2.4 20" iMac w/ external HD problems

[killerrobot]

I just bought a new iMac -stock config- and it cannot mount my 300 GB Maxtor One Touch External HD (yes it has its own power source).
I had the same problem with my 2.33 MBP when I installed the 10.4.10 update and after several months of not having access to my external I found this thread which actually had a solution that worked and my external and MBP became happy friends again.
I've tried the same thing on my iMac only to realize that it won't let me change any of the files because it's post 10.4.9. When that failed, I searched and found this idea http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070628092633507
but it and everything else suggested doesn't work either.
Frustrated I called Applecare, and after telling me to do the most obvious things which I started off doing (DiskUtility -pointless because it doesn't mount-, boot from install disk - pointless because it doesn't mount, etc.) and after 45 minutes of them saying "well, um, oh, let me ask my supervisor" they ended up telling me I'd have to take it to the Genius Bar.
At the moment, my only solution is to share it through my MBP, but when the MBP is being used elsewhere, there is no way to do it. I'd rather just return my 2 day old iMac than hand over my external (which I know they will wipe because they'll blame it as the culprit of everything) and my iMac for a problem they won't be able to solve because I think this goes way over the Genius' heads.
So with all that said, can anyone on this forum (madjew I want at least a funny reply) help before I return my iMac and never buy another Mac for the rest of my life.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mad jew]

Okay. A nose walked into a bar and asked for a drink. The barman turned to him and said "no, clearly you're off your face".

Sorry, that was pretty bad. Disk Utility can recognise unmounted drives. The fact the disk isn't showing up at all in Disk Utility means it's not even recognised, let alone mounted, which is a little worrying. I know you've been asked the obvious questions, but I have a few more if you'd just humour me. Sorry if we go over old ground.

• Do you have any other peripherals plugged into the iMac?
• Does it spin up when it's connected to your iMac, as if it recognises there's a computer plugged in? Or does it simply not react when connected?
• If you have Boot Camp, have you tried it in Windows?

 

[nissan.gtp]

I had a similar problem with my iMac and an external drive

they this:

reset power management -- shutdown computer, unplug ALL CABLES, wait 15 seconds or more, plug power cable back in, then kbd and mouse. boot.

reseting PRAM is a good idea as well

 

[Sun Baked]

Funny, I've have the same machine.

And I haven't had a problem with the Maxtor 320GB or the cheap CompUSA external combo drive case.

 

[killerrobot]

@Madjew
Thanks for the joke. Now some replies,

• have the external, kboard andmouse plugged in
• yes it completely spins up (if its plugged in while restarting, the iMac tries to use it as the boot drive, but will never see it again)
• No, staying away from bootcamp, plus its HFS+ formatted, but my MBP has no problems mounting it

@nissan
Thanks for the ideas as well, I've tried doing them all several times as well.

@Sun Baked
Does you have a One Touch USB 2.0, a One Touch II, One Touch III or One Touch IV?

As of this moment I just have mounted it on the MBP, and will just transfer files over the home network.
I believe it has to do with the .kext files still - I hope Apple fixes it sometime-I filed a bug report so we'll see if anything comes of it, but I doubt it since they are medal to the pedal on Leopard now.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jnash]

is the drive in ntfs format? If so thats your problem when I was new to mac's and I had an external 500 GIG Lacie drive it would see the drive but I couldnt see crap on there after going threw all the crap you are I backed up the data to another drive formated it to fat32 and booyahh it worked

 

[scaredpoet]

is the drive in ntfs format? If so thats your problem

No, the OP has said the drive is HFS+ formatted. besides, OS X can still mount and read from an NTFS drive (I do it all the time). You just can't write to NTFS volumes.

 

[Sun Baked]

@Sun Baked
Does you have a One Touch USB 2.0, a One Touch II, One Touch III or One Touch IV?

Just a plain jane Maxtor 320GB Personal Storage Device with USB2.

But neither that or the cheap case have cause any issues, both are always connected, sleep when possible, and turned off when not in use.

 

[jnash]

No, the OP has said the drive is HFS+ formatted. besides, OS X can still mount and read from an NTFS drive (I do it all the time). You just can't write to NTFS volumes.

Hmm doesnt work for me and my 500 GIG NTFS Lacie.. pm me with any tips please