Apple iMac and external hard drive compatibility

[Stayahead]

Have just bought a new Apple iMac which is great but it does not recognise my Buffalo 250Gb external hard drive. This has 10 years of photos on it plus quite a bit of music. Apple's support were unable to solve the problem but have made suggestions which I have yet to try. I have read Apple forums and I am not the only user with this problem Can anyone help please By the way the Buffalo hard drive works fine on my PC

[ChuckFickens]

drives can be formatted in different file systems, your drive is probably formatted in NTFS which is the latest native windows format, MACs can not read this as standard.

you will either have to clear the drive and then reformat it in FAT32 (which is a file system both windows and macs can read) which you will also require a tool to do that (windows won't format a drive that large in FAT32 as standard) this would do the job

http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/s wissknife.htm

remember formatting your drive will wipe it totally so move your stuff off the drive first.

or the other option is to install a NTFS driver on the mac so it can read the drive... hopefully fo3nix will see this and will suggest an option for this.

[fo3nix]

(I have seen it :))

As Chuck says, it's probably a format issue. Different systems use different formats. Microsoft XP and Vista default to NTFS, which is Microsoft's proprietary system, and you need to license the technology to use it. Because of this, Apple doesn't support it. Apple themselves default to using their own system, HFS+. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft doesn't support this.

FAT32, as Chuck says, is an older Microsoft format that everyone supports now. It works with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux easily. (Linux has its share of formats that neither Microsoft nor Apple support!)

However, Mac OS X should be able to at least read the NTFS volume (if it is that). If no icon is showing on the desktop for the drive, there may be another issue. Make sure the drive is connected to the power, and directly to the computer with USB (not through hub for example).

If you want full read/write access, there are two methods. The pay for method, or the (slightly more complicated) free method.

pay for:
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

free:

Download MacFUSE, macntfs-3g, and MacFusion.

http://code.google.com/p/macfuse/downloads/lis t
http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/
http://www.macfusionapp.org/

Install them in that order (in the usual way --- hopefully just double click or drag to applications folder), then run MacFusion program to get the drive working.

[Stayahead]

Hi and many thanks to ChuckFickens and fo3nix for their suggestions to my problem . Thanks too for your very quick responses. I will try your recommendations and hope my problem will be solved.

Have you guys thought of working for Apple?

[fo3nix]

That would be very nice!

[ChuckFickens]

I'm good where I am, IT and race cars :)

[Gromit]

Do you still have the PC to which your external hard drive used to be connected?

If so, you could network the Mac to the PC with an ethernet cable or Wifi if you have it, and get your photos and music off of the drive. Then, when they are safely on the Mac, re format the Hard Drive.

[Stayahead]

Hi Gromit,
Thanks for the suggestion. I hope to try this over the weekend
For those of you that are interested, I spoke to Apples's support department. Very polite and friendly but really didn't have a clue as to resolving this problem. Just went through some procedures to earn his keep. A company of this size and product reputation, should be trawling sites like this to see what problems occur with their products, address them and offer solutions. Well, got that off my chest

[Stayahead]

Hi again to ChuckFickens, fo3nix and Gromit. Forgot to mention that the external hard drive is formatted to FAT32.
Can anyone recommend an external hard drive compatible with Mac and PC.

Many thanks

[Gromit]

It is important to use the Mac to connect to the PC. It is far easier to network this way than PC to Mac.

If I were you, I would buy another external hard drive asap and use them with each machine. You can get a 250 gb for �60 - �70.

I recomend another hard drive because this will enable you to use 'Time Macine' effectively. I cannot urge you enough, Time Machine is a superb automatic backup system and works better when the hard drive is dedicated and constantly connected to the Mac.

[Stayahead]

Hi Gromit and thanks again for your response. Can you suggest a brand for the external hard drive

Thanks again

[Gromit]

I have always used Lacie external hard disks, which we also use at work. I have never known one to fail, and they are reasonably priced.

Check out what is on offer at the Apple Store on the Apple website, which has users reviews, and then buy it cheaper from MacWarehouse or similar.

Good luck with transferring your data, and welcome to the Mac community.

[Gromit]

And, assuming your Mac has a Firewire port, make sure the External disk is Firewire (as well as USB) compatible. FireWire is much faster than USB for transferring your data.

[Stayahead]

Hi Gromit,
Many thanks again for your advice; you have been very helpful.

[ChuckFickens]

just a point here,

The drive you have should be working fine on a mac... I have a horrible feeling that even if you purchase a new drive your still going to have the same problem and will have wasted your money.

[Stayahead]

Hi ChuckFickens,

Many thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate everyone's interest and support. I have acquired a little more knowledge about computer problems and solutions

[fo3nix]

Yea hang on...

If the drive is formatted as FAT32, then there is something strange going on, or your drive is right about to fail.

Can you still access the drive on your old windows manchine? If so, plug your new drive in to your Mac once it's started up, and it should appear either on the desktop or, by clicking the Finder icon in the dock (the smiley face), on the left hand side of the window that appears.

If it doesn't do this, then either the drive is doing something funny or your Mac is. Either way, it shouldn't be doing that.

As I say above Macs can read and write FAT32, and can read NTFS, out of the box.

[Stayahead]

Hi fo3nix

Thanks again for coming back. I don't think I have much choice other than to try another hard drive. If that fails then hopefully I have more ammunition to throw at Apple in terms of a replacement or refund. A disappointing start to my Mac association, made worse I think by seeing other people with the same problems. I think Apple should learn from the Forums and address the problems listed.

[ChuckFickens]

Fo3nix,

Does the mac get upset if the external drive hasn't been removed safely from a windows system (i.e. just pulled out?). my laptop won't mount volumes (unless forced) that have been pulled from windows without stopping them first.

stayahead..

Do you always use the remove device safely icon down by the clock when you disconnect the drive from windows?

if not just try plugging it into the windows machine let it recognise it and then click on the remove safely icon down by the clock and stop the hard drive, wait until it says it is now safe to remove and then try plugging it into the mac.

[Stayahead]

Hi ChuckFickens,

I must admit that I did not use the remove safely icon. I will try what you suggest. Thanks again

[Stayahead]

Hi to ChuckFickens, fo3nix and Gromit,

Good news - I tried all the usb ports again and the drive was recognised when plugged into the keyboard. It appears everything is there although I will have to re-organise a little.
Just to say thanks again to you all for considering my problem in such depth, and of course for the time you devoted to it. I know where to come again with any Mac problems - my own Mac support centre.

Well done guys and thanks again