Toshiba Cavnio not recognized on Macbook Pro

[RamadaRupert]

I just bought a new 1TB Toshiba Canvio 3.0 Plus. The box says it can be reformated for a MAC but it provides no directions and since my system OSX 10.6.8 doesn't even recognize it, I can't use Disc Utilities.

Any suggestions?

 

[louishen]

What do you mean you cant use disk utility?

 

[RamadaRupert]

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but my poking around on the web suggested that the only way to reformat an external drive is to use Disc Utility.

When I open Disc Utility it asks me to select the drive before erasing. I can't select it, since my hard drive doesn't even recognize that the hard drive is connected via USB (NOTE: the power lite on the Toshiba Canvio lights up and I can hear the disc turning inside)

 

[Valentina's Dad]

Same Here

I am having the same exact issue.

What I did was plug it into an older iMac and formatted it to Fat32. I was able to put files on it and tag files off it on the older iMac with no issues. I was using the cable that came with it also.

I plugged it into my MacBook Pro running 10.6.8 and it will not mount he drive anywhere. I have tried both the cable it came with an a USB 2.0 cable with the micro connector. No joy.

I called Toshiba and they told me the same thing about it just needs to be formatted from NFTS to something Mac will read.

I did so many searches that I came across something on amazon that advertised Toshiba's Canvio for Mac line.

 

[Valentina's Dad]

Toshiba Canvio for Mac

This is the site that list the line for mac

Toshiba Direct | Laptop & Notebook Accessories

 

[chscag]

Your MBP may not be supplying enough power via its USB ports to spin up that 3 TB drive, whereas your iMac can.

If it mounts OK on the iMac, the drive is not defective. And FAT-32 is a compatible file system for the Mac so there should be no problem in that regard.

The tech support folks at Toshiba (or should I say in India) apparently don't know which file systems are supported by the Mac. If the drive is formatted as FAT-32, it should work on the MBP unless like I stated above that the MBP is not providing enough power to the drive.

Does the drive have an AC adapter that you can use?

 

[Valentina's Dad]

chscag

I started thinking the same thing after I read a couple other articles elsewhere. I read about people using a Y cable that has the micro connector that you can plug into the Ext HD and then it has two USB plugs off a Y split that you can either plug both into the USB connectors on the MAC or plug one into the mac and one into an AC adapter.

I might try that but to be honest for the amount I paid for this I want it to work as advertised and sold. Might just take it back today and try something else.

Thnaks

 

[cwa107]

I might try that but to be honest for the amount I paid for this I want it to work as advertised and sold. Might just take it back today and try something else.

Thnaks

That would be my recommendation. Toshiba hard drives are not known for their reliability. I'd recommend Hitachi, Western Digital or Seagate (in that order).

 

[Vipor]

I bought the same exact drive about 10 days ago (TOSHIBA 1TB CANVIO 3.0 PLUS).

When I plugged it into my MB, it obviously did not show up on the Finder list since it was not formatted yet. I simply went to Disk Utility, selected it from the list on the left, and formatted the drive with no issue. Afte that, it showed up in Finder and I was able to write to it. No issues yet. I am using this drive as my TM Backup.