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with two external hard drives how do i get them operational, i have lots of pictures and a few movies in them so how do i get them operational?
iMac, OS X 10.11
This is the photos for mac forum - you may be better off if it is a drive problem asking in the appropriate macOS section.
Having said that - do you mean you can't access the drive at all (can't view them in finder)? If so, do you need to mount them. Try unplugging and replugging, or open the disk utility app, and try to mount them from there. Or it might be that the drives have physically failed. In which case you will need to recover your files from a backup.
Or do you mean you can view the drives and files in finder, but can't open photos libraries that are stored on the drives. In which case, what format are the drives?
They must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives). If you have not formatted it after purchase it will most likely be ExFat - which is not compatible.
It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)
It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.
It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)
See
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517
This is the photos for mac forum - you may be better off if it is a drive problem asking in the appropriate macOS section.
Having said that - do you mean you can't access the drive at all (can't view them in finder)? If so, do you need to mount them. Try unplugging and replugging, or open the disk utility app, and try to mount them from there. Or it might be that the drives have physically failed. In which case you will need to recover your files from a backup.
Or do you mean you can view the drives and files in finder, but can't open photos libraries that are stored on the drives. In which case, what format are the drives?
They must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives). If you have not formatted it after purchase it will most likely be ExFat - which is not compatible.
It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)
It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.
It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)
See
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517
I have had the same issues. My old iMac recognized all my drives. I even bought a new one and when I plug them into my MacBook Pro I purchased they show up in my Finder but they are greyed out. I open Lightroom and again there ... they are greyed out. So frustrating dealing with that and the font issues with this new upgrade. Sure makes it hard to work.
A new drive might need to be formatted as Tony showed.
Does Disk Utility see the old drives?
A new default for finder is to not put the disk icon on the desktop, but you should still be able to access the drive via the Finder.
Note: NTFS formats require third party drivers to work. If the drivers do not run in Monterey, you might not be able to fully access the drive. You may need to update your NTFS driver (like Paragon). This generally does not prevent them from mounting, though.
with the current operating system, i can no longer open my external hard drives so how do i now get them operational
