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External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Roy Rainford
My external hard drive is not showing on the iMac desktop and doesn't show on Disk Utility. A small 'pilot light' on the drive is flickering indicating, I assume, that it has power. I have unplugged and re-plugged the cable to the iMac on the drive and also changed to another USB socket on the computer but without success. Can I test it in any way before deciding that it has 'died'? It was in use a week ago with two partitions, one for a bootable backup and the other for Time Machine. I switched off the power to the iMac and external drive before going away for a few days. The external drive didn't boot up on my return yesterday. There is/was about 500GB of space free in each partition.
The drive is a WD 2TB 'My Book Studio' USB 3.0, purchased from the UK Apple Store in Sept. 2014. Have no info re the guarantee period.

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Mick Burrell
Does it have another interface (FireWire etc.) that you could try or another computer you could connect it to? Does the light normally flicker?

With a flickering light and being unseen by Disk Utility, my guess would be that it has died. You don't say what was on it but I'm sure you have a copy of the data elsewhere - don't you? I'm sure there will be at least 12 months warranty and Apple are usually quite good with things that are "just out", but I'd complete any other tests you're going to and get it back to them ASAP.

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Roy Rainford
Thanks for the quick response Mick. Unfortunately no other interface available and I have tried plugging it into my other older iMac but no success there. Yes I have another external drive but it isn't up-to-date (black mark!). However that can soon be rectified, I hope. In the meantime I will contact Apple.

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Roy Rainford
Latest on this - Apple Tech Support took me through checks on the iMac to prove that wasn't causing the problem. As a result they (Apple) said it was a Western Digital problem and I have put a report to WD. I now have a bootable up-to-date external drive 1TB with not enough space for Time machine. I therefore need a new 2TB drive partitioned for Time Machine and bootable HD Backup. Will see what reply I receive from WD before buying another.The present 1TB drive will then be kept in another location for safety. Any recommendation(s) for a 2TB drive?

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Derek Wright
In the meantime look the serial number of the faulty drive on the Western Digital web site - specifically looking at the warranty section - it should tell you if you have a legitimate claim.

I had problem with a WD drive and discovered it was still in warranty and I got replacement drive.

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Roy Rainford
Thank you Derek. Following your tip I find that my drive is "In Limited Warranty". Not sure what that will mean but awaiting reply from WD Support.
I see on the WD Community Forum there are several similar cases. Thanks again.

Re: External Hard Drive Fault

Avatar Roy Rainford
I am pleased and relieved to say that my 2TB WD external drive is up and running again.
I went to this forum: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6607988and found that Spotlight could be the culprit.
After turning off Spotlight for my two external drives and reconnecting the WD drive - eureka!
Thanks again for the replies above.
 
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