FCP X Lost Projects/Can't See External Hard Drive

Question

Level 1

21 points

FCP X Lost Projects/Can't See External Hard Drive

Hello,

My External Hard Drive containing my Projects is no longer visible in my Projects Window. The projects are all in their folders on the external HD but of course they no longer appear in the Projects Window since FCP X cannot see the drive. As a test, when I select "import media" FCP X can find the external hard drive so it's reading the drive. It just seems something got "disconnected." I'm not sure what further info you might need to diagnose, but please let me know and i will get it to you. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

FCP X 10.0.9

Mac OS X 10.7.5

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 24, 2014 7:13 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 24, 2014 7:33 PM in response to jrc362

There's most likely a folder called DCIM at the root level of the drive that makes the application think it's a camera. Rename it.

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Answer 2

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 25, 2014 8:50 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks Tom, but to be clear: the FCP projects NO LONGER appear in the Project Window. That is to say these are projects I have already worked on. They do not appear because FCP is not finding the HD they are on. Currently the Project Window lists all other hard drives on my computer including my external Time Machine Hard Drive. It does not however, list the external HD where the prjects are stored. The Final Cut Project Folders are all there, it is just that FCP cannot see them since it doesn't see the drive. Make sense?

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 25, 2014 9:16 AM in response to jrc362

That's what I'm trying to explain. FCP doesn't list projects from the the drive because it thinks the drive is a camera. There is a folder on the root level of the drive that is most likely the cause of this. Post a screen shot of the root level of the drive.

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Answer 4

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 25, 2014 9:34 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom, thank for your reply. I think I understand now. Can you tell me how to view the root level of the drive? Not sure how to access that. Appreciate your patience. Learning all the time!

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 25, 2014 9:39 AM in response to jrc362

The root level is what you see when you first open the drive. The top level of the drive.

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Answer 6

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 25, 2014 9:54 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Is this what you mean?

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 25, 2014 10:00 AM in response to jrc362

Don't know what's causing it. Maybe the System folder or the GoPro folders. You might try putting them in a folder called jrc362.

Do you see the drive in the import window?

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Answer 8

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 25, 2014 10:12 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hi Tom,

Yes, I do see the drive in the Import Window. That is to say, when I select "Import Media" the drive shows up. When you say try putting the System Folder or the GoPro folders in a folder called jrc362, do you mean create a new folder called jrc362 and drop the System Folder and GoPro folders into that folder on the drive?

Also, out of curiosity I clicked the System Folder and below shows you what it contains. Seems like I may be missing something in this folder? Does it tell you anything?

Thanks

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Answer 9

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 25, 2014 10:26 AM in response to jrc362

The System folder looks like it's from a boot drive, but that's not a boot drive. A boot drive needs to have these folders

Certainly the boot library should have a lot more stuff like this

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Answer 10

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 25, 2014 11:00 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

So, it appears I may have accidentally deleted the boot drive from this hard drive. Any thoughts on what to do next? Anyway to copy boot drive onto this hard drive? Ugh....

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Answer 11

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 25, 2014 11:04 AM in response to jrc362

You can't. A boot system has to be installed. But I don't think that has anything to do with the FCP problem. If you put those folders in a new folder, does the drive appear in 10.0.9.

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Answer 12

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 26, 2014 12:46 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I created a folder (jrc362) and dropped the System Folder and the GoPro Folders into it. The Finder created copies of these folders instead of just moving them into the folder. I moved the original folders into the trash (have not emptied trash yet) and then launched FCP. No difference.

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Answer 13

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jan 26, 2014 1:01 PM in response to jrc362

Something weird has happened to that drive. Most likely a permissions problem which is why it's copying stuff. I would get a new drive, reformat it, and copy everything off the drive onto it, except that useless System folder which may be the root of your problems. Was this a boot drive at one time that got trashed?

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Answer 14

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 26, 2014 1:16 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Yes, the drive was a boot drive at one time. I think when I was doing a little housekeeping with my hard drives, I goofed and accidentally trashed some things on this drive, which would explain the "something weird". I am going to do what you suggest. Copy everything off the drive onto another, reformat and copy back. Fingers crossed. Will let you know.

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Answer 15

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 27, 2014 9:51 AM in response to jrc362

So, I have copied files and reformatted the drive. Now, FCP can see the drive however, none of the projects are showing up in the project window. The Project Library on the left lists all my hard drives and in the Project Window is an icon which says: Create New Project/To begin editing, create a new project. The project will be stored on the selcted hard disk. Thoughts? There are folders on a couple of the drives that are Final Cut project folders but FCP is not showing any of them.

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