CPU upgrades, RAIDing system drive, and more

Final Cut Studio user... editing on an iMac is murder... need more power Scotti! I intend to buy a Mac Pro next week, either BTO or retail, not sure yet!
I know that CPUs on Mac Pro's are socketed and not soldered. Yipee! Is it confirmed that CPUs are truly upgradable? My usual Mac vendor wasn't convinced.
I know it's possible to RAID 0 or 1 data drives, but is it possible to RAID 0 the system drive? I was thinking about getting a couple of Raptor drives for a performance increase. Also I imagine that the current BootCamp won't be able to manage that.
Speaking of Bootcamp, can Windows be on another drive other then on a partition of the system drive?
My same Mac vendor seemed to think that Bluetooth and AirPort are only BTO and not upgradable (even from a certified repair center). But I see posts that say otherwise. What's the concensus on this?
Will be using existing CRTs off my old PC for now. I assume that any standard DVI-VGA adaptor will do? Or are there variations in those adaptors that I need to be aware of?
iMac G5 20, 1.8GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Is it confirmed that CPUs are truly upgradable?
Given the socket nature it's potentially possible. Until there's are actually chips out there to actually try it no-one really knows if it's possible or even worthwhile.
but is it possible to RAID 0 the system drive?
Yes.
Speaking of Bootcamp, can Windows be on another drive other then on a partition of the system drive?
Yes… any internal drive.
My same Mac vendor seemed to think that Bluetooth and AirPort are only BTO and not upgradable
Yes they are upgradeable after purchase but is a service centre job. While it is probably possible to do the job yourself you would still need to source the part.
I assume that any standard DVI-VGA adaptor will do?
Yes, the Mac comes with at least one DVI to VGA adapter.

Similar Messages

HT6030 I have 2011 iMac it came with os x 10.6.6 i just upgraded the hard drive and now i cannot install OS X 10.6.6 every time i start installing after selecting the language it come up with error " OS X can't be installed on this mac " please help

I have 2011 iMac it came with os x 10.6.6 i just upgraded the hard drive and now i cannot install OS X 10.6.6 every time i start installing after selecting the language it come up with error " OS X can't be installed on this mac " please help

Be sure to start your iMac using its original grey System Install DVD: Insert that disc and start your Mac while holding the d key. At the Mac OS X Utilities screen select Disk Utility and format the hard disk. Select "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)".
Then, install OS X.

I upgraded my hard drive and my ipod no longer recognizes my computer. It will not sync. What should I do?

I upgraded my hard drive and my ipod no longer recognizes my computer. It will not sync. What should I do?

- First get iTunes to see the iPod:
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
- The transfer iTunes purchases to the computer:
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer
- For non-iTunes purchased music you need a third-party program like one of those discussed here:
Copy music from Ipod to new computer...: Apple Support Communities
- Connect the iPOd to the computer and make a backup by right clicking on the iPod under Devices in iTunes and select Back Up
- Restore the iPod from that backup.

Different system drive and applications drive

I recently added a Raptor Drive and wanted to use it as a system drive and then use my 160GB drive that came with the computer as an application drive.
Well after moving my stuff over to the Raptor Drive and tried to open Final Cut is said something to the effect that this was not the correct device or hardware. I think that is a feature of copy protection so you can't just copy Final Cut...you have to install it.
So here is my question...will I have to reinstall Final Cut and all my other programs from scratch if I continue with this process? It is already on the 160GB drive in the same machine. Seems like a huge inconvenience. Is there another way??
Thanks in advance
FatherTime
DP 2.0 G5 1GB RAM, iBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my existing system drive onto the Raptor. That way, I didn't have to reinstall a single thing or have to reset any application preferences.
I had to pare down the size of my existing drive (which was a 500 GB model) so that I could clone to the Raptor. I got it down to about 70GB by moving items to another external drive and then did the clone.
So, my setup has the OS, Applications, and (most of) my user folder on the Raptor. I moved DVD Studio Pro's templates, GarageBand's and Soundtrack Pro's audio library, and LiveType's various items to the 500 GB drive. I also moved my iTunes library and my iPhoto library to the 500 GB drive. All of this allowed me to keep sufficient free space on the Raptor.
If you don't want to clone your hard drive to the Raptor, you could try dragging Final Cut Pro over. However, you'd also need to drag over the items in /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support as well as the items in ~/Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data. And, there's still no guarantee that it'll work properly.
If you need to move other (non-Apple) applications to your other drive, you'll probably be OK in doing that. It's really only the Apple applications that need to remain in the /Applications folder.

Wanting to upgrade Sawtooth 400 with new hard drive and more memory

Have been reading a lot of posts today on the above upgrades. Am quickly getting confused on all of the info, especially on the hard drive upgrades...
Purchased my Sawtooth back in Dec. 2006 on eBay. Should have been using it all of this time, but my budget wouldn't allow me to put more memory (it's got 256MB now) and a new hard drive in it. Tired of seeing it in the way just sitting there!
The G4 has OS X 10.3 on it. Would like to upgrade to Tiger. Is there a firmware update that needs to be done before upgrading to Tiger? I know that 256MB of memory really isn't enough for Tiger. I thought about getting at least a 512MB stick to make the total memory 768MB (wish I could afford to max the memory). Others have said that OWC and Crucial have good quality memory.
The System Profile shows that it has 10 GB and 60GB hard drives. Imagine the 10GB one is the original. The 60GB was probably added on later. Don't know how old the 60GB is. That's one reason I'd like to replace it to at least a 120GB drive, so I can start fresh without worrying about the 60GB dying. (Do understand that any drive can die; new or old...) Have read about the 128GB size limit on my G4. Don't think I'd use most of the 120GB, so I'd like to stay with that size. Budget won't allow to install a PCI card to allow larger drives anyway. Should I remove the 10GB one as I don't think I'd be using it at all?
I installed a Seagate 120GB Barracuda Ultra ATA/100, 7200RPM, 8MB Cache, 3.5" drive (new, got it on eBay for $40!) in my iMac G3 400. Would like to find the same kind of drive for the G4, if it would work. If the same drive would work in the G4, does anyone know where I could purchase one? Will look on eBay etc. in the meantime.
Thanks for any advice and/or suggestions.

Got the Seagate HD installed, PRAM battery replaced and missing PCI cover replaced. Sure wished that I had the extra memory to install now, but I haven't had the chance to order it yet. I know it's easy to do, but I'm going to have to move the Mac to the table and it's heavy for me to lift (bad back).
Anyway, I started to install OS 9 on the Seagate and have hit a stumbling block! Didn't have this problem when I replaced the HD in my iMac, but it was only a 120GB drive (it needed the firmware updated).
I've looked at other posts on installing OS 9 and even on Apple's support documents and can't find what I exactly need to do! Am getting more confused about it the more I try to find the right answers... Hope one of you can help me some more.
I was able to boot the Mac up from the CD (it's the white one with the orange "9" on it). I clicked on the "Mac OS Install" icon, click on "Continue" (on the "Install Mac OS 9) dialog box, and then it says: A valid destination volume can't be found. To continue the installation process, mount a valid volume for software installation." The destination disk options is grayed out. I then clicked on the "Utilities" icon, and then the "Drive Setup" icon. It shows a list of drives and I clicked on the <not initialized> Type ATA, Bus 2, ID 0, LUN 0 and clicked on the "Initialize" button. Then it says: New Partitioning: 1 Mac OS, Initialization Options: None. If you click on Custome Setup, it says that the Partioning Scheme is "Current Volume," 131072MB (131GB?), under Volume Info Type it says Mac OS Standard. The "OK" button is grayed out. If you click on "1 Partition" on "Partitioning Scheme," then the Volume Info Type says "Mac OS Extended, with Size showing 131071MB. The "OK" button is not grayed out. I didn't go any farther with the OS 9 installation, as I don't know what the heck I'm doing! Don't want to mess something up. Do you or anyone who has helped me with this posting, know the steps I should take next? The Seagate Owner's Manual says if you have a system that can't read the entire 160GB, to just partition the drive for 137GB for now if you don't want to add a PCI controller card etc. For now, all I want to do is use the 128 or 131GB (according to what it says) of the 160GB drive without using a different card or software to recognize all of the 160GB. Do I just do one partition or two... and what else? I'm completely lost...
Sorry for the long post, but had to write down the steps I took, so someone could tell me what to do next.
I don't think you have to worry about PRAM settings; they pretty much take care of themselves - and regenerate when they have to. The time to think about PRAM is when you introduce new hardware and catch your Mac expecting same old, same old, and it isn't.
It was kind of hard to get the old PRAM battery out of its holder. I pryed the right side retainer tab just a bit with a screwdriver to get it out. Noticed that one part of the retainer at the base was cracked! Hope I didn't do that! Put some super glue on the crack (was on the outside only from what I could see). Cleaned off the battery contacts with a pencil eraser and dry Q-tip before installing the new battery. It seems to stay in place even though with the side retainer cracked. If the side retainer would break off the next time the battery would need replacing, would the battery contacts hold it ok? Or would the whole logic board have to be replaced? I put a SAFT 3.6v LS14250 battery in it. The old one was a SAFT LS14250C. Hope the "C" at the end doesn't mean anything.

New system drive and memory setup - please help!

Please excuse these newbie questions. I DO understand that these issues have been discussed ad nauseam in this forum. But I have spent probably ten or twelve hours exploring the various threads, and partly owing to my ignorance, partly to the specifics of my situation, partly to the disagreements between various posters, and partly to my concern that some of the clearer statements on e.g. SSD’s may have been outdated by the progression of technology, I would greatly appreciate it if I could get some recommendations for my specific situation.
I am going to purchase an HP Z820 sometime in the near future. I do NOT want to build my own machine; I have just enough technical knowledge to be dangerous, as they say, and want one-stop shopping for technical support if my machine develops problems.
While I will use this machine for a variety of applications, my main concern is to optimize it for Premiere Pro. Based on Harm Millaard’s (who to my untutored eye seems to be one of the most prolific, knowledgeable, and helpful individuals in this forum) “Guidelines for Disc Usage” of two years ago, I plan to install a 300GB SSD for my boot drive, and to construct a RAID 5 array out of the remaining drives. (The Z820 does not support RAID 3.) The array drives will be either five (5) more 300GB SSD’s, or four (4) 600GB 15,000 RPM SAS HDD’s.
Assume for the sake of argument that cost is not a factor, and that the 1.2TB storage offered by the 5 SSD drives in RAID 5 (vs. the 1.8TB offered by the 4 SAS drives) is perfectly adequate, which would you choose? And why?
I should add that I am a video hobbyist, not a professional, so the outfit will receive a lot less pounding than a professional’s machine. Thus, I don’t THINK that the theoretically more limited life span of the SSD’s should be an issue, over, say, the next 3-4 years. (Correct me if that SHOULD be a concern.)
Re memory, I am planning on 32GB of unbuffered memory, the maximum the system will support. I COULD get 64MB, but it would have to be registered RAM, which I understand slows things down. The slight improvement in reliability with registered RAM is not really a concern from my hobbyist standpoint; and I think 32GB should be adequate. I use 1080/60p footage, which of course is demanding, but don’t use a lot of special effects, or other Adobe applications for input to Premiere (aside from Photoshop, occasionally). Anyone disagree with this choice?
Finally, is there a role for a RAMdisk in this outfit, for e.g. cache files? Would this increase the speed, or decrease the using up of write cycles on the SSD’s to a degree that would be significant for practical purposes? If so, how much RAM would you dedicate to the RAMdisk?
Again, sorry if you feel these questions have been adequately addressed in pervious threads, but try as I might I simply can’t manage to put it together on my own. And thanks in advance for any help.

Pardon me for jumping in. (I realize the question is to Harm.)
I am going to purchase an HP Z820 sometime in the near future.
Congrats, this is a great system.
... I plan to install a 300GB SSD for my boot drive, and to construct a RAID 5 array out of the remaining drives.
The 300GB SSD - is that an HP model? If so please reconsider: it's an older Intel SSD X25-M series that is slow, and runs at SATA 3G speeds (not 6G), which doesn't do the Z820 justice. Intel 520 series has been tested (by yours truly among others) and can be used in the Z820.
The array drives will be either five (5) more 300GB SSD’s, or four (4) 600GB 15,000 RPM SAS HDD’s.
As Harm will probably tell you: unless you also run a database server on that system, there is no advantage to 10K, 15Krpm or even SSD drives for video purposes, with the exception of possible reliability (enterprise class 10-15K drives and SSDs are tested much more extensively than desktop and nearline drives) and throughput in case of SSDs if, for instance, your workflow demands extreme bandwidth (e.g. recording of uncompressed 4K 12-bit RGB signal).
Assume for the sake of argument that cost is not a factor, and that the 1.2TB storage offered by the 5 SSD drives in RAID 5 (vs. the 1.8TB offered by the 4 SAS drives) is perfectly adequate, which would you choose? And why?
Hypothetically, I'd choose SSDs: higher reliability, responsiveness, performance, lower power consumption. I'd do research though to ensure they'd keep up with a lot of write I/Os thrown at them.
In reality, I'd choose neither, for reasons I mentioned above. 7200rpm nearline drives have sufficient performance for the purpose, and the capacity is much higher per dollar.
I COULD get 64MB, but it would have to be registered RAM, which I understand slows things down.
Not necessarily. The 2% difference between ECC and non-ECC memory (negligible as it is) is not at play here because Z820 does not support non-ECC memory. Registered or not, it has to be ECC, and registered memory is not necessarily slower than unbuffered. Even if it was, the 2% difference is unlikely to make any perceptable dent in performance given that no editing system runs its memory at 100% bandwidth at all times. Then again, if cost is not a factor, you could always swap unbuffered for registered later on.
Finally, is there a role for a RAMdisk in this outfit, for e.g. cache files? Would this increase the speed, or decrease the using up of write cycles on the SSD’s to a degree that would be significant for practical purposes? If so, how much RAM would you dedicate to the RAMdisk?
For timelines with limited number of effects, I wouldn't bother, with the premise that Premiere Pro has decent memory management on its own, and that memory will serve better if just given to Premiere Pro.
If on the other hand you do start using AE heavily, you might want to dedicate a (portion of your) SSD to "global performance cache" which is a fantastic time-saving feature of AE CS6.
HTH.

Upgrading the hard drive and RAM

Its about time to upgrade this 80GB it has no storage due to running windows as well. I just have a few questions
Will I lose battery life upgrading parts?
What brand HDD due most people go with?
What is the max RAM the macbook can handle?
Which brand RAM has good reputation?
Is 7200RPM noticeably quicker then 5400RPM?
What do I need to do to export all files and software to the new HDD? Can I export windows as well?
Thanks for your help

PureTorque wrote:
Its about time to upgrade this 80GB it has no storage due to running windows as well. I just have a few questions
OK - one at a time.....
Will I lose battery life upgrading parts?
Not likely much unless you install a huge power hog. The state of the art in hard drives are that equivalent 5400 RPM drives will almost always be more energy efficient, and 7200 RPM drive may be competitive. It's not going to make or break your average battery life.
What brand HDD due most people go with?
Every brand. Seagate, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Samsung, Western Digital, or Hitachi. They all work pretty well. Hard drives are more or less a commodity part these days and all the major players have excellent products as well as duds.
What is the max RAM the macbook can handle?
If you're still running Tiger (in your sig) then it's either 2 GB (MacBook1,1 in System Profiler) or 3+ GB (MacBook2,1 or MacBook2,2 in System Profiler).
Which brand RAM has good reputation?
For what you can get in the aftermarket, possibly Crucial (really just the marketing arm of Micron which is a major memory manufacturer), OCZ, etc. Some people swear by Other World Computing (MacSales.com) which is just a reseller. They have their own "house label" as well as OEM Samsung and Micron modules that they label for warranty purposes. Their label means that they provide the warranty.
Is 7200RPM noticeably quicker then 5400RPM?
Can be. However - testing these things is notoriously unreliable depending on where on the platter the data is being accessed. Overall it should be (all things being equal) but there are many different factors involved including how densely packed the data is on the media. Some newer 5400 RPM drives with higher "areal density" have equivalent (or even faster) speeds compared to older 7200 RPM drives.
What do I need to do to export all files and software to the new HDD? Can I export windows as well?
I haven't tried that myself. It might be possible to clone your Windows partition to another partition on an external hard drive.

How do i upgrade my hard drive and get it to boot in Mountain Lion?

I have a Late 2009 Macbook 6,1 and want to install a new, larger capacity hard drive. Currently I am running Mountain Lion and don't have any install disks, so the question is, what is the process to change out the drive and get the Mac to boot after the new drive is installed. Since it is a new drive it won't have a recovery partition or any operating system files. My plan is to migrate my data using my Time Machine backup, but I worry that when I try to boot after the new drive is installed, all I will be greeted with will be a flashing question mark. I'm really having a hard time finding a step-by-step set of instructions for someone attempting what I'm trying to do. I do have an external enclosure I could put the new drive into before I put it into the Mac. Would I try using something like Migration Assistant to transfer all of the files to the new drive and then just swap out drives afterward? Would the OS migrate as well, or would I still not have a bootable drive? Or is there some kind of minimal boot disk I could burn onto a CD or flash drive and then once the machine boots go with a restore from Time Machine Backup? I'm open to any ideas anyone may have on the least painful way to go about this process. Maybe use some (hopefully free) software of some sort to clone the current drive onto the new drive while it's still in the external enclosure? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive. Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure. You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of
      the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive
      is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the
      Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from
      the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
      (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
      GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and
      wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the
      drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main
      window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the
      Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to
      return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several
      hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
     3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
     4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
         to the Destination entry field.
     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
         the Source entry field.
     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume. Click on the Restart button. You should boot from the new drive. Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.

Time Machine, external hard drive and more

Guys, I am very excited about the release of Leopard and in preparation, want to obtain separate external hards drive for use with Time Machine. I've got a Mac Pro 3Ghz with 3 Terabytes of hard disk space, 4Gig Ram. What would I need in terms of size for an external hard drive (I'm not sure if I will need all the extraneous stuff, maybe just want to back up most of the system files, etc and perhaps some other directories).
Questions:
1. What commercial external USB hard drive should I look at? (I'm not a build-your-own kind of guy.)
2. Should I obtain separate external hard drives for my 24" iMac as well as my C2D MacBook?
3. Should I have the external hard drive in place prior to the Leopard upgrade so Leopard finds it right off the bat?
4. Should I upgrade my RAM on the Mac Pro to 6 or 8 Gig? Is that necessary or needed?
5. When I receive Leopard (I bought the family pack because I have so many Macs) will it install over my current Tiger system leaving everything in place or do I have to start from scratch (I can't believe Apple would do that to us!).
Thanks. You guys are always the best Tech support!
John

Hi Adam Jackson, nice site you have and thank you for taking the time/effort to provide the information. It is very informative and valuable!
1. I notice that other people have good luck with LaCie products so I bought the 1Terabyte external. I see it on Google for $322 and not real concerned about the cost.
2. The 24" iMac is the C2D version as is the MacBook. I actually sold my earlier models on eBay to buy the C2D models because I wanted 802.11n. Both machines are pimped out to max, including the MacBook w/3Gig of RAM. Now my Mac Pro came with Airport Extreme built-in and I have it turned on so my other machines can share the connection via WiFi. That is very cool.
I was wondering if I would have to buy separate externals for Time Machine (TM) backups on those machines but you answer is great! I'll partition up the external hard drive. A new question about doing that is: do I move the external hard drive to each machine each time I want to backup? If so, I assume TM will allow me to backup manually and I could plug in the external HD on the iMac, and then move it to the MacBook and return the external to the Mac Pro as home base, backing up to the appropriate partition. Does that sound right? Or can I do it all via WiFi (THAT would be way cool!).
Another question. You recommend installing Leopard to a clean drive. I hesitate there because I have so many programs already installed under Tiger from Final Cut Pro, Aperature, and many that are either too hard to find or no longer available or it would be painful finding the reg or serial numbers. Is it possible to back up all of those programs and their associated preferences/library/passwords/reg codes/ and just add them back after I have Leopard installed?
My thought here is to make sure all of my apps are up-to-date then, back up all of the applications to the appropriate external hard drive partition, make a bootable Carbon Clone Copy as you suggest for safety purposes, wipe out the Mac Pro/iMac and MacBook hard drives and install Leopard on each machine. Once all machines have Leopard then copy back the working applications. I just don't know how to do that successfully, i.e., which user folders to backup.
And thanks again,
John

Upgrade MBP Hard Drive and NCQ...

Hi Everyone,
I just spent an hour searching and can't find any information on my question. Earlier this year I upgraded a MacBook (not Pro) with a Western Digital Scorpio 250 GB (5400 RPM) drive, and found out that it didn't support NCQ (based on System Profiler). So now, here I am, on the verge of grabbing the new Scorpio "Black" 320GB hard drive for my MacBook Pro, and I can't find any information if this drive supports NCQ. I am sure it is trivial froma useage standpoint if it doesn't, but it is the kind of thing that will bug me. Does anybody have this drive installed, and can you check System Profiler and see if NCQ is supported? Thanks!
Rich S.

I installed the same drive in my machine, but I am thinking there is something wrong with it.. Did you notice a stronger vibration than when you had your original hard drive in the MBP?

I want to upgrade my hard drive and transfer everyting to new one

I have a 250 GB hard drive, but it seems to be too small. I want to uppgrade it. I know how to do the phisical upgrade, but i want my computer to function the same after the upgrade, I want the operating system, files and other software to work the same as my old hard drive. Is there a way to do this???

Yes. Read the attached:
Ciao.

Discussion regarding un-unmountable external drives and more..

I have a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatted LaCie 2TB external USB 2.0 hard drive which I use for backup and file storage with my MBP running snow leopard. Some times when working extremely large folders at work, I actually work right of the hard drive and it works very well. But I have observed an increasingly annoying problem.
If I keep the drive active and working with whatever for a while and then decide to eject the disk, this almost always causes headaches. Either I get these warnings that the disk cannot be ejected because; Mail is using the drive, Safari is using the drive, Itunes is using the drive...... or some other app. This is annoying but can usually be resolved by simply quitting these apps. My question is; why does this occur? I see no reason for these applications to be using the disk? I haven't found a conclusive response to this question anywhere, always different suggestions/ideas/solutions? Does someone actually know what is causing this behavior and if it can be resolved "permanently"?
On the occasional time, quitting the applications suggested to use the drive doesn't allow me to eject the disc. It is still in use, but no apps are listed and the only way to eject is forcefully. I have tried:
sudo lsof | grep -i <filename>
And yes, I had some interesting results. Although spotlight is not indicating indexing in progress i see that spotlight is using the drive. I know you can add the drive under privacy in spotlight preferences and this eliminates this issue. But there is also "keychain access" using some file on the drive? I just cannot see why this would happen? When this happens, there is no way to safely remove the drive. I have tried relaunching finder, both through dock (ctrloptionmouse click) and terminal (killall Finder), but this does not resolve the eject issue. I have also tried stoping and relaunching SystemUIServer which was suggested somewhere, but this did not resolve the issue. Neither did umount volume or hdiutil eject /Volumes/GusExt/, it only works with -force which I would like to avoid.
Why would anything BUT spotlight use anything on the hard drive? And is there a way to safely kill any and every process using the external drive so that it can be ejected safely?
I find this interesting since it seems to be a common phenomenon but I haven't found a single clear cut explanation or solution to these issues? What makes it more interesting is that I, at home, have my own personal WD external drive with photos and my CD collection stored on it. This drive is NTFS-3G formatted through MACFUSE and NTFS-3G. This drive has never exhibited the same behavior, the only difference between the discs, except the file system, is that the LaCie contains time machine backups. But since I do not have time machine active, I don't see why this would effect the unmount process.
Another topic I would like some feedback on is corrupted files. When this occurs on a NTFS formated disk used on mac, these cannot be removed. And since Mac and NTFS doesn't play nice, I haven't found a way to resolve this. Disk utility wont work, neither will ntfsfix. The only way around this that I have found is plugging the drive into a windows machine and running chkdsk X: -F
Is there any available alternative for this on Mac that actually works with NTFS disks?
Hoping for some interesting feedback on this from anyone interested
Best Regards
Gus

Hi again Kappy. Thanks for your reply.
1. No, none of the files on the drive are being sent by mail, mail should not have any interest whatsoever in the drive.
2. Most files are created by AMBER 10 and AMBERTOOLS 1.4, molecular dynamics simulation packages. These are UNIX based and I only work with these files from terminal, no GUI. They are created on different servers, downloaded to my MBP and transferred (at least most often) to the LaCie for storage.
3. I have applications stored on the drive through "time machine backups", but I do not run any apps from the drive. Only locally on my MBP, all terminal based UNIX programs are "pathed" correctly to my internal drive.
4. As above, time machine backups my apps, but to my knowledge should not run them from the LaCie drive! Only from my local drive...
5. Disk permissions are full read and write for all. Some files come from /usr/local/ and are specific for my account. But I have taken the habit of "chmod 777" them so I can always access them since I'm the only one with physical access to the LaCie drive.
6. It has at some point, I see no indication of indexing being made in OS X, only through "lsof" where I usually can see spotlight and keychain accessing files. But I have now put the drive under "privacy" from spotlight so it should not index at all now.
7. Yes, once a week a manually perform a time machine backup of my local drive onto the LaCie. Between backups I disable time machine.
8. nine times out of ten I can eject the disc without warning if I first quit mail, iTunes and safari. Same goes if I get the warning, exit the app and then try to eject again. One time out of ten it doesn't seem to matter if I quit all the apps except finder, and ever relaunch finder. Some undetermined apps is still claimed to use the drive. Then the only solution of to force eject.
Best regards
Gus

Time Machine - backup System Drive and External Drive to 2 partitions? Help

Hi all, I'm a bit confused with Time Machine. Here's the situation:
I have my internal system drive (500GB) and an external FW drive (500GB). I have a backup drive (1TB). I would like to partition my backup drive and have Time Machine backup my system drive to partition 1, my external drive to partition 2. The Time Machine interface does not make it obvious how to do this. Is it possible? How?
Thanks!
js

js,
No, Time Machine will not do this. While it can back up both volumes, it will do so by creating two folders within the "Backups.backupdb" folder, each named for one of the volumes being backed up. In other words, it backs up both volumes to the single volume.
You'll need to carefully consider whether or not it makes sense to use it with both. Obviously, the backup drive (1 TB) will need to have just one partition to contain everything. Additionally, Time Machine really needs at least twice the amount of space required for the initial backup. Closer to 3X, if it can be managed. This is to insure that it will always have enough room to "do its thing" with subsequent backups. In order to evaluate this, you'll need to add the amount of data being stored on both source volumes, then estimate how much that data might change and/or grow over time. I would recommend strongly against using Time Machine to backup both volumes if you think the total might ever exceed 500 GBs (that is, the total used on the two source volumes). Even if you think it might come close, this would tend to recommend against using Time Machine.
If you really have the kind of data that fills up 2 500 GB drives, especially if one of those is your boot drive, you should seriously consider some hefty file management. This doesn't rule out Time Machine; quite the contrary. However, you'll need to separate your data into "live" data, and that which can be "archived." Your installation of OS X, all your applications, and your day-to-day "user files" would obviously be considered "live." To this total, you would add any files on which you might be working, in various "projects."
Anything and everything else is a strong candidate for "archival." These files would be best stored separately, where their need for constantly updated redundancy is eliminated. If they can be archived to DVDs, all the better (I would want to do this in addition to storing them on a relatively static and rarely used external drive).
If you adopt such a routine, you should realistically be able to whittle down your boot volume to no more than 100 GBs. Perhaps a little more if you are using Pro apps such as the CS suite, FCP, etc., along with their attendant template libraries.
Under such a scenario, Time Machine would work very well in backing up your boot volume and any external drive you would use for additional "live" project files. Everything else could be stored on an external drive that you would use only when you need access to the old archived data, and it could be made redundant by you, manually, as and when you see fit. Since this data would be and remain "static" in nature, it would not need regular and recurrent backup.
Scott
For example,

I need advice for a CPU upgrade...please and thank you!!!

Hi, I own a lenovo3000 n100 076804U, with a T2060. I am thinking of upgrading to windows 7 and going 64 bit. Can anyone tell me what processor I might jump up to that will work in this system? I know very little about laptops but I build my own desktops. This is for travel and I don't use it much, so buying a new laptop isn't really what I want to do. But I would like all of my systems to run the same OS. Thanks for your help.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I have the same model, and just put in a T5600 which
I purchased on eBay. Works Great, and windows 7
is a joy to use compared to vista.
The only driver I had to install was for the card reader.

Firmware update problem with raid mirrored drives and solution

Note this - the firmware update will not install from a software mirrored boot drive. It will install just fine from a non-mirrored clone. So, make a clone, set it as your boot drive from system preferences, and all is good.

Well this is a pain, this is what I figured I would have to do but c'mon apple, I am sure people are not going want to hassle with making a clone, finding or buying a single drive to install the OS to, boot that drive, install the firmware patch, reboot, make sure it took, tear down the system, swap the soft-RAID set of drives back in etc. etc. etc.
This is another reason why Apple need to take note from the PC world, I know they like to "Think Different" when it comes to things like this but they really need to give access to and write a driver for the supported on-chip hardware RAID controller located in the Motherboards Southbridge chip of THIS motherboard, just like all other woodcrest Xeon based systems running the same intel motherboard chipset!
I am sure this post will get me a long list of flames from the Apple fanboys explaining how what Apple is doing is really better, or telling me that if I want hardware RAID 5 to just go and buy $6000 xServe RAID setup.
Well I better quit typing so I can tear apart my system, find a hard drive to install OSX on.....See you guys in a few hours

CPU upgrades, RAIDing system drive, and more

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for