WD My Passport is not recognised on SmartWare

Hi 

So SmartWare does not recognise my Passport drive. I can see and access the folders on my Macbook devices. In Disk Utilities again i see the drive, however disk permissions are not active. I have updated the FirmWare, rebooted, etc. Nothing.

I also have a Windows PC and it works perfectly on that!!

Thanks

Andrew

AndrewMc,

If WD SmartWare is working fine with your unit on Microsft Windows-based systems, then you will not be able to use WD SmartWare on Apple Mac-based sytems as NTFS is not supported on Mac OS with WD SmartWare.

I purchased this product with the knowledge that it was Mac compatible. I can download software that is said to be for a Mac and this product.

So again i still dont understand why this is a problem, its a external drive how complicated can it get?

Thanks

Andrew  

AndrewMc,

It’s not a limitation of the storage device. Microsoft Windows uses a File System. Apple Mac OS uses a different File System. The disk drive itself can work on either or both systems depending on the File System, however, software applications also have their own requirements.

NTFS is a Windows-only File System that may not be fully supported by Mac OS, while HFS+ is a Mac-only File System that may not be fully supported by Windows, then FAT32 and exFAT are compatible and supported by both systems at once.

However, WD SmartWare does not support FAT32 or exFAT, and requires a dedicated (Defined) system for optimal performance.

Well, I want to chime in. I am having a similar problem. I am using a My Book 3tb drive formatted HFS, have updated the firmware and installed all the latest software.

My drive is NOT being recognized by the WD Smartware, and there is no option to set the drive up in the WD Smartware as it is greyed out. The drive works fine otherwise, but the main problem I have is that if WD Smartware doesn’t work, the security feature doesn’t work. When I go to WD Utilities application it sees the drive, and when in the WD Security application it allowed me to create a password for the drive.

No matter what I do, eject/remount, reboot the computer, or disconnect (physically) the drive, there is no security in place on the drive.

Any ideas?