El Capitan not recognizing external drives

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Level 1

8 points

El Capitan not recognizing external drives

I m on a MacPro Desktop early 2008 model 2x3ghz quad core xenon

I use ESATA PCI board to connect to an OWC RAID which is not booting as well as separate 2 GB drives all connected via ESATA cables.

I use CarbonCopyCloner to back up and have my YOSEMITE OS on that drive which also is not booting.

PLEASE ADVISE!!

I would have thought by now osx 10.11.6 would have most of the big bugs worked out. Mac Specs said this computer could run it.

all advice appreciated!!

Posted on Nov 26, 2020 4:23 PM

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Answer 1

steadilsr Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 27, 2020 6:36 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Thanks for the prompt reply. CHecked cables and System Report. PCIe is listed and working. Drives are working. I also tested my usb front jack with my back up drive which ALSO WOULD NOT BOOT.

Today I just did a Command +OPT+ P R PRAM clear waited for chimes before releasing/ did this 2x once with drives running, another trying to see if they would boot after start up.

CAN I RE INSTALL EL CAPITAN? Please advise any specific things besides back up as much of my files are backed up already.

I still have the .dmg in my downloads. what happens if I just do a re install?

I have been viewing other troubleshooting w EL Capitan on Google also.

Thanks again for you experience and help!

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Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,656 points

Nov 26, 2020 4:53 PM in response to steadilsr

Have you ruled out your eSATA card from the equation, are you sure it has not failed.

Check all connections, is it in the correct PCIe slot, is it showing up in System Report/

System Information.

Is this a new eSATA card, did you check that it can be run on El Capitan.

What make/ model eSATA card is it.

Apple stopped supporting Mac OS X El Capitan in 2018 so if it is a bug then it will never

be addressed.

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Answer 3

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,656 points

Nov 27, 2020 6:56 AM in response to steadilsr

Have you tried resetting the SMC (System Management Controller), scroll to the bottom of this

article for the procedure for Desktop macs, How to reset the SMC of your Mac – Apple Support

If that doesn't improve things then just back up your mac and then reinstall El Capitan over

what you have it may just reset some system and cache files that then solve your problem.

When reinstalling only have the keyboard and mouse plugged in, disconnect any external

drives or other hardware.

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El Capitan not recognizing external drives

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