External HD not showing up on AirPort Extreme

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I bought an Apple AirPort Extreme yesterday and I am having some issues getting my External HD on it. I have a 1TB WD external that I have formatted to Mac OS X Extended (Journaled).It's plugged into the back of the AirPort but when I access the router through the AirPort Utility and navigate to the "Disks" tab the HD isn't listed under partitions.
Am I doing this wrong?
 
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Do you have a Mac?

If so can you read/write to the disk if it's connected directly?

Is it a 3.5" desktop drive without it's own power supply or a 2.5" drive that's USB powered?
 
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Yes I have a Mac. I bought the AirPort and a new MacBook Pro the same day.
I have full read/write privileges when it is plugged into either my computer or my wife's MacBook Air.
It is a Western Digital (Passport I believe) with it's own power supply.
The HD was originally formatted for windows but has since been reformatted to Mac OS X Extended (Journaled).
 
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Sorry for asking the obvious but is the power supply connected and working?

Have you got a pen drive or other disk to try in the Extreme?

And it's definitely an Extreme rather than an Express?
 
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Yes it is a an Extreme. The power supply is definitely plugged in because currently I am just unplugging it from the AirPort and into my MBP when I need something on it (that has gotten very old very quick). If I can't get this situated then I am going to return it because that is the only reason I got the Extreme over the Express.
I have not tried any other drive, I will try that when I get home.
From my original post am I going about mounting it properly? I should be accessing the partitions through the Extreme through the AirPort Utility?
I might need to say this but this is my first Mac and up to now my Apple experience has been with my iPhone 4.
 
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Okay I formatted a 16GB Kingston flash drive to Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) and when I open up the disks tab of the AirPort it is there. So what do I need to do with my WD or will it not work? If I have to replace the drive how will I know if the replacement will work before I buy it?
 
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It has been suggested to me to try and run the HD through a powered USB hub.
 
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It has been suggested to me to try and run the HD through a powered USB hub.

That's normally not necessary for powered Hard disks, normally only for 2.5" USB powered disks.

If it works on your Mac it should just work on the Extreme.

Is Airport utility and the Extreme firmware up to date (clutching at straws)
 
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I just bought everything the other day and I am fairly sure everything is up to date. How would I make sure?

On the apple discussion forum a member informed me that they have a 500BG WD that works under it's own power (saw a screen shot confirmation) but they have a LaCie 1TB that won't. For it to work it has to be run through a powered USB hub. It doesn't make much sense to me but I am willing to try it.

Also is there a difference between AirPort Utility and AirPort Disk Utility? I have AirPort Utility and Disk Utility on my Mac but I have seen AirPort Disk Utility referenced on different threads.
 
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Disk Utility is part of OSX and not relevant here.

It's Airport Utility you're interested in, the disks tab in there that I think you've already found.

You can try a powered hub but if it's a 3.5" desktop drive with external power supply it 'shouldn't' be needed. Worth a try at this stage
 
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I'm on the right page then. The hub will cost less than a new HD and even if it doesn't work it will be good to have one.
I will go by the store this afternoon and purchase a hub so I'll post back with the results. thank you for the help and suggestions.
If the hub doesn't work what is the next step, a different external?
 
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A different external or, if local, maybe a trip with it to the Apple Store to see if it works on an extreme there.....
 
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Best Buy is the closest thing I have to an Apple Store. That is where I got everything. Externals have come down in cost over the past few years so if I have to replace it I shouldn't have to spend too much. I will see if there is a confirmed list of compatible hard drives before I make a purchase.
 
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Well I just got a 4 port hub from Radio Shack and it still won't see it. I know it isn't the port because I have 2 flash drives plugged into it and I see both of those. So I guess the next step is another HDD? This kind of blows.

I just went on the WD site and got the tools to update the firmware on the HDD so maybe that will do something.
 
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I got it. The first time I formatted the drive I encrypted it since it was going to be out on the network. Well I guess that's what the problem was because I reformatted it without the encryption and now it works. I just left my house but before I left I noticed that the drive wasn't showing under the shared drives on my wife's MacBook Air. Would I have some sort of rights on my machine because I set it up? The only security settings that I have set up is password protection.
 

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