The first time I connected it to my MacBook Air with the USB connector, the drive showed up in the Finder almost immediately.
After I had transferred about 300 GB of data onto the drive, I turned on the drive. I waited until the power and wifi leds were showing blue. Then I connected the drive to my MacAir with the USB connector. The power light started flashing white, and the drive did not show up in the Finder. It took about five minutes before Finder “found” the drive and I could view the contents.
Is this normal? Does it take a long time for the drive to make the connection?
I suggest you NOT power on the drive before connecting it, because the USB port will power it. You likely confused it by onnecting it powered. You really need to find the complete user manual at WD support and download it. The quick start guide is too brief of instructions.
I actually have the manual, and I was trying to follow the instructions.
There are three or four different ways to connect the drive, but the instructions on the first page of the directions tell the user to turn on the drive and wait until both lights (power and wifi) are glowing.
But you are right. I just tried what you said. I plugged in the drive without powering it on, and it connected almost immediately.
To use the MPW as a WIRELESS drive so it can be accessed by mobile devices, yes, turn it on until booted fully – both LEDs lit. Then it can be used as a wireless device, but for connecting to computer, well, as I said to you. Glad it’s working well. Get familiar with it and keep the manual handy!
A white flashing light means firmware is being updated, So, maybe you caused it to revert to an internal basic firmware, Check to see if it has current version, if not then update it.
The flashing white LED also means that the MPW is shutting down.
I suspect that by connecting the MPW to a PC/Mac via a USB cable while it was turned on forced the MPW to shutdown and restart without that wireless functionality, or at least shut down the wireless connectivity. The Mac wouldn’t then immediately detect the MPW as a USB drive, as it was already connected and present. It would take a while for the OS X to detect the drive in that circumstance.
So as Mike says, power the MPW down before connecting it via USB and the MPW will connect and be powered correctly from the USB port, and be available quickly.
Thanks Roderick for the clarification, and meanwhile, the MPW still has a way to go before it is “perfect” and every little firmware update helps it along, so be sure you have the latest firmware no matter what, as well as updated My Cloud app.
