Imac to Seagate external hard drive connectivity issues

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Imac to Seagate external hard drive connectivity issues

I have used a seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive for years. I don't use it often - just for very big files and old photos. Everything on the HDD was saved from my imac or macbook. The imac can no longer connect to the Seagate HDD. Have done the troubleshooting. Different ports on imac make no difference. And my windows PC laptop can see and open files on the Seagate, but the imac cannot. The disk utility in imac can see the seagate, but says it's unmounted and when I click on mount I get: "Could not mount “Seagate Backup Plus Drive”. (com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter error 49153.)".

Seagate help wants me to re-format the disk drive but this will erase everything... Does anyone have any idea what to do?

Posted on Feb 2, 2023 4:37 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jack-19

Level 8

46,104 points

Feb 2, 2023 5:02 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

Try to access the disk in Safe mode. Safe mode can help you to determine whether an issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support.

Also, try to repair the storage device in Disk Utility on Mac: Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support. Disk Utility can check for and fix errors related to the formatting and directory structure of a Mac storage device.

Jack

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Answer 2

Jack-19

Level 8

46,104 points

Feb 2, 2023 5:03 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

Seagateconnectivity wrote:

How/where might I see how the HDD is formatted?

You can use Disk Utility to see detailed information about a disk, such as its format, its capacity and available space, and the number of folders and files on it: Get information about a disk on Mac - Apple Support.

Jack

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Answer 3

Feb 2, 2023 5:28 PM in response to Jack-19

OK, I tried repairing the storage device:

I can't access a volume as the Seagate is unmounted/greyed out. When I click on "mount" I get an error message: “Seagate Backup Plus Drive”. (com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter error 49153.)"

When I try to repair the storage device (or is it the container?) it fails too.

I will try accessing the disk in safe mode...

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Answer 4

Feb 2, 2023 5:53 PM in response to Jack-19

So I rebooted in safe mode. Same problem - Seagate grey and not mounted. Mount failed.

This time my little USB store-and-go was also grey (previously working, noooo!), also unmounted and mount failed.

So I rebooted back to normal, preparing myself to reinstall MacOS, and lo and behold, there they both were!

The Seagate works again :)

Somehow the safe boot fixed it and it's now accessible and connected.

You are a legend!! Thank you both so much!

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Answer 5

holtynq

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2023 6:07 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

Hi Seagateconnectivity , I had an almost similar issue, with the identical error message. Research lead me to advice that this error could be overcome by attaching the drive to a Linux computer. I did just that and voila it was readable on that device, I quickly copied all files onto another hard drive and all was well. Hope this helps.I erased the drive reformatted it to HFS+ and have been using since without issue.

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Answer 6

Feb 5, 2023 4:10 PM in response to holtynq

Thanks for your input :) - appreciate it. Yes, as I mentioned, it worked perfectly on a PC that is running windows, just not on my imac.

It has now been resolved (restart in safe mode, try to open it (can't); restart again in normal mode, and suddenly it works!), And yes. I'm going to back it up to to an alternative location :)

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Answer 7

den.thed

Level 10

84,868 points

Feb 2, 2023 4:47 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

What MacOS version are you running?

How is the Seagate external drive formatted?

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Answer 8

Feb 2, 2023 5:01 PM in response to den.thed

Mac OS is Big Sur 11.7.3

I'm not sure what you mean about the HD formatting? I recall it was formatted for mac when I got it, and it has been used on a mac for years.

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Answer 9

Feb 2, 2023 5:02 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

How/where might I see how the HDD is formatted?

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Answer 10

den.thed

Level 10

84,868 points

Feb 2, 2023 5:06 PM in response to Jack-19

👍

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Answer 11

Jack-19

Level 8

46,104 points

Feb 2, 2023 6:20 PM in response to Seagateconnectivity

You're very welcome!

Now, while it's accessible, I would go ahead and make a backup of it ASAP! Hard disks can fail, and the recent issue with it may be a warning sign it's on its last legs.

Jack

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Answer 12

Feb 2, 2023 6:21 PM in response to Jack-19

Thank you, I think I might :)

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