Chosen Solution
Hello I have the MBP Early 2015 Macbook and am puzzled by an issue I’ve been having recently. I have a SATA harddrive caddy (TeckNet USB 3.0 Hard Drives Docking Station) that I have used several times in the past. In fact, I currently use it to connect my old 2011 MBP harddrive to the computer and it works really perfectly. However, I have recently tried three different SATA drives, and none of them appear in disk utility. I’ve tried different brands, I’ve sent back for new ones to make sure they’re not duds, and none of them show up. The docking station obviously works - my old MacHD connects with no issues. I know the new harddrives might not be formatted the right way (Extended Journaled), but how can I format them the right way if they never show up in Disk Utility? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Most likely you have a power issue here. The systems USB ports may not offer enough to power for the docking station. This is a common issue with 3.5" SATA drives. See if you can connect it via a powered USB hub (AC power) or if they offer an auxiliary power connection in the dock unit to plug in an AC transformer.
I’ve replaces the docking station and it now works! I guess the old one had enough power for a 2.5", but not enough for 3.5" (even though advertised). Thanks for your help!
