USB key drive not working with iBook

[gauchogolfer]

Thanks in advance for the help, MR

My coworker has a SanDisk 512MB USB key drive that mounts and works fine on my Powerbook, but he cannot see it in Finder on his iBook (10.4.6). Using Disk Utility and System Profiler shows that the drive is connected, but no access is possible in the Finder.

Any ideas?

Thanks again.

 

[yellow]

Finder -> Preferences -> Show these items on the Desktop:

Hard Disks
CD, DVDs, and iPods

Are either/both checked?

Is it mounted acccording to Disk Utility? Does it show up in /Volumes?

 

[gauchogolfer]

Finder -> Preferences -> Show these items on the Desktop:

Hard Disks
CD, DVDs, and iPods

Are either/both checked?

Is it mounted acccording to Disk Utility? Does it show up in /Volumes?

Hi yellow,

The finder preferences are OK, everything is checked. CDs which are loaded as well as .dmg's all mount fine. In disk utility and system profiler the USB drive shows up (size info, file format, etc.), but is not mounted according to disk utility. I've not checked /Volumes. How would I check that?

 

[yellow]

Open Terminal, type:

ls /Volumes


It's more than "showing up" in Disk Utility. Is it mounted? There should be an "unmount" button (or Eject) if it is mounted.

Alternately, check the error logs for relevant error messages.

And have the user log in as another user to check and see if the problem is relegated to their login or system-wide.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Open Terminal, type:

ls /Volumes


It's more than "showing up" in Disk Utility. Is it mounted? There should be an "unmount" button (or Eject) if it is mounted.

Alternately, check the error logs for relevant error messages.

And have the user log in as another user to check and see if the problem is relegated to their login or system-wide.

Thanks yellow,

It is not mounted in Disk Utility.
I created a second account to test the last theory, and the problem persisted. I'll have a go at Terminal before I leave work. I'll check back later to let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Update:
I tried mounting it using Disk Utility, to no avail. Eject works, however.
In terminal only the HD was found, no USB drive.

I'll be away from this drive for the rest of the evening, but any ideas to try tomorrow are welcome.
Thanks again.

 

[yellow]

You'll have to look at the Console.app then and look for relevant failure messages in the system.log.

 

[gauchogolfer]

You'll have to look at the Console.app then and look for relevant failure messages in the system.log.

Hi again yellow, hopefully we'll get this sorted.

Here's the message in the console.log file:

Jun 13 14:33:33 computer name diskarbitrationd[38]: unable to mount /dev/disk2s1 (status code 0x00000047).


Any ideas where to start? Things are fine with the drive on Windows XP and on my Powerbook also running 10.4.6.

 

[yellow]

Other USB devices work on this Mac, correct?
What about other mountable hard drive devices? Firewire or USB?


You can try and repair it (the drive, not permissions) with Disk Utility.

Otherwise, I'd suggest maybe copying all the data off and reformatting it (FAT32, aka MS-DOS format in Disk Utility), copying all the data back on and trying again.

Ultimately, if it doesn't work, then OS X may have to be reinstalled.

 

[elfin buddy]

Have you tried connecting any other hardware to that specific USB port? Does everything else work fine and dandy?

 

[gauchogolfer]

Latest news

OK, here's where I currently stand (besides the Riviera, of course ):

Plugging in any USB drive to either USB port on the iBook does not work. Disk Utility sees it, but will not mount.

Mice plugged into either port work fine, have not tried another USB peripheral.

iPod plugged into FW port is OK, I don't have a USB iPod cable to try that out.

So, is my only solution to reinstall OS X, maybe through the last 10.4.6 combo installer, or do I have another option. I'll have my colleague do a repair permissions, just to see if that voodoo has any effect.

madjew, are there any .plist files I should look for?

 

[mad jew]

madjew, are there any .plist files I should look for?

Some come to mind, but they probably won't help. Instead, I'd try resetting some of the port settings by resetting the PMU.

 

[yellow]

You can try and repair it (the drive, not permissions) with Disk Utility.

Otherwise, I'd suggest maybe copying all the data off and reformatting it (FAT32, aka MS-DOS format in Disk Utility), copying all the data back on and trying again.

This is more important than reinstalling OS X. That is a last resort long-shot.

 

[gauchogolfer]

This is more important than reinstalling OS X. That is a last resort long-shot.

Do you think this will make a difference, since the drive works fine on my powerbook, just not on the iBook? I haven't found a USB drive yet that will mount to either port. I'll give mad jew's solution a try first, and let you know how that goes.

Cheers

 

[yellow]

Well.. the iPod mounted, you said, so it's unlikely that DiskArbitration is broken. If you get the chance try and mount a .DMG. Since the USB drive works in other Macs and PCs, it's unlikely that it's hardware on the USB drive. Since a mouse works, it's unlikely to be the USB port. A PMU reset is as good a suggestion at this point as any.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Another update:

OK, I tried resetting the PMU (thanks madjew), but still see no ability to mount. I reformatted the USB drive (with FAT16 as before), but still can't see it on the iBook (powerbook is fine).

But, if I format as MacOS journalled, it works fine (just found this out). Weird. Any ideas for this strangeness?

I also formatted it using a work PC so that is says FAT32 rather than FAT16, but there was no difference.

 

[yellow]

That's really weird.

Which iBook is this?

I'd suggest hitting your PowerBook, creating a small disk image, and then erasing it and formatting it MS-DOS in Disk Utility. And then seeing if it is mountable on the iBook.

 

[gauchogolfer]

I agree that it's weird.

He mentioned that he's recently installed Virtual PC, could this be interfering in some way?

The iBook is a 14" G4 which he bought about 6 months ago, so it's relatively up to date.

When you say 'hitting the Powerbook' what do you mean. To be honest, I feel more like hitting the iBook at the moment

 

[yellow]

AFAIK, not unless VPC is running.

I mean, get on your powerbook, create the image, and then move it to the iBook.

Alternately, in order to rule out (or in) that it's the OS, boot your PB in target mode, hook it up to the iBook with a FW cable, and then boot the iBook from the PB's OS. If the USB drive works as FAT16/32... then it's likely the OS.

 

[gauchogolfer]

OK, now it's past weird, moving to creepy.

I mentioned that VPC might be the problem, so we went ahead and loaded it up. Using Windows XP, we can mount and copy/move files to the USB drive just fine. Now I'm really screwed up.

Luckily, my work day is over and I'm going to Cannes to sit on the Croisette and watch some World Cup. If you've got ideas I'm glad to try them out, but I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Cheers