external hard drive problem, NTFS driver, visible in disk utility

Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
hello! :)

i have the following problem: i recently switched from windows to mac (10.8.3.), therefore my external hard drive (WD, 1TB) is formatted in ntfs. i installed ntfs-3g as i wanted to be able to not only read but also write on the hard drive, but as a result, i got the error message "ntfs-3g could not mount...". i deinstalled ntfs-3g and tried macfuse instead, which got me a worse error message "the disk you inserted is not readable".

it turned out that i did not have the newly installed drivers properly uninstalled, which is why i manually deleted them. now, the hard drive does not show up at all, but is visible in disk utility (still, the option to verify or repair the disk is not given, the buttons are grey), and i can not open it. how can i access my hard drive again?


ps. the strangest part of it all: i can access the hard drive on another mac i tried (although it does not pop up on the desktop) through the finder.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
You should have checked with us first. NTFS-3g and MacFuse both are buggy and should be avoided. The only driver we recommend using is Paragon NTFS from Paragon software, however, it's not free. ($19.95)

To fix your drive: Attach it to a Windows machine, open a command prompt, and enter "chkdsk /f" x: (whatever drive letter the drive is using). That will repair the drive so that it will show up again on your desktop.
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
I may be wrong on this but I would not use Disk Utility to do anything to an NTFS drive even if the drive shows up there. Other than formatting the drive fDisk Utility repairs that format.
 
OP
T
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
thank you for your answers! the problem indeed turned out the be the improper deinstallation of the ntfs-3g and macfuse drivers. i removed them manually by script and eventually installed paragon ntfs, as suggested. now everything works fine, the hard drive is fine and shows up on the desktop too.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top