USB external hard drive does not connect

[chardane]

i'm trying to connect my USB external hard drive to my friend's old iBook, but when i do, all i hear is a ticking sound from the hard drive, and it doesn't show up on Finder at all.

some facts that may help:

my hard drive's format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

the iBook is Mac OS X 10.3.9

any help would be very appreciated, thanks

 

[J6hn]

Does it work in your computer?
That's what my old hard drive did after I dropped my guitar on it. Unrepairable disk crash.

 

[chardane]

yup, it works on my macbook just fine, but on the iBook (that i just finished upgrading from Panther to Tiger), it only makes a weird ticking sound

 

[Tony3ts]

iBook - USB external hard drive does not connect

I have a similar problem. Verbatim 250gb Premium portable HD works ok on my Mac Mini but won't work on Powerbook 12" (on mains). The same intermittent ticking and light flashing. I'm guessing that there isn't enough power coming from the Powerbook's USB 2.0 socket, whereas the Mac Mini provides enough (light steady and no ticking). Annoying, since I got the external drive for portability...
TONY