Macbook reboots whenever I plug my hard drive in.

Question

Level 1

0 points

Macbook reboots whenever I plug my hard drive in.

I have a 500 GB Western Digital external hard drive that got corrupted a little while ago because I didn't unplug it correctly. Since then, I whenever I plug it into my macbook, it shuts off and goes into the boot sequence but when it gets to loading the OS, it reboots again. I have been able to access it via my Airport Extreme but the option to erase it is unavailable as it is grayed out in the options. I have tried plugging into my Windows computer to format it to no avail.

Is there any way I can format this drive or am I out $100? Unfortunately I can't fix it on my macbook because the OS will not run while the drive is plugged in, but is there any other option?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook (13-inch Aluminum Late 2008), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), Western Digital My Passport 500GB

Posted on Jan 25, 2014 11:20 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Jan 27, 2014 2:42 AM in response to IOSuser7891

Try to connect the drive before computer is turned on.
If the system does not boot try command-r when you turn on your computer and boot from the Recovery HD. Start Disk Utility and format the WD drive

Alex

Apple Support Professional

Reply

Answer 2

IOSuser7891 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 27, 2014 6:17 PM in response to Alex.Chernenko

I tried that and was able to select the recovery HD to boot but when it began to boot into recovery, a bunch of text flashed accross the screen at the computer rebooted. I tried this again with the same result.

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 27, 2014 11:25 PM in response to IOSuser7891

If possible, try on another mac.
Launch the terminal and search lines with text USB or I/O Error
If there are any - post them here

Alex

Apple Support Professional

Reply

Answer 4

IOSuser7891 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 28, 2014 8:54 PM in response to Alex.Chernenko

Thanks for the reply but I don't have access to another mac. Do you have any other suggestions?

Reply

Answer 5

Jan 29, 2014 1:12 AM in response to IOSuser7891

In the box with a MacBook, you must have a CD/DVD called Apple Hardware Test (AHT). Typically your model AHT is located on the Applications Install Disc 2.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Try to boot from it for the diagnosis of computer components - may have problems with the USB controller.

If your WD no longer under warranty can try to pull the hard drive out hdd enclosure and connect an external Hard Drive Enclosure (USB or FireWire).

In my experience, there have been cases where the hard drive was working but the controller was SATA-USB is broken.

Alex

Apple Support Professional

Reply