Replacement HDD Not Working in WD FW 800 My Passport Enclosure?

[aidanpendragon]

I have a WD My Passport FW 800 with a 1 TB drive. The HDD died with clicking sounds (and won't mount when removed from the enclosure and connected with a SATA-USB connector, either).

I'd like to replace the drive and keep using the FW 800 enclosure, since I have an older Mac Mini with FW 800. I bought a new Seagate 2 TB Baracuda drive, formatted it with OSX, connected to the I/O part of the enclosure--but it won't mount, with either the FW 800 or USB 2.0 ports on the enclosure, on either my Mini or my other Mac.

Should this just be plug-and-play, or would I need some special firmware to connect the new HDD to the enclosure interface? (The enclosure interface connect to the HDD via what looks like a standard SATA interface.) I tested the formatted new HDD using my SATA-USB connection and it mounts fine there, so it's not an issue with the drive itself.

Appreciate any ideas, thanks.

 

[Fishrrman]

There's always a possibility that the WD enclosure may have some kind of incompatibility with the Seagate drive. Problems like this can become vexing.

Does the WD enclosure have an external power block?
If so, have you tried using it?

Do you have to use firewire?
Tell us about the Mac you'll be using the drive with.
I presume it has firewire?
Does it have USB2 also?

If you have USB2, a fast, cheap and easy solution might be something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...478&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=sabremt+usb3+to+ssd
(this assumes the Mac you have can supply enough bus power to run a 2tb drive).

If you need a new firewire enclosure, I'd suggest something like this:
https://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/CB3-SL.html
(these are rugged and reliable enclosures)

If that's too pricey, you might consider this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sans-Digital...&keywords=oyen+digital+2.5+enclosure+firewire

 

[aidanpendragon]

Thanks. It's a 2011 Mac Mini with FW 800 and USB 2.0. I preferred to use the FW 800 for faster transfer speeds. No external power brick for this enclosure.

I actually have that Sabrent adapter. I could run the bare drive, but if I can't get it to work I'm more likely to return it and get one in a USB 3 enclosure and save money on the difference.