External drive USB or FW ?

I know the obvious answer is Firewire 800.
But, my FW connector is already used for an external audio card.
So, I'm considering buying a USB2.0 external drive. But I want to make sure I will not get into obvious performance issues.
Is access to an external USB2.0 drive fast enough to play with photos in iPhoto, build movies in iMovie, listen to music in iTunes, watch a video, etc... ?

Yes, you are missing something. USB and FireWire are not functionally the same. FireWire is capable of transferring data across the interface much faster than USB even though USB's interface is rated at a slightly higher speed. Thus FW400 is roughly 40% faster than USB 2.0 in disk benchmarks. Therefore if you need the fastest possible data throughput then use FireWire, preferably FW800.

Similar Messages

External drive - USB or Fire wire or AC

Hello I dont know where to put this question so: Which would be the best for a 500GB external drive, USB & fire wire or AC? I want a portable external drive (2.5) but am not sure whether AC is best route or if USB/Fire wire?
Thank you
Veedeekay

Which would be the best for a 500GB external drive, USB & fire wire
Use FireWire, not USB.
I ALWAYS build my own drive (takes 5 mins). More storage and less money.
 I like the TD-M120 enclosure, it's the best I know of.
Has a cooling fan, shock absorbers, and all the ports you will ever need. 
   http://www.cooldrives.com/ox93saiihadr.html
http://www.onnto.com.tw/product.asp?sys_sysno=31
And this drive:  
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Intellipower-Desktop-WD20EADS/dp/B001RB1TI S/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258862242&sr=8-1

Toshiba mini external driver.usb 2.0

I have bought a mini PC android 7.
I'd also bought a mini external driver, when I put the USB into the mini PC
it connects okay at the it says it is blank u-disk. its a (Toshiba mini external driver.usb 2.0)
I have put some photos to test , but it still says the same.
in the settings it said (unavailable)
could you please help me
thank you
system: mini PC android 7
version 2.2
kernel version 2.6.32.9-default
build number generic-Eng2.2 froyo ver1.5.5-20110920.103830

Hi
Did you get the same error message connecting another external USB 2.0 HDD or an USB flash memory stick to this notebook?
Test this
Maybe it HDD issue.
Furthermore the USB 2.0 provides an 500mA power if an external USB HDD or USB device would need more power, an issue could appear.
In such case its recommended to connect an USB hub with an external power source between the notebook and USB device

Extremely Slow Disk Access from External Drives (USB & Firewire)

Following the upgrade to 10.6.2 (from 10.6.1), my computer is communicating extremely slowly with all external drives (both Firewire 400 and USB). File transfers which used to take less than a minute now take 5-10 minutes (less than 1 GB). Peering into the Console, I see messages for each aspect of a file reading: Nov 13 12:30:12 Nautilus /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder[152]: Possible unresolved transaction race -105/filename
(Nautilus is the name of the computer)
By "each aspect", I mean that for Pages files, it provides a message for Quicklook,(null) , Contents,(null) , and filename,(null).
All disks are in good health, formatted as FAT32 for ease of use with all OS types, and are SATA.
Again, this occurred immediately following the installation of 10.6.2 (both Software Update and Combo). I've seen similar errors online with iTunes libraries on network drives, but this is on directly connected drives.
I normally wouldn't ask this, but, is there a way to reinstall 10.6.1 over .2? At this point, Time Machine would likely cause me to lose other data as well in a full revert, since it has been more than a few days.

I have various personal files backed up on these drives (not system data): music, pictures, documents, etc.
FAT32 should not be an issue, as I have used these drives for over 2 years with Tiger, Leopard, and then Snow Leopard with nay an issue, until now. Additionally, while the Time Machine backup may be an archive, it is the sole occupier of an HFS-formatted partition which is not exhibiting the issue. I only included that information since it is physically on the same drive as a partition (FAT32) which is being troublesome to rule out driver/hardware problems.
Bottom line: All of my drives worked perfectly on 10.6.1 (and continue to do so on my other Macs (10.5.8), but do not on 10.6.2. I was only looking for a potential solution to my computer's specific issue, not a statement that my "compromise" is the cause of my problems.
Actually, since Apple fully supports read/write access on FAT32 partitions, I should, indeed, be able to "have all things all ways...", no offense intended.

Transferring data from pc to mac using external drive usb

is there anything "special" you need to do to transfer data from Win 7 to MacBook Air using a USB 3.0 external drive?

No.
(118476)

Tiger install from external drive (USB)

iMac G4, 900mHz., 640mg. ram, CD rom.
Is it possible to install Tiger from an external dvd drive (USB)? I'm not sure how to start up and bypass the installed os. Would it be easier to use my iBooks' dvd drive to install the os on another machine, using target disk mode. If so, how is that possible?
Thanks-Tom

I believe OS 9 supported USB booting - hence why it could be done on a Clamshell, OS X does not support USB booting- although the rumours are that the Intel Macs can boot from USB drives. The Target Mode is the best option. Switch off the iBook with the Tiger DVD in, then boot holding T to get you to target mode. Then you should be able to boot the iMac and hold 'alt' aka 'option' to see a full list of boot options.
mrtotes
P.S. There's no such thing as a 900MHz iMac.

Booting From SD Card, External Drive, USB Stick, etc...

If you configure an external HD, usb stick, sd card, etc. to be a startup volume for your mac, does the computer write or otherwise use the computer's 'default' internal hard drive?
For example, if I insert an sd card into an iMac and boot off of that and open safari and visit a website, once I startup again from the iMac's internal drive, will that appear in the safari's history when booting up again form the internal HD?
Will there be any trace otherwise of anything I do while booted from the sd card?
If I sent the iMac to DriveSavers or some other computer forensic analysis place would they find anything on the internal drive?
I'm inclined to think they would not, but I was hoping this could evolve into a technical discussion with somebody perhaps being knowledgable enough to explain how data travels from the internet, over the ethernet connection, to the motherboard, and then the hard drive. I try to visualize it, myself having a basic understanding, and I think that if there is an entirely different boot volume being used, the 'secondary' volume wouldn't even get written to - unless I obviousy elected to save a file to it.
*Oh, without sending super sketchy I thought maybe I should put this question into context. So, I'm a college student and I was thinking that maybe I could just spend a hundred bucks on an sd card and always have it with me and just go to the library or lab (or local apple store? thought I think they don't allow it) and boot from a 'host mac'. My concern is that I don't want to leave traces of a paper, or email, or private chat, or browsing history on the computer's internal hard drive. If this works I'll save like $1,000 - to a college kid that's like a billion dollars, even in this economy.
Thank you very much!
Tom

Each boot drive will use a different set of home folders, so the history and other settings created in one will not be available in the other.
The operating system is just software that loads from a storage device. For Macs this can be the internal drive, an external drive, a DVD, or a networked volume. This software loads at boot and allows use of the system's hardware (mouse, keyboard, graphics processors, etc.). Booting does not require the use of the internal drive. When the system is powered on it gets a list of all attached storage devices and will preferentrially try to load an operating system from the default boot device, but if it cannot or if it's instructed to look elsewhere (e.g., if you hold the C key to boot to a DVD), then it will load the operating system software from a different location.
When the system has an specific boot drive loaded, it will reference every location of where to save things from that drive. This is the "root" of the system, on which the system has references to storage locations both on the "root" drive and to those on other storage devices. Very briefly, the system sees your external drives simply as folders on your boot drive.
If you boot to an external drive, then this will be the "root" drive, and your system's internal drives will be likewise seen as folders like any other secondary storage locations.

Seagate Desktop 500GB External Drive USB not recognised

When connecting this drive to either a PC running XP Pro or a Mac (MBP) running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) then I can access the drive without a problem. However, when I connect the drive to a Mac running OS X Server 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard Server) then the drive is not recognised. It does not even show up in the Mac's Disk Utility. I am able to connect USB Flash drives and other USB devices to the same Mac (a new Mac Mini 1TB server to be precise) which verifies USB connectivity.
It looks like there is a compatibility issue with OS X Snow Leopard. Do you work with Seagate at all to correct this issue? is there a firmware/OS X fix?

Have you contacted Seagate, as they manufacturer the hardware? Do they have any updated drivers or firmware or statement of compatibility regarding Snow Leopard on their website?
Message was edited by: DaddyPaycheck

How to use seagate external drive with Mac

i have just purchased a SEAGATE EXPANSION EXTERNAL DRIVE, USB 3.0...can i use it with my Mac OXS....10.7.4....

No trouble for a few minutes, then I have to go out.
Re 'Too much detail'   When you ask a question such as the one we are working on, suitable detail would be ...
I have an (Apple item, iMac,model etc) running on (OS X 10.7.4).   I have just purchased a Seagate (size, model etc) external drive and would like to use it for (list uses).   Then ask specific questions.
If I can make this observation.    You appear to have gone out and bought a Seagate drive from somewhere without knowing what it will be used for.   They are not cheap.
It may be worth while to go and talk to whoever sold it to you and ask how you can best use it to meet your needs ... or if they will advise you how to set it up.
Most decent shops will oblige.
But if it was an on-line purchase then my original suggestion of talking to Seagate is probably the best line to take.
Hope you find all this helpful.
Message was edited by: seventy one

External Drive No Longer Accessible after 10.9.5 Update

After upgrading to 10.9.5 from 10.9.4, I have lost access to my external drive (USB connected) used by Time Machine. The icon on the desktop is amber. Disk Utility can not repair it. I get "Error Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup." Also.. "Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map." The disk format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If I launch Windows 7 (using Fusion 6) on the iMac, it recognizes the drive (I have the HFS+ driver installed.) I can read and write to the drive and see all the time machine backups on the Win 7 virtual machine. I am logged in to my iMac as a Standard User. Logging in as the Administrator has no effect. The drive can not be repaired or formatted. This is a late 2009 iMac with 12GB ram. Original OS was Snow Leopard. It was upgraded from 10.6.8 to the full Mavericks OS.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Time Machine Backup on External Drive Invalid sibling link

I've used time machine to backup macbook air for several months. From Feb 2011 without any problems until about 2 months ago. I started to get the message that backups could not be started.
I realized that the disk would not mount right away. And after about 10 minutes or more I would get the message that my disk could not be mounted. The error said my data could be backed up and I should do it right away.
Okay, so I try to copy my backup files using finder and get an error saying I don't have permissions to copy data.
My research indicates my hard drive is failing, which is unfortunate, since I bought it within the last year :-(
Okay, so now I am trying to get my months worth of backups off the drive and this is proving to be quite difficult...actually, impossible.
Here are my latest attempts at resolving my issue:
1. Ran Repair Disk - reusts:
          error: Could not repair disk and something about backing up my data and reformating the disk
2. Ran fsck_hfs -f command in terminal
     The system indicated it was executing the command and about 2 or 3 minutes, I think the command prompt appeared. No other message
3. Run repair disk again - My results:
     Checking catalog file.
     INvalid sibling link
     rebuilding catalog B-Tree
     The volume My Passport could not be repaired
     Volume repair complete
     Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required
     Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backed up files
4. Created a new partition on another external drive and did a restore in Disk Utility from the broken drive to the new partition on the other drive. Took a few hours. Unfortunately, I just created the same problem on that partition (invalid sibling link)
Any other ideas on how I can rescue my backup data from the My Passport drive? I can see it in finder but I can't copy it do my other drive!
Research on forums and other sites have mentioned cloning the drive using "dd" command. Is this the same as the disk utility restore?
Is there some way I can change the permissions of the disk/partitition/files to enable me to copy the data to the new external drive?
Here is what the system looks like: Mac HD is my mac mini; My book is the WD 1TB external drive usb connected; My Passport is the broken external drive with the time machine backups that I can't get access to.
unknown3c07544bc705:Volumes oshunj$ ls -ale
total 8
drwxrwxrwt@ 5 root    admin   170 Dec 4 09:40 .
0: group:everyone deny add_file,add_subdirectory,directory_inherit,only_inherit
drwxr-xr-x 29 root    wheel 1054 Dec 3 18:17 ..
lrwxr-xr-x   1 root    admin     1 Dec 3 18:10 Macintosh HD -> /
drwxr-xr-x@ 15 oshunj staff   578 Dec 3 20:46 My Book
drwxr-xr-x@ 14 oshunj staff   544 Oct 16 19:32 My Passport
unknown3c07544bc705:Volumes oshunj$ ls -Orbitlake /Volumes
total 4
     2 drwxr-xr-x@ 14 oshunj staff -       544 Oct 16 19:32 My Passport
335990 lrwxr-xr-x   1 root    admin -         1 Dec 3 18:10 Macintosh HD -> /
     2 drwxr-xr-x 29 root    wheel -      1054 Dec 3 18:17 ..
     2 drwxr-xr-x@ 15 oshunj staff -       578 Dec 3 20:46 My Book
10710 drwxrwxrwt@ 5 root    admin hidden 170 Dec 4 09:40 .
0: group:everyone deny add_file,add_subdirectory,directory_inherit,only_inherit

***Update to ask question***
I would love to setup my new mini like my MBA. Is there anything wrong with restoring my entire drive, I think it starts at /User/ level, to my mini????
You know you never know when you will need the backups. This makes me angry especially since I can see the files but can't repair the disk.
OTOH, I attempted something I just now read about, option-click on time machine icon. Funny thing, I selected other disk and my passport (original broken drive) popped up with time machine backups on it.
I, quite timidly, selected the disk, opened the time machine and traversed my broken drive with backups from feb.
hmmm. I then, selected some random pdf file to restore and behold, It was restored to my mac mini right before my eyes.
I'm confused. But I think I will go with your suggestion and just put the drive away in a closet somewhere and hope to never really need it. It is quite interesting though that I am unable to repair this disk but I can restore files from it....Odd, I tell you, odd....
Thanks

External drive won't mount; works on all other computers

I have a WD My Passport Ultra external drive (USB) that is nearly brand new. It mounts / works fine on all other Mac desktops and laptops (older and newer), but won't mount or even show up in Disk Utility on my personal MacBook Pro. I am running OS 10.7.5. My computer recognizes other externals, and the USB drive I'm using definitely works. The drive is getting power - when I plug it into my laptop the light blinks and the motor whirs for a while, but the drive never becomes accessible.
I have already tried:
     • Repairing disk permissions
     • Resetting NVRAM/PRAM
     • Waiting several hours in case it was indexing
What could be the problem?

Okay so after a half hour on the phone with Apple support, I finally figured it out myself: I just needed a USB 3.0 driver. The tech said usually the driver is automatically installed when you plug in the drive (which apparently it was on all the other computers I tried it on), but for some reason that didn't happen with my laptop. Soon as I installed the driver, it worked fine!

Partitioning External Drive w/o Erasing Data

I have one 500GB external drive (USB) that I want to partition. I have 85GB on data on it now and really don't want to copy it back to the Mac HD (if at all possible).
When I run Disk Utility/Partition and select 2 partitions, it allows me to shrink either partition to ~52GB - smaller than my current data size. So I'm not confident what I am doing will partition w/o erasing data.
The drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
My eventual goal is to use SuperDuper for a clone backup. I'm using the free version that only allows erase & copy. If I purchase SD, could I add a clone to the external w/o erasing existing data?
Any other suggestions?

yes you can.
quote from disk utility help:
Creating new volumes on a disk
You may be able to create multiple volumes on your disk without losing any data. Each volume works like a separate disk. You may need to create a new volume if you want to install multiple operating systems on your computer. Volumes can also help you organize your files.
NOTICE: Back up your data before creating new volumes on your disk as a precaution.
To create new volumes on a disk:
Select the disk from the list at the left, and click Partition.
Select an existing volume in the Volume Scheme list, and click Add .
Disk Utility splits the volume into two, leaving the data in one of the new volumes. If the volume is less than half-full, Disk Utility creates two volumes of equal size. Otherwise. it creates one volume large enough for the data, and another volume with the remaining space.
Resize the volumes as needed.
You can drag the dividers between the volumes in the Volume Scheme list, or you can select a volume in the Volume Scheme list, and then enter a value in the Size field.
Choose how to format the volumes that will be erased or created.
For each new volume, select it, enter a name, and then choose a format.
Click Apply.

External Drive replacement for iMac "SuperDrive" ?

From reading this forum, it seems some iMac SuperDrives (mine included) have serious problems with reading and/or scratching discs. Apparently the only real solution is to use an external drive.
Can anyone recommend an external drive (USB or Firewire 800) that is compatible with the Mac CD and DVD disk-burning functions, iMovie and iDVD, will download software, play movie DVDs, and music CDs? In other words, it should do everything the SuperDrive is supposed to do. Also, it should last more than 6 months!
Thanks!

only store they have is by chicago, which is also their office & where all of their tech support staff are located. they have hrs you can call in 7 days a week for help & are great about fixing or replacing anything that quits. haven't heard the same about lacie at all. the lacie drive are prettier tho, but seem more expenisve for what you actually get, imo.

External Drive icons

When using Yosemite, I've noticed that my external drives (USB and Thunderbolt) don't show the custom icon representing how they are connected. I can't remember if it's always been that way or recently changed.
Should Yosemite be using the custom disk icons?
Thanks for any help.
Jeff

OS X does not include any other icons for external drives except for the standard one that you are seeing. if you want a custom icon for the drive you need to get it somewhere else. there are lots of places on the web with custom icons. my favorite is this one
http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/

External drive USB or FW ?

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