How do I get my WD "My Passport" drive to work with a MacBook Air running Mac OS Big Sur v 11.6.7?

Question

grottoes4 Author

Level 1

4 points

How do I get my WD "My Passport" drive to work with a MacBook Air running Mac OS Big Sur v 11.6.7?

How do I get my WD "My Passport" drive to work with MacBook Air running Big Sur 11.6.7?

Posted on Apr 13, 2023 9:17 AM

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

162,806 points

Apr 13, 2023 9:26 AM in response to grottoes4

Here you go: Connect and use other storage devices with Mac - Apple Support

Don't install any software that Western Digital may have included with the drive. Those things are not necessary and can only cause trouble.

Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

162,806 points

Apr 13, 2023 9:38 AM in response to grottoes4

As I wrote... don't install any Western Digital software. Just drag that app to the Trash. Not only is it worthless, their SmartWare app was notorious for spontaneously erasing perfectly good hard disk drives.

Answer 3

grottoes4 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2023 10:02 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again, John, I agree with your assessment.

I'll just erase the drive and start from scratch (and not install the WD software). That should resolve the drive issue.

Appreciate your expertise and input.

Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

162,806 points

Apr 13, 2023 9:53 AM in response to grottoes4

Erasing it is really the first thing you should do with any hard disk drive. Western Digital is not alone in that particular area of incompetence.

Answer 5

grottoes4 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2023 9:33 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks for helping, John. Tried this but keep getting the message to contact the supplier. Seems that the WD SmartWare on the drive is 32 bit and my MacBook Air software is 64 bit. Maybe that's the issue. However, I can't seem to locate the supplier, so maybe I need to be on the WD site?

Answer 6

grottoes4 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2023 9:49 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again. I'll delete (trash) the software and just let Finder look for the drive.

How do I get my WD "My Passport" drive to work with a MacBook Air running Mac OS Big Sur v 11.6.7?

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