I recently purchased a WD Passport Essential for use with Time Machine on my Mac mini under OS 10.5.8 (Leopard). I purchased the 320GB PC version as they did not sell the Mac version. I knew the SmartWare software was on the drive so I copied it to my desktop before formatting the drive for use with TM on my Mac. Note that when I plugged in the drive, the Mac recognized it but there was no virtual CD icon. I tried to install the WD SmartWare for Mac that I copied from the drive but it would not successfully instal. The SmartWare icon appeared in the menu bar but there was nothing in the Applications folder. When I clicked on the menu bar option to “Load SmartWare” nothing happened. The “About WD SmartWare” said “Cannot get Installed SmartWare Version WDSmartWareStatusMenu v1.1.0.3”. So it seems the install did not complete properly even though it said it had.
Next, I went to the WD Support website and downloaded the Passport SmartWare for Mac (
WDSmartWare_Mac_Disk_Image_PP4R2_1_3_0_18) and went through the instal process again. Same result: the software was not installed, even though the last image from the install program said it was successful. The message from “About WD SmartWare” was the same. Between these two attempts, I ran the SmartWare Uninstaller and it told me it had successfully removed the software. If so, where was it? not in the Applications folder.
I don’t know enough about Mac Console messages to find out why the install did not work although I must say I am suspicious about the install program after reading some of the posts on this board. I have been on the phone with WD Tech Support several times and they now just tell me I have a Mac problem. Any help with this matter would be most appreciated. BTW, the reason I want the SmartWare software is to turn off the Sleep Mode option because occasionally the Passport drive does not walk up quickly enough and causes TM to hang. Thanks.
In this particular situation I think you might be missing some files that originally came with the drive, maybe? This drive has the new version of the smartware and comes with all the files of the software and the drive inside of it. You moved them out and then back in but no idea how in a mac before being formatted.
Trying going to the following link and download the content of the drive. It includes everything that the drive had when you first purchased it if im not mistaken.
After that, try installing the software again. If that doesnt work either, try uninstalling the smartware again (it might uninstall even if it didnt install correctly like it happened before), and perhaps try a firmware update and then the software update to it.
Another thing that you can try is just download the contents for the drive and try installing it on another computer. If that works on another computer then it shows that its a mac issue, not a smartware issue. If it doesnt, then its the other way around.
Well, none of that suggestion worked. The end result was the same as I originally posted. I did try the firmware updater but it told me the drive was up to date. I tried to install it on an older iBook (without any drive attached) and it worked successfully. So I must have a Mac OS problem somewhere. Any suggestions on that?
Yes, Time Machine is installed on my Mac mini and is successfully backing up to the Passport drive. When I did as you suggest, there were two entries: the drive TM is using (which I renamed) and an entry called “None” with a icon of a red circle with a line through it. Does that help? Thanks for your assistance. I have also posted this problem on a Mac Forum.
Here is a suggestion I rec’d from Jonathan at WD Support:
Before running the installation for SmartWare please make sure your Mac has a name, you can check this by going into System Preferences then sharing and type in a name if you do not have one. Once you have done this try the SmartWare installation and see if you experience the same issues. Does the Mac have all the latest Mac Software Updates? Does the Mac have the latest version of Adobe’s Flash player installed?
I checked all 3 items (Mac name, Mac software updates and Flash Player). I did not have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player so Idownloaded it and installed it. Then I tried to install WD SmartWare and IT WORKED! I don’t know what Flash Player has to do with the install ands this is real obscure but it worked for me.
