Problem with Seagate 4tb external Hard drive

A 2012 27" iMac has 4 USB 3.0 ports, so that is definitely not the problem. I've never heard of or seen the problem you're having. It's probably something that effecting those ports while booted to macOS but not when you're in Windows.

One thing we haven't tried is to see if the drive is recognized when you're booted in safe mode. Boot your iMac to safe mode (hold down the shift key as soon as you hear the boot chime and continue holding it until you see the Apple). When in safe mode, attach the Seagate and flash drive to see if they mount. Let us know.

I have a Seagate 4T drive and I have noticed two things: It does occasionally disconnect on its own, usually if there is some other problem with the Mac that causes a spinning beachball. The second thing is that it does not reconnect from those disconnects automatically, even on reboot. I have to unplug the USB cord and re-attach it, which clears the problem every time. I suspect something in the Seagate interface is getting lost, waiting for some signal from the Mac that is not coming, so it just sits there. The USB port doesn't see traffic because the drive is not asking for anything, so both sit there, idle, staring at each other (metaphorically, not literally). Breaking the stare-down sorts it out. The app Amphetamine seems to help with the disconnects. I have it set to trigger all my externals periodically to keep them awake. those two seem to help with the Seagate particularly.

Windows may poll the USB ports differently, and the Seagate interface may well be fine-tuned for Windows rather than macOS. Just thinking...

doesnt work even in safe mode.

tried it also. no luck

With all devices, except USB keyboard and/or USB mouse, disconnected, try consecutive multiple NVRAM resets.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Then, after logged into your user account connect the drive having issues. Test.

Also, if needed, like above with all devices disconnected, try consecutive multiple SMC resets.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Oone last think to test, set up a separate iMac user account, and test to see if the issue happens in that user account.

So now I'm confused. You've been saying the drive was not available or visible, but the screenshot shows it clearly and that it is either full, or as it says "Uninitialized." Not sure what that last means, but you could search for that description. I tried that search quickly just now and didn't find anything meaningful, but that doesn't mean you won't. I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

I also noted that Paragon-software.com has a FAQ section with multiple things to try in troubleshooting why a drive won't mount. You might look there and try some of those, and if they don't work, make a support request there. Maybe they can explain what "uninitialized Windows NT Filesystem" really means.

MacInWin said:

So now I'm confused. You've been saying the drive was not available or visible, but the screenshot shows it clearly and that it is either full, or as it says "Uninitialized." Not sure what that last means, but you could search for that description. I tried that search quickly just now and didn't find anything meaningful, but that doesn't mean you won't. I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

I also noted that Paragon-software.com has a FAQ section with multiple things to try in troubleshooting why a drive won't mount. You might look there and try some of those, and if they don't work, make a support request there. Maybe they can explain what "uninitialized Windows NT Filesystem" really means.

Click to expand...

i think i have mentioned that i can see my disk and everything i try to connect to my usb ports in disk utility. i didnt upgrade paragon, and it was working just fine with everything i connected to my imac.

If you did, I missed in the scan I did of the thread before I posted, but never mind, I would try clicking on the "Mount" button in your image. From the image, the drive is detected but not mounted. I have no idea what the Uninitialized" means, but it may be that Paragon initialized the drive when it mounts. So, let's try mounting the drive and see what's there.

ferrarr said:

With all devices, except USB keyboard and/or USB mouse, disconnected, try consecutive multiple NVRAM resets.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Then, after logged into your user account connect the drive having issues. Test.

Also, if needed, like above with all devices disconnected, try consecutive multiple SMC resets.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Oone last think to test, set up a separate iMac user account, and test to see if the issue happens in that user account.

Click to expand...

i did every reset like 4times+ each , and created another user, still the same.

MacInWin said:

If you did, I missed in the scan I did of the thread before I posted, but never mind, I would try clicking on the "Mount" button in your image. From the image, the drive is detected but not mounted. I have no idea what the Uninitialized" means, but it may be that Paragon initialized the drive when it mounts. So, let's try mounting the drive and see what's there.

Click to expand...

nothing happens with mount. or eject and then connect or rename. info says 4tb is used by the way.

ok after reading this : https://forums.developer.apple.com/message/151736#151736
downloaded this: https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/ntfs-driver-for-mac-os-master-dl/

and now works.

I am guessing some problem with software of sierra? 10.12.6

Thanks for posting back. Apparently, it was a Paragon driver problem all along. I would have thought that downloading the latest version of Paragon NTFS updates should have taken care of that. We assumed throughout this thread that you had the latest.

chscag said:

Thanks for posting back. Apparently, it was a Paragon driver problem all along. I would have thought that downloading the latest version of Paragon NTFS updates should have taken care of that. We assumed throughout this thread that you had the latest.

Click to expand...

i dont understand why it stopped working. I did no update my paragon software. That is the strange thing. Thank you all for your help! Much appreciated