External hard Drive

In article ,
dam wrote:

> Hi Everyone
> I have had a mac now for a year. Just recently my external hard drives
> and USB sticks are not being recognised by my computer when I plug
> them in.
> If I start up the computer with the hard drive or USB stick plugged in
> already then it is recognised.
> CAn anyone tell me what the problem is and what I can do about it?
> Thanks
> DM

USB hardware controllers can get confused from time to time. It's a fact
of life, I'm afraid (it even happens to stand-alone USB hubs from time
to time).

First, try turning off and unplugging your computer and all USB hubs
from power for a few minutes.

If that doesn't fix it, try resetting the power manager or SMC. The
steps to do this vary depending on the exact modem Mac you have. Doing a
Google search for your model Mac and "reset" combined with "PMU" or
"SMC" will likely find the instructions. Or you can tell us what model
it is and we'll show you the way.

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JR