the WD My Passport USB3.0 portable external drive fails to recognise on 13" MBP Retina, why when it works off iMac 27" USB port?

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Level 1

11 points

the WD My Passport USB3.0 portable external drive fails to recognise on 13" MBP Retina, why when it works off iMac 27" USB port?

Just bought a new WD My Passport Mac compatible drive, USB3.0 cable included. The drive is not recognised on my 13" Retina at all, on disk utilitiy it comes up as a superdrive. moved to the 27" iMac, recognised only as superdrive through USB2 hub, connected directly to iMac USB port and disk utility picked up the drive. Updated all WD driver detail as described in WD manual, partitioned drive and copied data from iMac. Move drive to connect directly to 13" Retina, and it is not seen anywhere. Same cable used, smae HDD.

Is this a USB bus issue, power issue or 13" Retina USB i/f configuraiton issue?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on May 12, 2013 3:47 PM

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Answer 1

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

May 12, 2013 4:04 PM in response to akustik

Apple notebooks are notorious for not putting out enough power from the usb ports to properly power those usb powered drives. There is a cable to connect to 2 usb port at the same time so the drive gets power from both usb ports. You probably need that type of cable.

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Answer 2

akustik Author

Level 1

11 points

May 12, 2013 4:44 PM in response to LowLuster

Thought this may be the issue, problem is the USB3.0 connector is 2 micro USB side by side in a single plastic moulding, have searched for separate USB cables but cannot find them.

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Answer 3

Courcoul

Level 6

18,558 points

May 12, 2013 4:55 PM in response to akustik

Would this fit the WD port?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M0ICG2

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