[Solution] Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

by Majrolein
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Original Post

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

[ Edited ]

Edit July 2023 - this issue seems to have been fixed now and once again we can easily choose an external drive in Installs & Saves > Game library location

 

@Majrolein 

 

Ok, we can work round that:

 

  1. In Origin > Installs & Saves > Game Library Location click on Change Folder 
  2. In the left side click on Computer then double click on the '/' that appears next to a picture of your hard drive in the right side. You should see four folders in the right now - Applications, Library, System, Users.
  3. In the field at the bottom, where it says Directory, type in /Volumes/[the name of your external] then hit Enter. For example, my external is called Backup and shows Backup when plugged in in Finder, so the file path is /Volumes/Backup.
  4. The window will disappear and reappear again but you may not see your external. That's ok, quit Origin then reopen it. You should get a Gatekeeper message popping up asking for Origin to have permission to access files on a removable volume. Just click Ok.
  5. The external should now be showing. If not, repeat steps 1 to 3 and you should see the contents of your external in the window.

Let me know how you get on Standard smile

 

(Thanks to @MaxisJoe for these instructions in a thread in the Origin forum)

 

If you are still having issues with the drive not being recognised in Origin, check the permissions for the external drive - Click on the mounted drive and press CMD and i to bring up the info window. At the bottom is the Sharing & Permissions window. Make sure your user account has Read & Write access. Some people are reporting that changing the Everyone setting to Read & Write is also necessary for Origin to successfully access the external drive.


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Message 11 of 261 (69,445 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

★★★ Novice

@Bluebellflora 

 

Thanks, that did the trick!

So if I want to install the game on the external hard drive I have to uninstall it first and then just install it again?

Message 12 of 261 (27,618 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

EA Staff
@Majrolein Or move the install from your personal Applications folder to the new location, then restart Origin. (Note - I understand that for some people this just works. For me, I had to perform a Repair after the move and Origin restart)
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Message 13 of 261 (27,614 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

★★★ Novice

@Bluebellflora @MaxisJoe 

 

Thank you guys. I did not have time to play yet but tried it today and it is working perfectly! Could not have done it without your helpStandard smile

Message 14 of 261 (14,135 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

@Majrolein

Superb! Thanks for letting us know, always helps others with the same issue looking for a solution Standard smile

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- Clearing Origin cache - | - Mac specific TS4 issues -
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Message 15 of 261 (14,111 Views)

Re: how can I transfer sims 4 from my macbook to an external hard drive?

★★ Novice

I know this is an old post but I’m trying to move the path to a external hard drive I have a 2019 MacBook Air. When I go into Origin and then into installs and saves and click on Game Library Location, Change Folder my external hard drive isn’t showing up but I know it’s connected 

Message 16 of 261 (14,065 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

★★ Novice

I tried doing that Volumes Backup thing but I didn’t work I got an error message saying Backup not found I’ve attached a picture 

Message 17 of 261 (14,066 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

@Its_ReaperQueen

Is the name of your external drive 'Backup'?

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Message 18 of 261 (14,058 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

★★ Novice

No it’s not I have the drive formatted to work play videos on my ps4 do the drive is called PlayStation 

Message 19 of 261 (14,051 Views)

Re: Can't find External Hard Drive in Origin MAC

@Its_ReaperQueen

Please read the instructions carefully. I referenced Backup because MY drive was called Backup. You have to substitute Backup with whatever your drive is called.

You will also need to make sure your drive is in a format your Mac and the game can read.

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