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USB hard drive

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  USB hard drive me@home.spamsucks.ca (Kiraly) - 2013-11-12 23:22 +0000
    Re: USB hard drive nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-11-12 18:28 -0500
      Re: USB hard drive me@home.spamsucks.ca (Kiraly) - 2013-11-13 00:38 +0000
        Re: USB hard drive nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-11-12 19:46 -0500
    Re: USB hard drive dcohenspam@talktalk.net (Daniel Cohen) - 2013-11-13 23:00 +0000
      Re: USB hard drive me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2013-11-14 14:18 +0000
        Re: USB hard drive J Burns <burns4@nowhere.com> - 2013-11-14 11:56 -0500
          Re: USB hard drive Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2013-11-14 16:58 +0000
          Re: USB hard drive me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2013-11-15 06:11 +0000

#52185 — USB hard drive

I have a small bus-powered USB portable hard drive. When I plug it into 
my iMac with 10.9, the light comes on and I can hear it spinning up, but 
Disk Utility doesn't see it, and System Information doesn't even 
acknowledge its existence. I tried it in multiple USB ports and with a 
good cable. It worked until recently.

I was getting ready to toss it out, but first I tried plugging it in 
an old eMac running 10.5. Surprise surprise, it works there without a 
problem. What to do to get it working on my Mavericks system?

This is what Leopard's System Profiler has to say about it:

  Capacity:	465.76 GB
  Removable Media:	Yes
  Detachable Drive:	Yes
  BSD Name:	disk4
  Product ID:	0x1840
  Vendor ID:	0x13fd  (Initio Corporation)
  Version:	1.08
  Serial Number:	303931313132504234343031
  Speed:	Up to 480 Mb/sec
  Manufacturer:	Generic
  Location ID:	0x5b300000
  Current Available (mA):	500
  Current Required (mA):	2
  Mac OS 9 Drivers:	No
  Partition Map Type:	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
  S.M.A.R.T. status:	Not Supported
  Volumes:
Backup:
  Capacity:	465.44 GB
  Available:	141.28 GB
  Writable:	Yes
  File System:	Journaled HFS+
  BSD Name:	disk4s2
  Mount Point:	/Volumes/Backup

-- 
K.

Lang may yor lum reek.

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#52186

In article <l5ud6u$fcd$1@dont-email.me>, Kiraly <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
wrote:

> I have a small bus-powered USB portable hard drive. When I plug it into 
> my iMac with 10.9, the light comes on and I can hear it spinning up, but 
> Disk Utility doesn't see it, and System Information doesn't even 
> acknowledge its existence. I tried it in multiple USB ports and with a 
> good cable. It worked until recently.
> 
> I was getting ready to toss it out, but first I tried plugging it in 
> an old eMac running 10.5. Surprise surprise, it works there without a 
> problem. What to do to get it working on my Mavericks system?

usually those are power issues. try using a power adapter with the
drive, or possibly a powered hub but that's not as much of a sure
thing.

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#52187

nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> usually those are power issues. try using a power adapter with the
> drive, or possibly a powered hub but that's not as much of a sure
> thing.

It doesn't have a jack for a power adapter; USB bus power is the only 
way. I was plugging it in directly to the USB port on the back of the 
Mac and also tried a powered hub.

-- 
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

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#52188

In article <l5uhlg$7be$1@dont-email.me>, Kiraly <me@home.spamsucks.ca>
wrote:

> > usually those are power issues. try using a power adapter with the
> > drive, or possibly a powered hub but that's not as much of a sure
> > thing.
> 
> It doesn't have a jack for a power adapter; USB bus power is the only 
> way. I was plugging it in directly to the USB port on the back of the 
> Mac and also tried a powered hub.

not all macs can provide sufficient power but recent ones should be
able to.

try a replacement enclosure. they're dirt cheap (like $5-10), and most
have power ports although the power adapter may not be included at
those prices.

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#52217

Kiraly <me@home.spamsucks.ca> wrote:

> When I plug it into 
> my iMac with 10.9, the light comes on and I can hear it spinning up, but
> Disk Utility doesn't see it, and System Information doesn't even 
> acknowledge its existence. I tried it in multiple USB ports and with a
> good cable. It worked until recently.
> 
> I was getting ready to toss it out, but first I tried plugging it in 
> an old eMac running 10.5. Surprise surprise, it works there without a
> problem. 

Others have suggested it may be a power problem, which seems quite
likely.

But have you made any recent changes, such as the third-party item that
is supposed to provide S.M.A.R.T. checking on external drives?

I did that, and was surprised to find that, though one drive then showed
up as S.M.A.R.T. status Verified, some others refused to mount at all,
until I removed that extension.
-- 
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives 
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.

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#52231

Daniel Cohen <dcohenspam@talktalk.net> wrote:
> Others have suggested it may be a power problem, which seems quite
> likely.
> 
> But have you made any recent changes, such as the third-party item that
> is supposed to provide S.M.A.R.T. checking on external drives?

Nope; I even tried it on a fresh Snow Leopard install on the same Mac; 
it wouldn't work there either.

Come to think of it, I've been having trouble with my adapter-powered 
USB scanner too. It often drops off the line when scanning. If I unplug 
and reconnect the USB cable it works again for a while. I thought the 
scanner was on its way out but maybe my iMac is having a USB problem.

-- 
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

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#52234

On 11/14/13 9:18 AM, Király wrote:
> Daniel Cohen <dcohenspam@talktalk.net> wrote:
>> Others have suggested it may be a power problem, which seems quite
>> likely.
>>
>> But have you made any recent changes, such as the third-party item that
>> is supposed to provide S.M.A.R.T. checking on external drives?
>
> Nope; I even tried it on a fresh Snow Leopard install on the same Mac;
> it wouldn't work there either.
>
> Come to think of it, I've been having trouble with my adapter-powered
> USB scanner too. It often drops off the line when scanning. If I unplug
> and reconnect the USB cable it works again for a while. I thought the
> scanner was on its way out but maybe my iMac is having a USB problem.
>
Sometimes resetting the SMC can fix a USB problem.

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#52235

On 2013-11-14, J Burns <burns4@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On 11/14/13 9:18 AM, Király wrote:
>> Daniel Cohen <dcohenspam@talktalk.net> wrote:
>>> Others have suggested it may be a power problem, which seems quite
>>> likely.
>>>
>>> But have you made any recent changes, such as the third-party item that
>>> is supposed to provide S.M.A.R.T. checking on external drives?
>>
>> Nope; I even tried it on a fresh Snow Leopard install on the same Mac;
>> it wouldn't work there either.
>>
>> Come to think of it, I've been having trouble with my adapter-powered
>> USB scanner too. It often drops off the line when scanning. If I unplug
>> and reconnect the USB cable it works again for a while. I thought the
>> scanner was on its way out but maybe my iMac is having a USB problem.
>>
> Sometimes resetting the SMC can fix a USB problem.

True.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#52271

J Burns <burns4@nowhere.com> wrote:
> Sometimes resetting the SMC can fix a USB problem.

I tried that and it didn't help. Then I tried an NVRAM reset, and that 
worked. I can access the drive again. I don't know why an NVRAM reset 
would have helped but it did. Thanks to all who replied.

-- 
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

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