Computer Won't Recognize External backups

[Angelo]

I'm wondering if anyone has experienced this problem.
I run a Mac Pro Desktop. It has the intel chip. I also have two external backups. I use the Maxtor to backup only my photos off of Aperture, and the drobo to backup the full computer with Time Machine (includes all images for redundancy).

Last week trying to backup my images on my 1 1/2T Maxtor, I notices that I could not access the Maxtor external backup (the icon would not appear on the computer' desktop). I figured the Maxtor was fried and planned to buy another external backup.

Last night I noticed that my drobo 8T (primary backup) lost the icon off the monitor so I could not access the drobo either - the same thing that happened last week with the Maxtor is now happening with the drobo.

This is too much of a coincidence having both externals go bad on me.
Something has to be wrong with the computer not being able to recognize both
externals. Everything else on the computer is working fine except displaying the two icons on the desktop for the externals.

One other thing - I attached the Maxtor to my laptop and the laptop would not bring up the icon or recognize it in any way. I even tried new wires and the same problem.

Has anyone every had this problem and maybe point me in the right direction on what I need to do to correct the problem?

[Charles Putnam]

I've had the USB cord go bad. But...check those drives with another computer. If they work, then the problem is with the USB connection on the Mac Pro. If they don't...well...you had two drives go bad.

[Angelo]

Originally Posted by Charles Putnam

I've had the USB cord go bad. But...check those drives with another computer. If they work, then the problem is with the USB connection on the Mac Pro. If they don't...well...you had two drives go bad.

Charles, I tried on my laptop and the same problem.
I don't think the externals have gone bad since I can access the info through the drobo software.
The problem I have is that the icon on the computers don't show up so I can tell Time Machine to backup on the drive.
Let me try new 400 and 800 firewire cords.
I am 99% sure that the Maxtor and Drobo are OK.
If new cords don't work I will call Apple and drobo and see if they can help.
Thank you so much for your reply.

[lfmerrell]

Have you tried booting from the OS X install disk and going to utilities and do an internal HD disk verify/repair as well as for your external drives and a Disk Permissions verify/repair both for your boot HD?

[Angelo]

Hi Lewis, No I haven't. But I will do that and see.
I called drobo and they tell me the problem is Apple's. So, I called Apple and they told me the problem was drobo's.
I kind-of expected that....

Drobo told me to run Disk Utility, find the drobo drive and run repair volumes.

Apple told me to call them when I was at the machine and they will try and run some diagnostics to see if they could find the problem.

I feel pretty confident that I did not lose the backup information and that this problem will be resolved.

My problem now is that this caught me at a wrong time where there are other matters that have to take precedence over this so it's going to have to wait until this weekend.

[lfmerrell]

Big thing to is to see if Disk Utility recognizes your external hard drive.

[kenw]

on external drives, I have had the controller that is inside the external drive case go bad more than a few times. This is a small circuit board that connects/interprets between the USB input and the actual hard drive itself.

If you are comfortable with it, you can take the actual drive out of the case and put it in a new case that you can buy (comes with the circuit board) for about $20 or so.

[Angelo]

Originally Posted by lfmerrell

Big thing to is to see if Disk Utility recognizes your external hard drive.

I was in Disk Utility last night and vaguely remember seeing the drobo HD. Reason is, I was about to run repair volumes on the computer HD and by mistake accessed another drive.
I will check tonight when I get home.

The drobo has 4 x 2T drives inside. I've never opened up a computer or done such a thing but I will try and find someone that knows what they are doing and help me through this. I'll go to Fry's and buy an external case.

I really appreciate everyone's help.

Afterthought - If Disk Utility recognizes the drobo, that means that the cables (400 firewire) must be ok and I don't have to worry about testing them.

[lfmerrell]

Could a reinstall of the external drive software be in order? Should have asked did the drives require you install software?

[Angelo]

I was able to see drobo 8T on the Disk Utility. I hit the "repair volume" and came back to it this morning. A message came up asking whether I wanted the drobo to be the backup unit for Time Machine. I said yes, and it began chugging away. Then came an error message about possibly damaged HD.
The icon did pop up on my desktop but when I went into Time Machine to access the drobo it did not show up.
I think what I'm going to do is follow your recommendation and reformat the drobo and re-install the data.

Edited:
Lewis, I checked the drobo software and it's up to date. I plan to call drobo and see what they recommend since it's all downloaded through the internet.

[Angelo]

Charles/Ken/Lewis,
Both Drobo and Maxtor are up and running.
I spoke to my 20 year old grandson this afternoon and he told me he'd be by in the evening to check it out.

He first pulled the 4 HDs out of the Drobo and re-sat them back. He went into Disk Utility and redid what I had done yesterday. Then he checked Time Machine and finally the drobo showed up. He did the same thing to the Maxtor and right now both are backing up. It took him all of 20 minutes to fix it and that included running the wiring

Thanks so much for your help - We couldn't have done it without your recommendations.

[lfmerrell]

Wandered into this linknfrom a Mac site. Not identical to your problems but gives a lot of MacIntel and OS X 10.6 useful info stuff I did not know. I have used Disk Warrior in the past to good effect. Booting from a USB was new. Worth a read to Mac users

TidBITS Problem Solving: Recovering from Disk Corruption Without a SuperDrive

[Angelo]

Thanks Lewis, I definitely will take a look...
I appreciate the link.