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could not show the portable hard disk?

when I update to macOS Catalina, my macbook could not use portable hard disk any longer. When I connect the hard disk to the macbook, the flash-light of hard disk is on which shows that it is reading the data, but my macbook did not show the location of the disk. I could use my portable hard disk with my macbook before, could anyone help me to solve the problem?

MacBook, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 24, 2020 5:27 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 26, 2020 2:00 PM

Try an SMC reset

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

I have to do this once in a while when my Macbook cannot "see" external drives.

Also try a different cable - I suspect that USB-c connections are not very durable compared with earlier USB hardware.

3 replies

Oct 25, 2020 1:34 PM in response to lucy0528

Could the drive have failed to be seen, due to difference of format?


(Usually not a problem, while older HFS+ is often still seen by APFS

Mac with Catalina 10.15.x; & some issues with Time Machine.)


Disk utility may be able to show additional detail about external drive.

I've had a few spare USB external drives; mostly for TM backups.


Good luck & happy computing!🐌🌞🐢

could not show the portable hard disk?

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