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PC to Mac file transfer using EHD - noob needs help

J

JenRay

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 10, 2008
10
0
I am trying to transfer files from my windows-based PC (XP Pro) to my sparkling new iMac. I thought I would start with something simple, like my iTunes library. I have an EHD that I copied the library onto. It is formatted NTFS, and as I understand it, I cannot write to it from my Mac, but I should be able to read it, right? When I plug the EHD into the iMac, I get nothing. I guess I thought the drive would just appear on the desktop, so that I could find the library and copy it into my Music folder. But it doesn't show up. What am I doing wrong, or not doing properly?

Thanks much!
Jen
 
How are you connecting? USB? Firewire? Does the EHD need a power adapter or is it powered from the port? Does the drive spin up when you plug it in?
 
ggjstudios said:
How are you connecting? USB? Firewire? Does the EHD need a power adapter or is it powered from the port? Does the drive spin up when you plug it in?
Click to expand...

Connecting via USB. I tried a keyboard port and one on the back of the iMac. Yes, EHD has a power adapter, which is plugged in. The drive has a power button, and it spins up when I turn it on (plugged in to the Mac, the PC, or not at all, it always spins up when the power button is switched.) And it didn't register on my winpc once, but that turned out to be a loose connection on the USB cable, which I have checked several times now.

Hopefully this helps you, help me. Thanks!
 
JenRay said:
Connecting via USB. I tried a keyboard port and one on the back of the iMac. Yes, EHD has a power adapter, which is plugged in. The drive has a power button, and it spins up when I turn it on (plugged in to the Mac, the PC, or not at all, it always spins up when the power button is switched.) And it didn't register on my winpc once, but that turned out to be a loose connection on the USB cable, which I have checked several times now.

Hopefully this helps you, help me. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Did you try rebooting the Mac with the drive connected and powered up?

Can you see it in Disk Utility?
 
that is odd that it isn't showing up.

What brand is the drive?

Try going into Disk Utility in your Applications > Utilities folder and see if the drive shows up on the left.

If it does, see if you can click on it, and press the icon that says mount at the top of the disk utility window.
 
It is a Seagate 250GB Barracuda ATA HD. It is an internal drive that we've put in a case.

It does not show up in Disk Utility (although I had not checked that before - thanks for showing me how to find it!)

Per the suggestion, I rebooted the iMac with the drive plugged in and on. Still nothing on the desktop or in disk utility.

And now it seems like surfing the web is going so SLOOOOW. As thrilled as I was with my new iMac on days 1-3, days 4 and 5 have just been frustrating. :(
 
You might have a faulty drive, or USB cable. The Mac can and will read (but as you said not write) NTFS. The fact that its not showing up in Disk Utility means that the computer is not even seeing the USB device, let alone the drive and partitions behind it.

One other note, I had a drive once that wouldn't like being switched from one computer to another without being powered off and back on first. Then it would recognize the other computer. Cheap USB chipset, I'd imagine.
 
sgarringer said:
You might have a faulty drive, or USB cable. The Mac can and will read (but as you said not write) NTFS. The fact that its not showing up in Disk Utility means that the computer is not even seeing the USB device, let alone the drive and partitions behind it.
Click to expand...

No offense, but since the other computer reads it (and writes to it) without issue, why should I believe that the drive or cable are faulty? I mean if the other two computers in the house couldn't see the drive either, that would make sense to me, but that is not the case. Only my new iMac doesn't see it.

Any other ideas? Is this the sort of thing that I can call Apple Care about? Should I attempt to transfer the files with an ethernet cable?
 
One other thought.... try plugging it into another USB port... if the cable is OK, it's possible the port is bad. By the way, the ethernet cable is much faster, if you choose to go that way.
 
I also had a drive that would not show up on my Mac without being powered down for a period of at least 10 minutes. It's the weirdest thing, but as long as I stuck to that, it'd work every time.

That was a cheap USB chipset, by Prolific. After that I made sure i bought quality enclosures with good reviews.

All in all, the situation is strange. Good luck.
 
Success!

While I had already tried one of the USB ports on the keyboard, and one on the back of the iMac with no luck, I had success with a different one on the back. Seems like the umptieth time I tried! In the meanwhile, I tried an Ethernet cable, and was having trouble with that too - couldn't find the PC. The EHD route took several hours just to move my iTunes library - I can't imagine how long it will take when I move my photos! But at least progress is finally being made.

I am still wanting to love my iMac, but so far the experience has not been as easy and without frustration as everyone makes it out to be - certainly not SIGNIFICANTLY easier that windows. Please tell me it gets easier! (In fairness, so far, I have found the user experience with the OS to be quite intuitive. and it certainly looks good.)

Thanks all for your suggestions and help. In the words of Arnold/Terminator, "I'll be back!" I'm sure.
Jen
 
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