wd external hard drive won't mount

[kmar6187]

I've spent a couple hours reading through similar posts, but still haven't found a solution to my problem. Hoping to get some new tips. Here's the deal:

My computer:
iMac OS X 10.5.8
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 800 MHz DR2 SDRAM

I've been using a WD My Book Home Edition 500 GB external hard drive for about a year now. It has worked with no problems until now. It is no longer recognized by my mac. It still turns on, spins, lights up, etc. It makes a little noise when I connect it to the computer, but doesn't show up on the desktop. It does show up in Disk Utility, which I have run and tried to repair the disk. After I run that, it says there are no problems, but when I try to mount the hard drive, it says it can't be mounted.

I've tried using both the USB connection and the Firewire connection. I've tried a different Firewire cord. I tried connecting the hard drive to my iBook, but it wasn't recognized at all -- not even in Disk Utility. (The laptop is pretty old, so that could be an issue.) Also reset the PRAM. All to no avail.

I'm getting a little nervous. Anything else I can try? Of course, there is a LOT of data on here I don't want to lose.

thanks for your help!
-katie

 

[flopticalcube]

I repaired mine with Drive Genius and it lived long enough to take the data off. One thing that might work is connecting the drive to the Mac while the drive is unpowered and then plugging in drive. It seemed to help mine. It was definitely sporadic towards the end. If you do get it mounted, copy the most important things first as you don't know how long it will stay that way.

 

[kmar6187]

Tried connecting while unpowered and then plugging in the drive. No luck. I guess I'll give Drive Genius a shot. Tomorrow. I'm a little burned out by now.

thanks
-k

 

[Fishrrman]

It's important to ascertain whether the problem lies with the drive itself (that is the "core drive" inside the case) - or whether it might be a problem with the ENCLOSURE or the power supply.

Seems like there are lots of problems that are tied to the enclosures and power supplies going bad on users. The user then believes the "drive" is bad. By "drive" they assume the entire unit - not taking time to consider that an external drive is comprised of numerous components, and the failure of one makes the whole thing unusable.

As a last resort, you might try this:
- open the enclosure and remove the hard drive itself from the case
- use an external "dongle-type" connector to connect it to the Mac via USB
- see if it can mount on the desktop that way

Here's a source for a universal connection dongle (I have one and it's very handy just to have around):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119152

If that works - if the drive suddenly "comes to life" - then look for another enclosure, or just use the dongle. If the core drive is SATA, another option would be to use one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0

 

[kmar6187]

Thanks. Still no success via other routes, so I'll take a look at that option.