Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

External Hard Drive not appearing on Disk Utility (mac)

Mar 15, 2017 10:04AM PDT

Hello. I have a problem my external hard drive, it's not appearing at all in my mac. Not even in the disk utility. Other USBs and External Hard drives work, but this one does not and it happened just recently.

I think it's obvious that my EHD is broken (regardless of lights being on) so if there is no way i can get this to appear on my mac then i may need to take it to a professional.

If that is my only option, can i be certain that the files in this EHD can be retrieved? Unless someone here can help me get this to work?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
What is this thing?
Mar 15, 2017 10:36AM PDT

The most common fix I use is to put the HDD that's inside into a new case.

That's far cheaper than any recovery house.

- Collapse -
Case removed
Mar 15, 2017 11:00AM PDT

Thanks for your response. I did remove it out of the case (i haven't put it in a new one) but it still won't show up.

- Collapse -
Read your reply
Mar 15, 2017 11:04AM PDT

And confused. How could an external work without the case?

- Collapse -
case
Mar 15, 2017 11:12AM PDT

I'm sorry for not being tech savy, but when you mean case, you mean the hard cover housing of the External? If you don't mind me asking, why would the case matter if it is just a plastic cover?

- Collapse -
The case
Mar 15, 2017 11:15AM PDT

To me is the case cover and electronics that adapt the drive to USB or such.

If you remove the cover, to me that's not the entire case.

I asked "What is this thing?" but have to expand that to.

What is the full make and model number of this external drive?

- Collapse -
case
Mar 15, 2017 11:26AM PDT

The model is My Passport Ultra. Here is a pic of it with out the case... (note: i removed it out of the case after reading your reply).


http://oi64.tinypic.com/15xv8zn.jpg

Thanks for your replies btw.

- Collapse -
Bad news.
Mar 15, 2017 11:35AM PDT
https://www.google.com/search?q=wd10jmvw shows this is one of those models without the usual SATA to USB adapter.

These are sent to recovery houses if data must be recovered.
If not, check the warranty to have ti exchanged for a good one.

Remember that externals are just temporary copies. Always duplicate externals just like we do for all files we must keep backups of.
- Collapse -
reply
Mar 15, 2017 11:41AM PDT

ok. thanks.. so in short, i might need to take this to a professional? Do you know if doing so is expensive?

- Collapse -
There are so few professionals that
Mar 15, 2017 12:03PM PDT

I'd skip the pain and go to drivesavers.com next.

These drives are under 90 bucks now so this may be a lesson about how a backup would be cheaper than recovery.

To test your choice of the professional, look around and see if the shop has the PCBs of drives for them to swap out. Also, they should never tell you they will fix the drive. For me, I accept the drive is gone and all I want are the files.

- Collapse -
transferring files
Mar 15, 2017 1:19PM PDT

Thanks. Are there ways i can transfer my files to a new external hard drive with out taking it to a computer shop? I've browsed around, including the link you gave, and it is a bit expensive.

- Collapse -
Unless the drive is readable on computers
Mar 15, 2017 1:30PM PDT

The answer is nope. And yes, recovery is expensive, backup is cheap.