05-05-2010, 12:19 PM

I recently purchased the Seagate Free Agent 2TB External USB HDD to use with Time Machine. It seemed to be working well but the drive seems to disconnect randomly and it then doesn't show in finder under devices. This then causes errors with time machine not being able to back up. The only way I've found to reconnect the drive is to disconnect the power from the HD and then plug it back in. I'm thinking about taking it back to Best Buy and getting something else.

Has anybody else had this problem. I should mention I bought the PC version of the hard drive and reformatted it once I plugged it into my mac.

Thanks for your help.

05-06-2010, 05:21 PM

It sounds like a matter of not enough USB port power is getting to the drive. Typically, the power from the USB port will fluctuate anyway and if the drive is consuming current when running and not enough current is getting to it, it will dismount. That's probably what's happening to your drive.

Switch to another USB port and give it try. If the same occurs, you may need to purchase a powered USB hub or a power supply for the drive.

Regards.