Computer does not see "My Passport"

[DougStocks]

I have been using a "My Passport for Mac" external HD as the destination disk for Time Machine backups. Then I noticed that the computer was no longer seeing that HD. Since rebooting did not help, I purchased a new My Passport for Mac HD. When I installed it, the computer immediately "saw it." I just left it be and eventually Time Machine started a new backup. The last time I looked it was about 10% finished making the new BU. Next time I noticed, I had a message saying that the device had not been properly ejected. Finder no longer showed this disc. I did a complete shutdown and restarted the computer. Computer still does not see this disc. I use two other external HDs and occasionally get the same 'failure to eject' message, but a reboot has always corrected the situation.

Any suggestions? I have an older Mac Mini, but my OS is 10.10.4

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-Which model Mac mini?
-Do the My Passport drives have a USB connection as well? Have you tried that?

Sometimes an SMC and PRAM reset will correct this issue:
Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac
How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac

C

 

[honestone]

Not sure if it will make much (if any) difference, but a new version of Yosemite, OS 10.10.5, came out early last week. You can get the Combo Updater from here:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1832?locale=en_US

 

[DougStocks]

Hello and welcome.

-Which model Mac mini?
-Do the My Passport drives have a USB connection as well? Have you tried that?

Sometimes an SMC and PRAM reset will correct this issue:
Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac
How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac

C

"My Passport" has only a USB connection.

I did a SMC reset. This seems to have corrected the problem - at least for the last 5 minutes. I'll feel better if it is still functioning after 48 hours. Consequently, if this is acceptable procedure, I'lll leave this thread open and report back in a couple of days.

Thank you so very much for your help. Over the years, I have had a few occasions to turn to the Forum for help. To the best of my recollection you, Mr Cooper, have always responded and your advice has always been sound. Again thank you for your kind and generous help.

Doug Stocks

 

[honestone]

Glad you were able to resolve your issue. And yes, Cory is a valuable resource, that's for certain!

I'm wondering if this thread is another indication that WD drives are, at times, problematic, where as drives from a number of other manufacturers (Seagate, LaCie, etc.) are easier to work with. Myself, I have relied almost exclusively on Seagate drives, having used a number of them for various purposes, and with various interfaces (SCSI, USB, and Firewire). Except for typical wearing out (usually 5 to 7 years of use), they have been extremely reliable.

I also wonder if for the WD drives, even though they come formatted for use right away, that it might be beneficial to use Disk Utility to Erase, Format, and Partition the drive right away. Cory, maybe you could enlighten us on that.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...glad it seems to have fixed the issue.

If you purchase a My Passport for Mac, it will be fine as is. If it is a PC/Mac/Universal version, then I would reformat it with Disk Utility as GUID/OS X Extended (Journaled) before using. Actually, I prefer to do that anyway, as I don't like most auto-setup features included on hard drives.

Sorry about the USB question - had another forum question on my mind when I answered you.

C

 

[honestone]

No worries...glad it seems to have fixed the issue.

If you purchase a My Passport for Mac, it will be fine as is. If it is a PC/Mac/Universal version, then I would reformat it with Disk Utility as GUID/OS X Extended (Journaled) before using. Actually, I prefer to do that anyway, as I don't like most auto-setup features included on hard drives.

Sorry about the USB question - had another forum question on my mind when I answered you.

C

Once again, the voice of reason is here! And yeah, Cory, I also do not like any of the auto-setup features included on any new drive (even Seagate ones). I follow what you do, and use Disk Utility to get the drive ready for use on my Mac/Macs.

 

[DougStocks]

Thank you both for your comments and advice. I can understand that people such as yourselves might prefer to do your own setups. However, being that the computer is only a means to an end for me and being unversed in their care and keeping, I prefer to get things that are "plug & play."

Regardless, it is obviously of great benefit to people such as myself that there exists such kind, helpful and knowledgeable people such as you two who offer their help so generously. Thank you.

PS: After several hours, the drive is still functioning.

 

[honestone]

From one perspective, I understand where you are coming from. Some folks prefer to not "tinker" with anything, and thus want to just have things move along. It's the same when one owns an automobile. I know of a number of people who do nothing but just drive their cars, and when something goes wrong (even if it is simple), they prefer to take it to a dealer and have it repaired. That will get the job done, but certainly at a higher cost.

Then, there are folks who do like to "tinker", albeit carefully and having the knowledge (and at times the experience) to proceed. Cory and myself are just two such folks. In the case of hard drives, not sure if it is still the case, but it used to be that getting a "PC" version of a new hard drive was less expensive than the Mac version (if it existed). But, that PC drive can be setup for use on a Mac. That actually was the case when I purchased my Samsung 256 gig SSD. There was no "Mac" version, so I had to get the drive ready for use inside my Mac Mini. For the automobiles we own, I do some basic maintenance on my own, and I can do some simpler repairs. For major work, though, I do take it to an auto repair/maintenance shop.

But, besides all that, there is still the choice one makes as to how they take care of things. For any hard drive, it is best to use software tools to keep the drive functioning as smoothly as possible. That will extend the life of the drive, and avoid possible headaches that can happen if such maintenance/care is not done. Again, taking care of an automobile is similar. For example, I monitor the air pressure on the tires for both of our vehicles myself. One of them (our 2013 Toyota Camry) actually comes with a feature that monitors the tire pressure (In fact I got alerted once about it), but I still do it on my own. For our other vehicle, I have to do it on my own. The benefits of keeping correct air pressure are numerous, including extending the life of the tire (and thus saving money).

In any event, I am glad the drive is working for you. If you need any ideas, thoughts, etc. about maintaining your drives at peak performance, just ask any of us.

 

[DougStocks]

Thank you both for your comments and advice. I can understand that people such as yourselves might prefer to do your own setups. However, being that the computer is only a means to an end for me and being unversed in their care and keeping, I prefer to get things that are "plug & play."

Regardless, it is obviously of great benefit to people such as myself that there exists such kind, helpful and knowledgeable people such as you two who offer their help so generously. Thank you.

PS: After several hours, the drive is still functioning.

From one perspective, I understand where you are coming from. Some folks prefer to not "tinker" with anything, and thus want to just have things move along. It's the same when one owns an automobile. I know of a number of people who do nothing but just drive their cars, and when something goes wrong (even if it is simple), they prefer to take it to a dealer and have it repaired. That will get the job done, but certainly at a higher cost.

Then, there are folks who do like to "tinker", albeit carefully and having the knowledge (and at times the experience) to proceed. Cory and myself are just two such folks. In the case of hard drives, not sure if it is still the case, but it used to be that getting a "PC" version of a new hard drive was less expensive than the Mac version (if it existed). But, that PC drive can be setup for use on a Mac. That actually was the case when I purchased my Samsung 256 gig SSD. There was no "Mac" version, so I had to get the drive ready for use inside my Mac Mini. For the automobiles we own, I do some basic maintenance on my own, and I can do some simpler repairs. For major work, though, I do take it to an auto repair/maintenance shop.

But, besides all that, there is still the choice one makes as to how they take care of things. For any hard drive, it is best to use software tools to keep the drive functioning as smoothly as possible. That will extend the life of the drive, and avoid possible headaches that can happen if such maintenance/care is not done. Again, taking care of an automobile is similar. For example, I monitor the air pressure on the tires for both of our vehicles myself. One of them (our 2013 Toyota Camry) actually comes with a feature that monitors the tire pressure (In fact I got alerted once about it), but I still do it on my own. For our other vehicle, I have to do it on my own. The benefits of keeping correct air pressure are numerous, including extending the life of the tire (and thus saving money).

In any event, I am glad the drive is working for you. If you need any ideas, thoughts, etc. about maintaining your drives at peak performance, just ask any of us.

Mr Honestone,

Ah your reference to automobile maintenance brought back a few memories. The way one approaches problems (DIY or hire someone) is not only a function of personality, but also of age and physical condition. A good example the auto maintenance. My approach when I was in my 20's and 30's was a lot different from that now when I am in my 80's. Another VERY BIG difference is the automobiles themselves. My first several autos were just minor variations from the basic design; viz., under the hood the engine ran down the center with a row of spark plugs on the top, on one side was the carburetor, on the other side was a distributor. That was it!!! Yep, in those days I did a LOT more than just monitor the air pressure, Now, even if I were still young and fit, I doubt that I would even be able to change the spark plugs.

Of course, back then, a high mileage car would have about 50,000 miles on it and was about ready for the scrap heap; now a car with 50,000 miles is just barely broken-in. Rarely needed a tire pressure gauge then because every service station was 'full service' and you got your tire pressure checked for free most every time you filled-up the tank. Times; they do change!

 

[honestone]

Understand. I am in my early 70's, and yes, there are some physical things I can no longer do (or if I could, they would be painful). For automobiles, the things I can do myself are 1) change the Cabin Air Filter, 2) change the Air Filter, 3) check the tire pressure myself, and 4) diagnose some simpler electrical problems that can be cured by replacing a fuse. I hope to be able to do those things (or at least most of them) by the time I am in my 80's (hopefully I can make it that far. So far, so good, as I am in good to excellent health, my wife does a super job in preparing all our meals from a health conscious perspective, and I get a good amount of exercise).

For maintaining a hard drive, there are quite a few software tools available for doing that, both free and not free. I would recommend that you look into which ones are available, and also do some things on your own on a regular basis. Again, it is wonderful that the drive is working fine. But, besides maintaining the drive itself, there are other pieces to your machine (mainly from a software perspective) that would be beneficial for you to maintain/"repair" yourself. By doing that, you'll avoid a number of issues that quite a few folks have that don't follow such procedures.

I do consider myself somewhat proficient with Macs, both from a hardware and software perspective. And, I do have a number of tools available to proceed with most repairs. But, it is my preference to avoid that as much as possible, and thus I follow a somewhat "rigid" (from my perspective) program to keep my machines "lean and clean". Those procedures have served me well for a number of years.

Finally, your statements about older automobiles and excellent service bring back memories! In fact, they remind me of the scene in "Back To The Future", when Marty first went back to 1955. A car pulled into a Texaco station, and right away 4 or 5 folks rushed out to help the customer. Today you'd be lucky to get "served" right away to just pay for the gas you want to pump yourself (I don't pay at the pump, and never, never use a credit/debit card to pay for the gas).

 

[DougStocks]

Mr. Hornstone,

Thank you for the further comments. While I dislike doing so, I will impose further on you. You state:

"For maintaining a hard drive, there are quite a few software tools available for doing that, both free and not free. I would recommend that you look into which ones are available, and also do some things on your own on a regular basis." and go on to say "there are other pieces to your machine (mainly from a software perspective) that would be beneficial for you to maintain/"repair" yourself." and "I follow a somewhat "rigid" (from my perspective) program to keep my machines "lean and clean"."

I did purchase something called MacBooster 2. It seems to have helped a lot in speeding up a machine that had gotten intolerantly slow (& I'm a pretty tolerant guy.) If you could be specific re the tools and processes you have in mind, I will be glad to give them further consideration.

RE Credit Cards; I am not so cautious as you and I have had one bad incident. However Chase caught it before I did, notified me, cancelled that card and had a new card to me by the next day. I use my card that is keyed to British Airways for essentially everything I purchase. As a result, I have had eight free first class flights to London and more business and coach class flights (all free) than I can remember. "Free" in this case means the ticket is free, I still pay taxes and certain fees, but these are minuscule compared to the cost of the ticket. Even though I took two first class flights last year, I now have enough miles for two more.

 

[honestone]

Hey Doug,

I am very, very careful in the use of my credit/debit cards. In fact, I do not use them much outside of our home. I also had an incident occur back in the late 90's with my ATM card, but got it straight right away. Even with all the supposed "safe guards", I am still very, very careful.

OK, regarding my procedure, first of all, the tools I use are the excellent freeware program Onyx, the excellent disk maintenance/repair program Tech Tool pro (not free), and SuperDuper! (not free, although there is a free version) for my backups. Secondly, I have two external drives that I use for both backups and storing some other stuff )like old tax returns, old photos, movies and TV series, etc.). I also have Disk Warrior, which is another premiere disk maintenance/repair program (not free), but I only use it once in a while. Still, there are times when it comes in handy.

Next, I continually am getting rid of unnecessary files/folders on both of my machines every day. For example, I immediately delete EMails I don't need, and downloads of prior versions of files that I don't need. Both of my internal drives on each of my Macs are 256 gig SSDs, but I am only using about 40% of the space on each one. Still, I want to keep things as clean as possible. Besides my Macs running more smoothly, the other thing is that if I do download something "large", I have to space to do it (I then move the file later, unless it is for temporary usage, after which I get rid of it right away.

Third, every Saturday I go through my disk cleanup/maintenance/repair/backup processing for both of my Macs. The things I do are:

1. I use Outlook for my EMail needs, and when an EMail is deleted, it actually does not go away. So, I run a procedure (explained by Microsoft) to get rid of those deleted EMails permanently.

2. Run Onyx to perform a number of cleanup tasks, and some limited disk maintenance.

3. Run TechTool Pro for performing "complete" disk maintenance (and repairs when necessary, which are few and far between).

4. Use SuperDuper! to perform backups (actually "clones") for each of my machines to the two separate external hard drives.

All of that works well for me. It is somewhat time consuming, but I am doing other non-computer tasks while all of this is going on (a number of the tasks take some time, especially Surface Scan with Tech Tool pro, and the backups, and they can run unattended).

 

[DougStocks]

Dear Mr. Honestone,

Thank you for taking the time to give me such a comprehensive answer. I will save this info for further consideration. One of the things that attracted me to a Mac was that the software for all the ordinary tasks came with it. However, as I mentioned earlier, the MacBooster 2 has been of great benefit. Thus, I am definitely NOT going to just dismiss the suggestions you have made.

Again many thanks,
Kind Regards,
Doug Stocks

 

[honestone]

Understand, Doug. But, it is important for you to take care of your machine, especially from a software perspective. And, please, please develop a backup procedure. That is so, so critical.

 

[DougStocks]

Well, it's doing it again. My mac mini OSX 10.10.5 seems to lose the "My Passport for Mac: external HD. I went through the procedures discussed earlier; no help. I did a SMC reset. This seemed to fix it. I could see all my HDs. Then only a few seconds later (while I was opening Firefox), I got a message saying that the disc was not properly ejected. The Passport for Mac was no longer there.

Perhaps it is not important to have this drive??? I use it only for time machine to do hourly backups of my internal HD. That internal HD contains my various programs, but no data. I keep all my data on an external HD which gets backed up to a different external HD once a day using the Second Copy backup program. I never seem to have any trouble with any external HD other than the My Passport for Mac and that is the only one using Time Machine. I've always backed up my data, but went years with no difficulty without backing up the internal HD. Do you think I should just ignore backing up my internal HD and be content with backing up my data?

 

[honestone]

OK, we need to try and understand something. Besides the Western Digital (WD) drive, do you also have one or two more external drives? And, what are the sizes of each drive? Secondly, I believe Second Copy runs on Windows machines only. So, how do you get it to run on your Mac? Third, when you say "I keep all my data on an external HD", what data is that? Fourth, how much space are you using on your internal drive? Finally, what do you use your machine primarily for? I myself use it to 1) check EMails with Outlook, 2) browse the Internet with Google Chrome, 3) keep track of my checking account with Quicken, 4) view TV programs and/or movies with VLC (right now, I am at Episode 8 of Season 4 of Breaking Bad. Fabulous series!), 5) use Word a fair amount of the time, and 6) use Excel occasionally. Let us know what software you use.

Once you answer all those questions, I believe we can help you better.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Sorry to hear the issue has reappeared.

You stated that you have an older Mac mini (Late 2009). Have you tried the other USB ports on the mini and/or disconnecting all other peripherals except the My Passport?

You could simply use the My Passport on a weekly basis to perform the Time Machine backup of the internal drive, and unmount and disconnect it for the rest of the time. If you go more than seven days without backing up, Time Machine will prompt you.

I wonder if it could actually be a faulty drive, or possibly an overload of the USB bus with multiple devices plugged in.

C

 

[honestone]

If the WD drive still has issues no matter which port it is connected to, I would certainly not trust it for my backups, as you could have issues trying to recover. One of the reasons why I asked what you use your Mac for is that if it is for "limited" purposes like myself, then using Time Machine is somewhat overkill. That is why I choose instead to do weekly backups (actually a clone of my internal SSD) with SuperDuper!. There is nothing real critical I will lose from one week to another. About the only "problematic" issues would be 1) my Quicken Account File (and its' backup) would not be quite up to date, 2) the database that contains all my Outlook EMail information would be a week old, and 3) I would lose any software updates that I have downloaded.

I actually had to recently go through a complete restore of my system from my most recent SuperDuper! backup, but what I did first was to 1) save the Quicken Account Files, 3) the Outlook EMail database, and 3) any downloads to a location on my external drive (it is partitioned, and one of my partitions is for miscellaneous information). Then, after doing the restore, I just copied the saved files to the appropriate locations on my just restored system.

 

[DougStocks]

OK; embedded in the last three comments are several questions. I'll try to answer them all.

I have a total of 4 HDs.

1) My internal HD is 320 GB with 212 GB free. The in use portion of the drive, in addition to the apple stuff that came on it contains primarily my programs, mainly two releases of Photoshop plus Bridge, Lightroom and TeX Shop. Also Firefox and all my emails.

2) I keep all of my data, primarily photographs on a 3 TB external HD with 1.36 TB free. I back this external HD up to a second external HD daily. That other HD is also a 3 TB drive with 1TB free. I have, for the life of my computer used this 2 HD setup for my photography. dougstocks.com if you are interested.

3) Finally, my newest HD, is the My Passport which I set up fairly recently to use with Time Machine to keep a BU of my internal HD. It is (I think) a 1TB drive. When I first encountered this problem, I thought that the My Passport had failed, so I bought this newest one. I started backing-up my internal HD probably only about 2 years ago. I think I read that it was a good idea. Further, prior to that time, if one of my programs failed I could always buy a new one. But when Adobe stopped selling their major programs and initiated their subscription scheme instead, I figured that I ought to have a BU of PS & Bridge. So, the small My Passport is used just to have an extra copy of my programs.

4) You are, of course, correct. Second Copy is a Windows program. I should have looked instead of relying on my notoriously faulty memory. What I am actually using is Carbon Copy Cloner.

5) As implied by above, I primarily use my machine for the post-processing of digitally captured photographs. Secondary uses are emails, search for stuff using Firefox or Safari., Occasional use of TexShop. Tracking Investments using some on-line Quicken Program. Accessing bank and investment accounts. with occasional stock trading. I also use my machine to access and maintain a few photographic web-sites. Oh yes, I also infrequently use Open Office for various minor things. Annually, I use TurboTax. I recently bought MacBooster 2 and use it frequently. It has really speeded up my machine.

6) I will not swear to this, but my recollection is that the Mac Mini has four, maybe five USB ports. All are in use and I think each one has a hub on it. So, there are several things connected to the computer via USB. I have had no problems with anything except those two "My Passport" HD. There is one other device, a printer I believe, connected to the same hub as the My Passport. It works fine. No, I have not tried disconnecting the other stuff. My personal preference would be to just call it quits on the My Passports - but I do worry about someday needing another copy of Photoshop For example, I might buy a newer mini with 16 GB RAM. That sure would speed up PS.

7) My present Mini is, I think, late 2008. I tried disconnecting the My Passport, but before my Mac could see it again, I had to do an SMC reset. But even then, it vanished again in less than 5 minutes. The My Passport could be faulty, but, if so this would make two in a row that were faulty.

8) Your copying your files back onto your restored HD is what I envisioned doing, if the need ever came up. However, knowing Adobe, they may have some built in feature that prevents such a thing.

If you have any suggestions, I will gladly consider them, but as indicated earlier, I'm about ready to just scrap the idea of keeping my internal HD backed-up.

Many thanks for you kind assistance.
Doug