mac does'nt see my HDD

Lifeisabeach · Jul 9, 2014

After chewing on this some, I think the OP should just take the MacBook back to Apple and ask them to explain this. For all we know, the USB port is defective (seen that before), in which case he's owed a replacement anyway. But definitely take the drive in question also so they can at least see if it works otherwise.

sreeram · Jul 10, 2014

lifeisabeach said:
Can you provide a screencap as requested earlier? Also, which exact Mac model/year is this? I know you said new, but a lot of people buy a used or refurbished one and tell us it's new when it's really "new to them". Also, what version of OS X are you running? And are you certain it's formatted with FAT32 and not NTFS?

@lifeisabeach here are the screen shots. The screen shots are taken when my HDD is connected to MBP. Am pretty sure it is formatted to FAT32, because i did that using my PC, originally it was in NTFS format. Am really completely new to MAC, though am familiar with PC, and i could see it is of mid 2012, i thought its a new MAC. Have to drive atleast 6hrs to reach the nearest apple store. Is there any way i could fix this with out travelling that far. Am not sure about the
From my findings my HDD is working with my PC and my MAC able to mount my friend HDD which is 1GB though, and can read and write of that, have also tried exchanging the cables, which doesnt make any difference. so i guess its just between my MAC and my HDD not talking to each other.The light is ON when my HDD is connected to my MBP and i can hear the disk spinning.
please help

Lifeisabeach · Jul 10, 2014

Mmm hmm. NOT a new MacBook. I really wish people would stop calling their used MacBooks "new". Where did you even get this?

Ok, here's the thing... the drive isn't even showing in Disk Utility. That implies a number of things. A completely defective cable (which I think we've eliminated as a possibility); a defective USB port (which I think is unlikely since it CAN read another hard drive); some weird bug in OS X (HIGHLY unlikely); or a corrupt driver/kernel extension. Since this is a used MacBook, I'm going to assume that this is not a clean installation of OS X. You need to wipe this thing and reinstall OS X from scratch to eliminate any possibility that you have a corrupted kernel extension or 3rd party software/driver installed that is interfering for some reason. Instructions below.
https://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/

BTW... which exact model external drive is this? I know you said Seagate, but is it a GoFlex or something else?

pm-r · Jul 10, 2014

Just a quick curious question for the OP - is the seagate 1.5TB HDD's USB cable being plugged into the USB port on the MBPro or into a connected USB Hub?

And if a hub, is it externally powered?

And I assume the working unit is being plugged into the same port as the non-working unit?? Yes???

Lifeisabeach · Jul 10, 2014

pm-r said:
Just a quick curious question for the OP - is the seagate 1.5TB HDD's USB cable being plugged into the USB port on the MBPro or into a connected USB Hub?

And if a hub, is it externally powered?

And I assume the working unit is being plugged into the same port as the non-working unit?? Yes???

He should run the Apple Hardware Test also to see if it turns up any anomalies.

sreeram · Jul 11, 2014

lifeisabeach said:
Mmm hmm. NOT a new MacBook. I really wish people would stop calling their used MacBooks "new". Where did you even get this?

Ok, here's the thing... the drive isn't even showing in Disk Utility. That implies a number of things. A completely defective cable (which I think we've eliminated as a possibility); a defective USB port (which I think is unlikely since it CAN read another hard drive); some weird bug in OS X (HIGHLY unlikely); or a corrupt driver/kernel extension. Since this is a used MacBook, I'm going to assume that this is not a clean installation of OS X. You need to wipe this thing and reinstall OS X from scratch to eliminate any possibility that you have a corrupted kernel extension or 3rd party software/driver installed that is interfering for some reason. Instructions below.
https://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/

BTW... which exact model external drive is this? I know you said Seagate, but is it a GoFlex or something else?

it is a gift, i have no idea how they bought a mid 2012 MBP. when i got it, it looked new with box and all. just before posting on mac forums, i have reinstalled the OS using internet recovery. There is no HUB connection, am connecting the USB directly to my MBP. The USB on MBP is working because it read the other HDD.

Alex 3 · Jul 11, 2014

Hhd drive not seen

In the past I have found the on occasions there is not enough power in a single USB port. Try a cable with a dual USB CONNECTION

sreeram said:
hi, i have a new macbook pro running mavericks, am trying to move my data from my seagate 1.5TB HDD to mac, when connected to mac i dont see the HDD on finder or disk utility or under usb in system info, so i checked my usb ports by connecting flash drive they are working fine, i tried running my mac in safe mode, still mac does'nt see my HDD format fat32. my HDD is working with my PC but not mac. please help

Sasha5113 · Jul 11, 2014

No business asking this, but is system set to SHOW attached peripherals?

Alex 3 · Jul 11, 2014

Hdd

The alleged beauty of Macs is they do this automatically. Not aware of a setting for this. Where is it?

Sasha5113 said:
No business asking this, but is system set to SHOW attached peripherals?

sueh2 · Jul 11, 2014

need new HDD

I did the same thing, and the Mac would not backup or recognize the external hard drive. I figured it was because the HDD is configured to work with the Windows OS. I had to reformat it to work with Mac which wiped out all the backup data from Windows. You could save the old one to use with Windows but need a different HDD formatted to the Mac OS.

Alex 3 · Jul 11, 2014

Can be a nuisance. My Clickfree from my PC was not recognized by my Mac and when I spoke to Clickfree it was an older generation and unable to be used. My solution was to get my son to partition his iOemga dribe off and back up my stuff from my PC and then transferred it to the Mac. I bought an iOmega and all is well.
If you reformat your backup to run on the Mac it will wipe it unless it is current enough technology to allow you to partition it off and format the partition for your Mac while retaining your PC stuff. At least that is my understanding of the issue.

LexS · Jul 11, 2014

"but all Macs and all OS X versions should have the ability to at least read NTFS and FAT formatted USB drives shouldn't they??" No: mac OSX reads Mac OS Extended (journaled) and other OS Extended, MSDOS (FAT), Exfat.
But unless there is something wrong with the Directory of the Seagate it should be visible and readable in your Mac.
Are you sure it is FAT and what is the size of the largest single file on the Seagate?

Lifeisabeach · Jul 11, 2014

LexS said:
"but all Macs and all OS X versions should have the ability to at least read NTFS and FAT formatted USB drives shouldn't they??" No: mac OSX reads Mac OS Extended (journaled) and other OS Extended, MSDOS (FAT), Exfat.

No, OS X does have built in support to read NTFS, although that support appears to be buggy or prone to some limitations, possibly related to anything 2TB or larger as suggested in another discussion here.

pm-r · Jul 11, 2014

I'm really beginning to wonder if the Seagate isn't actually formatted as a NTFS drive as LB has already suggested. Even though OS X is supposed to mount them as Read Only, it seems that is not always the case.

Just in case Seagate has a NTFS for Mac software to install.

Also is the Finder preference set to show External disks on the desktop?

Is a USB Y-cable being used, even though the drive lights and spins? But gee, that MBPro has USB 3.0 ports that should provide sufficient voltage and current.

But if a Y-cable is being used as a single cable, is the Data/Power connection being used and not just the power connector? It's happened before.

And we still don't know if the OS X has been re-installed or the appropriate OS X COMBO Update unless I missed that fact.

Lifeisabeach · Jul 11, 2014

sueh2 said:
I did the same thing, and the Mac would not backup or recognize the external hard drive. I figured it was because the HDD is configured to work with the Windows OS. I had to reformat it to work with Mac which wiped out all the backup data from Windows. You could save the old one to use with Windows but need a different HDD formatted to the Mac OS.

The problem here, as demonstrated by his screen cap from Disk Utility, is that the mac doesn't even recognize that the drive is plugged in. You can't reformat it if it isn't seen.

Alex 3 said:
In the past I have found the on occasions there is not enough power in a single USB port. Try a cable with a dual USB CONNECTION

I'm going to have to agree with this suggestion. It shouldn't be necessary, but let's say the drive enclosure is defective and is insisting on drawing more power than it should be. Perhaps the PC is allowing it but the Mac isn't (and properly so). Another possibility is that the Mac isn't putting out as much power as it should be, but is just enough for the drives that do work. That's just a complete stab in the dark though. Although it would be really nice to know which exact drive model is in question here (3rd time requesting that detail now).

EDIT: read this thread. The problem did prove to be a faulty enclosure.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/301467-ntfs-mac-not-working.html

sreeram · Jul 11, 2014

lifeisabeach said:
That's just a complete stab in the dark though. Although it would be really nice to know which exact drive model is in question here (3rd time requesting that detail now).

EDIT: read this thread. The problem did prove to be a faulty enclosure.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/301467-ntfs-mac-not-working.html

@lifeisabeach can u please tell where to find the drive model. i have no idea about this HDD as all i know is it is a seagate 1.5TB external HDD portable.

Lifeisabeach · Jul 11, 2014

sreeram said:
@lifeisabeach can u please tell where to find the drive model. i have no idea about this HDD as all i know is it is a seagate 1.5TB external HDD portable.

It should say it on the drive somewhere. If not, feel free to take a photo and post that.

Arkyjohn84 · Jul 11, 2014

HDD on Desktop

Hi: Use your Disk Utility and when it shows up, click on mount. Also don't forget to use Sy Pref's to mount it or other HD's on desktop.
john

Lifeisabeach · Jul 11, 2014

Arkyjohn84 said:
Hi: Use your Disk Utility and when it shows up, click on mount. Also don't forget to use Sy Pref's to mount it or other HD's on desktop.
john

As has been repeatedly pointed out in this thread, that drive is not even showing up in Disk Utility.

lmlang · Jul 11, 2014

I recently had a similar problem with a brand new MacBook Air not able to see a device on my home network. The device had previously been visible in finder. On the new MacBook when I went to Finder > Go > Connect to Server and used the IP address for the device it could not be found. After lengthy discussions with tech support and some other folks I found out that when you use "Connect to Server" the MacBook uses the acronym "afp" before the IP address. This is the default, apple file share protocol. The device I wanted to connect to required the acronym "smb" which is some other file share protocol. I don't completely understand the difference but as soon as I typed "smb" followed by the IP address my MacBook found the device and i could access it's files. Perhaps you're dealing with a similar problem. Perhaps you need to know more about the files on the hard drive. The default "afp" may be the wrong one to use and you may not be aware that the computer is choosing it for you. Good luck.