external Hard Drives not mounting on PowerBook

S

SimplyThrilledHoney

Registered
hi.

Firstly, appologies if this has been covered in the past. I've searched, and couldn't find an answer.

I run a fairly new 15" PowerBook (1.5 GHz), and have recently installed OS 10.4, and downloaded all the relevant updates.

Today I went out and bought 2 x 2.5" HDDs and 2 Targa USB Hard Disk cases. Whilst both these disks happily mount on my (work) desktop G5 PowerMac (which is currently running 10.3), I can't get my PowerBook to recognise either of them. The actual disks are formatted for Mac OS (which I did on the G4) and recieve power when connected to the PowerBooks USB ports, they just don't mount on the desktop.

Any suggestions? I'm hoping I didn;t just blow a bunch of money for nothing.
 
... further to that last point, one of the HDDs is a 40GB one, and the other is 80GB. Neither mounts. Also, I have my PowerBook plugged in when I do this.
 
Try going to the Finder's preferences and check to make sure that hard disks can be viewed on the desktop. If it's not that, then it could be firmware issues and you may need to go to the website of the company that makes the drives and download the updates.
 
You can also see if it connecting to your USB Port as in capturing it, look at system profiler when you connect it next time, and click on USB and see if it states any information on the connected drives.
 
it seems like its a power supply issue. The USB plug that came with the Targa case has a secondary USB output When I connect the drive to my PowerBook, and then connect the secondary USB plug to my G5 desktop, the drive mounts on my PowerBook. I didn't realise that, even plugged in, a PowerBook wouldn't have the power to run a small secondary drive. I guess this means I need a powered USB hub, does it?
 
Ah, I see what the problem is. Your HD's are not bus powered. The secondary USB port on the drives are for daisy chaining multiple drives together, not powering them (unless a drive is bus powered). What you need are power supplies to hook to your drives if you are going to use them with your powerbook.
 
OK, I'm not quite sure what you mean here.

> What you need are power supplies to hook to your drives if you are going > to use them with your powerbook.

So does this mean I need to buy new, more expensive Hard Drive enclosures which are bus powered, or is the problem with the hard drives themselves? Having just shelled out for the drives, I'm loathe to go out and spend too much more money if I can avoid it.

The Targa enclosures only have a USB 2.0 plug, and no other way to power them. So can I get a power supply which can plug directly into the secondary USB plug on the cable?
 
There isn't a power supply for your enclosures? That's odd. You got ripped of then. Every hard drive I've seen has some kind of power supply. It's strange that there isn't one on yours. I'd take it back and exchange it for one that does. Also re-check the specs on the drive/enclosure and make sure that it is or isn't bus powered.

I don't think there is a problem with the hard drives themselves since they mount fine on your G5. A powermac G5 can transport more power through it's bus system than a powerbook can so that is probably why your drives are mounting on your G5 and not your powerbook.
 
SimplyThrilledHoney said:
The Targa enclosures only have a USB 2.0 plug, and no other way to power them. So can I get a power supply which can plug directly into the secondary USB plug on the cable?
Click to expand...

Please post a link to the device from the manufacturer's website so we can see the specs.
 
MacMediaGuru said:
There isn't a power supply for your enclosures? That's odd. You got ripped of then. Every hard drive I've seen has some kind of power supply. It's strange that there isn't one on yours. I'd take it back and exchange it for one that does.
Click to expand...

Here's the specs of the device:
Targa HD-25U

AS for being "ripped off", well, this is a totally standard product line here in New Zealand. Pretty much every person I know who has bought a 2.5" portable storage unit has ended up with one of these, or something very similar. All the 3.5" drive enclosures here have power supplies, but the 2.5" ones are almost always powered though USB. My problem is just that I didn't realise that the power coming from my PowerBook wouldn't power it.

So, again, I ask, is a powered USB hub going to solve this problem?
 
sorry to piggyback on your post, but i'm having a similar problem, except that my external hard drive is powered. so i'm not sure what's going on - i only know that it's not working. everything else checks out...(the finders preferences, etc.)
 
Well it says on the specs that the enclosure is bus powered so your powerbook should be able to power it. My PB powers my 2.5" drive (bus powered) I got from OWC. Don't know what else to tell you.

A USB hub wouldn't really help you in this situation as it will just become another part of the chain and wouldn't be able to deliver enough power to the drive. In order for your bus powered drive to work properly it needs to be hooked directly to the powerbook's USB port.

Biz I can't really help you out since there is not enough info from you to work with. You need to describe the problem more elaborately.
 
I don't know about your particular drive (when I click on the specs it bounces me to some other page).

What I do know is that LaCie drives claim that you can power external drives with powered usb-hubs. I know this says nothing about Targa, but this is the best I can do.

"The LaCie Mobile Hard Drive does not require a power supply for computers equipped with a standard buspowered USB port. Some USB hubs or boards are not powered; if your computer's USB hub or bus does not provide the necessary power to operate your drive, use one of the optional power sharing cables to turn on your drive."
 
hmmm ... but the thing is, the drive works fine when the main USB cable is plugged into the PowerBooks's USB port, and the secondary USB plus is plugged into my G5 PowerMac desktop. Which is why I figured buying a powered USB hub would solve the problem. That way I could plug the secondary USB port into the powered hub, and the main plug into the PowerBook. I appreciate that it's not a terrible elegant solution, but do you really think this won't work?

(And sorry to harp on about this, but I'd just really like to find a solution which doesn't involve me going out to buy new hard drives and/or enclosures.)
 
Since you don't have much of a choice, I would go for buying the powered hub. No gaurantees though. If it works, it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't.
 
It's an issue that has come up recently on my laptop as well. I don't think enough power is being supplied to the USB ports.

By the way MacMediaGuru you should know that 2.5 in drives don't need a power supply that should just be powered by firewire or usb.

I have to double the cables on one machine to get it to mount now and as with other machines it only needs one. Not sure if this is a fireware issue or what.
 
Hello i got a solution for you although it might seem very weird.
Plug in both usb cables into your poerbook now the disk should work...

This happens only with some manufacturers like seagate etc...

Basically one usb is for the power supply and the other to transfer data.

Some disks transfer data and power from the same usb port...

Hope this helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top