my macbook doesn't read my external hard drive anymore

hello everyone
im a having problems with my macbook
i have samsung 320 gb M2

yesterday i unplug it suddenly and today i tried to plug it it wont read it
but i can find it in disk disk utility and when i hit erase it dosen't give the option
of re-format i really want it to work again its really important to me
thank you for reading

hi,
i had a similar problem with my external HD. try to repair permissions first - go to utilities, disk utilities and repair your permissions. after that reset the hardware and restart your computer. plugin the HD again. it might take some minutes but it appears again in the sidebar

i tried that but it wont repair it tells me to take all the files that i can as fast as i can
guys please i really need your help so please herlp

ok i see - had something similar yesterday when i tried to partition my hard drive. shut down your computer and restart while pressing alt + r to get into the restoring menu. click restore hard drive. open terminal and enter reset password. a new window pops up. you can ignore the reset password but on the bottom it allows you to reset permissions - choose that. anything is back to standard. worked for me, i hope that's your solution as well.

are u sure this will bring all my data back
cuz i dont want it to get deleted ??
im really sorry for all theses questions but im dumb on the tech side

hi amino

you cannot delete your files with this procedure. beside that - it asks you before it deletes anything... give it a try - the worst thing which can happen is that it still doesn't work. of course, don't confirm delete ;-)

i tried that a lot but its not workin
so i tried to use the command button it goes to mac os x utility
what shall i do

what about repairing permissions in disk utility? you said it´s showing up there... it must have something to do with the permissions. other idea: what about getting the data on a windows pc and saving it from there before you reformat it?

i tried repairing it didn't work
and i tried it on my brother's lap top its not recognizable
what about restoring menu what isn't it showin up in my macbook ??

You might have to face facts here. Hard drives sometimes just fail for one reason or another. I've had this happen with a couple of Seagate drives. After not being recognized time after time, plugging in, unplugging over and over, every once in a while it would work for a little while again until finally never again.

Sorry but, this is just one of the realizations one must come to when dealing with computers and hardware. This is why it is very important to back up your data redundantly.

There is one more thing you might try. It could be that for some reason, the I/O port has become compromised. In that case, I'd take the actual hard drive out of its casing, buy an external enclosure and put it in there and try hooking it up that way. Those can be bought from places like newegg.com etc.. You just have to make sure you're getting the right size.

Doug

ok here what helped me this morning when i plugged in my external HD: no way to make it showing up under the sidebar or under computer. what i did - utilities --> disk utilities --> repair permissions.
it gave me an error that i should save files and that the hard drive wouldn't be repaired. after i finished that the hard drive was showing up and i could save my files
hopefully THIS helps... oh well, i´m so sorry....

thank you but nothing really worked
i cant click on repair permissions
i guess nothing would work

Try what Doug b suggested in his reply. If you don't have the skills to remove the drive and place it in an external carrier or adapter, then just replace the drive as long as you don't need the data from it.

ops i didn't notice the reply
will it's gonna take a long time but got no other solution
i really need the data in my external hard drive i just wish if i can put it somewhere until i re-format this hard drive

guys isn't there any other chance
cant i move the data to any other laptop if that possible then i'll buy a new one

I have a 1 TB (Toshiba) external HDD, when I connect it to PCs it works fine (both my laptop and desktop read it fine) but my MAC will NOT read or recognize it. It wont even show up under disk util. or in Terminal under Volumes. I tried to mount it manually but I have no idea what the name of it is under mac or linux?
This is Mac Book Pro with i5 proc. I mean its not like old or anything so USB3 is no problem I dont think?...I dont understand why it wont read or recognize my disc?
I think it did once before? not sure I have 3 of these usb hdds.

anyway how can I repair permissions if I dont see it in the list?

BTW does anyone know why after installing FireFox, it shows up as a Hard Drive /Disk?! Is this normal? (this is my 1st Mac).
it shows up in disc util as well! heh?!


thanks in advance...

TheMacMania said:

what about repairing permissions in disk utility? you said it´s showing up there... it must have something to do with the permissions. other idea: what about getting the data on a windows pc and saving it from there before you reformat it?

Click to expand...

It worked for me based on this advise today! Thanks.

Sharing the repair logs:

Verifying volume “disk1s2”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Detected a case-sensitive volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
The volume Expansion Drive 2014 was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “disk1s2”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Detected a case-sensitive volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
Repairing volume.
Rechecking volume.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Detected a case-sensitive volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 521267 instead of 2)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 113883 instead of 0)
Invalid volume free block count
(It should be 9969211 instead of 488086739)
Volume header needs minor repair
Repairing volume.
Rechecking volume.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Detected a case-sensitive volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Expansion Drive 2014 was repaired successfully.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.

By the way if anyone else has similar problem:
I also discovered that one of my external hard drives has a bad connector so slightest bump at my desk makes it disconnect or reconnect. (it is hard to connect it tho).
Just a thought...