Results 1 to 14 of 14
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Whistler, B.C. (almost)
    Posts
    1,272

    My mac won't recognize my external hard drive... suggestions?

    First, let me preface this by revealing to you all that I am completely computer illiterate. If this is an easy problem to resolve, I apologize for wasting your time.

    I have an external hard drive that is about a year old. However, I rarely use it - mostly, I back things up on a flash drive until that is full and then dump everything to my external.

    Recently, atrain505 dumped a bunch of raw footy onto my hard drive at my request, also from a mac (so i doubt it reformatted anything, like PCs sometimes do to iPods). Since then, my hard drive is unresponsive. I plug it into my firewire port and turn it on, just like I have in the past. It turns on just fine... I can hear it whirring and the light turns on. The problem is that my computer doesn't recognize it. Usually, an icon appears on my desktop, and I click it to view the contents. Now, no icon appears.

    I opened Disk Utility to see if there was any sort of fix, but it doesn't appear there at all.

    If it makes any difference, it is a Lacie 250GB drive that is nowhere near capacity. I've never had a problem with it before.

    Any suggestions? Thanks very much.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Posts
    15,780
    Try this:
    Run Disk Utility on the Mac hard drive and do the 'repair permisssions' thing.
    Unplug the external drive and the Mac for a few minutes
    Fire the mac up and clear the PRAM by holding down CMD-Option-esc for a couple-three 'dings'.
    Turn on the external drive and see if it mounts.

    If the external drive mounts, run Disk Utility- repair permissions on it.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Whistler, B.C. (almost)
    Posts
    1,272
    Nada. By the way, clearing the PRAM is cmd + option + p + r. Cmd option esc is force quit.

    I tried a bunch of other shit too... I think it's time to take it into an apple store.

    I appreciate your suggestion though, meadowskipper. Thanks!

  4. #4
    advres Guest
    Try another firewire cable first

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Iron Range
    Posts
    4,961
    It's formatted as HFS+? Or FAT32?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    denver
    Posts
    1,863
    This is indeed easy to solve. Open trash, insert Mac.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    gone
    Posts
    1,354
    After the wire check, hook it up to another computer and see if it comes up or try a different hard drive hooked up to yours to see if it's your computer or your firewire port. Or try a different port, if you have another.

    I've blown ports before.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Huh?
    Posts
    10,910
    Quote Originally Posted by adimmen View Post
    This is indeed easy to solve. Open trash, insert Mac.
    ^ Yawn. Apple's reliability and customer service are second to none.

    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2006502,00.asp

    Keep in mind this is PC Mag, which was anti-apple for years.

    Annnnnyway, I'm willing to bet the problem is the LaCie drive. They're notorious for crapping out. It's sad cause they're really nice looking enclosures, but they have a terrible reliability record.
    "I knew in an instant that the three dollars I had spent on wine would not go to waste."

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Posts
    15,780
    Quote Originally Posted by Samwich View Post
    Nada. By the way, clearing the PRAM is cmd + option + p + r. Cmd option esc is force quit.
    D'oh! Brain cramp. Sorry.

    Quote Originally Posted by Samwich View Post
    I tried a bunch of other shit too... I think it's time to take it into an apple store.

    I appreciate your suggestion though, meadowskipper. Thanks!
    Good luck then.

    Quote Originally Posted by Arty50 View Post
    ... Annnnnyway, I'm willing to bet the problem is the LaCie drive. They're notorious for crapping out. It's sad cause they're really nice looking enclosures, but they have a terrible reliability record.
    Yeah, I had bad luck with a beautiful 250G LaCie drive - looked great, wouldn't mount after a few months. POS.
    Last edited by Meadow Skipper; 06-15-2007 at 03:49 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    1,071
    I have a seagate external, and sometimes it won't show up, but usually after a restart I have no issues. Sorry for the super obvious restart suggestion you may have already tried.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Whistler, B.C. (almost)
    Posts
    1,272
    Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Slippy, I am definitely going to try and isolate the problem as you suggested as soon as I can find another firewire cable and someone else who has a computer with a firewire port. All my friends have PCs with nothing but USB ports.

    Since this has become a problem, I have been scouring the net for solutions... so far, I have found that a whole lot of people dislike Lacie hard drives because they are incredibly unreliable pieces of shit. That said, I have heard that their customer service is pretty impressive.

    If it is the drive, I will be pretty unhappy... it cost $250, and I've used it maybe 6 or 7 times.

    I hate technology. I'm torn between either taking some classes to learn how to use my computer properly, and taking adimmen's suggestion and then getting a typewriter for all my word processing needs. Can anyone recommend a typewriter with good video editing capabilities?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    1,071
    Well, if you are near an Apple store (I know they don't have any official Apple stores in Vancouver), but if your back stateside, they offer free classes.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Emulating the ocean's sound
    Posts
    7,008
    my lacie died after about 8 months.

    you can get 500 gb drives for under $150 now.

    http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4107282

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Huh?
    Posts
    10,910
    BTW, the problem isn't the hard drive inside the Lacie drives. It's the firmware they use for the bridge chip. The drives are standard drives everyone else uses and the bridge chip is an Oxford chip which everyone else uses too. It's just that the Lacie firmware engineers are fucking retards.
    "I knew in an instant that the three dollars I had spent on wine would not go to waste."

Similar Threads

  1. Cleaning your hard drive of porn
    By Playa in forum The Padded Room
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 01-27-2010, 06:00 PM
  2. external hard drives...?
    By hop in forum Tech Talk
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 07-23-2005, 04:16 AM
  3. Bleach for my hard drive.
    By G in forum Tech Talk
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 05-26-2005, 09:17 PM
  4. Good external USB 2.0 Hard Drive?
    By Foggy_Goggles in forum Tech Talk
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 01-30-2005, 12:40 AM
  5. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 01-24-2005, 09:53 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •