of my other external devices and it works just fine, but this one isn't doing anything at all. The light on the drivemate comes on, so I'm assuming that it isn't faulty. Could I need a power source for the drive mate, or is this hard drive a lost cause?

 

[DeltaMac]

Does the Drive Mate show up in your System Information/USB tab?
Does the old hard drive, when attached to the drive mate, appear in that same USB tab?
Do you even hear the hard drive start to spin when you plug the drive mate into your MBPro?

If not, then it could be that when your Viao crashed, that the hard drive was either part of the cause, or the hard drive was a victim of that "death"
If the data is pretty important on the old Viao hard drive, you should try a different USB external enclosure or dock - or take the drive to most any PC repair shop, where you should be able to quickly find out if the drive is mountable on anything.

 

[marishamaromi]

The drive does nothing. No sounds, no slight vibrations - it feels pretty dead. And the Drive Mate isn't showing up in any tabs, but I assumed that was because it was connected to something that isn't working.

When the laptop crashed, at least at the start, you could turn it on for a few seconds before it would shut off again, and for a flash you could see my desktop. I guess I just thought that since you could see all of my stuff on there, it meant the hard drive was alright.

I'll have to take it in tomorrow. I wouldn't say anything on there is "important", but it's literally all of my files/videos/information. God damn I just lost a lot of photoshop work.

 

[DeltaMac]

You SHOULD be able to see the drive mate in the USB tab in System Information, even if no drive is attached to it.
It's a USB device, so should appear in the list of under one of the USB buses.
Plug it in (no drive attached) to your Mac. Open System Information/USB tab.
While that USB list is showing, unplug the drive mate, then press Command-R to refresh that USB device list.
You should see a change in the USB device list.
Plug the device back in, and refresh a second time. Do you see the device now, added to the USB device list?
If the drive mate has an external power supply (it should), then make sure that is attached, too...
If you don't see the drive mate at all, then your Drive Mate is dead (bad).
And, that's another good reason to try a different (hopefully better quality ) USB connection for the hard drive.

 

[glenthompson]

This http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Vert...srs=2530171011&ie=UTF8&qid=1449012241&sr=1-33 is a decent drive docking station. I use it for backing up to bare drive I want to store off-site. Also great for making clones. Holds 2.5" and 3.5" drives. It uses an external power supply so it doesn't need a full power USB port.