Cannot boot when external hard drive is connected.

Question

Cannot boot when external hard drive is connected.

Hello everyone!

I got a brand new Macbook Pro w/ Retina 13" for Christmas today, and I've ran into an issue. I have a Samsung external hard drive with my documents and photographs on (and nothing else), and if I start up my mac with it plugged in, my computer hangs on the black screen (no Apple logo). If I leave it for 5 minutes, it eventually works. Also, shutdown is very slow as well. I've tried booting without it plugged in, and it works perfectly. I've ran the disk utility on it, and it reports no problem.

My hard drive's format is in ExFAT (previous Windows 7 user).

Booting in verbose mode doesn't work either, as no text shows up.

Could someone please tell me how to boot my mac quickly without having to disconnect the external hard drive every time?

Thanks.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), Brand new

Posted on Dec 25, 2014 2:21 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 25, 2014 2:29 PM in response to KaiSilverthorne

Try resetting your boot device with the directions at How to choose a startup disk on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Dec 25, 2014 2:34 PM in response to KaiSilverthorne

Allan Eckertsuggestions may solve it.

Furthermore, this could cause also it:

- Your Samsung drive doesn't have its own power source and is drawing power from the MacBook Pro

- You don't have the Magsafe Power Adapter connected to your Mac when this happens

- You're not connecting the Samsung directly, but through a hub or adapter cable.

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Answer 3

Dec 25, 2014 2:38 PM in response to CellarDwellr

Hi CellarDwellr,

My Samsung HDD uses power from the Mac (and I didn't have the mac plugged in when tried). I am going to reformat my external HDD to see if that helps (it's in ExFAT), as I need to in order to use it for Time Machine backups.

I'll let you know if anything works.

Thanks,

Kai

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Answer 4

Dec 25, 2014 2:44 PM in response to KaiSilverthorne

KaiSilverthorne wrote:

Hi CellarDwellr,

My Samsung HDD uses power from the Mac (and I didn't have the mac plugged in when tried). I am going to reformat my external HDD to see if that helps (it's in ExFAT), as I need to in order to use it for Time Machine backups.

I'll let you know if anything works.

Thanks,

Kai

I see. Well, yeah, in order to use it with Time Machine, format it to Mac os Extended (Journaled)

🙂

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Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Dec 25, 2014 3:11 PM in response to KaiSilverthorne

Be advised that formatting a HDD DELETES ALL DATA!

Ciao.

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Answer 6

Dec 25, 2014 3:47 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

I've made a backup of all other content on the drive before transfer, so no need to worry.

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Answer 7

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Dec 25, 2014 3:50 PM in response to KaiSilverthorne

GOOD!

Ciao.

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Answer 8

Dec 25, 2014 4:33 PM in response to CellarDwellr

Thanks CellarDwellr! I think this has resolved my problem, and now my mac starts up so much faster now. I believe that ExFAT isn't very good with mac, and that that was resulting in a slow boot.

Thanks again,

Kai

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Answer 9

Dec 26, 2014 3:26 AM in response to KaiSilverthorne

Great to hear, Kai! 🙂

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