# EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE NOT MOUNTING - URGENT HELP REQUIRED



## pepoman

Dear All,

I bought a Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II less than six months ago for my Mac. I have been using it as a back-up drive where I stored most of my files. From time to time, the drive was not mounting, but after changing cables, reset the computer, etc. the drive connected again.

A few weeks back the drive stop mounting. Now is not mounting at all.

My system is a Mac book pro 17' with Snow leopard. 

This is the Situation:
-When I connect the drive to the Mac I can see it in diskutility as "not mounted".
-If I manually try to mount it, it will time-out and not mount. 
-if I try to run "verify disk" it will fail to verify and say that the disk needs to be repaired
-if I try to repair it, it will start the process and then give me an error saying that the drive can not be repair and that I should backup all my data and reformat the drive
---
What I have done:
-I took out each of the drives and connected them to an external SATA enclosure (one at a time). However, the enclosure was unable to be recognized by the mac. Not sure if it was an enclosure or hard drive problem
-I have emailed several times WD, but they are not providing any solution, in there last email they said:
"You can dismantle the enclosure, take one drive at a time and plug them directly to the computer through SATA. In this case, you might be able to access your drive's content that way. They should show up normally as HFS. For more information, please refer to the article provided below."
Not sure what this mean and how I need to do the connection...
----
Thus, can anyone help me on what I need to do to access my files? I have more than 500G of data that I need to recover before formatting the drive. 

THANKS

Pepo


----------



## M107A1

Have you tried putting it in a pc instead of a Mac. Try USB go into device manager and look for it there if it doesn't pop up you prbly have a dead drive


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

I tried before and is showing the device on a PC. However, the drive is formated for MAC...


----------



## M107A1

Are you able to access files in pc?


----------



## WizardGebbia

Sounds like the partition is damaged or did not properly format it. That happened to me. The other thing it could be is a faulty sata controller inside the mybook.


----------



## sinclair_tm

There is more then one drive in this enclosure? If so, then it may be setup in a RAID, thus you can not look at the files of the drives separately. You could try finding another of the same enclosures that it known to work, and swap out all the drives to see if it mounts. If so, then the enclosure is bad. If they don't mount, then the drives are bad, and only high dollar recovery services will get your data back.


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. I'm able to see the drive on a PC, in fact I followed WD advice running a test to try the drive using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. The drive passed the test, however when connected to a Mac still is not mounting.

The drive is composed by 2 hard drives, which are set on a RAID I think. 

What else I can do? fining a similar enclosure and set of drives and RAID doesn't look very feasible at this time,

Thanks!


----------



## Rickcec

Try resetting your PRAM if using Mac. Follow the following link.
Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
I bought a Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II less than six months ago for my Mac. I have been using it as a back-up drive where I stored most of my files. From time to time, the drive was not mounting, but after changing cables, reset the computer, etc. the drive connected again.

A few weeks back the drive stop mounting. Now is not mounting at all.

My system is a Mac book pro 17' with Snow leopard. 

This is the Situation:
-When I connect the drive to the Mac I can see it in diskutility as "not mounted".
-If I manually try to mount it, it will time-out and not mount. 
-if I try to run "verify disk" it will fail to verify and say that the disk needs to be repaired
-if I try to repair it, it will start the process and then give me an error saying that the drive can not be repair and that I should backup all my data and reformat the drive
---
What I have done:
-I took out each of the drives and connected them to an external SATA enclosure (one at a time). However, the enclosure was unable to be recognized by the mac. Not sure if it was an enclosure or hard drive problem
-I have emailed several times WD, but they are not providing any solution, in there last email they said:
"You can dismantle the enclosure, take one drive at a time and plug them directly to the computer through SATA. In this case, you might be able to access your drive's content that way. They should show up normally as HFS. For more information, please refer to the article provided below."
Not sure what this mean and how I need to do the connection...
----
Thus, can anyone help me on what I need to do to access my files? I have more than 500G of data that I need to recover before formatting the drive. 

THANKS

Pepo[/QUOTE]


----------



## Rickcec

Try resetting your macs pram. Following link on how to Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM


----------



## pepoman

Thanks for the advice. I have reset the PRAM but still not working. After I did, the Mac was able to recognize the drive, but unable to mount. What else I can do. I know that the data is still intact, but something is corrupted that doesn't allow me to access. Please help!

Thanks!!!


----------



## Rickcec

Something obviously wrong with that drive. This is what I would do. Copy on the files from external hd and place them on your desktop. Then I would format that drive in disk utility. Then select that drive again in time machine for regular backup. I had to this is recently myself something just went wrong with he drive.


----------



## CEM

Hi ;


Use the Disk Utility program, located within the "Utilities" section of the "Applications" menu on your Mac, to format an external drive. The Disk Utility program allows you to select from a range of file systems. If you only plan to use your drive on the Mac, you can select the "Apple Partition Map" option, but this will mean Windows computers cannot read the drive. Seagate provide detailed online information about completing the formatting process.


*Suggestion*


If you need to maintain compatibility between Windows and Mac, consider formatting your external drive using the FAT32 file system. Although FAT32 does not make as efficient use of the space available on your drive, it is compatible with both operating systems, which will allow you swap the drive between both Windows and Mac computers



Read more: Will a Seagate External Hard Drive Work for a Mac? | eHow.com Will a Seagate External Hard Drive Work for a Mac? | eHow.com


----------



## WizardGebbia

Make sure you make it a journaled file system.


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. However, I'm able to access or view any file. I'm not able to mount the disk. So, I need to do something to repair the disk first, before I even try to move the files.

Any idea how I can repair or access the files? as I said, the main issue is that the drive is not mounting.

Thanks again!


----------



## CEM

Hi ;

Please visit below link for your issue.

WD - Service & Support Home


----------



## sinclair_tm

Okay, lets make sure we have the facts correct. It's a WD external drive with two hard drives RAIDed together. The Mac sees it, but won't mount it. It is formatted for Mac. You've contacted WD and they have not been of much help.

Questions, have you run disk first aid in Disk Utility yet? Did you disconnect the drive from the Mac before ejecting it? Have you tried different USB port on the Mac, or the drive on a different Mac altogether?


----------



## pepoman

Hi, 

So this is the situation:
1. I have the WD MyBook Studio II (2GB), this is an enclosure of 2 HD of 1 GB
My Book Studio Edition II
2. The Drive come formatted for Mac. I re-formatted as MAC OS Extended Journaled
3. The drive worked alright for a few months. Then, started to have problems to mount.
4. Now, the drive is not mounting. When I run Disk Utility / Verify, it said that the drive needs to be repaired. If I try to run Disk Utility / Repair then after around 25 minutes the drive will get stuck and disconnect, so the Mac will no longer recognize it.
5. I have contacted WD, but they are completely useless. They are advising me to replace the drive, which I can't do as I need to recover my data first. 
6. I need to access my data to backup and then be able to re-format the drive. 

Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## WizardGebbia

Are you using the FireWire or USB port one of the ports might be bad


----------



## pepoman

I have tried both. The ports on the Mac are OK, because I can use it with other HW. In general, USB is working better (is recognizing more often the Drive), but none of them is allowing me to MOUNT the drive. Thanks


----------



## WizardGebbia

So it's a bad controller inside the enclosure I doubt it's the hard drive but the connection that controls the hard drive on the enclosure.


----------



## WizardGebbia

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Externa...an-t-mount-filesystem-in-new/m-p/236954#M3794

Check this link out someone with a similar issue


----------



## pepoman

So what I can do? how I can access my data? Thanks


----------



## WizardGebbia

Did you take hard drive out of enclosure yet?


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

What do you mean? I have removed the hard drive and then connected one of them to an external enclosure, which din't work. It seams that the two drives need to be connected together and they can't operate individually. This is what I got from another forum.

Any ideas?


----------



## WizardGebbia

Is what you have a raid 0 or 1 enclosure. Do you have a switch on the back that controls the way the drives operate??


----------



## pepoman

I do not have any switch and not sure about the if is Raid0 or 1. I do think that the problem is on the partition of the drive. any idea?


----------



## WizardGebbia

If you take out one of the drives and set the jumper as a master and see if you can view the drive.


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

Not sure what do you mean. As I said, I',m not that technical, so what is and how do I set the jumper as a master?


----------



## WizardGebbia

On the drive there should be a diagram of jumper settings one says master/slave/cable select. Where the power is to the drive there are a row of pins next to the power side.


----------



## pepoman

Hi,

I'm uploading 2 images that I think display the info that you are referring too. Then, what else I have to do? do you know how to use testdisk?


----------



## WizardGebbia

It's a sata drive which does not have the settings I'm referring to. Sata are assigned automatically. Can you take the hard drive and install it in a pc?? To see ifnit will work.


----------



## pepoman

i do not have a PC. I have only a laptop. I have an external enclosure (photo attached). But when connected to the laptop it fails to start.

It I connect using the entire WD stuff (the 2 drives inside the mybook). The laptop recognizes the unit, but I still can't access.

But, when I use the same enclosure with my mac. Disk utility recognizes the drive as "unformatted".

I think the problem might lie with the partition. So, can I use the testdisk to fix it?


----------



## WizardGebbia

The desktop hard drive won't work on a laptop it consumes to much power. The laptop hard drives consume less. That's why it does not work.


----------



## pepoman

I'm using it with it's own powersupply, so I don't think that is the problem. Any idea what else can be done? thanks


----------



## WizardGebbia

Well the hard drive is conning up unformatted which means that you cannot access it because it does not have a valid partition the disk. It will not let you access it in an unformatted state. Sounds like whatever you had on it is lost because when the hard drive is in the unformatted state.


----------



## jaythorpe522

pepoman said:


> i do not have a PC. I have only a laptop. I have an external enclosure (photo attached). But when connected to the laptop it fails to start.
> 
> It I connect using the entire WD stuff (the 2 drives inside the mybook). The laptop recognizes the unit, but I still can't access.
> 
> But, when I use the same enclosure with my mac. Disk utility recognizes the drive as "unformatted".
> 
> I think the problem might lie with the partition. So, can I use the testdisk to fix it?


These symptoms could be indicative of a partition problem. Trying testdisk shouldn't hurt; if nothing else, you're likely to get more information about the problem.

Personally, I've had much better success using TestDisk on a PC for both Mac and PC drives. If you want to salvage media files, PhotoRec is very good for recovery, but you'll have to look at/watch/listen-to each and every file to rename it; PhotoRec will name them "file00001", "file00002", etc.

good luck!

jw


----------



## sinclair_tm

From the sounds of it, you have about only two options.

1) Buy another of the exact same external hard drive. Remove the hard drives out of it, and put yours in it. If you are lucky the drives will mount and you can copy your data from it. If they don't mount then the next thing is about all the left to get your data.

2) Take it to a data recovery business and pay them the big bucks to get your data off of the drives.


----------



## denobi

This reply may come a bit late for the original poster, but I had exactly the same problem and eventually found a solution.

My 1Tb Seagate FreeAgent drive refused to mount, whatever I tried... although it was visible in Disk Utility. After trying every workaround I read on every forum (including on this thread), I did the following:

1) I shut down my laptop completely;
2) I connected the drive to my laptop VIA A POWERED USB HUB;
3) I then restarted the laptop.

The drive showed up normally, and I was able to retrieve almost all my files -- the exception being the one with a bad block in it that could not be repaired even using Drive Genius 3 (or Disk Utility itself). After copying my files to another disk, I then reformatted the drive.

Problem solved... at last. I hope this may be useful to others.


----------

