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User profile for user: jules_circlekstudio
jules_circlekstudio Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mounting Old Maxtor Drive to 2019 Macbook Pro

My Macbook Pro was the first 16" to launch in Sept/Oct of 2019. I wonder if the OS can't sync with the MUCH older Maxtor monster-sized brick of an external drive. I've turned it on/off a few times. Nothing mounting to the desktop. If anyone knows if there's a way to mount this, OR, if there's an older Macbook Pro that may work (I have one from 2015 that only goes up to the Catalina OS 10.15), please advise. Thanks for any help that you can share!


Jules

FireTVStick(2020),

Posted on Nov 6, 2023 6:09 PM

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User profile for user: jules_circlekstudio
jules_circlekstudio Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nov 7, 2023 2:01 PM in response to stumpy1946

Thanks for your question. I figured all of these ancient ones had similar issues with our new technology.

I looked at the unit. The model is called Maxtor OneTouch III. It's only 300 GB. I took a pic of the port end, if that helps.


It's from around 2003 or possibly as late as 2004-5. It connects via USB. I don't have more info than that. Are you able to help troubleshoot? I did find a cable to connect the drive to the USB port.


Thanks,

Jules


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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,753 points

Nov 7, 2023 2:48 PM in response to jules_circlekstudio

There is no technical reason that drive should not appear in Disk Utility on the new Mac, provided it is still alive.


The operating definition is: When inspected with Disk Utility, a drive that will not reveal its Make & Model, and a reasonable non-zero size/capacity can not be used in its current configuration, and if it has adequate power and appropriate cables it has died.

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User profile for user: Allan Jones
Allan Jones
User level: Level 9
72,626 points

Nov 7, 2023 4:32 PM in response to jules_circlekstudio

In the event the drive enclosure has died, you still have a chance with recovering data from the drive itself. I've removed the bare drive from inside dead/bad enclosures and connected them to a computer with a bare drive adapter.


This adapter works with everything but SCSI and has a power adapter for 3.5-inch drives:


https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/U3NV2SPATA/


You would still need a USB-A to USB-C adapter to connect to the 2019 Macbook Pro.



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User profile for user: jules_circlekstudio
jules_circlekstudio Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nov 7, 2023 7:02 PM in response to HWTech

Thank you for this! I read up about what you're talking about... all makes sense! It's about what I had thought may happen when trying to mount to a device with the newest (or newer) OS.


I do have a MacBook Pro with 10.15 and I'll try mounting it to that one. The HFS was used and created on a MUCH older OS, so I can see now the issue.


I had no issues with this drive in the past. Just been sitting for a long while. I'll follow up when I've tested it out.


Thanks!

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
61,202 points

Nov 7, 2023 8:31 PM in response to jules_circlekstudio

jules_circlekstudio wrote:

I do have a MacBook Pro with 10.15 and I'll try mounting it to that one. The HFS was used and created on a MUCH older OS, so I can see now the issue.

I got that information from the HFS Wikipedia page, but I did see another contributor mention Mojave was the last OS which supported HFS. If the older laptop supports an older OS, then you could install the older OS (10.13 or 10.14) into another APFS volume within the same Container, or to an external drive).


I have also been able to use Linux to access HFS drives, but for some things items that may not be a good option if macOS is able to access them.



I had no issues with this drive in the past. Just been sitting for a long while. I'll follow up when I've tested it out.

Well used hard drives which have been sitting for a while do tend to have trouble spinning up again.

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Mounting Old Maxtor Drive to 2019 Macbook Pro

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