External HD not recognzied by Disk Utility

I bought a 5TB Seagate External HD, my second one. The first one I bought was brand new and works fine. Had to format it for Mac. Did so with no trouble. But the second one I bought is used. Disk Utility won't recognize it, i.e. it is not listed in the left panel among the available disks. It is getting power -- it lights up and beeps twice upon plug in. I am using a USB cable that works fine with the other identical HD. The USB cable is plugged directly into the Mac, not through a hub. All other peripherals and external HDs are disconnected. Still, Disk Utility can't see it. Is it possible that a previous owner formatted it in a way that prevents Mac from seeing it? If Disk Utility will not recognize it, what are my other options for formatting the drive for Mac? Thanks.

Welcome to our forums.

Return the used drive and get a refund. I never buy used hard drives and recommend that you also do not. Very likely the drive has problems or is defective.

chscag said:

Return the used drive and get a refund. I never buy used hard drives and recommend that you also do not. Very likely the drive has problems or is defective.

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Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind for the future. For the moment, though, I have an HD I want to try to salvage. Can someone address the question as it was asked? Thank you.

Do you have another PC, you could try it with? winOS or macOS, either will work for testing? Have you tested it in other USB ports? Is the user account you are using an admin user account, or, a standard user account? I don't know if that matters?

Have you restarted the Mac, with the drive connected? If so, try restarting without the drive connected?

Can someone address the question as it was asked?

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Our Administrator tried to do just that.

Supposing this had been an External Hard Drive (EHD) right out of the box, his answer, and most of ours, would be to return the Drive. Not working/defective out of the box is well established, though relatively uncommon.

Given that this is a used product, presumably with an unknown history (how it was formatted, was it used properly - e.g. ejected/unmounted before disconnection, and all the rest) - makes "trying to salvage" it a dodgy exercise.

Even if suggestions made already, or in the future, get it working, you will never be able to trust that Drive for anything critical or precious.

Admin chscag was only doing his job and giving you the best advice. I've expanded on that with the "whys and wherefores".

Naturally, it is your choice. Good luck, but if you get it working, don't trust it for anything bar the trivial.

Ian

ferrarr said:

Do you have another PC, you could try it with?

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Hi ferrarr -- Thanks for your help. Finding a windows machine to hook up to is probably the best idea. I guess I should have been more clear in my original post: I just want to rule out the possibility that the issue is a simple formatting one before bailing out. But if a windows machine won't recognize it either, that'll be the answer. Thanks.

Hi Ian. Thanks for your reply. You're right, of course. We've all learned the hard way that equipment is subject to failure. I bought this hard drive cheap for use as a triple backup, understanding the risk. If my neighbor's PC running windows won't recognize it or allow a formatting solution (I know zip about windows), back it goes.