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Question

Which external hard drive is best for 10.3.9

Jul 1, 2014 8:55AM PDT

Hello everyone,
I cannot for the life of me understand how to get my external hard drive to work. Here's my question: I have an old Apple eMac, the system version is Mac OS X 10.3.9 (7W9Cool and I want to copy most all of the iTunes, iPhoto, documents, and some videos from this computer onto an external hard drive. I bought a WD My Passport for Mac 500 GB external hard drive and it says that the computer does not recognize it. Thats fine but what type of drive can I use for this old machine? I want to destroy the computer and just keep the information on it. Any information on a compatible external hard drive or a way to solve this problem will be much appreciated! Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Where did you plug in the USB 2.0 drive?
Jul 1, 2014 10:41AM PDT
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP85 notes those USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard which I would not try.

Also a single copy is always a bad idea. I'd keep the old 40GB Ultra ATA IDE drive and put it into some case so you have 2 copies later.
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Answer
There were 5 versions of the eMac
Jul 1, 2014 9:53PM PDT

with the first three versions only having USB 1.0 ports at 12Mbs.

Versions after that had USB 2.0 ports, three of them.

I suspect that you have one of the earlier versions.
I don't think that the system can cope with the current drive format for Mac, which is Mac OS X Extended (journaled) and which that WD drive is formatted in.

Back in 2002 > 2005, the format for Mac was HFS+.

Suggestion. Get yourself a USB thumb drive (Flash drive) and plug it into one of the USB ports, preferably NOT the ones on the keyboard. If it mounts, then what you need is a USB hard drive that is NOT specifically for Mac or Windows. You need one that is formatted as FAT or FAT32.

If the thumb drive does NOT mount, then you have something else going on and Bob's suggestion of lifting the drive out of the eMac and into its own enclosure is your best bet

Could you define for us exactly what "the computer does not recognize it" means? Is it an error message offering to format the drive?

P

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Here are more specs
Jul 2, 2014 6:13AM PDT

Thanks for the replies. When I plug it into the USB port a message pops up that says: "You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read. To continue with the disk inserted, click ignore." Then it has 3 options to click "Initialize, Ignore, and Eject".

It says Machine Model: eMac
CPU type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)

This is exactly what I have:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/emac/specs/emac_1.0.html

I like the idea of a USB thumb drive formatted for FAT32, I will definitely try this. Both ideas are excellent and if the thumb drive doesn't work its on to Bob's suggestion.