[[ i think ive fixed it now, for some reason it stays connected with this usb which has two usbs on the end to plug into the mac, but it worked fine on a windows with just a single usb ]]
You have a drive enclosure which requires "too much" power to be used with only one Mac USB port.
That's why you have to use the "Y" cable adapter.
It's either that, or use an external power supply block (the drive may have a port for a power block on it).
See reply #6 again...