Cannot access my external HDD

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 09:48 AM

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum, but if someone could help me with this I would be so grateful. Yesterday I was working with my external HDD (Western Digital, 250GB, USB 2.0), when my Macbook (running OS 10.5.6) froze and restarted. Normally I can access the HDD through the orange icon that appears on my Desktop and in Finder, but it is no longer there.

I checked Disk Utility, System Profiler, and USB Prober - and they all appear to recognize a Mass Storage Device. In Disk Utility, I am not able to "mount" (I'm assuming because the drive is mounted) but when I click "eject" I get the following message: "Eject Failed. The disk “WDC WD25 00JB-00GVA0 Media” could not be unmounted. Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk." As far as I know, I'm not using anything from this drive.

I have checked the /Volumes/ folder, and there is nothing but the HDD of my Macbook.

I have a lot of data on this drive that I really need, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hayne · 03-02-2009, 01:13 PM

See if the following macosxhints article helps:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...80615071312194

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 02:22 PM

Hi hayne,

Thanks so much for the reply. I tried all of the suggestions on that page with no luck. Running lsof | grep returns nothing and running lsof +D /Volumes/[Name] says that no such file or directory exists. I've also downloaded Sloth, and there are a bunch of things running, but none appear to be using my external drive.

If you have any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate the help.

hayne · 03-02-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaudeal


	running lsof +D /Volumes/[Name] says that no such file or directory exists.

Since there seem to be spaces in the name of your drive, you need to enclose the path inside quotes:
lsof +D "/Volumes/WDC WD25 00JB-00GVA0 Media"

And please don't tell us about the results of commands like this - instead show us by copy/pasting the whole contents of the Terminal window back here so we can see.

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 04:02 PM

Sorry about that. Here are the results:

Quote:


	Alex$ lsof +D "/Volumes/WDC WD25 00JB-00GVA0 Media" lsof: WARNING: can't stat(/Volumes/WDC WD25 00JB-00GVA0 Media): No such file or directory lsof 4.78 latest revision: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/ latest FAQ: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/FAQ latest man page: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/lsof_man usage: [-?abhlnNoOPRstUvV] [+\|-c c] [+\|-d s] [+D D] [+\|-f[cgG]] [-F [f]] [-g [s]] [-i [i]] [+\|-L [l]] [+\|-M] [-o [o]] [-p s] [+\|-r [t]] [-S [t]] [-T [t]] [-u s] [+\|-w] [-x [fl]] [--] [names] Use the ``-h'' option to get more help information.

I also tried using "/Volumes/ExternalHD" because ExternalHD is what I named the drive. Same result, though - I'll post it here just in case.

Quote:


	Alex$ lsof +D "/Volumes/ExternalHD" lsof: WARNING: can't stat(/Volumes/ExternalHD): No such file or directory lsof 4.78 latest revision: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/ latest FAQ: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/FAQ latest man page: ftp://lsof.itap.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/lsof/lsof_man usage: [-?abhlnNoOPRstUvV] [+\|-c c] [+\|-d s] [+D D] [+\|-f[cgG]] [-F [f]] [-g [s]] [-i [i]] [+\|-L [l]] [+\|-M] [-o [o]] [-p s] [+\|-r [t]] [-S [t]] [-T [t]] [-u s] [+\|-w] [-x [fl]] [--] [names] Use the ``-h'' option to get more help information.

hayne · 03-02-2009, 04:44 PM

It seems that there is no drive mounted with those names.
Please show us the results of the following commands:

ls -l /Volumes
df -h

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 04:56 PM

Here are the results of the ls -l /Volumes command:

Quote:


	Alex$ ls -l /Volumes total 8 lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin 1 Mar 2 10:17 Macintosh HD -> /

Here are the results of the df -h command:

Quote:


	Alex$ df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on /dev/disk0s2 149Gi 20Gi 128Gi 14% / devfs 108Ki 108Ki 0Bi 100% /dev fdesc 1.0Ki 1.0Ki 0Bi 100% /dev map -hosts 0Bi 0Bi 0Bi 100% /net map auto_home 0Bi 0Bi 0Bi 100% /home

Thanks so much for trying to help me with this, I really appreciate it.

hayne · 03-02-2009, 05:10 PM

So those commands confirm that you don't have any external drives mounted.

Let's go back to Disk Utility - do you see the external drive listed in Disk Utility?
If so, select it and then do "Repair Disk".

stewiesno1 · 03-02-2009, 05:16 PM

If you don't get any joy with Haynes excellent advice, I would suggest that the hard drive enclosure may be faulty and hopefully not the hard drive itself.
I'd look at getting another external box and transferring the hard drive in question into the new one so you can retrieve your data.
Is it also connected to AC power as well as through the USB cable?
Sometimes drives don't get quite enough power to run properly just off USB2.0 port supplied power.

Stewie

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 05:17 PM

The external drive is listed in the Disk Utility, but I am not able to click "Repair Disk" as it is greyed out. I have attached this picture for reference:

In regards to Stewie's question, the device is connected to an external AC power supply. I could look into purchasing a new enclosure (this one is a couple of years old, although not used moved / used too too much so it is in good condition) - would it be helpful to try it with Firewire instead of USB?

stewiesno1 · 03-02-2009, 05:27 PM

Yes definitely try connecting it by firewire and see if anything changes.
You could also try connecting it to your MB by another USB2 port and also using another known good cable to rule out those possibilities too.

Stewie

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 05:33 PM

Sorry if my question was misleading, but what I actually meant was - if I buy a new enclosure, should I get one that connects by Firewire as opposed to USB? This one only has a USB connection.

I have tried it in other USB ports on the MB, which produce the same results. I'll look to see if I can find another cable to rule out that possibility.

stewiesno1 · 03-02-2009, 06:16 PM

USB2.0 is generally slower, because it is 'host-based', and has a large CPU overhead. This allows for cheaper production of USB peripherals.

Firewire is 'peer-to-peer', and the hardware itself takes care of the processing, which makes it faster than USB. However, this means it costs more to produce Firewire peripherals.

USB is generally better for basic peripherals, but for any kind of data or multimedia intensive stuff, Firewire wins.
Read: http://www.directron.com/firewirevsusb.html

Also , is the existing drive PATA ( IDE ) or SATA ?
That will determine also what kind of box you buy as some are PATA inside while the newer ones are SATA only.
Here is a good guide.
External Drives for Dummies
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/20/4100...s-dummies.html
The link may be to what we can buy in Australia but most if not all these are made in Taiwan, China, Korea etc and probably no different to ones you can buy in the US or EU.

I don't know your particular external enclosure but if it is WD Mybook Home Edition , there is a firmware update for Mac users that fixes a few bugs.
http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...sid=59&lang=en

Cheers, Stewie

beaudeal · 03-02-2009, 06:33 PM

Thanks for all of the information! If it gets to the point where I need to order a new enclosure, I'm sure I'll be all set... I've checked and its IDE, not SATA, so I'll be sure to check on that before I purchase.

In the mean time, is there anything else I can try, or do you think that is my next move?

stewiesno1 · 03-02-2009, 06:41 PM

If it is not showing up at all via all the methods described above then I would say there are hardware problems with the drive or enclosure.
Either that or there is a problem with your MB not seeing the drive.
Do you have another Mac you could try hitching this up to just to rule problems with your MacBooks USB port for instance.

Stewie

beaudeal · 03-03-2009, 09:48 AM

I have tried doing all of the above steps via the Terminal on my iMac (running OS 10.4.11) and I get the same result, except that now Disk Utility and System Profiler (when trying to view USB) are freezing up.

Any other ideas?

beaudeal · 03-03-2009, 03:06 PM

I called around today and the only place that carried external enclosures was RadioShack, so I picked up the only IDE model they had, which connects by USB 2.0. Unfortunately, I have tried this enclosure and I get the same exact results. I'm really not sure what to do at this point, but I'm hoping someone will have some more suggestions.

beaudeal · 03-09-2009, 10:20 PM

I just wanted to leave one last update and say that I finally recovered some of the data. After some help from forum members and speaking to a few friends, I determined that the file system was corrupted on my drive. Things like Disk Warrior were not working, as they froze up when the drive was inserted. In somewhat of a last ditch effort, I decided to give it a spin with similar software on a Windows machine, and much to my amazement, it began finding data. After about 3 days worth of scanning, and another day or so of transferring to a new drive, I'm happy to say that I have most of the important and irreplaceable items back in my possession.

stewiesno1 · 03-10-2009, 06:09 AM

Ahhh , I love a happy ending, esp. Mac related ;-)

Stewie

03-02-2009, 09:48 AM	#1
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	Cannot access my external HDD Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forum, but if someone could help me with this I would be so grateful. Yesterday I was working with my external HDD (Western Digital, 250GB, USB 2.0), when my Macbook (running OS 10.5.6) froze and restarted. Normally I can access the HDD through the orange icon that appears on my Desktop and in Finder, but it is no longer there. I checked Disk Utility, System Profiler, and USB Prober - and they all appear to recognize a Mass Storage Device. In Disk Utility, I am not able to "mount" (I'm assuming because the drive is mounted) but when I click "eject" I get the following message: "Eject Failed. The disk “WDC WD25 00JB-00GVA0 Media” could not be unmounted. Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk." As far as I know, I'm not using anything from this drive. I have checked the /Volumes/ folder, and there is nothing but the HDD of my Macbook. I have a lot of data on this drive that I really need, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

03-02-2009, 01:13 PM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,940	See if the following macosxhints article helps: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...80615071312194 __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

03-02-2009, 04:44 PM	#6
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,940	It seems that there is no drive mounted with those names. Please show us the results of the following commands: ls -l /Volumes df -h __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

03-02-2009, 05:10 PM	#8
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,940	So those commands confirm that you don't have any external drives mounted. Let's go back to Disk Utility - do you see the external drive listed in Disk Utility? If so, select it and then do "Repair Disk". __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

03-02-2009, 05:17 PM	#10
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	The external drive is listed in the Disk Utility, but I am not able to click "Repair Disk" as it is greyed out. I have attached this picture for reference: In regards to Stewie's question, the device is connected to an external AC power supply. I could look into purchasing a new enclosure (this one is a couple of years old, although not used moved / used too too much so it is in good condition) - would it be helpful to try it with Firewire instead of USB? Last edited by beaudeal; 03-02-2009 at 05:20 PM. Reason: Wanted to respond to another post which I had not previously seen.

03-02-2009, 02:22 PM	#3
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	Hi hayne, Thanks so much for the reply. I tried all of the suggestions on that page with no luck. Running lsof \| grep returns nothing and running lsof +D /Volumes/[Name] says that no such file or directory exists. I've also downloaded Sloth, and there are a bunch of things running, but none appear to be using my external drive. If you have any other suggestions, I'd really appreciate the help.

03-02-2009, 05:16 PM	#9
stewiesno1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 419	If you don't get any joy with Haynes excellent advice, I would suggest that the hard drive enclosure may be faulty and hopefully not the hard drive itself. I'd look at getting another external box and transferring the hard drive in question into the new one so you can retrieve your data. Is it also connected to AC power as well as through the USB cable? Sometimes drives don't get quite enough power to run properly just off USB2.0 port supplied power. Stewie

03-02-2009, 05:27 PM	#11
stewiesno1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 419	Yes definitely try connecting it by firewire and see if anything changes. You could also try connecting it to your MB by another USB2 port and also using another known good cable to rule out those possibilities too. Stewie

03-02-2009, 05:33 PM	#12
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	Sorry if my question was misleading, but what I actually meant was - if I buy a new enclosure, should I get one that connects by Firewire as opposed to USB? This one only has a USB connection. I have tried it in other USB ports on the MB, which produce the same results. I'll look to see if I can find another cable to rule out that possibility.

03-02-2009, 06:16 PM	#13
stewiesno1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 419	USB2.0 is generally slower, because it is 'host-based', and has a large CPU overhead. This allows for cheaper production of USB peripherals. Firewire is 'peer-to-peer', and the hardware itself takes care of the processing, which makes it faster than USB. However, this means it costs more to produce Firewire peripherals. USB is generally better for basic peripherals, but for any kind of data or multimedia intensive stuff, Firewire wins. Read: http://www.directron.com/firewirevsusb.html Also , is the existing drive PATA ( IDE ) or SATA ? That will determine also what kind of box you buy as some are PATA inside while the newer ones are SATA only. Here is a good guide. External Drives for Dummies http://forums.mactalk.com.au/20/4100...s-dummies.html The link may be to what we can buy in Australia but most if not all these are made in Taiwan, China, Korea etc and probably no different to ones you can buy in the US or EU. I don't know your particular external enclosure but if it is WD Mybook Home Edition , there is a firmware update for Mac users that fixes a few bugs. http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...sid=59&lang=en Cheers, Stewie Last edited by stewiesno1; 03-02-2009 at 06:35 PM. Reason: Typos

03-02-2009, 06:33 PM	#14
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	Thanks for all of the information! If it gets to the point where I need to order a new enclosure, I'm sure I'll be all set... I've checked and its IDE, not SATA, so I'll be sure to check on that before I purchase. In the mean time, is there anything else I can try, or do you think that is my next move?

03-02-2009, 06:41 PM	#15
stewiesno1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 419	If it is not showing up at all via all the methods described above then I would say there are hardware problems with the drive or enclosure. Either that or there is a problem with your MB not seeing the drive. Do you have another Mac you could try hitching this up to just to rule problems with your MacBooks USB port for instance. Stewie

03-03-2009, 09:48 AM	#16
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	I have tried doing all of the above steps via the Terminal on my iMac (running OS 10.4.11) and I get the same result, except that now Disk Utility and System Profiler (when trying to view USB) are freezing up. Any other ideas?

03-03-2009, 03:06 PM	#17
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	I called around today and the only place that carried external enclosures was RadioShack, so I picked up the only IDE model they had, which connects by USB 2.0. Unfortunately, I have tried this enclosure and I get the same exact results. I'm really not sure what to do at this point, but I'm hoping someone will have some more suggestions.

03-09-2009, 10:20 PM	#18
beaudeal Prospect Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14	I just wanted to leave one last update and say that I finally recovered some of the data. After some help from forum members and speaking to a few friends, I determined that the file system was corrupted on my drive. Things like Disk Warrior were not working, as they froze up when the drive was inserted. In somewhat of a last ditch effort, I decided to give it a spin with similar software on a Windows machine, and much to my amazement, it began finding data. After about 3 days worth of scanning, and another day or so of transferring to a new drive, I'm happy to say that I have most of the important and irreplaceable items back in my possession.

03-10-2009, 06:09 AM	#19
stewiesno1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 419	Ahhh , I love a happy ending, esp. Mac related ;-) Stewie

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