Using smart previews on iMac to control two sets of identical original files on two external drives --- render previews setting when using smart previews

I’m just getting started with Lightroom and if someone can help me I’ll be very appreciative.
I’m using an iMac with a 1TB drive and two external 2.5 TB drives for backup. My active files are on all three drives and I’m running out of room on the iMac drive.
With the smart previews capability of Lightroom 5, I’m hoping to remove all the active files from the iMac drive. I hope to import existing images into the LR catalog from two identical drives with identical folders and have both sets of images reflect the changes I make using smart previews on my iMac.
I just created two identical test folders of junk images on the external drives and was following a beginners tutorial on importing. However, I see nothing about using smart previews on my iMac that, when connected, will update more than one external drive at the same time.
I’m also wondering if, when using smart previews, it matters how I set the render previews during the import process.
Many thanks for any help,
Karl Hentz

I don't see any way to use smart previews to update both external drives at the same time. The smart previews are linked to a specific set of images. But it seems to me that if both drives are in fact identical, once the catalog is updated when one of those drives is connected those changes should also apply to the files on the other drive. It's actually the catalog that gets updated, not the images. Smart previews and regular import previews are completely unrelated. How you have your import previews configured will have no effect on your smart previews.
Incidentally, in order for my suggestion to work it would be necessary to only have one of those external drives connected. And when the other EHD is connected it would have to have the same drive letter or name. In other words it would have to appear to the iMac that it is precisely the same drive.

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I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD that a used with my PC but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

No, unfortunately, when you format a drive, it will erase all the contents. So you will need to find a temporary "storage" place to put the stuff using a PC so you have access to it. Then reformat using Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities). If only using with mac, format Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and use GUID Partition scheme under Partitions/Options. After formatting, you can drag the files back.

One person, one iPhone, one laptop. Two homes in two states, two external drives, two identical copies of my music library. Many headaches.

I feel like this question is asked endlessly on these boards, but somehow I still can't find a relevant answer... So, apologies for rehashing a variant of the same question!
I have one (ancient) MacBook Pro, and one (ancient) iPhone. I carry both back and forth between two states: the state where I work and the state where I live the rest of the time. My ancient MBP and my ancient iPhone are too small to carry my whole music collection (which is quite large—larger than a new phone or laptop would reasonably support, anyway). My mobile apps and my podcasts live on my laptop, but my music library lives on an external drive. I have two external drives now, one in each state where I live/work. I also have a copy of everything on my desktop machine at work, but I've given up long ago trying to sync to multiple computers. I'll settle for now for syncing to one computer (my MBP), which sometimes is connected to one copy of my library, and sometimes is connected to another copy of my library.
I know that I can make multiple iTunes libraries, with duplicate copies of my podcast subscriptions, my apps, and my playlists and music, and keep switching which one my phone is set to sync to (wiping it each time, and possibly losing some settings in the process?) But that's a pain in the neck. Plus, it's hard to keep my podcasts active in both libraries, because iTunes podcast subscriptions are like frail little tamagotchi critters that need constant love, nurturing, and encouragement, or else they wither and die.
Is there any way to have a single library, with my apps and podcasts on the laptop, which just happens to make use of the "local" copies of my music on whichever external drive happens to be attached?
Or do I need the google cloud + android if I want to unify my listening and syncing life?
Thanks!

Hi,
There are several reasons which may cause the backup to be full instead of incremental, such as source volume snapshot is deleted, from which the last backup was taken.
For more detailed information, please refer to the thread below:
control incremental vs full backup on W2k8 R2
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/7820edc7-18ef-4f6e-bb50-f87f4a728597/control-incremental-vs-full-backup-on-w2k8-r2?forum=windowsbackup
There is a similar thread, please go through it to help troubleshoot this issue:
Understanding Windows Small Business Server 2008 Backup - Full and Incremental with 2 Backup Destinations
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/bdb3c5ae-81dc-4f54-a39e-4b888ee52476/understanding-windows-small-business-server-2008-backup-full-and-incremental-with-2-backup
Regards,
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

Is it possible to set up a backup between two external drives

Is it possible to set up a backup between two external drives?
i use time machine to back up my imac onto an external 2T.
i also have two external 3T drives. i am looking for redundancy of data, tried software RAID and it failed. i also see some limitations with RAID that a backup would avoid.
thanks for sharing your expertise.
be well,
tony

so thanks to all of you, particularly rkaufmann87 i have decided to stop the plan of setting up a software RAID set. instead i have downloaded ccc and am in the process of setting up the secone 3t external drive as a clone. i will use time machine to back up the internal hard drive only and if possible see if i can clone that as well onto one of the 3t's.
this gives me the peace of mind i sounght and avoids the problem of total corruption that exists with the raid solution i was exploring.
thank you all for making this an enjoyable and informative experience. what a powerful community.
be well
tony

IMac is not booting - How can I copy my files to an external drive

Hello,
my iMac (late 2009 model, OS X 10.7.4) is not booting anymore. The iMac stopps booting at the Apple logo and the spinning gear.
I tried a couple of things that I found here in the community but nothing worked.
start in safe mode => iMac shuts off after a couple of seconds
start with safe boot (Shift-Command-V) => I'll get a couple of error messages, e.g. disk0s2: I/O error. SATA WARNING: Enable Drive PHY PM failed
reset the NVRAM/PRAM => no change
But when I try to get access on the HD with the FireWire Target Disk Mode, I can see the following folders: Applications, Library, System, Users. But the statusbar shows 0 items for each folder and it shows that the HD has 650 GB available. I have the original 1TB HD. When I try to start OS X from an external drive I can see the same folders. I tried Data Rescue 3 to scan my files, but the software stopps with an error.
My TimeMachine backup was not working, so I have no actual backup and need to find a solution to copy my files to an external drive.
Instead of Data Rescue 3, I can use TechTools Pro 6 alternatively.
Would Data Rescue 3 find files if I erase and create a new partition on the HD?
What I found out so far, it looks like a corrupted file system.
Have anyone an idea or a tip, how I can copy my files?
I would be more than happy if someone can help me.
Thank you very much for all answers in advance.

The internal drive is failing, or has failed. You may not be able to save the data.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
1. Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup) or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

Daisy chain two external drives via Firewire, then connect one via USB to the TC?

Hi,
I have two external drives that have both Firewire and USB ports. My 1st generation 500 gb Time Capsule (maybe all of them?) only has USB ports so up til now, I have connected one or the other drive via USB. (I've tried to connect both to a powered USB hub but one drive has problems showing up. At this point I only use the one drive that shows up and connect it directly with no hub to the Time Capsue.)
My question is: Can I daisy chain the two drives via Firewire and then connect one of them (probably the one that has no problems connecting with USB) to the Time Capsule via USB?
Second, somewhat-related problem...
I don't know why one drive isn't connecting very well when directly connected to the Time Capsule. Both are Fantom drives. One is a 1TB, the one that has prblems connecting is a 250GB. I've tried connecting directly or through a powered hub. The 1B has no problems, the 250 gb won't show up most of the time and disconnects itself fairly quickly if it does connect. I've switched cables; that hasn't helped. The 1TB stays connected most of the time but sometimes it disconnects too. I suspect the Time Capsule just isn't able to deal with external drives so I don't puch it. It would be nice to be able to have both drives accessable through the TC though.
Thanks for any help.
Cheers,
John

Doing some experimentation, connecting the drives directly to the MBP:
- Neither of the two drives Firewire daisy-chained and going through the powered USB hub connected to the MBP mount. I was using old aliases on desktop.*They don't show up on network otherwise. (Each drive self-mounts with both Firewire and USB direct connections.)
*Even after making new aliases, neither drive will mount using their new aliases when directly connected (not through hub) with USB or Firewire (and Thunderbolt adapter.) That's weird.
- Both the 240 gb and the 1TB drives going through powered hub connected to MBP mount by themselves.
- Two drives daisy-chained via Firewire and one drive connected to the MBP via Firewire (and Thunderbolt adapter) self-mount. No surprise there but that doesn't help me as I want to have the drives further away from the MBP and connected to the Time Capsule, which doesn't have a Firewire port anyway...
- All of the USB and the Firewire cables work as does the Thunderbolt adapter. I tested them.
I wonder.... I have a Firewire to what appears to be an Ethernet connector. I wonder if that would be any good. I'm afraid to try it though...

Backing up to two external drives at same time

I have two external drives, one for Time Machine and one using SuperDuper, both using USB. Can both be running at the same time or should one be disconnected before running a backup on the other? Thanks

Both can be used at the same time.
If the backups run at the same time, both will be trying to use USB at the same time, so both will be slowed down.
Unless TM is doing a large backup, though, the impact should not be great.
And it's best to leave them connected at all times, rather than connect and disconnect (unless you're taking one off-site).

I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive. I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

My iTunes library is on an external hard drive, and I was able to access / add to the library from my windows laptop.
I now have a new laptop, and want to be able to KEEP the library on the external drive while being able to use iTunes from the new laptop.
I have selected "choose library" in iTunes, and have chosen the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.
My media populates in iTunes on the new laptop version of iTunes, but when I click on a song iTunes says that it cannot locate the song.
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Thanks. Were the settings shown in your last screenshot in force when you added the song that's shown on being on the C: drive? It is also possible that at some point you ran iTunes with the external drive disconnected, in which case it will have defaulted to the library on the C: drive, or that you've run iTunes without explicitly selecting the library on the E: drive. To make sure the latter is the case, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes, then when you get this prompt:
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Part of your issue may that its not obvious where that current database file is located. The folder layout on your E: drive isn't the one that's most easily managed - so its possible that the database file could be in:
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes 1
I suggest that a lot of your issues can be addressed by reshaping your library into the reliable "portable" layout as described in tt2's Make a split library portable user tip. Comparing your screenshot with the equivalent on my system (where I have a "well-formed" library on an external drive):
where:
there is just one iTunes folder with everything used by iTunes inside it
all media is held within subfolders of the iTunes Media folder
The way you have yours set up, where the iTunes Media Folder location is set to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes rather than E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media is probably why some of your media is not being located correctly - the extent to which iTunes can correctly resolve locations is, to an extent, reliant on the folders for the different media kinds (Music, Audiobooks, etc.) being inside the iTunes Media media folder. One common misunderstanding (not helped at all by Apple's documentation!) is that the iTunes Media Folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not tell iTunes where to find anything; rather it determines where iTunes will put new additions to your Library, in conjunction with the Copy files to iTunes Media folder ... flag:
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Adobe Bridge shuts down when I try to access files on my external drive. Have been using the drive for months with no problems.

Adobe Bridge shuts down when I try to access files on my external drive. Have been using the drive for several months with no problems.

Due to the current unavailability of clairvoyants and mind-readers in the forum, we respectfully request you supply sensible, complete details.
A lot more information about your hardware and software is needed.
BOILERPLATE TEXT:
If you give complete and detailed information about your setup and the issue at hand,
such as your platform (Mac or Win),
exact versions of your OS, of Photoshop (not just "CC", but something like CC2014.v.2.2) and of Bridge,
your settings in Photoshop > Preference > Performance
the type of file you were working on,
machine specs, such as total installed RAM, scratch file HDs, total available HD space, video card specs, including total VRAM installed,
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what error message(s) you receive,
if having issues opening raw files also the exact camera make and model that generated them,
if you're having printing issues, indicate the exact make and model of your printer, paper size, image dimensions in pixels (so many pixels wide by so many pixels high). if going through a RIP, specify that too.
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I have been backing up iMovie 08 files to my external drive, but for some reason I can't open these files in iMovie. I used drag and drop to copy them.

I have been backing up iMovie 08 files to my external drive, but for some reason I can't open these files in iMovie. I used drag and drop to copy them.

You really should be doing backups with an actual backup application, especially one that will work automatically, and, if your external HD is large enough, back up your entire system. These can automatically back up only what's changed since the previous backup, and some will keep "archive" copies of things you've changed or deleted, also.
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Updated to Mavericks OS X but can't use my external drive by WD My Passport. The Mac reads it but I can't add/remove files to the external drive. Help?!
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 DALE

If I replace my old iMac with a new one can I burn DVDs on an external drive using Mountain Lion or Toast?

My 2006 iMac is getting a bit long in the tooth and I was thinking of replacing it with a new one. However, Mac have not included an optical drive and I back up my photographs on DVD as well as external hard drives. I also supply DVDs of my work to friends etc.
Will I be able to burn to an external drive using Mountain Lion or other software such as Toast? Does the burn option still exist on the new machines?

Hello,
You shouldn't have any problem, if you do just try Burn...
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html

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Sorry that was a dumb typo on my behalf. Here is the setup:
Apple 27inch iMac only bought today, so it's the newest version with the two Thunderbolt ports.
Two seperate external monitors each connected to a seperate port via a DVI cable and Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter.
So that's:
iMac x 1.
Thunderbolt port x 2.
External Monitor x 2.
Mini DisplayPort Adapter x 2.
3 displays in total. But when I turn on both displays only one will show up.

Time Machine stopped working after using two external drives

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First, merely connecting another drive could not have caused Time Machine to stop working.
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It then will invariably say that one doesn't have enough room for backup
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Using smart previews on iMac to control two sets of identical original files on two external drives --- render previews setting when using smart previews

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