Can't mount external USB SSD drive after shutdown

Question

Can't mount external USB SSD drive after shutdown

Community,

Loner T you out there!?? ;-) I have a MBP running Bootcamp/W10 and sometimes boot off of an external USB SSD drive. The other day the laptop powered off (I forgot the power cord wasn't plugged in) and now the drive shows in Disk Utility but is greyed out and I don't see it in finder when I powered back up. I did a First Aid on the drive and it checks out fine and did try to unmount it and mount it through the command line. Thoughts? Thank you!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 4, 2016 4:23 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 4, 2016 5:12 AM in response to Dick Richards

Is the disk greyed out in Finder, or in System Preferences -> Startup Disk? El Capitan System Preferences -> Startup Disk now has a lock icon. 😉

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Answer 2

Jan 4, 2016 7:22 AM in response to Loner T

Loner T!!!!!

Doesn't show in Finder or the Startup Disk screen. I attached the screenshot on the DU...

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 4, 2016 8:12 AM in response to Dick Richards

Can you post the output of

diskutil list

diskutil info diskN (where N points to the drive which is not working. You can find out 'N' from previous command)

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Answer 4

Jan 4, 2016 9:12 AM in response to Loner T

Here we go:

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 4, 2016 9:19 AM in response to Dick Richards

Can you run diskutil repaidDisk disk2 and post the output?

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Answer 6

Jan 5, 2016 4:10 AM in response to Loner T

Below output LT....

--

Repairing the partition map might erase disk2s1, proceed? (y/N) y

Started partition map repair on disk2

Checking prerequisites

Checking the partition list

Adjusting partition map to fit whole disk as required

Checking for an EFI system partition

Checking the EFI system partition's size

Checking the EFI system partition's file system

Checking the EFI system partition's folder content

Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces

Checking booter partitions

Checking booter partition disk2s3

Repairing file system

Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume

Checking extents overflow file

Checking catalog file

Checking multi-linked files

Checking catalog hierarchy

Checking extended attributes file

Checking volume bitmap

Checking volume information

The volume Recovery HD appears to be OK

File system check exit code is 0

Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required

Reviewing boot support loaders

Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions

Updating Windows boot.ini files as required

The partition map appears to be OK

Finished partition map repair on disk2

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 5, 2016 4:39 AM in response to Dick Richards

1. What year/model is your MBP?

2. What are the two versions of OSX? El Capitan SIP is a factor.

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Answer 8

Jan 5, 2016 11:00 AM in response to Loner T

Howdy... My MBP is a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013). My OSX version is 10.11.12.

BTW - On a totally different issue I am trying to install a fresh copy of Bootcamp drivers on my Windows 10 side. I start the install and everything appears good but once it gets to the Realtek drivers it hangs? I CAN install the Realtek drivers manually fine? Seen that before?

Thanks as always LT...

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Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 5, 2016 11:32 AM in response to Dick Richards

Dick Richards wrote:

Howdy... My MBP is a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013). My OSX version is 10.11.12.

As a test

1. Boot into Local Recovery (Command+R).

2. Start Utilities -> Terminal.

3. Type csrutil disable in Terminal and press Enter/Return.

4. Type csrutil status.

5. Boot normally, and type csrutil status to confirm that all individual entries are still disabled.

Now connect your external disk and see if you can boot from it.

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 5, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Dick Richards

BTW - On a totally different issue I am trying to install a fresh copy of Bootcamp drivers on my Windows 10 side. I start the install and everything appears good but once it gets to the Realtek drivers it hangs? I CAN install the Realtek drivers manually fine? Seen that before?

Please see Bootcamp 6.0 driver install interrupted .

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Answer 11

Jan 6, 2016 11:19 AM in response to Loner T

Ran the csrutil status and SIP is disabled on the MBP. Plugged the drive in and still can't mount it. Ugh....

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 6, 2016 11:49 AM in response to Dick Richards

Disconnect the external disk, try a SMC/NVRAM Reset and test.

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 13

Jan 7, 2016 3:34 PM in response to Loner T

Welp LT tried those commands and the drive still doesn't mount. Clueless. Ugh..

End of the road? Ideas?

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Answer 14

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 7, 2016 7:47 PM in response to Dick Richards

Is it possible to use Internet Recovery and re-install OS X on the external SSD? As a test, boot into Internet Recovery, connect your USB/SSD and check if it shows up.

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Answer 15

Jan 8, 2016 7:03 PM in response to Loner T

Hey again LT. I just decided to give up. I did an IR and the MBP saw the external drive but still wouldn't mount. Didn't want to waste anymore of your time. Thanks again! I'm sure we'll chat unfortunately. (ugh)..

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