External HD Woes

[rontheancient]

I just got a 80GB Western Digital Passport Portable as a hand-me-down from my dad, but my Powerbook didnt recognize it once I plugged it in. I formatted it back to the factory FAT32 format with the WD software, but the disk still wont show up. I also tried Disk Utility both from the install disk and the OS to see if the HD was recognized, but no luck. The wierd thing is that the specs on WD's site list this HD as Mac friendly. Can anyone chime in and point me in the right direction? Thanks.

 

[Leareth]

OK I am going to assume you are using os x on your PB.

I have had the same problem with the Digital Passport ones on 10.3 and 10.4 but they did work on 10.2, oh and once I put them in a powered port too.

I can't really help you but just sharing that you are not the only one.

 

[rontheancient]

OK I am going to assume you are using os x on your PB.

Why would anyone in their right mind be using OS 9 and below? Especially now?

Thanks for the input, I followed this article on WD's site, but still no results.

Article

 

[Leareth]

I had a similar problem and suggested solution with the LaCie tiny drives I forgot what they are called, I got one and only one to be regonized after 30 minutes of being connected,

Have you tried rebooting the system with the HD connected?

 

[Leareth]

Why would anyone in their right mind be using OS 9 and below? Especially now?

I wasn't sure which PB your are refering to... I was playing with a G3 one today so its fresh in my mind even thought I have a G4 PB

 

[rontheancient]

Have you tried rebooting the system with the HD connected?

No luck on the reboot, I will leave it connected overnight and see what happens.

 

[Jeonat]

I just bought one of those WD Passport 80Gb drives. Works fine on my Macbook but on the Mini the drive clicks repeatedly and refuses to mount. Disk utility on the Macbook reports no problem and I can read and write gigs of data to and from it with no problems, so I'm assuming it's not a faulty drive.

I remember reading something in the manual - about plugging it into powered USB hubs (which I am doing on the Mini), unfortunately I have lost the manual so I will try a regular port when I can negotiate the cable spaghetti.

 

[iMeowbot]

There may be an incompatibility problem with recent WD external drives.

See here. It may be coincidence, but it's still interesting, especially where Jeonat above is having trouble too.

 

[rontheancient]

I just bought one of those WD Passport 80Gb drives. Works fine on my Macbook but on the Mini the drive clicks repeatedly and refuses to mount. Disk utility on the Macbook reports no problem and I can read and write gigs of data to and from it with no problems, so I'm assuming it's not a faulty drive.

I remember reading something in the manual - about plugging it into powered USB hubs (which I am doing on the Mini), unfortunately I have lost the manual so I will try a regular port when I can negotiate the cable spaghetti.

I just found a similar issue from CNET...

Pros:
Works on usb 1.1 ports

Cons:
doesnt work on many 2.0 ports

Full user opinion
I bought one of these yesterday for $110 and thought I was getting a steal. I ended up taking it back the same day.

This drive did NOT work on my g4 powerbook, my sony vaio and a hitachi laptop using usb 2.0 ports. The problem is that it draws about 1000mA of current, way over the 500mA power limit specified by the usb 2.0 standard, now used by most laptop makers.

It DID work on an apple emac desktop and an old dell inspiron laptop, but these were using the usb 1.1 port standard, which upped the current.

Going back to looking at firewire drives!

So I looks like your mini and my Powerbook dont supply enough power to the drive, which is odd since the mini is a desktop powered by a wall outlet and my Powerbook has USB 2.0

 

[Jeonat]

Just tried it again and it mounts when plugged into a direct USB port on the Mini as opposed to through a hub. But it won't mount connected to a hub - powered or non-powered.