External Hard drive not being read by other Macs

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Hi everyone,

I've tried alot of googling to find the answer but nothing seems to tell me why. I have a terabyte Lacie External Harddrive. It can be read by my Imac, but when I have tried to have it plugged into another Mac, it doesn't even show up on the finder or the dsktop.

Currently its Formartted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
My Imac is on Mac OS X ver 10.5.8 and has an Intel Core 2 Duo. and its model is Imac 7,1.

I've tried going into the Disk Utility and I think I've tried everything in there. Even completely wiping it clean and trying to start over.

Any thoughts on how it can be read by other macs? I bought this harddrive as a back up in case if my Imac poops out, but it seems like it is useless if another computer can't even read it.
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
What other Mac did you plug it into? Year, model, and what version of OS X is it running? Also assuming you attached it via USB? Also, does the LaCie have an AC power supply or does it power up from the USB port?

It's possible the other Mac you're trying to attach it to can not provide enough power from its USB port to spin up the LaCie. If it doesn't spin up it won't be "seen" or mount.
 
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Other macs

All the other macs I have tried to plug it into have been newer macbook pros. The one I just tried it on was on Mac OS X 10.6.7.

The harddrive connects VIA USB and it does have an AC power supply, it wont even turn on if I don't have it plugged in. That can't be the issue though can it? Since it isnt even relying on the computers power.
 

chscag

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I'm not sure I understand? Is the LaCie able to power up just from the USB port or does the AC power connector have to be plugged in and turned on?

The reason I ask is that some large external hard drives require an AC power source to work while others can be used either way. Keep in mind that your iMac is powered up on AC all the time so that USB power is generally not a problem. The MacBook Pro machines on the other hand can not provide as much power to the USB ports as the iMac.
 

OJJ


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Problems reading a Lacie Rugged Drive on my MacBook

I have the very same problem. My Lacie Rugged Drive works when I connect it through a USB cable into my iMac however when I connect it to my MacBook (which is running Lion as id my iMac) it is not recognised, does not appear on the Desktop or in Finder and makes a quiet clicking noise as opposed to the full disk noise it would normally make (and continues to do when connecting normally to the iMac). The USB ports on the MacBook are both working. I cannot understand what I need to do as I want to use the Lacie Rugged Drive for my MacBook back-up.

Any suggestions - is this a common glitch?

Thank you

OJJ
 

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