External Hard Drive (USB3.0) only works through USB2.0 hub

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External Hard Drive (USB3.0) only works through USB2.0 hub

For quite a while now some of my external hard drives have not worked when directly plugged into my Macbook Pro (Mid 2012 running 10.8.5). They work perfectly when plugged into a USB hub and then into the macbook but not directly to the mac. Standard small USB flash drives work fine straight in to the macbook, the real problem appears to be USB 3.0 hard drives. These will not show up on desktop or disk utility unless I plug them in via a USB hub (which is USB2.0). The hard drive format doesn't seem to be important, currently my Mac OS Extended Time Machine backup HD is only working through USB hub, and my MyPassport WD external drive is NTFS and hasn't worked directly into the Mac for a while now.

Normally this is not a big issue, but when I am on the go it is useless to carry a USB hub around along with a MyPassport hard drive! In addition, there are times, such as when backing up, that I want the speeds offered by USB3.0 from my macbook to my hard drive.

What could be the problem? I run NTFS for Mac OSX, not sure if that would cause an issue with the direct connection.

Please help, this one is grinding my gears!

Thanks

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 12:59 AM

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Answer 1

dremd

Level 1

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Feb 11, 2016 10:32 AM in response to DanTheSaxMan

Is there any resolution to this post? I am experiencing the same issue and I have a brand new Macbook Pro 15 inch. It's strange to think this is still an issue more than two years later...

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Answer 2

Feb 11, 2016 11:37 AM in response to DanTheSaxMan

Usual reasons are either too much current draw via the USB, or a problem with the USB power supplied via the MacBook Pro, or potentially a flaky or bad USB cable or connection somewhere in the mix.

External hard drives can be power hogs, and more than a few ship with ancillary power supplies. Check the specified power draw requirements for whatever disks are on the bus, and make sure it's within spec.

Simplify the USB bus, reboot the Mac, and see if that selected subset of the USB devices and connections then starts working.

It's also common to switch from the usual accretion of individual disks over to a disk array connected via Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 or (much slower) USB 2.0, and those arrays are generally (always?) externally powered.

NTFS is a Windows format and can be read by OS X, but you'll need third-party software installed to write to disks using that format. If you have the Tuxera NTFS software as is common, check for version support and software updates. Or erase the contents of the device and reformat with a native volume format such as HFS+. NTFS does not effect whether the disk works with a hub and not without.

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Answer 3

Sep 15, 2016 2:35 PM in response to dremd

No. The same happens to me, with a externally-powered 3.5" hard disk and with a 2.5" hard disk powered by the usb port. My mid-2015 mac. But this only happens on the port close to Magsafe. The port on the right side of the keyboard does not show this behavior.

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