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Mini not rebooting with USB3 Drive attached?

G

gpspad

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 4, 2014
698
47
I have a G-Drive External Powered USB3 Drive. When I connect the drive to my mac mini via USB3 the mini will not reboot. It will power on and off fine, but won't reboot.

I was having problems and did a complete restore from time machine, it didn't work. Then thought about what changed, unplugged the drive, then suddenly the mac would reboot again.

Is there a work around for this? Is having thunderbolt drives the only option?
 
The first thing I would do would be to visit the G-Drive website's support section and look for a firmware update for your external drive. The second thing I would do would be to consult the G-Drive's support documents and or support forums to see if this is a common issue (and if there is some sort of resolution). The third thing I would do would be to contact G-Drive technical support directly for assistance.

Note that there is a possibility that your particular unit is defective. G-Drive would have the diagnostic tools to determine this or you could try plugging into a different computer and see what happens.

I assume that this isn't an issue with other external USB3 disk drives because if it were, the forum should be flooded with hundreds of threads and this would be a major design flaw in whatever Mac mini model that you have (unfortunately something you did not bother to mention).

If all else fails, I suggest you return the G-Drive and purchase a similar drive from another manufacturer.

Good luck.
 
gpspad said:
I have a G-Drive External Powered USB3 Drive. When I connect the drive to my mac mini via USB3 the mini will not reboot. It will power on and off fine, but won't reboot.

I was having problems and did a complete restore from time machine, it didn't work. Then thought about what changed, unplugged the drive, then suddenly the mac would reboot again.

Is there a work around for this? Is having thunderbolt drives the only option?
Click to expand...
Ive Just ordered the 3 tb one is yours a new one ?. Might cancel
 
adamcarvell said:
Ive Just ordered the 3 tb one is yours a new one ?. Might cancel
Click to expand...

I got it off eBay, the idea was to use it as a drive on server to backup all the macs in the house with carbon cloner. I was using a time machine as the main backup, the 4TB drive to have another set of backups on the g drive.

Im not sure I'd spend the money for a new one. Its loud; has a very bright light, and as far as I can tell you can't replace the drives yourself. The first two are minimized because I have it in a cubby on the desk, but I am leaning towards an NAS I would have more control and i don't need speed for those two things.

I'll look for a firmware update, tech support is going to be touchy because i bought it second hand. Worse case I'll run it via the thunderbolt cable that works fine.

Or maybe a firewire800 cable with a thunderbolt to firewire adapter?
 
My original plan was to grab a 2011 mac mini that din't have USB3 for a good price and use it as a server. But i still needed storage. I'd use the thunderbolt connection, because I didn't need it for the display if was running headless.

After I won it on eBay and read the amazon reviews, I realized it wasn't the awesome external HD I thought. between the noise, lights, and HD failures it looks cooler than it really is. Things have changed and thunderbolt drives aren't cool like they used to be.

In the future, its a mac mini 2012 or bust for me just because of the USB3 ports.
 
gpspad said:
My original plan was to grab a 2011 mac mini that din't have USB3 for a good price and use it as a server. But i still needed storage. I'd use the thunderbolt connection, because I didn't need it for the display if was running headless.

After I won it on eBay and read the amazon reviews, I realized it wasn't the awesome external HD I thought. between the noise, lights, and HD failures it looks cooler than it really is. Things have changed and thunderbolt drives aren't cool like they used to be.

In the future, its a mac mini 2012 or bust for me just because of the USB3 ports.
Click to expand...
Might just buy a hd and dock then
 
You might try a power supply that supplies a little more juice. Sometimes manufacturers skimp on the wall wart amperage and that makes the drive too slow to spin up for the Mac's liking.
 
I have the same problem with a corsair voyager gt, it would cause the system (not just mini) being unable to find the right boot drive.
 
gpspad said:
I have a G-Drive External Powered USB3 Drive. When I connect the drive to my mac mini via USB3 the mini will not reboot. It will power on and off fine, but won't reboot.

I was having problems and did a complete restore from time machine, it didn't work. Then thought about what changed, unplugged the drive, then suddenly the mac would reboot again.

Is there a work around for this? Is having thunderbolt drives the only option?
Click to expand...
did you manage to sort your problem out ?.
 
I didn't get a chance to call them, i downloaded a firmware updater, but when it said make sure your "firewire is attached" I didn't want to take a chance. I setup a mac mini server and been caught up in that and moving iTunes files.

Ill try calling Thursday, I'd like to get the thunderbolt port back for other things. There is even mention of making a dongle so you use the graphics processor for some programs that use it even if you don't have a monitor attached.
 
adamcarvell said:
which model was it btw still haven't cancelled mine yet but no sigh of delivery
Click to expand...

It was a 4tb thunderbolt and usb3 gdrive.

Big mistake I made was not getting a thunderbolt that had two ports so you chain them.
 
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