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Problem with external hard drive

D

d.b.c

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 14, 2010
93
39
Hi has anybody had issues with using external hard drives and the macbook?

Got a refurbished macbook (2015 1.1 model) this week and got a new Seagate 1tb Backup Plus external hard drive from the apple store.

Used it to do a time machine back-up with my old macbook pro before selling and then went to use it with my macbook and it isn't recognised by my macbook - I'm using it with an USB-C adapter but I have tried two different adapters that have worked with other USB devices such as my printer and to charge headphones but when I use it with my macbook the light comes on the drive but it doesn't seem to find it - even in the system report it's not showing in USB port?

Has anybody else had similar issues?
 
d.b.c said:
Hi has anybody had issues with using external hard drives and the macbook?

Got a refurbished macbook (2015 1.1 model) this week and got a new Seagate 1tb Backup Plus external hard drive from the apple store.

Used it to do a time machine back-up with my old macbook pro before selling and then went to use it with my macbook and it isn't recognised by my macbook - I'm using it with an USB-C adapter but I have tried two different adapters that have worked with other USB devices such as my printer and to charge headphones but when I use it with my macbook the light comes on the drive but it doesn't seem to find it - even in the system report it's not showing in USB port?

Has anybody else had similar issues?
Click to expand...

After installing ElCap 10.11.4 on my rMB (2015, 1.1) I sometimes have this issue.
A restart solved the problem. It works for some time and than for no apparent reason (at least to me) it doesn't show and I have to do a restart again.
 
Thanks for that will try the restart when I get home tonight
 
And restarting it worked! - thanks for replying - should have tried it first but saved me an indignant trip to Apple!
 
d.b.c said:
And restarting it worked! - thanks for replying - should have tried it first but saved me an indignant trip to Apple!
Click to expand...

Pleased it worked for you too.
But it is still annoying that it needs a restart every now and then. And always when I just need a quick look at some files on my external hdd.
Wonder if it is an ElCap bugg Apple can remove in the next update.
 
I got my Macbook last week and after successfully using my Seagate external drive to transfer over my Time Machine backup, it no longer detects any of my drives. That's what I get for being on the El Capitan beta I suppose. Hopefully the next update fixes the issue, or else I'm going to have to think about finding a way to exit the beta (which is not that easy from what I've read). Anyway, I've tried just about every single tip I could find on here (been a lurker for a while but finally made an account). I've tried doing a SMC and PRAM reset and even bought an NTFS software but no luck. It's pretty annoying. Anyway, it's great to be here!
 
Had the same issue on my 2016 rmb, read somewhere that it's due to the beta and usb 3 drives and that a usb 2.0 hub makes it work.

Sure enough, that fixed it for now.
 
That's a bummer. Hopefully this next update fixes it. I'm sure I'll eventually update to usb-c drives so that I won't have to worry about plugging in my connector all the time.
 
objektør said:
Pleased it worked for you too.
But it is still annoying that it needs a restart every now and then. And always when I just need a quick look at some files on my external hdd.
Wonder if it is an ElCap bugg Apple can remove in the next update.
Click to expand...

Any idea why that happens? Happens only with my WD HDD but not every time. Some times when I connect the HDD to my laptop it won't get recognised. A quick restart always fixes the issue. Doesn't happen to my other USB flash drives and I've tried a lot of them .
 
The 10.11.5 update did NOT fix this issue for me. I still have to reboot for my external Seagate drive to be recognized.
 
I have both 1TB Seagate Backup Plus SLim and 2TB My Passport (and 2TB My Elements), never had any issues with either of them not being detected but I have issues with WiFi not connecting when I connect either drives, but this only occurs with Nonda USB-C adapter, it's fine with Apple's Multiport adapter.
 
I forgot to mention that last week's beta update messed it up for me again. Bummer. If the next update fixes the issue for me again, then I'll just exit out of the public beta until the next OS X update.
 
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