The new Any type of hardware is condemned to present errors in the course of its useful life. In the case of hard drives, whether internal or external, it can be somewhat complicated since we store a lot of information here. At the moment that some of this fails, we can get very nervous since we think we have lost the information but in the case of external storage units it can have salvation.
What to do if an external hard drive or pendrive does not work
Although we are in the world of clouds, physical storage devices are still present in our daily lives. The famous USB pendrives or external hard drives can be very useful for transferring information when we don’t have a stable internet connection. But unfortunately, like any other type of hardware, it can give us the odd problem.
We have all found ourselves in the situation of connecting a pendrive or external hard drive to the Mac and not appearing anywhere. In these cases we must keep calm because the first thing we think is that we have lost all the information but it may not be so. You can always follow a few steps to try to force the Mac to recognize the device.
Check that the device works
On many occasions when we have an external hard drive that does not work, the problem lies in the cable that connects it to our computer. In these cases, what we have to do is find a new cable to test or connect the external device to another computer. It seems a lie but on many occasions the cable can play a very bad trick because normally the quality of these is not too good.
Obviously when we are facing a pendrive we cannot do this cable check but we can look at the reading and writing LEDs that are included. When these LEDs are flashing it means that the hardware works perfectly and the problem will be in our Mac.
Go to ‘Disk Utility’
If we observe that the device works normally either by seeing the LEDs or because we have tested it on another computer, we simply have to go to the native application ‘ Disk Utility’. This is a tool that shows us the information of both the internal hard disk of the Mac and those that are connected.
On the side it is possible to detect all the units that are connected but there are some that are light gray. This means that for some reason the computer has not been able to mount it so we must select it and in the main panel at the top click on ‘Mount’. If this does not work we can also click on ‘First help’ so that the software performs the appropriate checks in its operation. In this way the hard disk will surely appear on your desktop to access it.
Also from this software we can use to drag the icon of the hard drive or pendrive in question to the Dock to force the creation of the shortcut.
Activate the view of external disks in Finder
Sometimes the most basic solutions work best. Although it is absurd by default, Apple hides the external storage units in the Finder surely to avoid creating many access that end up harassing. In order to display these external storage units you simply have to follow the following steps:
- There will be a window in the Finder.
- In the upper corner click on ‘Finder’ and go to ‘Preferences’.
- In the Preferences window that will open, mark the section that says ‘External disks’.
Reset Mac SMC
If none of these solutions worked for you, you should opt for a more aggressive measure such as resetting the system management controller (SMC) . When re-establishing this controller, most problems that we may have with our Mac are usually solved. To be able to do so we must follow a few simple steps depending on the equipment we have in our possession.
MacBook with T2 chip
- Turn off the computer.
- Press the Control + Option + Right Shift keys .
- Kill them pressed for 7 seconds and then also press and hold the power button.
- After 7 more seconds, release all the keys and start the device normally.
iMac
- Turn off the computer and unplug it from the power.
- Wait 15 seconds and plug it back in.
- Start the computer normally.
MacBook with non-removable battery
If you have a MacBook without a T2 chip and also with a battery that cannot be removed, follow these steps:
- Turn off the Mac.
- Press the left Shift + Left control + Left option + power button keys .
- Press and hold the keys for 10 seconds.
- Release the keys and start the Mac computer normally.
What to do if the Mac’s internal hard drive is not recognized
Undoubtedly one of the most scaly situations we can have on our Mac is when we open it and a folder with a question mark appears . In these cases when we should start to shake because it means that the Mac is not recognizing the hard drive correctly and it is possible to start from it. In these cases where it is not possible to run the operating system, we have no option to access disk utility to check what is happening.
In these cases, if possible, it is best to change the unit. In the old units it can be done by an ‘amateur’ user in a simple way, but in the case that we are talking about a MacBook of last generation, it will be necessary to take it to a SAT to be diagnosed and make the disk change if necessary. Sometimes the connector may be defective or the hard drive may have reached the end of its days. Luckily in specialized sites can extract information from these discs that have stopped working but are in perfect physical condition. That is why you should not worry about your information but you will be forced to take out the wallet to make a payment for the services.
