Summary: When plugging your Seagate Backup Plus into a Mac computer, you may find the drive stops working and is not mounting in Disk Utility. Have you been troubled by the issue? This post will give you 7 workable solutions to fix Seagate Backup Plus drive not mounting/working issue on Mac.
Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive is often used for Time Machine backup. But many users reported that they were unable to mount Seagate Backup Plus drive on Mac computers. And some say their Seagate Backup Plus couldn't work on Mac after plugged in.
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Here is a real example:
'I really need your help. My Seagate Backup plus just stopped getting detected (led not working anymore) with my MacBook Pro 2016 model (with USB Type C to USB 3 connector) suddenly. It was working fine 1 month before. I tried this backup disk with a Windows computer and the LED light is working in that case but I am not able to get it to work with my MacBook Pro anymore. Any idea guys?'
In fact, this issue is very common, especially for those who frequently share the same drive between different computers. This page will help when Seagate Backup Plus drive doesn't work on Mac.
7 solutions to Seagate Backup Plus not mounting/working on Mac
For some reason, Seagate external hard drives could not be recognized by Mac. If you can't mount the Seagate Backup Plus drive in Disk Utility, the hard drive won't work on Mac. And you can't access the data stored on it. So it's very urgent to fix the problem to make it work again.
Here are solutions to the Seagate Backup Plus not working or mounting issue.
- 1. Basic checks like the USB cable, USB port, and power resource.
- 2. Check whether the Seagate Backup Plus is showing up in Disk Utility
- 3. Check if the Seagate Backup Plus drive is mounted in Disk Utility
- 4. Show the Seagate Backup Plus on the desktop
- 5. Repair Seagate Backup Plus drive via First Aid
- 6. Update the software on Mac
- 7. Fix the not mounting or working Seagate Backup Plus drive by reformatting
1. Have some basic checks
Sometimes, the Seagate Backup Plus drive won't mount on Mac is due to the bad USB port or cable. Thus, once the Seagate Backup Plus drive stops working, you can first do some routine checks as below.
- Step 1. Check if the cable of the Seagate Backup Plus drive is connected properly to your Mac
If the drive isn't properly plugged in, it will fail to mount as it received not enough or even no power. - Step 2. Make sure the USB cable is not at fault
Try using a different USB cable to see if that fixes the problem. - Step 3. Check if the USB port is damaged
Plug the Seagate Backup Plus into another USB port if you have another one. Otherwise, insert another external storage device in this USB port. - Step 4. Check whether the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive is powered properly
In general, the current of USB port 2.3 and 3.0 are enough for the most external portable hard drives. But sometimes this amount of current may be insufficient while the drive is spinning up. - In this situation, you can try to connect the Seagate Backup Plus with a USB Y cable if you have one. And for Seagate Backup Plus Hub and Expansion Desktop, a power adaptor is required for power supply.
- Step 5. Access the drive on other Macs
Connect the Seagate Backup Plus drive to another Mac computer to see whether it works on that one or not. If the drive works on another Mac computer, there is something wrong with your Mac computer rather than the drive. What you should do is to ask for help from Apple support. - Step 6. Check if the format of Seagate hard drive is supported by macOS
For example, a Windows BitLocker encrypted drive will not be working on Mac originally. Your Mac computer is not able to mount it. To fix the problem, you can plug the Seagate Backup Plus into a PC and then access the drive on Windows.
2. Check whether the Seagate Backup Plus is showing up in Disk Utility
To troubleshoot this problem, you first need to know if this Seagate hard drive is detected by your Mac. Open the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. Launch Disk Utility and check the left pane then. If you can't see the external hard drive in macOS, the drive probably has been physically damaged. In that case, you should send the drive to the local repair shop. Otherwise, you can move to the next solution.
3. Check if the Seagate Backup Plus drive is mounted in Disk Utility
If the Seagate Backup Plus is mounted in Disk Utility, you should blame the wrong computer settings or outdated computer. Fortunately, it's easy to fix these issues. Just try solution 4 and solution 5. If the external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility, it's not mounted. You can try right-clicking the Seagate Backup Plus and choose the 'Mount' button. If that doesn't work, the drive has some file system problems. Please follow the solution 6 to repair the problem.
4. Show the Seagate Backup Plus on the desktop
If the Seagate external hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility, but it still doesn't show up on Mac. First of all, you should make sure the settings in Finder display drive icons on the desktop.
- 1. Go to Finder > Preferences > General tab.
- 2. Select 'External disks' under 'Show these items on the desktop' and then the connected external hard drive will appear on the desktop.
5. Repair Seagate Backup Plus drive via First Aid
Seagate Backup Plus not mounting issue on Mac can be caused by file system problems. Disk Utility's First Aid is a built-in tool on Mac to deal with errors related to disks, such as file system corruption. So you can try to fix the unmountable/corrupted Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive in Disk Utility by following the steps below.
- 1. Go to Utilities Disk Utility.
- 2. Click 'View' in the top menu bar (Or click 'View' on the top window). Then select 'Show All Devices'.
- 3. Select the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive from the left sidebar.
- 4. Click 'First Aid' on the top of the Disk Utility window.
- 5. Click 'Run' to perform hard disk diagnostics and fix the not mounting/not working Seagate Backup Plus.
6. Update the software on Mac
Software updates keep your computer and programs secure, deal with quite a few bugs, and provide new features. Out-of-date software can cause a variety of issues. It's possible that the operating system will become sluggish and the connected device may not function properly. Fortunately, you can easily update the software on Mac.
Case 1. Update the software on macOS Mojave or Catalina. If you upgrade to macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina, you should choose 'System Preferences' from the Apple menu, then click 'Software Update' to check for updates. If any updates are available, click 'Update Now' to install them.
Case 2. Update the software on earlier macOS versions. Just launch the Mac App Store, click the 'Update' tab on the top and then choose the 'Update All'.
7. Fix the not mounting or working Seagate Backup Plus drive by reformatting
If First Aid failed on the external hard drive, it might have some serious errors that are beyond its reparation capability. In that case, you need to recover lost data from the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive as soon as possible.
Step 1. Recover lost data from the unmountable/corrupted Seagate Back Plus
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is free external hard drive data recovery software. It can easily recover files when the hard drive is not working or mounting on Mac. Also, it canrecover deleted photos and lost data from formatted drives, unreadable drives, corrupted drives, and recover deleted/lost partitions, etc. It's compatible withmacOS Big Sur 11/10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12/10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
- 1. Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on Mac.
- 2. Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- 3. Select the Seagate Backup Plus and click the 'Scan' button to scan for all lost data.
- 4. Preview the searching results, choose files you want to get back, and click the 'Recover' button.
Here is a short video tutorial which shows you how to recover lost data from unmountable/corrupted external hard drives:
Step 2: Reformat the Seagate Backup Plus to make it work
After recovering data from the unmounted Seagate Backup Plus, you can now go to Disk Utility and reformat it without worrying about data loss.
• Steps to reformat Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive
If unfortunately, you can't reformat the Seagate Backup Plus drive, it must have physical issues. In this case, you have to look for help from a local data recovery company.
Seagate 4tb Backup Plus Review
Bonus Part: Introduction to different Seagate Backup Plus drives
You probably use a Seagate desktop drive like Backup Plus Hub and Expansion. Or you could use a Backup Plus Portable drive like Ultra Touch and Slim. No matter which Seagate Backup Plus drive you choose, it could not work on the Mac for some reason.
Therefore, it's important to know the differences between those Seagate Backup Plus drives. This helps you to use the Seagate Backup Plus drive more correctly and efficiently, and then avoid hard disk corruption.
- Seagate Backup Plus Hub: This Seagate Backup Plus Desktop drive has large capacities with cross-platform compatibility, which means you don't have to format the drive for both Mac and Windows again. It's an all-in-one data hub and recharging station for tablet, smartphone and camera.
- Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch: Backup Plus Ultra Touch portable hard drives feature password protection and hardware encryption, USB-C compatibility, and file sync. You can't open the Seagate Backup Plus drive on Mac until it's unlocked. Moreover, an NTFS for Mac software is needed to use Backup Plus Ultra Touch on Mac, as it's preformatted with NTFS.
- Seagate Backup Plus Slim: Seagate Backup Plus is small enough for a loaded laptop bag. It's an ideal external hard drive with easy portability and enough storage space. But avoid dropping your Seagate Backup Plus drive during transportation, in case it's damaged and not working.
- SeagateBackup Plus Portable: Backup Plus portable drives offer easy-to-use software tools like Seagate Dashboard, so that you can schedule automatic backup and mirror folders easily.
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Conclusion
No matter what caused Seagate Backup Plus not mounting, working, or readable issue on Mac, such as logical problems and physical damages, the most important thing is to back up important data or recover lost data with free Mac data recovery software. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is a powerful and reliable data recovery tool on macOS which supports various external drives, including external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, etc.
If you have any suggestions to solve this issue or experience any questions when using iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, please feel free to let us know.
Summary :
What is Seagate Backup Plus Hub? How to use it? This post from MiniTool will show you the detailed information of the Seagate Backup Plus Hub and show you how to how to use it to back up files on your computer. In addition, Windows backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker will be shown to you.
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Overview of Seagate Backup Plus Hub
With our storage requirements growing so quickly, more and more storage products are launched to satisfy users’ demands. Since Seagate is a leader of the storage market, it also tends to add and expand its product line. So, they launched the Seagate Backup Plus Hub.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub is one of the Seagate’s desktop hard drives, and comes with a large hard drive capacity to store all of your important data and files. The Seagate Backup Plus Hub is larger than a typical portable hard drive in dimension, but it is not huge by any means. It measures at 198.1 x 41 x 118mm and its all-black color makes it fit well with other office equipment. The Seagate Backup Plus Hub is not as large as the older external storage devices with 3.5-inch drives, but it is not as portable as external 2.5-inch drives.
What are the differences between 2.5 HDD and 3.5 HDD? This post shows some differences between these two hard drive form factors.
In order to know the Seagate Backup Plus Hub well, you need to know its specifications, performance as well as price. Therefore, in the following part, we will elaborate on specifications of the Seagate Backup Plus Hub.
The Specifications of Seagate Backup Plus Hub
Now, we will introduce Seagate Backup Plus Hub on the capacity, performance, interface, endurance and price.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Capacity
Seagate Backup Plus Hub comes with a large hard drive capacity, providing plenty of room to save a lot of files, images, movies, videos, system images, etc. It is available in 6 different capacities which are 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB and 14TB. Therefore, the drive will be sufficient enough for most users.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Interface
Unlike most traditional hard drives, the Seagate Backup Plus Hub 8TB desktop hard drive is a little special. Seagate Backup Plus Hub comes with two USB 3.0 ports. So, it would be an all-in-one data hub and recharging station built into a desktop drive with phenomenal capacities. With these two USB 3.0 ports, users are able to back up your files, precious photos, and video while connecting to and recharging your tablet, smartphones, or cameras, even if your system is off or in standby mode.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub can be connected to computer with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 port. The transfer rates can reach up to 5Gb/s when connected to a USB 3.0 port, but connecting Seagate Backup Place Hub to a computer with USB 2.0 limits performance to USB 2.0 speed.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub For Mac 4tb
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Performance
When selecting a hard drive, the performance would be one of the most key factors. So, you also learn the performance of the Seagate Backup Plus Hub.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub’s inside hard drive is Seagate’s very own Archive HDD v2 SATA III model which features a total of 6 platters (1.33TB in capacity each) that rotate at 5900RPM, 128 Cache, on-drive cache and several technologies including AcuTrac (sustained performance) and PowerChoice used to reduce power consumption.
Although Seagate Backup Plus Hub is not a 7200 RPM hard drive, it still comes with fast read and write speed. According to Seagate’s official site, its data transfer speed is up to 160MB/s.
To test the read and write speed, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard whose Disk Benchmark allows you to do that.
Related article: 5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM: Is RPM Still Important?
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Endurance and Warranty
In terms of endurance and durability of Seagate Backup Plus Hub, it is up to 800.000 hours and a workload rate limit of up to 128TB per year. In addition, it provides a limited 2-year warranty. Seagate says that it takes about 5,000,000 hours to test 20,000 hard drives during product development before ideas move to production. So, the quality of Seagate Backup Plus Hub is assured.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Price
The budget is also the key factor when choosing the hard drive. According to the Seagate’s official site, the Seagate Backup Plus Hub 4TB is about $129.99, and the Seagate Backup Plus Hub 14TB is about $329.99. The price may vary due to the different hard drive capacity. So, you can choose any one based on your own needs.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub: Compatibility
The last factor we want to mention is the compatibility of Seagate Backup Plus Hub. It can be used on Windows and Mac. Windows 7 or higher system versions are acceptable. Mac OS X 10.7 or higher versions are compatible.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub is available in two models: Windows and Mac. The Windows model is previously formatted as NTFS and you can change the partition format later. While the Mac model is formatted as HFS+. The Mac OS X can read hard drives formatted as NTFS but access is not available.
How to Back up File with Seagate Backup Plus Hub?
Back up Files with Seagate Dashboard
As we have mentioned in the above, the Seagate Backup Plus Hub optimizes external storage with simple file backup for your computers. But you need the help of Seagate Dashboard, which is preloaded on the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive.
With the Seagate Dashboard, it is easy for you to back up PC data and restore your data. Seagate Dashboard also enables you to perform cloud backup, media backup, mobile backup, etc.
Now, we will show you how to use the Seagate Dashboard to back up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub 8TB hard drive.
1. Connect the Seagate Backup Plus Hub on your computer.
2. Then, you need to register the hard drive and install the Seagate software.
3. Open the Seagate Backup Plus Hub in Windows Explorer.
4. The double-click Start_Here_Win to follow the on-screen instructions to register your Backup Plus and install Seagate software.
5. Then launch Seagate Dashboard.
6. Next, click PC backup.
7. If no backup plan has been created before, you will see the options Protect Now and New Backup Plan. If you click Protect Now, Seagate Dashboard will find your Seagate Backup Plus Hub drive and start to back up your non-system files. The New Backup Plan allows you to set a customizable backup plan, such as an automatic file backup.
8. Then it will begin to back up all your data to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive. The costing time depends on the number of files that are required to back up.
When all steps are finished, you have successfully backed up your files to the Seagate 8TB Backup Plus Hub hard drive. If there are lost or deleted by accident, you can restore them with the file backups.
Want to back up your important files on your Seagate hard drive? Use the professional Seagate backup software to create file backups now!
Back up Files with MiniTool ShadowMaker
Besides the Seagate Dashboard, you can also use the professional backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub 8TB desktop hard drive.
It enables you to back up files through creating a file backup image or syncing files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive. Besides these features, it also enables you to back up the entire operating system.
Now, we will show you how to back up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive.
1. Connect Seagate Backup Plus Hub to your computer.
2. Download MiniTool ShadowMaker, and install it on your computer.
3. Launch it to enter its main interface.
4. Go to the Backup page, click Source module, and click Folders and Files to continue.
5. Then choose the files you want to back up, and click OK.
6. Click Destination module to choose a target disk to save the backups. Here, you need to choose the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive.
7. After that, click Back up Now to start backing up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive to keep your files safe.
After all steps are finished, you have successfully backed up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive. And if some accidents happen and data lost, you can use the file images to restore the required files.
From the above contents, we believe that you have already known how to back up files to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub. Since the Seagate Backup Plus Hub provides plenty of room for you, you can use it to store files, videos, pictures, system image, etc.
Seagate Backup Plus 4tb Troubleshooting
And the Seagate Dashboard and MiniTool ShadowMaker program enable you to back up the all data on your computer to the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive. However, Seagate Dashboard does not allow you to back up the operating system to safeguard your PC, while MiniTool ShadowMaker can do that.
Seagate 4tb Backup Plus Hub For Mac Osx
In addition, it is very easy to back up the operating system. With the system image, you can also restore your computer to an earlier date if there are some accidents happen. MiniTool ShadowMaker is designed to back up the operating system. It chooses the operating system as the backup source by default. Hence you do not need to change it again. Then click Destination to select the Seagate Backup Plus Hub as the target disk. After that, click Back up Now to perform the task immediately.
Bottom Line
To sum up, this post from MiniTool has shown you a Seagate Backup Plus Hub review. We have elaborated it on design, capacity, performance, endurance, compatibility and price. What’s more, the Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive is used to back up files on your computer with Seagate Dashboard. You can also choose MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up files and the operating system.
If you have any problem with Seagate Backup Plus Hub hard drive or MiniTool program, please leave a message in the comment zone or contact us via the email [email protected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.
Seagate 4tb Backup Plus Hub For Mac Computers
Seagate Backup Plus Hub FAQ
- Connect to a power outlet.
- Connect Seagate Backup Plus Hub to your computer.
- Open Windows Explorer and open Seagate Backup Plus Hub.
- Launch Windows_Here_Win.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to register your Seagate Backup Plus Hub and Seagate software.