Why has my external hard drive suddenly vanished from my Macbook Pro?

Question

Why has my external hard drive suddenly vanished from my Macbook Pro?

Hi all,

I am using a 13in macbook pro with retina display and a 500gb LaCie rugged external hard-drive. All of a sudden yesterday my MBP would no longer recogonize the external. It is connected using USB cable but it no longer pops up on the desktop and I can't find it in the "system report" under "USB". I have tried two different usb cables to no avail, however when I used my friends older version Macbook Pro the external hd was recognized. I also tested a seperate external hard drive and my Macbook Pro recognized it no problem. So it seems there is nothing wrong with the Macbook pro, the external hard drive, or the cables I am using. My Macbook Pro just all of a sudden does not want to connect to the external HD. If anyone has seen this type of issue or has any advice please let me know!

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 14, 2015 11:22 AM

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Answer 1

AppleJoe

Community Manager

Apr 17, 2015 11:55 AM in response to enthuzed_ew0k

Greetings enthuzed_ew0k,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!

I understand that your external hard drive that had been working with your Mac, is no longer being recognized. You have completed some great isolation steps already by testing a different external drive with your Mac, and testing your external drive with another computer. To continue troubleshooting this situation, I would recommend reading over the Top troubleshooting tips section int eh attached article and working through the steps you have not yet completed.

USB and FireWire Quick Assist - Apple Support

Cheers,

Joe

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