Want to highlight a helpful answer? Upvote!

Did someone help you, or did an answer or User Tip resolve your issue? Upvote by selecting the upvote arrow. Your feedback helps others! Learn more about when to upvote >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

MDanihy Author

Level 1

8 points

External drive doesn't work

I have a new Toshiba external 1TB drive, 2.5 USB 3.0 connector. It works fine with my iMac but the Macbook Air will not connect to it. kernel.log:

Nov 20 14:06:36 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: 0 0 AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed

Nov 20 14:06:36 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBMSC Identifier (non-unique): 2011100620790 0x480 0xa006 0x1

Nov 20 14:06:41 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1016. 59 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 6, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:06:52 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1027. 66 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction past the completion deadline on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 6, EP: 2)

Nov 20 14:06:58 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1033. 68 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:04 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1039. 71 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:05 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1039.103 [0xffffff800ba65e00] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 3 of Hub at 0xfa100000)

Nov 20 14:07:16 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1051. 73 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:22 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1057. 76 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:28 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1063. 81 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:34 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1069. 85 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:40 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1075. 88 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:46 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1081. 90 AppleUSBEHCI[0xffffff800b8e5000]::Found a transaction which hasn't moved in 5 seconds on bus 0xfa, timing out! (Addr: 0, EP: 0)

Nov 20 14:07:47 Matthews-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: USBF: 1081.627 [0xffffff800ba65e00] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.

What's up?

MacBook Air

Posted on Nov 20, 2011 11:26 AM

99 replies

izildur

Level 1

0 points

Dec 8, 2011 5:40 PM in response to MDanihy

Well.. unfortunately I bought this drive from Staples during a thanks giving sale and I'm suffering from the same problem mentioned in this thread. I've read that Lion could be blamed for this however I have 2 laptops one Aluminum MacBook from late 2008 and one MacBook Pro 17" early 2011, both were upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion though the same process (clean install, etc).

After getting this drive I tried connecting it to the MBP and it won't show up in Disk Utility however I'm able to see and work with the drive using the MacBook.

The problem might have to do with the USB ports in these new laptop models..

I guess I'm returning this drive to Staples.

amcg01

Level 1

4 points

Dec 9, 2011 2:34 AM in response to MDanihy

I've heard word through a friend that there might be a hack for this - it was described as a problem similar to Region-specific DVD players?

Am following up on it.

ankurbs

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2011 5:14 AM in response to amcg01

I just bought the 750GB version had a weird problem as well, though slightly different than what has been described in this thread. I have an older Macbook (white cira 2008 with leopard installed) and it mounts, but when I go to reformat it for use with Time Machine, I get a weird partition error from Disk Utility (the drive no longer appears mounted, but I can see it via Disk Utility). I am able to reformat it to FAT, which I thought was weird.

I then plugged it into my wife MBA (2011 version, about a month old) and it mounted and reformated without issues (quite quickly actually). I went back and plugged the drive into my older Mac and the drive worked fine (though, another odd thing is when I get info on the drive on the older Mac is says around 700GB free, where as on the MBA is says around 749GB free. I am assuming that has to deal with the Mac software).

In any case, I went ahead and started copying my itunes movies over to the drive (whole point was to move my movie collection to external drive) and then linked it to itunes (which worked). Finally, i performed an itunes sync with my ipad and the drive connected (also made sure to copy a bunch of movies from the drive to the ipad) and it worked just fine. Not sure if it is a power issue, as if it was, I would assume supplying power to the drive and the ipad would have caused some sort of the error during the sync.

Arbynav

Level 1

10 points

Dec 11, 2011 4:16 PM in response to ashoward64

I used a micro, not mini, a micro USB connector on one side and my Macbook Pro (2011) recognized the drive and reformatted it for Time Machine. Prior to that the drive (brand new Toshiba Canvio 1TB USB 3.0 and 2.0) didn't show on the Macbook but did immediately show on a older Windows machine

EliasE

Level 1

5 points

Dec 14, 2011 12:57 AM in response to MDanihy

Using the MicroUSB Drive from my Jawbone Jambox worked! Disk Utility recognized it! (Running MacBook Pro 13" 2011 i5 2.4 GHz)

MDanihy Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 14, 2011 5:49 AM in response to EliasE

Yup, that is the workaround. Seems the issue affects Macs with Thunderbolt and isn't an issue with Lion. I tried a couple of Micro-USB connectors and the third one worked. Seems some of the cables I have only support power and not data. Grabbed a Blackberry cable from Staples and the drive shows, it is most probably a communication issue wich is a result of the Thunderbolt technology on Macs. I for one am OK with the cable change as a 3.0 connection is moot for me.

zeitlerd

Level 1

4 points

Dec 14, 2011 6:00 AM in response to MDanihy

Good to know that not all micro-USB cables will work. I'll have to try a couple more. The first cable I tried didn't work. Like many, USB 3.0 is a moot issue, so the standard micro-USB should be fine.

Art

Level 1

115 points

Dec 17, 2011 4:44 AM in response to MDanihy

So, for those who might still be confused, the USB 3.0 micro connector is really an extension of standard micro-USB. By using a standard USB 2.0 micro-B cable on the USB2 half, you can get it to work. Here is a picture (1-5 are standard USB2 micro-B, 6-10 are the USB3 extension):

Dec 18, 2011 8:29 PM in response to DeadpanScience

I had that issue with my Toshiba Canvio and my Mac Book Pro+Lion.

The cheapest solution In my case was buy a belkin USB hub "powered" (it comes with a power supply).

Lion os limits the voltaje in USB ports and it isn't enough to this device.

Dec 18, 2011 8:31 PM in response to Arbynav

I posted the solution below.

MDanihy Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2011 5:09 AM in response to Jaresbell

Jaresbell,

You are incorrect in your assumption that Lion is controlling the voltage. The MBA using the external CD-ROM drive can draw up to 1100 mA from the from the computer. The cheaper solution is to actually buy a cheap MicroUSB cable that supports data transfer.

In all cases it looks like the Canvio doesn't work well with Thunderbolt, that is the only common denominator.

amcg01

Level 1

4 points

Dec 19, 2011 7:04 AM in response to MDanihy

Hold on, people are trying to use the drive with Thunderbolt, not USB?

I'm trying to use my Toshiba USB drive with the MBA's USB port...

*confused*

😕

Dec 19, 2011 7:52 AM in response to MDanihy

My drive is USB (not thunderbolt), and is working now,just using an USB hub in the middle.

MDanihy Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2011 8:04 AM in response to amcg01

amcg01 & Jaresbell,

Read the entire thread. The issue is with Macs with Thunderbolt, the Canvio drive works with all other Macs prior to Thunderbolt.

And yes, the drive is USB.

amcg01

Level 1

4 points

Dec 19, 2011 8:11 AM in response to MDanihy

Hi.

I understand the issue is with "Macs with Thunderbolt", i.e. mid-2011 Macs, which is what I have.

Am confused because you said the following:

"Upon further Google searches, it seems the Macbook air cannot accomodate USB3 devices plugged into it's USB2 ports. Must be a power issue. The drive spins up but disk utility never shows the drive."

That's exactly what my issue appears to be, which is why I'm following the thread.

External drive doesn't work