The Case of the Mavericks and the Cantankerous New External Drive

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Level 1

16 points

The Case of the Mavericks and the Cantankerous New External Drive

Hi -

Background: I have backed up iPhoto Libraries spanning the last ten years to a new (2 months) WD My Passport Ultra 3TB. Lately when I attach the disk via usb 3.0 directly or via a hub, the Passport does not mount, I get a steady idle LED light. OR If it does mount, I get a steady LED blink, I can see it on Desktop, in Finder, and in Disk Utility, but I am not able to open files on the disk. Occasionally (during the last eight tries to access), there is clicking when it is first connected, or a beep, but then that subsides. A final curious fact, the Passport has a better chance of mounting if I prop a small flash drive under the USB connection at the disk.

Here's the question: Should I attempt using Disk Utility to get to the bottom of this? Do I try Verify Disk first? Or go straight to Repair Disk? And...will I risk losing any of the iPhoto libraries or just the directory for the disk?

Thank you

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 8GB 1600 M

Posted on May 26, 2016 4:37 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 26, 2016 5:10 PM in response to Mrs. Panzoni

Hi,

It does sound like a connection/hardware issue, but open Activity Monitor>All processes, is fsck or find running?

Open Console in Applications>Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

Click on the top line we want, Shift plus click on the bottom line we want, CMD+c to copy, then paste the text in a reply with CMD+v

A few dozen lines should be about right, hundreds or thousands won't likely be readable.

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Answer 2

Mrs. Panzoni Author

Level 1

16 points

May 26, 2016 5:32 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi - thanks for the response. No "fsck" or "find' running in Activity Monitor. And here's the grab from the console:

5/25/16 6:00:54.809 PM com.apple.backupd[244]: Backup canceled.

5/25/16 6:01:03.113 PM Disk Utility[287]: Couldn't contact spell checker for Multilingual

5/25/16 6:01:05.872 PM diskarbitrationd[16]: mds [62]:21519 not responding.

5/25/16 6:01:24.863 PM com.apple.backupd[244]: Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Time Machine Backups (FSVolumeRefNum: -107; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)

5/25/16 6:01:24.863 PM com.apple.backupd[244]: Failed to eject Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Data/Christopher’s MacBook Air.sparsebundle

5/25/16 6:02:24.835 PM mds[62]: (Error) Volume: Root store set to FSOnly with matching create! (loaded:1)

5/25/16 6:04:45.000 PM kernel[0]: USBMSC Identifier (non-unique): 575842314436353750304544 0x1058 0x827 0x1012, 3

5/25/16 6:05:18.412 PM WindowServer[106]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 57607

5/25/16 6:05:18.413 PM WindowServer[106]: CGXGetConnectionProperty: Invalid connection 57607

5/25/16 6:05:18.426 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.ShareKitHelper[241]) Exited: Killed: 9

5/25/16 6:05:18.426 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.internetaccounts[246]) Exited: Killed: 9

5/25/16 6:05:18.445 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[162]: (com.apple.iTunesHelper.71664[226]) Exited with code: 1

5/25/16 6:05:18.445 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[162]: (com.apple.gamed[230]) Exited: Killed: 9

5/25/16 6:05:18.446 PM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[162]: ([0x0-0x17017].com.apple.ImageCaptureExtension2[293]) Exited: Killed: 9

5/25/16 6:05:28.471 PM loginwindow[66]: ERROR | -[ApplicationManager quitPrivateProcesses] | Private process did not quit

5/25/16 6:05:28.548 PM sessionlogoutd[341]: sessionlogoutd Launched

5/25/16 6:05:28.562 PM sessionlogoutd[341]: DEAD_PROCESS: 66 console

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Answer 3

Mrs. Panzoni Author

Level 1

16 points

May 26, 2016 6:38 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi - Also just wanted to add that I am having a sluggish response with the Finder overall, though it eventually can open files in Documents, on Desktop, additional external drive, etc. And - hopefully this isn't a death sentence for the backup Passport iPhoto Library files in question, but the Finder window will show the main files for the Passport and shows that 1.52 of 3GB is available, but cannot open the individual files. Thanks for your help on this. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

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Answer 4

Mrs. Panzoni Author

Level 1

16 points

May 27, 2016 7:28 AM in response to BDAqua

Hi - just wondering if you had any further help for me re: the thread? I put results up on first reply as you can see and then added a couple of observations in a second email. Hoping you can help. Thanks very much.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

May 27, 2016 7:52 AM in response to Mrs. Panzoni

It appears to be a connection problem. Try using another cable and another USB port.

Might be a corrupt .plist.

Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.

Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.

Re-launch Finder by restarting the computer and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

If the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

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