03-18-2012, 10:51 AM

Hello everyone. I have Lion OS X and I just purchased a 32GB HP flash drive. I reformatted it, and I can get it to read in any other Mac or PC but my own. I reset the PRAM, SMC, and started a new account, and it still didn't work. It shows up in the system profiler, and the only way I finally got it to mount, after a long time, was by using the USB profiler. I even booted my computer from an external HD with my school's Lion image, and it showed up immediately. What could be causing these problems?

03-18-2012, 11:24 AM

Threads merged. Not necessary to double post. Thanks.

- Nick

03-18-2012, 11:32 AM

Sorry, wasn't trying to double post. I was trying to delete one thread and post it in a different section.

03-18-2012, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by kandytg

Sorry, wasn't trying to double post. I was trying to delete one thread and post it in a different section.

Well...maybe we won't put you in "Mac-Forums Jail"...but maybe you only get "bread & water" for the next couple of days!

- Nick

03-18-2012, 01:36 PM

So Mr. Jokester, any ideas about my flash drive?

03-18-2012, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by kandytg

So Mr. Jokester, any ideas about my flash drive?

Well...after rereading your initial post...I'm not sure I understand the situation...what exactly are you trying to do?

You said that you:

- have the Lion OS
- that you just purchased a 32gig flash drive
- that this flash drive was formatted
- and that the flash drive can be read by all of your other Mac's and "PC's"...EXCEPT the Mac (I'm assuming) you want to do something with

So again:

- What exactly are you trying to do?
- What Mac model(s) does the flash drive work on?
- What Mac model does the flash drive not work on?
- Which of these Mac's did you format the flash drive on?
- What sort of formatting protocol did you use to format the flash drive?
- If you can get the flash drive to work (be read) by the Mac that it is currently NOT working on...what do you want to do then?

As you can see...lots more info is needed (at least by me)...to be better able to understand the situation.

- Nick

03-18-2012, 02:03 PM

I have a Macbook pro, Late 2010-this is the computer I use the most. I bought the drive to transport files to and from work. I can't tell you the exact models of the other Macs right now, because they are at work. Some are Macbooks, some are iMacs. It finally mounted last night, and I erased everything and reformatted it as FAT32. I ejected it, then tried to use it again, and it took forever to mount.

03-18-2012, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by kandytg

I have a Macbook pro, Late 2010-this is the computer I use the most. I bought the drive to transport files to and from work. I can't tell you the exact models of the other Macs right now, because they are at work. Some are Macbooks, some are iMacs. It finally mounted last night, and I erased everything and reformatted it as FAT32. I ejected it, then tried to use it again, and it took forever to mount.

Ahh...the purpose for this flash drive is actually different than what I thought when I first read your original post...thanks for the info. So it sounds like you primarily want to use this flash drive for file transfer...between other Mac's and Windows computers.

Just to be sure...is this late-2010 MacBook Pro the computer you're having problems with regarding the 32gig flash drive?

In case you're not an expert regarding the formatting of USB flash drives...here's an article to read:

Mac 101: Format choices for USB flash drives | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

...definitely read the "advantages & disadvantages" of the "FAT-32" formatting...just in case (for your purposes) there could be an issue.

Also consider (since this flash drive is new)...that it could be defective...and all of the troubleshooting we do won't overcome any defects. I know that you mentioned that this flash drive works in other computers...I just wanted to mention this...just in case.

- Nick

03-18-2012, 04:55 PM

For use solely with Macs see the article Nick linked, format Mac OS Extended (Journalled) in Disk Utility. Also go into Finder Preferences and make sure the Show these items on the Desktop boxes are selected.

03-18-2012, 05:47 PM

The 2010 Macbook is the only computer I have problems with. If I boot it from an external, the flash drive works. I formatted it FAT32 so that I could use it on both Mac and PC.

03-18-2012, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by kandytg

The 2010 Macbook is the only computer I have problems with. If I boot it from an external, the flash drive works. I formatted it FAT32 so that I could use it on both Mac and PC.

Still a sort of confusing situation. Let's see if I understand correctly. You're saying that:

- this flash drive DOES NOT work if you boot the 2010 MacBook Pro from it's internal hard drive
- this flash drive DOES work...if the MacBook Pro is booted from an external hard drive

Is this correct?

If so...then you need to tell us what the details are regarding the MacBook Pro's internal hard drive...and the external hard drive...primarily...EXACTLY what OS version is on each hard drive?

Thanks,

- Nick

03-18-2012, 06:39 PM

All my flash drives except my Lion Install Flash drive are formatted FAT and work fine on any computer, Mac, PC, Linux. So FAT is not the issue.

You might not like or agree with this but here goes!

I have had many friends who purchased HP flash drives that had your issue. Not sure why but I have seen it over and over. In every case they returned the HP and bought a San Disk and the issue was resolved. The only thing that confuses me is that your same MBP booting from an External with a different copy of OSX works with the drive.

03-18-2012, 06:52 PM

Sorry to be so confusing. The flash drive does work with my MacBook pro, but I have to run "USB Prober" first, and it takes a while for it to mount on my desktop. When I boot from the external, it mounts immediately. Both have 10.7.3.