External HD problem

Question

Level 1

5 points

External HD problem

Hello:

I'm using a store-it USB powered Hitachi drive. The drive mounts and the folders are visible but not the files. It just stopped working one day. I have tried disconnected all USB devices EXCEPT this one but still I can't get to my files.

Any ideas?

Thanks

macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Feb 27, 2009 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

Feb 27, 2009 10:22 AM in response to John Romey

Is the drive formatted FAT-32?
If so, do you also use it on a Windows machine?
Was it ever removed without ejecting it?

You can inspect the drive using the terminal:
In a terminal, the command
ls /volumes
will get you the name of the drive
Then you can
cd /volumes/"drive name"
where "drive name" is the name you got for the drive.
If the drive has spaces in the name, you need quotes.
Once inside the drive you can
cd
into the directories and then
ls
to see the contents, if they are still there.

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Answer 2

John Romey Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 27, 2009 10:31 AM in response to nerowolfe

Thanks for your help.

this is what happens when I /volumes in terminal

john-romeys-macbook:~ beingbecoming$ /volumes
-bash: /volumes: is a directory

?

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Answer 3

John Romey Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 27, 2009 10:36 AM in response to John Romey

yes fat 32 and yes also used with a windows machine when I'm on site thanks

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