WD Passport portable external HDD

sequitursequitur
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Just got a Western Digital Passport HDD to replace an IOmega external that's been giving me trouble. But no joy. I can't seem to get it mounted.



It shows up in Disk Utility and in System Profiler, but NOT in the side bar, so I can't use it to back up files.



The HDD itself shows up on the left side list of Disk Utility. I've tried to partition it in Disk Utility, but the partitions don't show up on the list on the left. After following directions and setting up the partitions and then clicking "Partition", I get an error message: 'Partition failed - Partition failed with the error: Input/output error'. Then I'm back to square one. I've installed two internal HDDs and two external HDDs in the past (in this computer) with no problems, but I can't figure what I've done wrong on this one.



Any suggestions? Pleeeeeeese? Someone set me straight. I can't afford to pull out any more hair. I don't have enough left as it is.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    cyloncylon Posts: 126member
    Check in the preferences of the Finder menu and make sure you have the external hard drive button checked.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    Maybe the thing to do is to first figure out whether you can write to and read from the drive. Does that work? Once you know that's working then think about doing a reformat and partition.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    sequitursequitur Posts: 1,910member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cylon View Post


    Check in the preferences of the Finder menu and make sure you have the external hard drive button checked.



    The WD HDD is connected to my old G4 w/Tiger 10.4.11. No Finder/Preferences/External HDD button. The "Hard disks" is checked in "Sidebar".

    I already have a La Cie HDD connected with no problem.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    sequitursequitur Posts: 1,910member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post


    Maybe the thing to do is to first figure out whether you can write to and read from the drive. Does that work? Once you know that's working then think about doing a reformat and partition.



    Is there a way to do that if the HDD doesn't appear in the computer "Sidebar"? I haven't been able to open it.



    The HDD does appear in the Disk Utility sidebar, but I get an error message when I try to reformat and partition it:'Partition failed - Partition failed with the error: Input/output error'.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    sequitursequitur Posts: 1,910member
    I called WD customer service to try to get an answer and got through to a rep in India. After getting the facts, he said that my computer wasn't fast enough to be compatible. He said that I had to use leopard even though the HDD instructions said the HDD was compatible with Tiger (I have 10.4.11). I asked him which WD portable HDD would work with my G4 computer. He said he couldn't answer that but suggested I call the online store (877 934-6972) to find out.



    I called the online store and after getting the facts, the rep said the HDD was defective, and that I should either send it back to WD or return it to the store where I bought it. He said the customer service rep in India didn't know what he was talking about and that the WD HDD should be compatible with my Mac. That surprised me. I didn't think they would diss someone in the same company.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    solidprosolidpro Posts: 7member
    A device like this going over USB is hardly going to require a supercomputer to run - when he brought up the 'not powerful enough' card, I would have smelt a stinker straight away - just as you probably did!



    At least the last guy you spoke to was honest and said it like it was! You'd probably buy another one now, over not at all!
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