Flyfisher72

Q: Passport 500 GB hard drive all of a sudden isn't recognized by my Mac Air running 10.95.  What can I do?

I have a WD Passport 500 GB hard drive that is not recognized by my Mac Air 10.9.5.  How do I get my Mac to recognize it?

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on May 8, 2016 1:12 PM

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Q: Passport 500 GB hard drive all of a sudden isn't recognized by my Mac Air running 10.95.  What can I do?

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  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 8, 2016 1:39 PM in response to Flyfisher72
    Level 6 (14,274 points)
    Desktops
    May 8, 2016 1:39 PM in response to Flyfisher72

    Does the USB peripheral appear in the OS X Disk Utility? Sometimes you can

    locate one from the utility and then see if you can make it mount or repair it.

  • by Flyfisher72,

    Flyfisher72 Flyfisher72 May 8, 2016 8:41 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    May 8, 2016 8:41 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Thanks for the response I appreciate your help.  The disk doens't appear in Disk Utility on this computer or on an older mac pro that I have.  I'm afraid that the disk is dead.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 9, 2016 1:26 AM in response to Flyfisher72
    Level 6 (14,274 points)
    Desktops
    May 9, 2016 1:26 AM in response to Flyfisher72

    Sometimes a component in the enclosure will fail, so the hard drive won't work.

     

    However some of the hard drives have a part built into them, that fails and it is

    like a USB ATA adapter; some users with several failed drives have been able

    to take apart ones they've become familiar with, and cobble one together...

     

    To experiment, sometimes you can take the hard drive out of an enclosure,

    and get a 'universal USB drive adapter with power supply' to try & access it.

    Something like: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NVSPATA/

     

    Here's something along the lines of what I'd previously mentioned:

    Your dead external hard drive is likely fine! Great hope for your 'faulty' external HD

     

    One could hope, anyway, and retrieve data from a failed drive one way or another.

    To have more than one active backup is always a preferred method to archive or

    store files; Time Machine is helpful if its archives are in duplicate elsewhere; so is

    the use of fully boot-able system clones. In addition. And enclosures with their own

    power supply that do not rely on port-power can be helpful to troubleshoot w/ clones.

     

    The enclosures with correct chipset to boot OS X (as needed) is also a good idea.

    A company OWC macsales.com online has a variety of enclosures, drives and parts.

    With a history of being reputable, mac-centric, and fair guarantees for added value.

    (You an ask questions or use info on their site, without being a customer, too.)

     

    Well, it's getting near 12:30AM local time & I'm going offline...

    Good luck in this matter!

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 9, 2016 3:50 AM in response to Flyfisher72
    Level 9 (52,108 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 9, 2016 3:50 AM in response to Flyfisher72

    Have you tried all USB ports?

     

    Have you tried different cables?

     

    Have you tried it on another Mac?

     

    Ciao.