Toshiba external drive not recognized by Macbook after OS X El Capitan upgrade.

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Level 1

2 points

Toshiba external drive not recognized by Macbook after OS X El Capitan upgrade.

Toshiba external hard drive is no longer recognized by Macbook.

The day prior to the upgrade from Mountain Lion to El Capitan, my Toshiba hardrive was recognized by my Macbook and I was able to write information to the drive and had full access to it. After the upgrade and the installation, my Macbook prompts me with the "The Disk you inserted is not readable by this computer" with the three button selections of "initialize, ignore, eject". I tried the "initialize" button which brings up the disk utility and then I proceeded to try the "first aid" which doesn't do anything.

As you can imagine there is plenty of things on this drive that I would like access to. This drive is only used for my Macbook and if I remember correctly is formatted as a FAT 32, but I am not 100% sure. All I know is it worked perfect with Mountain Lion OS and now after the OS X El Capitan update it can no longer be recognized by the computer.

Thanks.

Matt

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 1:25 PM

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Answer 1

dmack75

Level 1

4 points

Jan 29, 2017 10:58 PM in response to qalleanqa

Similarly to garabe87, I have just come here to say thank you. Having spent 3 or 4 hours searching around trying to find a way to recover my hard drive (with pretty much all of my life on it), it was simply the issue of not recognising the password tool. Toshiba should definitely be making this easier to find. What a relief! Thanks again.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

Oct 12, 2015 2:14 PM in response to miller.mattv

See mount section in 1st linked article.

Disk Unmount Using Terminal

Disk Utility – Force Mount Disk

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Answer 3

miller.mattv Author

Level 1

2 points

Oct 19, 2015 12:48 AM in response to Eric Root

Tried both the "mount" and "mountDisk" commands. "mountDisk" said that it mounted the drive, but external drive does not show up in the "Finder". I'm at a loss, any help is welcomed.

Thanks again,

Matt

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Answer 4

Oct 19, 2015 1:04 AM in response to miller.mattv

all usb devices do not work under el capitan.

according to the name the OS was probably progammed in mexico?

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

684,033 points

Oct 24, 2015 2:35 PM in response to miller.mattv

external Toshiba hard drive not recognized after upgrade to El Capitan. dismount and unmount did not help.

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Answer 6

Nov 12, 2015 7:00 AM in response to miller.mattv

Hi,

Hope you sorted out your problem, if not this helped me...

Assumes the following:-

1. Toshiba External HDD is Mac specific HFS+ file system

2. You have a password selected.

http://support.toshiba.com/sscontent?contentId=4008402

Issue

Due to an unforeseen capability issue with Apple’s OS X El Capitan, the Password Software is not compatible and cannot access your Password. Toshiba engineering is working on this issue with Apple. The current workaround is to disable your password software with an older OS X version or gain access via a Window’s PC.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and ask that you check back until the issue is resolved.

Resolution

If you are using Mac OS X "El Capitan", follow the steps below to disable the HDD password.

NOTE: You will need the following items:

Windows PC
HDD Password Tool for Windows

Procedure

Download the HDD Password Tool for Windows found under the Drivers and Updates tab or use this link to access it.
Install the HDD Password Tool for Windows on a Windows PC
After completing the HDD Password Tool install, connect external HDD ( in Mac HFS+ format ) to the Windows PC.
Launch the HDD Password Tool. If the HDD Password Tool launches automatically, quit the application and launch it manually.
The HDD Password Tool will require you to enter the HDD password. Enter the password.
After entering the HDD password, the HDD will be unlocked.
You will be required to enter the password again to remove the password. The "Remove passwor protection" option should be selected. Entering your password will remove the password protection.
A dialog box will be displayed asking if you want to remove the password. Click "Yes"
A dialog box will be displayed confirming the password has been removed.
Close the HDD Password Tool.
Now that the password is disabled, you can use the HDD on the Mac OS X.

Best Regards

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Answer 7

Dec 23, 2015 1:21 AM in response to miller.mattv

Very quietly, Toshiba has now released an updated version. Their sites are not that easy to search and navigate through...

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/HDD_Password_Tool_for_ Mac.zip

This version is of 22 dec 2015 and is said to be compatible with El Capitan

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Answer 8

Louisart

Level 1

5 points

Jan 4, 2016 11:44 PM in response to qalleanqa

Thank you - now I have downloaded the software what do I do? I am still unable to write to my external Toshiba hard disk - I have always been able to read it and copy documents from my external had drive to my main processor but I still cannot write to the disk. I have no idea what my password is and I'm afraid I don't know what to do with the software now that I have installed it? Any suggestions? Thanks.

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Answer 9

garabe87

Level 1

4 points

Nov 3, 2016 12:02 PM in response to qalleanqa

I literally just registered an account on here just to thank you for this. I couldn't find anything searching for an hour. Installed this, restarted and this new drive now shows up on my Mac. Wasn't even getting anywhere trying to get the installer off my old Dell laptop and transferring across manually. Literally as soon as my mac restarted following the install at that link the Toshiba HDD now recognised by my mac.

So long story short, thank you!!!

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