trouble with external firewire drive

[excalibur313]

I bought a barracuda internal drive and a external case for it and it seemed to be working fine but all of a sudden OS X doesn't recognize it. It has a firewire connection and the blue light is on the case like normal. I tried using a USB 2.0 connection too and the external hard drive whirrs a little but it doesn't see that either. It doesn't show up in disk utility either. What steps should I take to try and troubleshoot this?
Thanks for your help!

 

[motherduce]

I bought a barracuda internal drive and a external case for it and it seemed to be working fine but all of a sudden OS X doesn't recognize it. It has a firewire connection and the blue light is on the case like normal. I tried using a USB 2.0 connection too and the external hard drive whirrs a little but it doesn't see that either. It doesn't show up in disk utility either. What steps should I take to try and troubleshoot this?
Thanks for your help!

I am having the exact same problem. It worked 2-3 weeks ago, now it doesn't. Does it have something to do with 10.4.4 maybe?

Anyone on here know?

 

[dkozi]

i am assuming the only change both of you have done to your computers are os updates? if so then that is likely the problem.
one way to check is to go into system profiler and see if the drive is being recognized under the firewire bus. if not all it will read is something like 'maximum speed: 400 mb/sec.
as with any os update, some changes will improve functionality, and some will not. as this most recent update is pretty intensive, it wouldn't surprise me if the developers missed a few things(read some of the problems some people are having with ilife 06).
i would first check with the drives manufacturers for firmware updates (you may need to apply them using a PC as most seem to be only available in that format. if that doesn't help there are numerous apps on the market to help trouble shoot/repair these types of problems, but if it truly is 10.4.4 related, they might not be up to date yet on working with the new protocols and structures.
one last thought, double check to see what position the jumper pin is set to on the drive itself. i too have an external case (firewire) with a maxtor hard drive within, and thus far no problems. but when i initially set it up it wouldn't register unless the jumper pin was set to master - same thing with my other external case and dvd burner. try changing positions and see if it gets recognized.

 

[iMeowbot]

Barracudas want more power than most drives. Make sure that the supplies on your enclosures are pumping out enough amps to feed them properly.

 

[giveup]

which firewire control chip shows in system profile?

 

[motherduce]

go into system profiler and see if the drive is being recognized under the firewire bus. if not all it will read is something like 'maximum speed: 400 mb/sec.

That's what I'm getting. I've tried both firewire and USB as well. Mine is a nice powered external enclosure, and like I said, it worked a few weeks ago, prior to the 10.4.4 update. Not sure why it would fail now.

Any other ideas? I really want to import my music, and will be getting iLife '06 in a day or two and want access to my photos.

 

[excalibur313]

The case is supposed to be high quality; CanadaRAM suggested that I buy that combination. I wasn't able to get the whole story but it is working now. I think that one of the cables was defective so it just stopped working but it was replaced (this was actually a friend's computer that I was trying to diagnose over the phone) Thanks for your help everyone!