My Book Duo Won%27t Mount On Mac

Summary: This post shows how to access a WD hard drive that's not recognized by Mac. To avoid data loss when fixing the unrecognized WD external hard drive, you can recover lost data from the WD hard drive for free with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

Your My Book drive is formatted as a single exFAT partition for compatibility with all updated Windows and Mac operating systems. Physical Description The My Book drive has: The power connector, interface port, and a security slot on the back USB 3.0 Interface USB 3.0 supports interface transfer rates up to 5 Gb/s. USB 3.0 is backward compatible. I have a 1 TB WD external HD that won't mount. I connect it via firewire to my MacBook Pro running OS 10.13 High Sierra. My mac sees the drive, it just won't mount. I've also tried to mount it via USB, but again, my system sees the drive, but won't mount it. Does anyone have any suggestion what I can do? MY BOOK DUO USER MANUAL ABOUT YOUR WD STORAGE DEVICE – 3 Kit Contents As shown in Figure 1, your My Book Duo device kit includes the following: My Book Duo device, with WD SmartWare Pr o, WD Drive Utilities, and WD Security ™ software USB 3.0 cable AC adapter Quick install guide Optional Accessories. So, when the WD My Passport drive is not working or the external hard drive won't mount on Mac, check the disk driver. Step 1: Click the Apple icon and select 'App Store' Step 2: Click Update (NOT UPGRADE!) to install a specific update or Update All to install all available updates.

Just like Seagate external hard drive not recognized on Mac, WD hard drive not recognized is a question frequently asked by Mac users in Apple related forums. It happens to WD My passport, WD My Book, WD Elements and Easystore, etc.

If you are one of those who are wondering:

• Why Mac won't recognize my WD hard drive?
• How can I make the WD hard drive detected and work on Mac again?
• Can I fix this issue without losing my important data?

You are in the right place to make the WD hard drive recognized by:

• 1. Trying six quick checks and fixes
• 2. Checking if Finder allows connected external hard drive showing up
• 3. Updating related WD Apps with WD Discovery for Mac
• 4. Checking if the WD hard drive is password locked
• 5. Repairing the unrecognized WD hard drive with First Aid
• 6. Use WD Drive Utilities to check the unrecognized WD hard drives
• 7. Reformatting the WD hard drives when it's not working

First, See How Mac Recognizes a WD External Hard Drive

The process of Mac recognizing an external hard drive is a little complicated even though you can't see it. Specifically, when you plug a WD hard drive into a Mac computer, macOS would be notified. Then macOS will call all related hardware and software to read, recognize, and show this hard drive on the Desktop and in Finder, so that finally you can access your data on the drive on your Mac computer.

So, we usually simplify this process in 4 steps:

1. The WD hard drive is supplied with power, so that Mac can detect this storage device.
2. macOS reads partition information of the WD hard drive.
3. macOS recognizes the file system of each volume.
4. Users access data on the WD hard drive.

However, if any part of this process goes wrong, hard drive problems like Mac won't recognize your WD hard drive would occur. As a consequence, you can't access, copy, write to or transfer data stored on it.

Now, Fix WD hard drive not recognized issue on Mac

So, based on the process of Mac recognizing a WD hard drive, we need a thorough check to know which part makes the WD hard drive not working on Mac, and then fix it.

1. Try Quick fixes when WD hard drive is not recognized by Mac

A proper connection is the most basic condition that Mac can access the WD hard drive. Or else the external hard drive would not even show up in Disk Utility. When your Mac can't recognize an external hard drive, you can always do the following quick fixes at the very beginning.

• Make sure the WD hard drive is externally plugged into a wall outlet if it's a WD desktop hard drive like WD Elements Desktop and My Cloud.
• Connect the WD hard drive directly to the computer and do not use a USB Hub.
• Try a different USB cable and port for power and data supply, especially if the My Passport external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Utility.
• Try a different USB-C adapter to connect the WD hard drive if your Mac only has the Thunderbolt 3 port.
• Try to connect the WD hard drive with a different Mac computer to check if the WD hard drive can be recognized on that Mac.
• Try to plug the WD hard drive in to a Windows PC to check if the file system of the WD hard drive is not compatible with Mac.

The WD hard drive lights on but is not recognized by Mac still?

Wait! Do you allow your Mac to show the recognized WD hard drive in the Finder and Desktop?

2. Show the WD hard drive in the Finder and Desktop

Sometimes, you think WD hard drive is not recognized by Mac because the WD external hard drive isn't showing up on Mac, neither in Finder nor on the desktop. However, the fact is that the WD hard drive is detected by macOS but it is not set to show up on Mac.

In this case, you can show the WD hard drive by changing the preferences:

• Step 1: Go to Finder > Preferences > General, make sure the 'External disks' option is ticked. This will make the recognized WD hard drive show up on the Desktop.
• Step 2: Select Sidebar tab on the top, make sure the 'External disks' option under Locations is also ticked.

The WD hard drive is not working on Mac still?

Well, it seems that Mac really can't recognize the WD hard drive. We need to take advantage of some tools for further check.

3. Update incompatible WD Apps with WD Discovery for Mac

WD Discovery is a desktop software for Mac and Windows for delivering WD software, updates and notifications for WD external hard drives.

When WD hard drive is not recognized, you can download WD Discovery for Mac to update WD Drive Utilities, WD Security, WD Backup, etc. Possibly, your Mac doesn't recognize the WD hard drive because the WD software is not compatible with your macOS.

4. Check if the WD hard drive is password locked

If you are using WD hard drives like My Book Drive and it is not recognized by Mac now, you can check if the hard drive is password protected. macOS can't read the partition information and mount the volumes if the WD hard drive is password locked. You can download and install WD Security to unlock the WD hard drive if a password has been set to protect the hard drive.

The WD hard drive is not encrypted? Then the reason for Mac not recognizing the WD hard drive is that macOS fails to access the partition and file system information. It could be a problem when WD external hard drive used on PS4 extended drive but not recognized.

5. Repair the unrecognized WD hard drive in Disk Utility

Disk Utility is a built-in disk management and repair tool on Mac computers. When a WD hard drive is not recognized or not working due to inner disk errors, you can try to repair the unrecognizable WD hard drive with Disk Utility.

Note: If the WD hard drive is recognzied in in Disk Utility but not mounted, you can select the Mount option first then the WD hard drive will be mounted on the Desktop..

• Step 1: Go to Applications > Disk Utility.
• Step 2: Click 'View' and choose 'Show All Devices'.
• Step 3: Select the unrecognized WD hard drive from the sidebar.
• Step 4: Click on First Aid on the top. Wait while First Aid verifying and fixing possible errors of the WD hard drive.

If First Aid can't repair the external hard drive, or Disk Utility doesn't recognize the volumes of the drive, probably, the WD hard drive could be corrupted caused by bad sectors.

My Book Duo Won 27t Mount On Macbook Pro

6. Use WD Drive Utilities when WD hard drives not working on Mac

WD Drive Utilities for Mac is a specialized utility for WD hard drives to run drive diagnostics (fix potential drive failures, slow disk performance, and bad sectors), Manage RAID configuration (For RAID supported models), Erase and format WD hard drives, etc.

If a WD hard drive won't work normally on a Mac due to bad sectors or other parameter errors, you can download WD Drive Utilities for Mac to have a diagnosis of what happens to your hard drive.

• Step 1: Install WD Drive Utilities on your Mac and then launch it.
• Step 2: Plug the unrecognizable WD hard drive into the Mac.
• Step 3: Click on 'Diagnose' and choose 'Run Quick Drive Test' to check the WD drive completely.

7. Fix the unrecognized WD hard drive by reformatting

If the unrecognizable WD hard drive can't be repaired by WD Drive Utilities, the file system of the WD hard drive might be seriously damaged or corrupted. In this case, you have to reformat or erase this WD hard drive. Before that, it's necessary to recover lost data from unrecognized WD hard drive with free hard drive data recovery software for Mac, like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, to avoid data loss.

iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is professional in external hard drive data recovery on Mac. It supports Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Samsung, and hard drives of other manufacturers. This data recovery software can recover lost data when hard drive is unrecognized, unmountable, unreadable, corrupted on Mac. Besides, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can recover lost data from Macintosh hard drive, USB drives, Pen drives, SD cards, memory cards, CF cards as well as other storage devices.

Tutorial to recover lost data from unrecognizable WD hard drive with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

Step 1. Download, install, and restart your Mac. Then launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

To recover your important photos, videos, music, documents, emails from this unrecognizable WD hard drive, you can free download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac.

Step 2. Scan for lost data on the WD hard drive.

When the data recovery software is launched, you will see your unrecognizable WD hard drive in the interface. You need to select this corrupted WD hard drive and then click the 'Scan' button to scan for data on this drive.

Step 3. Preview and recover files.

When WD hard drive is corrupted, you can't access your data on this drive. But you can use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to preview the data on the drive, which will help you make sure your files are not corrupted before you finally click 'Recover' to recover them.

Tutorial to reformatting WD hard drive that is not recognized by Mac

• 1. Go to Disk Utility and select the unrecognized WD hard drive from the sidebar.
• 2. Click on Erase on the top.
• 3. Follow the instructions to finish the reformatting process.

After reformatting WD hard drive process finished, you will hopefully see the WD hard drive recognized and showing up on Mac correctly.

However, if the external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Utility at all, the great chance is that the WD hard drive is physically broken. As a result, Mac can't read and recognize it. In this case, we advise you to check if the serial number of the WD hard drive is still in warranty so that you can ask for a repair or replacement service.

WD provides no-limited warranty unless your WD hard drive was purchased from an authorized distributor or authorized reseller like Amazon. So, if your WD hard drive is dead for disk corruption, please free free to contact their support team for warranty status review and product replacement.

Conclusion

In the issue of WD hard drive not recognized, be it on Mac or Windows, data rescue should come first. This is also important when USB flash drives, SD card, or other external hard drives that are not showing up on Mac.

You can recover data from the unrecognized hard drive with free data recovery software like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Then, you can fix the error in different ways without worrying about data loss.

Macintosh HD, or the MacBook internal hard drive, is basically the startup drive of most Apple computers. That means if your Mac or MacBook Pro can’t mount its startup disk, it is likely that you will experience problems, like your computer gets stuck on the login screen or it does not boot at all. Situations like this can be very annoying, especially if you have critical and important files stored on the “unmountable” hard drive.

Fret not, because we will teach you what to do if your MacBook Pro won’t mount its startup disk. But before we do that, you better have a backup of all your data.

My Book Duo Won't Mount On Mac High Sierra

Backup, Backup, Backup!

Before you proceed with fixing the problem, it is best that you back up all your data first. That way, you can easily retrieve or recover your important documents and files in case something goes wrong.

Now, you might be wondering if it is possible to create a backup of your data, especially that your Mac is not even booting. Here’s what you should know: your Mac has a built-in Disk Utility, which can be accessed before startup. To use this, follow the steps below:

1. Get an external hard drive and connect it to your Mac.
2. Switch off your Mac. After five seconds, switch it back on.
3. After hearing the startup sound, press the CMD and R keys. Hold them until the Apple logo appears.
4. The macOS Utilities window will now appear.
5. Choose Disk Utility and hit Continue to proceed.
6. You can now start backing up your data using the external drive. Once you have backed up all your data, you can try a few fixes to your “unmountable” hard drive problems.

4 Fixes to a MacBook Pro That Can’t Mount Its Startup Disk

In most cases, mounting is an automatic process that happens as soon as the hard drive is connected to a Mac or MacBook Pro. Then again, drive mounting can be performed manually using the Disk Utility of your machine. It will be discussed further below.

Going forward, assuming you already have a backup of your important files and data, let’s proceed with resolving the problem. Below are a few ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can’t mount its startup disk:

1. Fix Your Hard Drive.

Sometimes, restarting your Mac is more than enough to fix the problem. However, if that does not work, then you might want to look into the angle that there might be something wrong with your hard drive. If that is the case, you have to boot your MacBook Pro in Recovery Mode via Disk Utility.

To hopefully fix your hard drive, follow these steps:

1. Switch off your MacBook Pro.
2. Turn it back on by pressing the Power button. But while doing that, press the CMD and R keys as well until the Apple logo appears.
3. The macOS Utilities window will open. From there, select Disk Utility.
4. From the left pane, choose your MacBook Pro hard drive.
5. Navigate to the First Aid tab.
6. Click the First Aid button to start fixing your drive.
7. Wait for the process to finish before restarting your machine.

2. Run Your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode.

When booted in Safe Mode, your MacBook Pro will start only with the minimum requirements and utilities needed. All other programs and apps that are unnecessary will never be loaded. Hence, if the reason why your startup disk cannot be mounted is a faulty app or program, booting your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode might just fix your problem.

To run your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode, do these:

1. Restart your MacBook Pro.
2. After you hear the startup sound, press the SHIFT key immediately. Continue holding it until the Apple logo appears.
3. If your MacBook Pro boots up properly, then uninstall any program or app you suspect is causing the problem.
4. Restart your machine.

3. Disconnect All External Peripherals.

My Book Duo Won 27t Mount On Mac Os

It is possible that a faulty peripheral connected to your MacBook Pro could be causing your startup disk problems. To verify this, follow the steps below:

1. Switch off your machine.
2. Disconnect all external peripherals connected to your MacBook Pro, including printers, external hard drives, USBs, and scanner. You may leave the keyboard and mouse attached in the meantime.
3. Switch on your Mac. If it boots properly, then one of the peripherals is causing the problem.
4. Identify the exact cause of the problem by connecting each of the peripherals one by one. Make sure you reboot your MacBook Pro every time you connect a peripheral.

4. Reset the SMC and PRAM.

My Book Duo Won't Mount On Mac Computers

This may sound like a technical solution, but it isn’t. In fact, resetting the SMC and the PRAM takes only a few seconds.

To reset the PRAM and SMC, follow these instructions:

1. Reboot your MacBook Pro.
2. After you hear the startup sound, press the Option, CMD, P, and R keys. Hold them until you hear the second startup tone.
3. Release the keys. Your PRAM will then be reset.
4. Restart your MacBook Pro and check if the problem persists.
5. If resetting the PRAM does not fix the problem, try resetting the SMC. Start by shutting down your MacBook Pro.
6. Plug your machine into a wall outlet.
7. Next, press the CTRL, SHIFT, Option, and Power keys for 10 seconds and release them together.
8. Restart your MacBook Pro and see if it worked.

How to Mount a Startup Disk on MacBook Pro

At this point, you probably want to know how to properly mount a startup disk on your MacBook Pro to avoid problems in the future. Well, mounting a startup disk does not literally suggest physically setting it up with all the wires. It simply means making the startup disk available for your system to perform different read and write operations.

If the startup drive is in good shape, your system Disk Utility should see it. Under the Disk Utility window, select your preferred startup disk. Click on it to mount. By now, your new startup disk should be accessible by your operating system.

What’s Next?

My Book Duo Won't Mount On Mac Pro

Now that you know how to deal with your “unmountable” startup disk problem, it’s time that you get your MacBook Pro running fast and smooth by downloading and installing a reliable tool like Outbyte MacRepair. Not only will this tool allow you to conveniently find and fix speed and stability problems, it will also protect your privacy. What more can you ask for from such a powerful tool?

If you know other ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can’t mount its startup disk, please share them with us below. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

My Book Duo Won't Mount On Mac Catalina