External Hard Drive Mac Book Air

Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Im trying to play videos/movies from a toshiba 2TB usb hard drive on my mac book air, but they just jump all the time and are unwatchable, i have formatted the hard drive to work with the mac but still no luck, if i move the mp4 files onto the laptop it works fine, and i can also watch the videos fine on my p.c from the external hard drive, so any help would be great since have no idea what to do
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
How and what format did you use when your partitioned and formatted the USB drive??

And did you check that it was formatted using the GUID format?
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I dont understand the 720 hd movies run fine on my p.c steaming from the hard drive and the p.c is 10 years old only usb 2.0 and about 4 times less powerful than my mac book air
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
I'd still use Disk Utility to check that the drive is setup and showing:
Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table

That should show when selecting the main drive name, not when selecting the partition or volume name.

I have my doubts that it is, otherwise AFAIK, the Windows PC wouldn't even be able to use it as such. But maybe you want it setup to use with both the Win and Mac PCs.
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
no it doesn't work with windows atoll anymore after formatting it for mac but i still have the same problem, with jumpy videos

the other thing i did notice, it is a Toshiba Canvio 2tb drive, and when it was set up to run on both computers the light on it would be white when it was plugged into my p.c, and the light would be blue when it was plugged into the mac
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
Well, it seems from their support site that the Blue light indicates you are plugged into a USB 3.0 port; white light, USB 2.0 port ...

And I'm sorry I don't have any other suggestions for you to try. :(

Maybe try their support site or some web searches...????
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Is the Toshiba mains powered? Bus powered may not be sufficient to run movies.
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
its just powered by the USB cable, it plays movies fine with windows media player on my old P.C, so a brand new mac book air should handle it no problem
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
can anyone recommend a good portable hard drive that would work with the mac book air for playing movies, was looking at thunderbolt port ones at first, but then i wouldn't be able to plug laptop into my tv if hard drive was using that port
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
can anyone recommend a good portable hard drive that would work with the mac book air for playing movies, was looking at thunderbolt port ones at first, but then i wouldn't be able to plug laptop into my tv if hard drive was using that port


Personally, and from all reports, very few devices are capable of pushing USB 3 or Thunderbolt to their limits, even SSDs, and Apple's Thunderbolt is real overkill for most users and adds Apple's royalty to the cost.

Even a good USB 2.0 should be able to transfer any movie data fast enough, and I'm wondering if the USB port on your MB Air or the cable connection being used isn't a bit goofy.

Do you have another compatible cable you could try???
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
yeah tried 2 different cables and got same results

also i have a 8GB usb flash drive and i tried putting a few movies on it and streaming them on the mac and they worked perfectly
 

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
I don't think your problem is a hardware one. What are you using on your MacBook Air to play the movies? And it is strange that movies on a flash drive (which is probably formatted to FAT-32) play OK on your MBA but not from the Toshiba.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
yeah tried 2 different cables and got same results

also i have a 8GB usb flash drive and i tried putting a few movies on it and streaming them on the mac and they worked perfectly


And they were all approved and USB 3 rated cables I assume??? But then again, they should all still work with USB 2.0, but at its slower rate and maybe the lower power.

If the 8GB usb flash drive was a USB 2.0 device, I'd really be starting to suspect that something's wrong with the USB 3's port/connection in the MB Air for USB 3 use!!!

I assume that no other USB devices are physically connected at the same time??
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I was just putting the movies on itunes and watching them that way but tried Quicktime and VLC too and they all are jumpy with the toshiba hard-drive

But worked perfect with the 8 GB USB 2.0
 

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
Then I have to agree with member "pm-r" when he stated:

If the 8GB usb flash drive was a USB 2.0 device, I'd really be starting to suspect that something's wrong with the USB 3's port/connection in the MB Air for USB 3 use!!!

By the way, how about telling us which MacBook Air you have? Year and model?
 
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
not sure about model its 5 months old 1.3 ghz i5 processor with 4GB ram, says it can turbo boost to 2.7 ghz but not sure if i turn that on, or its automatic
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
17,496
Reaction score
1,541
Points
113
Location
Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
OP
T
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Points
1
it is 13" one

I just took the Toshiba Canvio back and got a WD My Cloud and all my movies are streaming perfect now

thanks for advise guys
 

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