Help with my external hard drive

[JadeWolf]

I have a problem with my Iomega USB hard drive. I have a 900Mhz PowerPC G3 iBook running OS X 10.4. Today there was a series of powercuts right after each other and the hard drive which is plugged in and all refuses to appear on the desktop. I tried running Disk Utility to find it but it still didn't appear and the Access light hasn't lit up. It's definitely plugged in right and I tried it in another USB port but it still doesn't work. Any ideas as to how to fix it?
Thanks if you can help.

 

[Ric]

Hi there and welcome,

OS X doesn't like powercuts ;-(

Did the drive come with any software ?

If you open System Profiler (in Applications/Utilities) does it show the drive ? Under the USB section...

regards

Ric

 

[JadeWolf]

I looked in System Profiler and the drive seems to be registering as something called 24 but this 24 has no sign of having any volumes on it.
It came with a CD which only has an installation guide and some troubleshoting guides, but doesn't mention anything like my problem.

 

[searay345]

Hello JadeWolf and Welcome!

If you have another computer lying around, try plugging the external drive into that and see what happens. Let us know if you need further help!

Cheerio
Searay

 

[JadeWolf]

Tried that - put it into another Mac with same result. But one thing changed - when I plugged it in the access light flashed up for just one second and then went off again. Could the USB cable have been zapped by the power cuts?

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

try and download the Demo for Data Rescue or Drive Genius...and see if it see's the drive.

regards

Ric

 

[JadeWolf]

Ric
How can I run Data Rescue if I can't see the drive to tell it what to check out?

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

to quote the page from the link above...

"Data Rescue II
Award-winning hard drive and file recovery tool for the Mac. Works even if your hard drive fails to mount or boot up."

Have you had chance to try it...

regards

Ric

 

[JadeWolf]

I just tried Data Rescue but it only comes up with the internal hard drive. The external drive isn't communicating with the computer and both Data Rescue and Disk Utility act as if the drive wasn't actually plugged in. Only System Profiler notices it but doesn't treat it as a drive, just as a USB plug in the port. I'll upload a screenshot of what System Profiler shows soon.


EDIT: I've attached it.

 

[searay345]

I wonder if your USB port or cable is bad. Sometimes, power cuts can blow ports. It happened to me once a long time ago. The computer was fine, but the USB port was shot. Have you tried plugging anything else into the that particular port other than your external HD? I would also try another USB cable if you have one handy.

Cheerio
Searay

 

[wolfscrag]

This issue is very interesting. I have had Iomega zip trouble, Iomega DVD burner problems- on Macs ( mine)and a new PC (son's). Also have a Maxtor 80 G external HD, transferred 20 G of files to it, many graphics/photos etc.. and half of the icons have a big PC on them and won't open. Maxtor would not respond to my e-mails.
DJ

 

[JadeWolf]

Has all the advice dried up? Can nobody help me?????