Os X External Hard Drive

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DriveDx will protect you from data loss and downtime

With DriveDx you need not worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.

You can know before your drive is going to fail, because DriveDx tracks more indicators of impending failure than any other product on the market for both SSDs and HDDs.

If the file format of the external hard drive is NTFS, then El Capitan will allow you to only read the contents of the drive. To rename the drive, or to modify any contents of the drive, you will have to format the drive with OS X File system. Then plug the unmountable external hard drive into that port/hub. Also, here are some things you can try. Reconnect your external hard drive to your Mac and ensure that it fits the USB port snugly. Connect the external hard drive to a different USB port or a different Mac. Replace the USB cable or adapter in case that it was damaged.

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Drive Dashboard

Early Warning System

You will have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs.

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Drive Health Indicators

Modern SSDs and HDDs support

When evaluating the state of various drives, DriveDx can use different heuristic algorithms depending on the drive model and even its firmware version. Os x el capitan 10 11 4 iso.

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Drive Self-tests

Drive Self-tests

Will help to quickly identify if the drive is faulty.

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Drive Self-test in progress

Automatic Email Reports

User does not need to have physical access to a specific computer all the time, which is especially useful for all kinds of server rooms, data centers, etc.

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DriveDx Email Report Preferences
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DriveDx is recommended by
Here's a DriveDx triumph. DriveDx showed my just out of AppleCare iMac with two pre-fail conditions for the hard drive. Made appointment and took it to Genius Bar yesterday. Tech looked at DriveDx and was very impressed. Even though out of warranty - they replaced the drive without question.
God knows how many dollars and troubles DriveDx saved me since I had several vital FinalCut projects on it!
I just registered my copy of DriveDx. I want to say thanks for saving me a whole lot of time, expense, and aggravation. I'm trying to keep my 2011 MPB running for as long as I can….or at least until Apple gets their act together and starts making 17' laptops again. My Samsung 840 EVO SSD is aging, and my laptop gets very heavy work, managing networks, and saving the world.
Lately, the system has been hanging under heavy load. On a whim, I loaded up DriveDx, which told me there were CRC errors on the SATA cable. A $13 cable later, and I am no longer able to crash the system no matter how hard I try. Drive Dx is well worth the $19.99! Thanks a million!
As a photographer, I'm always concerned about drive failure because I know it will happen to all of my drives. What I don't know is when.DriveDx exposes low-level information of internal sensors, pre-fail indicators and lifetime accumulators of information that have allowed me to anticipate problems before they affect my system. As a result, I sent external drive back to LaCie for exchange under warranty due to anticipated drive failure.
This is one of the best investments you can make in your system. I recommend it highly.
External backup disk will have been gone soon. It's time for NAS server. Thanks for letting me know @BinaryFruit!
A couple of days ago, DriveDx warned me (pre-failing) for one of my external drives. I don't use it any more for backup. After DriveDx warning, drive behaved abnormally, I heard loud clicking noises and I got warnings from OS X as the drive unmounted abnormally while it was not the case.
Thanks to DriveDx. Best in its class. Excellent tech support.

Adobe reader xi installer free download. DriveDx app warned of pending drive failure before it happened. Nice!!! @binaryfruit

DriveDx just warned of pending drive failure - second time @binaryfruit app has avoided server crash.

Shout out to @BinaryFruit for offering a great product and great service over and beyond what they advertise! DriveDX is an awesome app!
Cheaper and better than it's main OS X competitors. DriveDx has a better GUI layout, clearer presentation of data, and explanations of each of the SMART attributes. Beautiful.
Absolute Must for the OS 'Toolkit'! I was having some serious issues with an SSD hybrid drive on my macbook pro, and well since seagate doesn't support mac, their 'seatools' software was useless (and required) for getting a proper exchange. That one event way more than paid for the price of the software. THIS software generated a report that was acceptable for me to get my exchange, and before the drive died completely. Got my replacement drive and I will most certainly never go back to not having it installed.
Just in Time! I downloaded DriveDx and discovered that the second HDD in my MacbookPro (in the superdive location) was having 'failing warnings', although DiskUtility said the drive was OK. So I decided that I had to replace it. I did that and enclosed the failing disk in an external enclosure to use it some more. A week later I began to have serious issues with the failing disk and ditched it. I am very happy with DriveDx, worth the money on all accounts.
I have a not so supported fusion drive in my Macbook Pro. There has never been any way to see the S.M.A.R.T. status. Decided to give this a try and the first thing that pops up is that my Crucial M4 SSD was close to failure because of a bug in the microcode. I have not tried to use this to look at my USB attached drives, since the only one I have is a small external that I boot from in emergencies. But DriveDx not only clearly sees both drives making up my fusion drive, but it also shows me the status of my 3 eSATA drives.
It's finally great to have something even better than Crystal Disk Info to monitor hard drive life signs.
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Advanced Drive Health Diagnostics Regular diagnostic tools simply check the built-in S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive, which provides the user with little information about the actual state of the physical drive. As opposed to such tools, DriveDx analyzes the current state of the drive using all the drive health indicators that are most likely to point to a potential drive issue (for instance, SSD wear out / write endurance, I/O errors, pending sectors, reallocated bad sectors, etc). See competitive analysis against several popular products here
Drive Failing (Pre-fail) State Detection Unlike most other tools, DriveDx detects not only 'OK/Verified' and 'Failed' drive health states, but also the 'Failing (Pre-fail)' drive state. Thanks to that, you will detect problems much earlier than when using any other SMART monitoring utilities. This means that you have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs. Learn more
Real-time Drive Health Monitoring DriveDx runs in the background and periodically performs checks to determine the health of your SSD or HDD. When any issue or problem is found, it alerts you immediately. DriveDx acts as an 'early warning system' for pending drive problems. As a result, you have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs.
Early Warning System DriveDx features a special multi-tier warning system that will inform the user about deviations from the normal state of drive attributes. It constantly monitors each S.M.A.R.T. attribute (and its change dynamics) and starts continuously warning the user as the drive degrades. On the initial stages of drive degradation, the user will receive notifications of the Warning type, then Failing (means that this drive parameter is in a pre-failure state) and only then Failed. Learn more
Drive Self-tests DriveDx allows you to start and control diagnostic self-tests of SSD / HDD. The primary goal is to quickly identify if the drive is faulty. Usually self-tests consist of a collection of test routines like electrical and/or mechanical performance tests as well as the read performance test of the drive. Depending on self-test type it does read scan of a small area or the entire media. Learn more
Modern SSDs and HDDs Support When evaluating the state of various drives, DriveDx can use different heuristic algorithms depending on the drive model and even its firmware version. One of the key advantages of the software is that the state of HDD and SSD drives is assessed using different algorithms, since many state indicators of HDD drives are not applicable or make no sense for SSD drives.
Automatic E-mail Reports The user can get problem notifications and drive status reports to email. Reporting can be configured on the basis of various criteria. Thanks to this feature, the user does not need to have physical access to a specific computer all the time, which is especially useful for all kinds of server rooms, data centers, etc.
A modern, good-looking and user-friendly interface DriveDx is one of the first drive diagnostic tools created in the true Mac style. All interface elements are clear and intuitive, so it will only take you a few minutes to learn the basics and start using the program. When a problem is identified, you will see a notification on the desktop and the status bar will show the status of your drives. Learn more
Os X External Hard Drive
Drive Key Metrics Evaluation DriveDx calculates various ratings of the current status of key drive characteristics (percent values):
  • SSD lifetime left indicator (in case of an SSD drive)
Thanks to these features, users can now have a fuller and better understanding of the current state of their drive.
Drive Free Space Monitoring Mac OS X and applications might fail due to an inability to allocate storage space. In addition, low disk space might cause disk fragmentation. To avoid data loss and to ensure the continuous functioning of your computer it is important to monitor the amount of available storage space on your drive. DriveDx can automatically monitor free disk space and will alert user immediately if user defined free space threshold exceeded. Learn more
DriveDx will protect you from data loss and downtime!
Get a data lifeguard for Mac
Disk Drill brings deleted files back from the dead.

Most of the time, when you connect an external hard drive to your Mac's USB port, you soon see it mount on the desktop. Apple likes to ensure these are easy to find, so they also appear in the Finder in the left-hand column under Devices, since Mac's treat them the same way as another computer.

However, sometimes, an external hard drive doesn't show up. It's annoying, especially when you need to transfer something right then. And besides, there can be a risk that data on the external USB pen, hard, or flash drive is corrupt, which means you can't transfer what you need between devices at all.

Corrupt data can be one reason your Mac won't recognize an external drive, but there are other reasons too. Let's take a look why this is happening and how you can get an external drive to appear on your Mac and get recover data to access to your documents.

How to fix an external disk drive that won't show up on a Mac

Why an external disk drive is not showing up? There could be a few reasons why a USB flash drive isn't making an appearance.

Open an External Drive Not Showing on Mac

Get a huge set of top utilities for troubleshooting external hard drives not mounting on a Mac

Start with the basics:

  1. Check whether the drive is properly plugged in. It sounds obvious, but since this relies on a wire - either a USB cable or HDMI cable - if it's not connected properly then it won't appear on your desktop.
  2. Faulty cable. Assuming it's plugged in correctly, not wobbly or loose, the cable could be at fault. Try connecting the same device with a different cable.
  3. Damaged USB or flash drive port. It could be a hardware issue with the Mac. If you've got another port, try connecting the device to that one.
  4. Reboot your Mac. Sometimes, if a USB disk won't boot, the cause is macOS issue. Hopefully, some data damage that can be fixed by restarting. Choose the Apple menu > Restart. Or press and hold the power button and, when a dialog box appears, click the Restart or press R. Restarting your Mac essentially clears your macOS's memory and starts it up fresh.
  5. Incorrectly formatted drive. Not every external drive is optimized for Macs. It could be that you are trying to connect something only fit to interact with Windows devices. If you've got a PC or laptop, it's worth connecting and seeing if you can access the files through another device. The best way to look for an incorrectly formatted drive is to go to
    Apple (in the top toolbar menu) > About This Mac > Storage.
    See if the external drive shows up here. For more information, go to the same menu option, then select System Report.
  6. Mac not formatted to display external drives on the desktop. It could be that your Mac already recognizes the device, but just isn't showing its icon on the desktop screen. Even if that is the case, the drive will still appear in the left-hand column of the Finder menu under Devices. You should be able to access your drive that way, and, in the Finder menu under Preferences > General, you can check External Drives to ensure that from now on it shows up on your desktop too.
  7. Reset NVRAM. To do this, shut down or restart your Mac, switch it back on and immediately press these four keys together for at least 20 seconds: Option, Command, P, and R. It should look as though your Mac has started again; if it has, release the keys when you hear the second startup chime. Hopefully, the hard drive has shown up now.
  8. Check Apple's Disk Utility to see if an external drive is showing up. Disk Utility is within System Preferences, or you can find it using Spotlight. If it is visible, then click the option to Mount, which should make it visible on the desktop and in the External Drives option in the Finder menu.

Unfortunately, if none of those options has worked and the external drive still isn't visible, then it could have crashed, or be well and truly broken. But there might still be a way you can recover the data on the external drive.

How to show connected devices in Finder

  1. Go to the Finder menu and select Preferences (Cmd+comma).
  2. From General tab tick External disks to ensure that from now on it shows on the desktop.

In the Sidebar tab you can choose which folders and devices will be shown in the left-hand column of the Finder window.

How to add cloud storages to Finder

You can also mount cloud storage as local drive on your Mac. By connecting Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon to your computer, you get more space for securely accessing and sharing files. For your ease, add cloud drives to Finder with CloudMounter app, so that you keep them close at hand. You can read detailed instructions on managing cloud storage as local drives here.

Repair the failed external drives with First Aid

If your drive is having problems, you can try to fix them yourself with First Aid and therefore get access to your files. First Aid tool will check the disk for errors and then attempt a repair as needed. It helps to verify and repair a range of issues related to startup HD and external drive problems. If you are able to fix the hard drive or SSD in your Mac (or an external drive) using Disk Utility you will hopefully be able to recover your files.

To run Fist Aid on an external hard drive:

  1. Open Disk Utility. You can searching for it using Spotlight Search or via Finder > Application > Utility
  2. Check on your external hard drive, click the First Aid tab and select Run to start running diagnostics.

If First Aid successful in fixing errors, the external drive should be available to mount. If the utility unable to repair issues, your drive truly is broken or formatted using a file system that the Mac cannot read - in this way we suggest you follow the next steps to recover data from a damaged disk drive.

How to recover data from a crashed drive

Thankfully, there is an app for that. Disk Drill is the world's premier data recovery software for Mac OS X. Powerful enough to retrieve long-lost, mistakenly deleted files from Macs, external hard drives and USB drives and camera cards.

Get a file recovery app

Mac Os X External Hard Drive

With Setapp you get a pack of professional tools for file recovery and Mac maintenance.

An easy way to recover lost files on an external hard drive

Providing you already have Disk Drill Pro version, which you can get automatically by downloading from Setapp:

  1. Connect your drive to the Mac.
  2. Quit all other applications on the Mac, especially those that may be trying to access the external drive (e.g. iPhoto, Words)
  3. Launch Disk Drill.
  4. Click on the external drive that you are trying to recover files from. If it has partitions, you will see all of them. If, however, you still don't see any volume to the external drive then you may need to try some of the steps above again or read the Disk Drill Scanning FAQs.
  5. To avoid the external drive being accessed during the recovery process, click Extras next to the drive or drive partition or file, then select Remount Volume As Read Only. A padlock will appear, protecting the drive during the process.
  6. Now click Rebuild (or Recover) next to the file(s) you are trying to recover. Once the scan is finished - it may take some time if the files are large - a list of files will appeal.
  7. Next, click Mount Found Items as Disk button on the bottom-left below the scan results.
  8. Disk Drill 'strongly suggest saving the files to a different drive than the one you are trying to recover files from. Saving to the same drive substantially lowers your chances of recovery.'
  9. A drive icon will appear, which once you double click will give you the option to open the files as you would do before they were lost. Drag them to another location, such as your desktop or a folder on your Mac.
  10. Open the files to ensure they have been recovered properly and safely eject the external drive.

Internal Os Vs External Os

Disk Drill does have other ways to recover lost files but assuming there aren't complications, this method is the most effective. Disk Drill Pro recovery app is available from Setapp, along with dozens of Mac apps that will make your life easier. Never have to worry about a crashed or corrupted external drive again.

A few more tips on getting your files back

  1. Macs and third-party apps that look after Macs, such as Disk Drill and iStat Menus come with a S.M.A.R.T. (also known as Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status monitor. If a SMART check reports errors, then it could mean the hard drive is at risk of failing completely. Within Disk Utility and Disk Drill, there are several solutions for this: Repair Disk Permissions and Repair Disk. If neither work, it's recommended that you backup all of the data from the disk, erase, then run a SMART check again. The external hard drive should show up as Verified.
  2. Partitions can get lost within hard drives, temporarily hiding all of the information contained within. Disk Drill can help to identify and restore this information.
  3. Within Disk Drill, you can restore data when a hard drive is damaged or add formatting, which is also something Disk Utility can help with.
  4. CleanMyMac, another useful app available from Setapp, can help you identify external hard drive errors and repair them. It is an essential tool worth trying when you're having external hard drive difficulties.

Try all these apps for free

Best external hard drive
Drive Key Metrics Evaluation DriveDx calculates various ratings of the current status of key drive characteristics (percent values):
  • SSD lifetime left indicator (in case of an SSD drive)
Thanks to these features, users can now have a fuller and better understanding of the current state of their drive.
Drive Free Space Monitoring Mac OS X and applications might fail due to an inability to allocate storage space. In addition, low disk space might cause disk fragmentation. To avoid data loss and to ensure the continuous functioning of your computer it is important to monitor the amount of available storage space on your drive. DriveDx can automatically monitor free disk space and will alert user immediately if user defined free space threshold exceeded. Learn more
DriveDx will protect you from data loss and downtime!
Get a data lifeguard for Mac
Disk Drill brings deleted files back from the dead.

Most of the time, when you connect an external hard drive to your Mac's USB port, you soon see it mount on the desktop. Apple likes to ensure these are easy to find, so they also appear in the Finder in the left-hand column under Devices, since Mac's treat them the same way as another computer.

However, sometimes, an external hard drive doesn't show up. It's annoying, especially when you need to transfer something right then. And besides, there can be a risk that data on the external USB pen, hard, or flash drive is corrupt, which means you can't transfer what you need between devices at all.

Corrupt data can be one reason your Mac won't recognize an external drive, but there are other reasons too. Let's take a look why this is happening and how you can get an external drive to appear on your Mac and get recover data to access to your documents.

How to fix an external disk drive that won't show up on a Mac

Why an external disk drive is not showing up? There could be a few reasons why a USB flash drive isn't making an appearance.

Open an External Drive Not Showing on Mac

Get a huge set of top utilities for troubleshooting external hard drives not mounting on a Mac

Start with the basics:

  1. Check whether the drive is properly plugged in. It sounds obvious, but since this relies on a wire - either a USB cable or HDMI cable - if it's not connected properly then it won't appear on your desktop.
  2. Faulty cable. Assuming it's plugged in correctly, not wobbly or loose, the cable could be at fault. Try connecting the same device with a different cable.
  3. Damaged USB or flash drive port. It could be a hardware issue with the Mac. If you've got another port, try connecting the device to that one.
  4. Reboot your Mac. Sometimes, if a USB disk won't boot, the cause is macOS issue. Hopefully, some data damage that can be fixed by restarting. Choose the Apple menu > Restart. Or press and hold the power button and, when a dialog box appears, click the Restart or press R. Restarting your Mac essentially clears your macOS's memory and starts it up fresh.
  5. Incorrectly formatted drive. Not every external drive is optimized for Macs. It could be that you are trying to connect something only fit to interact with Windows devices. If you've got a PC or laptop, it's worth connecting and seeing if you can access the files through another device. The best way to look for an incorrectly formatted drive is to go to
    Apple (in the top toolbar menu) > About This Mac > Storage.
    See if the external drive shows up here. For more information, go to the same menu option, then select System Report.
  6. Mac not formatted to display external drives on the desktop. It could be that your Mac already recognizes the device, but just isn't showing its icon on the desktop screen. Even if that is the case, the drive will still appear in the left-hand column of the Finder menu under Devices. You should be able to access your drive that way, and, in the Finder menu under Preferences > General, you can check External Drives to ensure that from now on it shows up on your desktop too.
  7. Reset NVRAM. To do this, shut down or restart your Mac, switch it back on and immediately press these four keys together for at least 20 seconds: Option, Command, P, and R. It should look as though your Mac has started again; if it has, release the keys when you hear the second startup chime. Hopefully, the hard drive has shown up now.
  8. Check Apple's Disk Utility to see if an external drive is showing up. Disk Utility is within System Preferences, or you can find it using Spotlight. If it is visible, then click the option to Mount, which should make it visible on the desktop and in the External Drives option in the Finder menu.

Unfortunately, if none of those options has worked and the external drive still isn't visible, then it could have crashed, or be well and truly broken. But there might still be a way you can recover the data on the external drive.

How to show connected devices in Finder

  1. Go to the Finder menu and select Preferences (Cmd+comma).
  2. From General tab tick External disks to ensure that from now on it shows on the desktop.

In the Sidebar tab you can choose which folders and devices will be shown in the left-hand column of the Finder window.

How to add cloud storages to Finder

You can also mount cloud storage as local drive on your Mac. By connecting Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon to your computer, you get more space for securely accessing and sharing files. For your ease, add cloud drives to Finder with CloudMounter app, so that you keep them close at hand. You can read detailed instructions on managing cloud storage as local drives here.

Repair the failed external drives with First Aid

If your drive is having problems, you can try to fix them yourself with First Aid and therefore get access to your files. First Aid tool will check the disk for errors and then attempt a repair as needed. It helps to verify and repair a range of issues related to startup HD and external drive problems. If you are able to fix the hard drive or SSD in your Mac (or an external drive) using Disk Utility you will hopefully be able to recover your files.

To run Fist Aid on an external hard drive:

  1. Open Disk Utility. You can searching for it using Spotlight Search or via Finder > Application > Utility
  2. Check on your external hard drive, click the First Aid tab and select Run to start running diagnostics.

If First Aid successful in fixing errors, the external drive should be available to mount. If the utility unable to repair issues, your drive truly is broken or formatted using a file system that the Mac cannot read - in this way we suggest you follow the next steps to recover data from a damaged disk drive.

How to recover data from a crashed drive

Thankfully, there is an app for that. Disk Drill is the world's premier data recovery software for Mac OS X. Powerful enough to retrieve long-lost, mistakenly deleted files from Macs, external hard drives and USB drives and camera cards.

Get a file recovery app

Mac Os X External Hard Drive

With Setapp you get a pack of professional tools for file recovery and Mac maintenance.

An easy way to recover lost files on an external hard drive

Providing you already have Disk Drill Pro version, which you can get automatically by downloading from Setapp:

  1. Connect your drive to the Mac.
  2. Quit all other applications on the Mac, especially those that may be trying to access the external drive (e.g. iPhoto, Words)
  3. Launch Disk Drill.
  4. Click on the external drive that you are trying to recover files from. If it has partitions, you will see all of them. If, however, you still don't see any volume to the external drive then you may need to try some of the steps above again or read the Disk Drill Scanning FAQs.
  5. To avoid the external drive being accessed during the recovery process, click Extras next to the drive or drive partition or file, then select Remount Volume As Read Only. A padlock will appear, protecting the drive during the process.
  6. Now click Rebuild (or Recover) next to the file(s) you are trying to recover. Once the scan is finished - it may take some time if the files are large - a list of files will appeal.
  7. Next, click Mount Found Items as Disk button on the bottom-left below the scan results.
  8. Disk Drill 'strongly suggest saving the files to a different drive than the one you are trying to recover files from. Saving to the same drive substantially lowers your chances of recovery.'
  9. A drive icon will appear, which once you double click will give you the option to open the files as you would do before they were lost. Drag them to another location, such as your desktop or a folder on your Mac.
  10. Open the files to ensure they have been recovered properly and safely eject the external drive.

Internal Os Vs External Os

Disk Drill does have other ways to recover lost files but assuming there aren't complications, this method is the most effective. Disk Drill Pro recovery app is available from Setapp, along with dozens of Mac apps that will make your life easier. Never have to worry about a crashed or corrupted external drive again.

A few more tips on getting your files back

  1. Macs and third-party apps that look after Macs, such as Disk Drill and iStat Menus come with a S.M.A.R.T. (also known as Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status monitor. If a SMART check reports errors, then it could mean the hard drive is at risk of failing completely. Within Disk Utility and Disk Drill, there are several solutions for this: Repair Disk Permissions and Repair Disk. If neither work, it's recommended that you backup all of the data from the disk, erase, then run a SMART check again. The external hard drive should show up as Verified.
  2. Partitions can get lost within hard drives, temporarily hiding all of the information contained within. Disk Drill can help to identify and restore this information.
  3. Within Disk Drill, you can restore data when a hard drive is damaged or add formatting, which is also something Disk Utility can help with.
  4. CleanMyMac, another useful app available from Setapp, can help you identify external hard drive errors and repair them. It is an essential tool worth trying when you're having external hard drive difficulties.

Try all these apps for free

Get a huge set of top apps for keeping your Mac in shape. Best utilities in one pack, give it a go!

Alternative ways to recover data from an external hard drive

Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) if your Mac shuts down when you plug in an external hard drive. Then use a different port to connect the external hard drive. If you've got a battery that you can't remove:

  • Shut down and unplug the power adapter
  • Press Shift-Control-Option and the power button at the same time. Do this for 10 seconds
  • Release all keys
  • Plug the power adapter back in and switch your Mac back on

For Macs with removable batteries, you need to switch them off, remove the battery, then press and hold the power button for 5 seconds. After that, put the battery back in, plug in the power adapter and switch the power on again.

External Hard Drive Best Buy

What's your file format? One reason your Mac isn't recognizing the hard drive is the file format. Windows uses NTFS file formats, while Macs, up until the introduction of Sierra, have used HFS+. Now, Apple has introduced the Apple File System (APFS) for newer operating systems. It is possible to format a hard drive so it can be read on Mac and Windows computers, providing you format using exFAT. However, if you're having problems accessing the files and the issue is due to formatting, you will need to connect it to a device it can be read on, and then format the files correctly for the computer you are going to use it on next.

Osx External Hard Drive Format

How to make Ext2/Ext3 drives readable on Mac

The common issue is Ext2- and Ext3-formatted drives are not readable on macOS. There are two ways to access such external drives on your Mac – via Linux OS or FUSE system. The easiest would be installing Linux to a secondary drive or virtual machine.

If you go with Linux installation, dual boot your Mac with Linux on another drive and use FAT32 as a transfer intermediary. If you don't have a drive to install Linux to, use virtual machine as an interface for it. Transferring can be done the same way – with FAT32, or via network. New version google chrome free download windows xp.

Another option for reading Ext2/Ext3 disks is mounting disk with Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE). Basically, it works as an extra interface enabling file system access via specially installed modules. Here's how to mount drives with FUSE:

  1. Install FUSE for macOS or MacFUSE as well as fuse-ext2 module.
  2. Use the following Terminal command to enable Disk Utility's debug menu and see all partitions: defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1
  3. Attach your Ext2/Ext3 drive and locate the device name via Disk Utility.
  4. In your user account, create a folder to be used as a mount point.
  5. Use the following Terminal command to mount the drive as read-only: fuse-ext2 /dev/disk2s2 /Volumes/mountpoint
  6. For write support, use the command: fuse-ext2 -o force /dev/disk2s2 /Volumes/mountpoint

And that's not the only case where Terminal helps you access external drive.

Employ the handy all-powerful Terminal, which always comes forward with solutions for difficult problems. Especially if System Information does recognize the USB or hard drive, but continues to hide it from you, disconnect the drive and try to find it using the Terminal, which you can find in Applications > Utilities.

  • Once in the Terminal, type in the command diskutil list
  • A list with information about volumes and drives should appear
  • Look for a section labelled /dev/disk_ (external, physical)
  • Make a note of the whole line after the word disk
  • Now put the following command into the Terminal diskutil info disk followed by the number or digits assigned to that disk
  • Now you should see detailed information about the drive, therefore confirming that your Mac can and does recognize it
  • Eject using the Terminal by entering the command diskutil eject disk followed by the number or digits assigned to that disk
  • Physically remove the disk from you Mac
  • Plug it back in and your Mac should recognize it

Console is also reliable when it comes to solving tricky problems, although it isn't always that easy to use. You can find Console under Applications > Utilities > Console. Console shows if an external drive or any error is detected under the Errors and Faults tab. If no errors show up, then the problem is not caused by the device.

To sum up, there are lots of potential solutions for a Mac not reading an external hard drive. If we were to pick one, Disk Drill seems to be the most well-rounded, offering plenty of customizations and power in an easy-to-use interface. Disk Drill Pro recovery app is available via Setapp, along with 150+ Mac apps that strive to make your life much much easier. At the very least, you'll never have to worry about a crashed or corrupted external drive ever again.

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