External Hard Drive...USB or Firewire 400

I just purchased a new iMac (I'm coming from the P.C. world) and would like to purchase an external hard drive for backup purposes. I was wondering whether to purchase a USB, Firewire, or a drive compatible with both. Which runs faster on Macs? I was looking between the following drives:
Western Digital MyBook 250GB (Combo): http://www.compusa.com/products/productinfo.asp?productcode=338216&pfp=compare&
Western Digital MyBook 250GB (USB): http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Customer-reviews-for-Western-Digital-External-Har d-Drive-WDG1U2500N/sem/rpsm/oid/145402/rpem/ccd/productDetailReview.do#tabs
LaCie 250GB (USB or Firewire versions): http://www.compusa.com/products/productinfo.asp?productcode=310799&pfp=compare&
I also read about the different chipsets, but since these are all compatible with Mac OS X, they should have the proper chipset. Any help would be appreciated.

I recommend getting an external HDD with both firewire 400 and usb2. First off firewire is faster in real work operation than usb2. Is also good to have both if you decide to take some files and hook the drive up to a PC. Alot of PCs still don't have firewire.
I like this drive from OWC. It uses the latest Seagate drive and very good chipset.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MAU4F7320G16/
lenn

Similar Messages

My iMac won't recognize my external hard drive connected by FireWire 400

I have an external hard drive connected to my Intel-based iMac through a FireWire 400 cable. The drive doesn't come up on the desktop after turning on the hard drive power.
If I connect through the USB cable, it appears quickly on the desktop. Why isn't this working through FireWire? I had some trouble with this in Tiger as well, but was somehow able to get it to work.

The drive does not appear in Disk Utility.
And I don't think I'll be installing DiskWarrior until Leopards countless bugs are fixed, especially after reading THIS:
Alsoft: There are some DiskWarrior "compatibility issues" with Leopard
After previously stating "you can run the (current version of DiskWarrior under Leopard) knowing no harm will come to the hard drive or to your data," Alsoft has now posted a message to its Web site stating "there are some compatibility issues when running an installed copy of DiskWarrior 4.0 while started up from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Alsoft currently recommends that you do not run DiskWarrior 4.0 while the computer is started from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard."
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071026153956503

External Hard drive USB vs firewire

I purchased a Western Digital external hard drive that has both firewire 800 and USB connections. I initialized the drive using the USB connection so my computer only mounts it when connected with USB. Using Disk Utility, I tried re-initializing but don't know how to switch so it mounts with firewire 800. How can I change this drive to mount connected with firewire?

The connection used to format the drive should have no impact on using another type of connector. I suspect that the chip for the firewire connector is bad. I suggest you send it back to WD for repair.
Allan

External Hard Drive USB ok, Firewire not

This is a weird one. I have 2 external HDs, one a LaCie and one a "Metal Gear Box". Both work fine with firewire on my old ibook G3, but only the LaCie works through firewire on my powerbook G4. The Metal Gear Box will connect through USB, but when I try to do it through firewire nothing shows up. Not even in Disk Utility. With the LaCie working fine I know it's not a problem with my firewire port. . . so I'm really confused as to what's going on.
I have a lot of stuff on my Metal Gear Box right now so I don't want to erase it if at all possible. Can anyone help me?

I'll make a wild guess that the Metal Gear Firewire bridge chip just does not like the G4 implementation. I would try some more tests on other computers if possible. Then, if compatibility is needed, I think I would move the drive mechanism in the Metal Gear into another enclosure that is known to work. I have had no problems myself with OWC enclosures with Oxford bridge chips. Or just sell it and buy a new drive after copying it.

External hard drives: USB or Firewire?

I see plenty of good deals on the Sunday paper about storage drives and I need a bit of advice on what kind is faster and more reliable. It's amazing how small 40Gb can be nowadays... My first Mac had only a 250Mb HD!

FW- You can make a clone of your boot disk. I have two 2.5" Seagate drives, 100GB 5400 RPM and my original Mini 80GB 4200 RPM drive, using FW enclousures. I also have a 100GB 5400 drive in my mini, so I use the 100 to clone my drive, and I will end up using the 80 when I start transfering my 8mm movies to digital.
I use SuperDuper! to clone my drive so I always have a bootable backup in case my drive ever crashes or something bad happens.
Bryan

External hard drive USB 2.0 OS 10.9.3 won't work now

external hard drive USB 2.0 OS 10.9.3 won't work now

Disconnect the external drive and reset the SMC, as per > Resetting the System Management Controller
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Wait fifteen seconds. one minute.
4. Attach the computer's power cord.
5. Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
and reconnect the external drive.
Then if the external drive fails to work...?
1. Try a different cord.
2. Try a different external drive.

Can I connect an external hard drive, with a FireWire connector to AirPort Extreme?

I am considering getting AirPort Extreme. I need to be able to connect an external hard drive with a firewire connection. Can it be done?

Sorry, but no.

How to work with database files on an external hard drive (USB 2.0 or 3.0)

I have Oracle 11gR2 installed on my laptop. I would like to create a database instance on my laptop, but to put the datafiles on an external hard drive (USB 2.0 or 3.0). The external drive will always be attached to the laptop, whenever the database is used. This is going to be a development machine, just to develop a prototype. Laptop is limited to 150 GB on local disk and I want to have a 1 TB database on it. Can this be done with Oracle 11g for Windows XP SP2 ?
I presume that a network attached storage NAS device would be better solution, but I cannot attach it on my LAN.
Thank you,
Milan

Sure. You can put the data files wherever you'd like assuming that the external drive is going to be mapped to the same drive letter (I'm guessing your laptop is running Windows).
Justin

2 different brand USB external hard drives not mounting- Firewire ok

Hi, first timer here so apologies in advance.
i have to different brand external hard disks and they both show up fine with a firewire connection. the trouble is that i need to use the usb connection and neither show up. (shows up in system profiler though but not disk utility.) why USB if i can use Firewire? I will be using the disk to connect to a Wii console via usb port and the Wii is not recognizing either disk either?
Any ideas on how to get one of these disks to mount by USB?
cables are fine as work with USB only hard disks.
Thanks in advance

Hello Bob,
Thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately it does not show up at all in "disk utility". But appears in System Profiler under USB. This is true of 2 different external hard drives that mount fine with the firewire cables. One is a 3.5 inch and the other is a 2.5 inch portable. The USB cable is not faulty as tested it with another USB peripheral. Now a big believer in coincidences. Am i doing something wrong?
any other thoughts?
thanks again

External Hard Drive for iMac - Firewire or USB?

I need an external hard drive for my new iMac. Can you clarify the difference between a firewall connection and a USB connection? I assume you use one or the other, but not both. If I use firewall, will that free up a USB port (which I'd like to do)? Also, some USB hard drives require 2 USB ports; this I do not want!
Also, do these hard drives work like a zip drive.....no more complicated?
Beyond this, do you have any other advice about which hard drive to purchase?
Thanks.

I think you are starting to put the cart before the horse. Back up (pun intended) and think about what your goal is. Is it your intention to back up just your user documents, photos, and music? When disaster strikes (note that I didn't say if) are you okay with installing the OS from the DVD, reinstalling all your software, reconfiguring your printer, your scanner, your internet, and setting everything up the way it was? Notice that I'm really piling it on here! I don't know about you, but it took me about a week to fully move into my new computer and if my hard drive died tomorrow, I don't want to spend (I don't have) a week putting it back together again.
My backup plan, in the nutshell, consists of three parts. 1) a clone of my hard drive; an exact duplicate so if my drive dies I can reboot and get right back to work. So that when I install the new drive I can immediately repopulate it as it was. 2) an incremental backup, especially of my data. If I discover I deleted a file I didn't mean to, I can go back a few days to a pre-delete backup and restore that file. 3) a backup of crucial material that leaves the house so if file destroys my computer or a thief makes off it with I haven't lost the most very precious information.
I believe everyone should adopt a plan similar to mine. The particulars of how you achieve the plan will vary but I think all three steps are vital. If you agree then your hard drive needs to be large - 120GB probably doesn't come close to cutting it. To estimate how big a drive you'd need to implement this plan, determine how much of your drive you are currently using. Double it. That is once for the clone and once for the complete (non-bootable) backup Time Machine will make. Now, at the very least, add the full contents again. That is for a couple weeks worth of incremental backups. Now add another 50% for growth as you add new programs, music, photos, and data.
So if you are currently using 30GB of your computer's hard drive, 105GB is the very smallest drive you want. The 120GB drive you are talking about is okay. Barely. When you get it make a 40GB partition and a 80GB partition. The 40GB is for the clone you'll make using SuperDuper! and the 80GB is for Time Machine. Of course, if you are using more than 30GB then you need a bigger drive for your backup. And if you know you intend to add a goodly amount of stuff to your drive soon, then plan for it now.
Now if you are okay with getting the computer back together more slowly - maybe being without it complete if the drive dies - you can dispense with keeping the clone. In that case, you will want to determine your current disk usage and buy a drive about 150% to 200% of that. It'll take about an hour to reinstall the OS on the hard drive and depending on how much you have in data and other programs, another half hour to a couple hours to restore that.

I want to purchase iMac i7 and want to know if my pc based LG dvd player (usb) is compatible ? also my external Hard Drive (usb) is it compatible with iMac?

wiil my PC extermnal dvd player and external hard drive be compatible with iMac ore do I have to by all new stuff?
Can data be recovered from Hard drive and transfered to new iMac simply?
Thank you for your time and consioderation,
depending on this answer will decide if i change over to iMac or not
Pierre

All USB drives should be compatible hardware-wise. If the drive is formatted NTFS, then you can copy from it, but not write to it. If it is formatted FAT or exFAT, then you can both read and write.

Can you boot off a usb drive or external hard drive (usb 2.0) on an iMac?

I have an intel iMac that will not boot off of a USB drive with Ubuntu installed (my PC netbook boots off the usb drive fine) or my external hard drive with Ubuntu installed. I heard somewhere that you cannot boot off of usb on iMacs even if they are Intel, but a Genius bar guy told me diffferent. Then why won't it work for me, and how can I make it? Thanks.

I should have been more general in my post - I don't believe any Mac can boot off an external drive with Ubuntu. I could be wrong of course (and if I am, hopefully someone will correct me), but as Mac hardware is so specific that it demands a specific install disk for each build/model/generation, it would be unable to boot with just a "foreign" OS such as Ubuntu installed. As you may know, you can't boot an iMac with an install disk from a different model iMac, Macbook, or any other Mac (unless it is exactly the same build/model), so it doesn't surprise me that it won't boot with Ubuntu.
Edit: and this question begs to be asked: why would you want to boot/use Ubuntu when you have a superb OS to work with already?
Message was edited by: Barbara Daniels1

Rockfish external Hard drive (USB) and Mountain Lion

Hello all,
I have a Rockfish USB external hard drive box in which I placed a 1 tb hard drive taken from my Windows Machine.
I has worked great with my iMac 27 via Lion and can also be accessed via Windows running in Parallels, but since I installed Mountain Lion, the drive does not stay connected. I have not tried accessing it via Windows in Parallels (YET).
At power up the finder sees the drive (three partitions, one is Windows (so I can only read - contains old windows docs, etc), the next was partitiion as a TimeMachine backup drive, worked fine, and the third is formated as a Mac compatible partition). Shortly after 'seeing the drives' I get the error message about improperly disconnnecting a USB device and the drives disappear.
I connected it to my wife's macbook (still running Lion) and it's fine, as I type I am putting copies of all her photo files onto it, sort of as a stress test, and backup LOL...
So any ideas? I am going to try it connected to my Minimac next (also running Mountain Lion) to see if it works there. I'll post back later.
Mike

sorry I found the other thread, I had searched with Rockfish and not ROCKETFISH....
D'ooh.....
Thanks anyway.....I'm heading to that thread LOL..
Mike

What is the best external hard drive (USB 2.0) to get for my Mac?

Here is a question from your "average user"
I'm looking for an external hard drive for my iMac (Mac OS X 10.7.2 - only 4 GB). I was looking at 1Tb. We have a new baby so I'd like to protect my pictures, video, and scrapbooking files in addition to using it for back up.
* Does "backing up" mean I have exact copies on both drives? (silly question I'm sure)
* Would storing my photos/videos on an ehd help my computer run faster?
*Should I just store my video on DVD's? Does that make more sense?
Now I need help on what to look for:
*Any suggestions on size for an "average user"? Should I consider 2Tb for down the road?
*Any suggestions on brands? or websites to look at?

Firstly, congratulations on the new baby!
For ease I am going to pretend that your questions were numbered!
1. Yes, you will have two identical copies, one on your hard drive and one on your external. Of course, you should really back up your entire hard drive.
2. No, see above!
3. You can do, but Lion does not include iDVD so you will have to buy iLife 11 while it is still available. Consider a 2TB external drive (the cost difference is small) and keep them there as well.
4. Yes - see above!
5. Look here (if you are the US): http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MAU4S7W20T64/
Highly recommended by experienced users here, and I am about to get one, despite the additional $40 in postage!
Feel free to post back with any additional questions!

Is an external hard drive (USB) dependent on RAM?

After a bad experience with another external USB drive, I have replaced it with a new Iomega eGo 320 drive. I don't have a lot of RAM on my G4 (768).
Overall, the new drive is great, but even though it is a portable drive, and meant to be plugged and unplugged, I tend to leave it attached for long periods of time. When the drive has been inactive, I notice that when I try to access it, I get the dreaded "spinning beachball of death" and can NOT get out of it. I have waited as long as 30 minutes, and it just never stops.
Does a larger capacity drive depend on the amount of RAM a cpu has when accessing the drive? Or is something else going on?
One thing I have done is to turn off "allowing hard drive(s) to go to sleep" in my energy saver preferences, but I have not had the drive plugged in since I did that, so I don't yet know if that will solve my problem.
Any thoughts as to why my drive is "hanging"?

Hi-
The spinning beachball would be normal, to the extent that the drive, if spun down, requires a bit of time to spin up again. This, however, is a matter of a few seconds (or should be).
Does a larger capacity drive depend on the amount of RAM a cpu has when accessing the drive? Or is something else going on?
I would consider this to be a possible problem of the external housing hard drive controller and OS X, or the chipset of the USB controller in the external housing and OS X.
The amount of RAM (yours is adequate), or the CPU speed would not have any bearing on the failure of the drive to return to an active state.
One thing I have done is to turn off "allowing hard drive(s) to go to sleep" in my energy saver preferences, but I have not had the drive plugged in since I did that, so I don't yet know if that will solve my problem.
This should keep the drive spinning, so it should respond quickly.
Generally speaking, external drives, should be firewire connected, rather than USB. If using a USB external drive, do not daisy chain the drive- always give it it's own USB port.
Other potential sources of trouble can come from using external drive "solutions" like the Iomega, the WD My Book, etc. The majority of these drive sets are aimed a PC users, with onboard controllers that are more often associated with Windows compatibility rather than Mac OS X. A sure sign of the "target market" is the default FAT32 format.......
I would keep an eye on the drive. I don't think that the behavior that you are experiencing is normal, and it could be that the drive housing does have a problem. It may be worth an email to Iomega support to get their take on the problem.

Booting from external hard drive USB 2.0

I have an iBook G4 collecting dust in my garage because the internal hard drive is dead. I want to give it to my cousin just to surf the web so I took it to the genius bar and they were able to boot it from an external hd. Yesterday I purchased a 250 GB WD Passport external hd for $29 at Target. I was able to partition and format the hd from my MacBook Pro and have it PowerPC ready. Finally I was successful in installing Mac OS X Tiger onto it. Now that I am trying to boot from it on the iBook G4, I get nothing but the blinking folder with the question mark.
I have searched the forums and most people are quick to respond with the answer that a firewire hd is the only way to boot but I am hoping there is SOME other way around it, even if it means a lot of extra steps. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

As Kappy says, while a few PowerPC Macs can boot from USB, I don't think that capability exists for an iBook.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25908
Note on the Apple Knowledge Base article:
Products Affected
Power Mac, iMac

External Hard Drive...USB or Firewire 400

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for