I see there was a thread on this last November. I have the same issue with a new iStorage Disk Ashur Pro 2. Formatted exFAT, the disc reads fine on my PC desktop but will not read on my Mac or my MacBook Pro running the latest version of Big Sur (11.5.2). The drive shows up in disk utility but will not mount. I can still read my old Disk Ashur Pro which was formatted NTFS. Any suggestions welcome.
MacBook Pro (2020 and later)
thanks, i have iCloud. i also have drop box. I have a WD My Cloud 4100 device on my network which is my main back up, because i have confidential material which i cannot store on iCloud or drop box. I put all my photos on that.
thanks, i have iCloud. i also have drop box. I have a WD My Cloud 4100 device on my network which is my main back up, because i have confidential material which i cannot store on iCloud or drop box. I put all my photos on that.
Does the drive have to be formatted ExFAT? If so, copy the files to another drive temporarily, erase and reformat the drive on the Mac to ExFAT, with GUID partition map. Then see if your Mac can see it.
If you don't need it accessible by your PC then format it APFS. It'll be much more reliable for the Mac. Also don't put a Photos library on an ExFAT drive. It's not compatible with the format and will not run and can be damaged.
thank you for the quick reply. The drive is formatted exFAT with GUID partition already. I do need it to be accessible from my PC though, I have a desktop PC and a laptop MAC. I can store my photos elsewhere, i have my own cloud. Any other suggestions?
I know the Big Sur can read and write to ExFAT volumes. So can you off load the files on that drive and reformat to ExFAT with your Mac? Verify that you can access the drive and then copy the files back to the EHD.
Just remember, if you don't have to share the drive with a PC it's best to reformat it for the Mac. Also you won't be able to store and run a Photos library from the ExFAT drive - incompatible.
In the future if you buy your external HDs from OWC (MacSales.com) they all come formatted for Macs. They are probably the most respected 3rd party hardware provider for Macs out there.
By "having my own cloud" do you mean iCloud Library or iCloud Drive?
If stored and run locally a Photos library must be stored on a APFS or OS X Extended (journaled) drive.
🙌🏼
Thanks this appears to have worked. It took ages of course. They should make it clear when they ship the drives, which are pre formatted exFAT . Thanks again.
Big Sur and external drives
