External Hard Drive won't turn on

Question

Level 1

48 points

External Hard Drive won't turn on

Hi all,

I have just bought a brand new iMac and a new Western Digital 1TB External Hard Drive to use Time Machine on. I have plugged it all in, done my first back up and it all went fine.

Then, I turned off my computer and all the plugs to go to bed as usual, now when I have come back to it in the morning the Western Digital Hard Drive won't turn on! It's all plugged in and fine, but no life at all.

Has anyone else had this? Can anyone explain or help?

Thanks

2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.4), Western Digital External Hard Drive 1TB

Posted on Sep 1, 2008 12:21 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 1, 2008 6:54 AM in response to Simon Judd

Hello Simon:

I think I would suspect the external HD. Since it is new, I would contact the manufacturer with a warranty issue.

Barry

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Answer 2

Sep 1, 2008 7:30 AM in response to Simon Judd

What WD hard drive is it? I had a similar issue with my Seagate when from time to time it doesn't come on, simply unplugging the power cable and putting it back in works for me.

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Answer 3

Simon Judd Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 2, 2008 12:36 AM in response to Matthew Hillman

It's the 1TB Western Digital Home Edition with FireWire connection.

After playing around with it, unplugging the FireWire cable, it turned on, but I don't want to have to keep playing around like that with it every time I turn my computer on 😟

I've also installed the Firmware update but it doesn't seemed to have helped much.

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Answer 4

Chaz_UK

Level 1

25 points

Sep 2, 2008 1:12 AM in response to Simon Judd

Hello Simon. I'd do what Barry Hemphill has suggested and try to return or RMA the drive.

Did you buy the drive from a store or online? I believe the fault would not be fixed by any apple updates as it seems to be a hardware fault rather than a software one from what Ive read.

Is this the drive? http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=357

Does it work when connected via USB at all? I had issues with a firewire drive sometimes not showing up so I switched to a USB interface and it worked fine sinc then.

Good luck!

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Answer 5

Simon Judd Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 2, 2008 1:33 AM in response to Chaz_UK

Hi Chaz,

That's the drive. I'll give it a go with the USB and see if that helps in any way.

Thanks for the advice, I'll post back what happens when I try it.

Simon

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Answer 6

Simon Judd Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 9, 2008 12:15 AM in response to Chaz_UK

It turns out that it is a power problem so I am getting a replacement from Western Digital.

Thanks for your help.

Simon

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Answer 7

Sep 9, 2008 3:27 AM in response to Simon Judd

1 thing to point out about externals in case this might have been the "power issue".. Be sure to only use an external power supply or the second USB cable to power the drive if its data is connected by USB. If it's FireWire connected, the drive is likely then self-powered through the FireWire connection and may be freaked out by ground-loops or other conflicts caused by also plugging it in with a power adaptor while self-powered over FireWire. Some drives also have a switch that lets you select the source for power.

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