External HD connectivity

So I've actually searched for similar posts, but I can't seem to get the answer I'm looking for. Sorry for a duplicate/similar post, but I really want to clarify my question before splurging money on a new external HD.
So, does your external HD need to have both USB and FireWire connectivity? I have an older external HD has both and it has worked fine so far. I want to get another one, either 1TB or 1.5TB and was wondering if it had only USB connectivity, would it be usable on my PB G4. I've read that USB doesn't boot on a Mac, I'm not exactly sure what it means since when I connect my existing HD by USB, it seems to detect it fine. So can someone clarify that the benefit of having the HD bootable?
I can get a pretty solid HD with just USB connectivity for much cheaper than having to look for an equivalent with FireWire connectivity, so just wanted to clarify. Thanks everyone.

"Bootable" means usable to *start up* your computer. Most FireWire drives are bootable in OS X on a PowerPC Mac; USB-only drives are not. If you want another external drive only for data storage, because you have a bootable clone of your internal drive on your present FireWire drive, then you can save the $30-40 extra that a FireWire interface in your new drive would cost. If you don't keep a bootable clone on your existing FW drive and don't plan to do so, then your new drive should be equipped with FireWire and you should plan to evote one partition on it to such a clone. There is no more useful and convenient form of backup.
If a drive is equipped with more than one connection protocol (USB2, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and eSATA are the common ones nowadays), you should connect only one of them at a time.

Similar Messages

Best practices with external drives connected to Time Capsule?

I'm enjoying my new MBP but the storage limitations are a challenge with twenty+ years of data. I know it's not technically sanctioned by Apple but in another forum I found a discussion about successfully connecting an external drive to the Time Capsule. I tried this for a few months and had some problems, so I wonder if anyone here might have some insight into which of my drives would be best to use in this way and what, if anything, I must do to bless it for the task.
The drive most highly recommended in the forums at the time is the WD My Book. After buying it I learned that is Windows users install a package and update the driver for use with Time Machine, which Mac users are not able to do. The driver is available on the web but it's said to cause problems with Mountain Lion, which I can confirm. It's USB 3.0 and powered, though, which my two alternatives are not. It's also 2 TB and presently in two partitions. I also have a Seagate Free Agent GoFlex 500 which gets extremely hot with any use and an Iomega eGo Helium 500 I've been using for backups. Both are USB 2.0.
My goal is to put my iTunes Library and Time Capsule on the net (running 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz, averages 50Mbs). When I did this for a few months with the WD both its shares frequently dropped off my Desktop, as if powered down or something. Also there were the issues with Time Machine many others are having. Right now our video collection sits on the Time Capsule. Would it make sense to move our video to the WD and run iTunes and Time Machine on it? If so, do you have any tips for formatting, petitioning, or drivers (or anything else) to help this run smoothly? The WD works fine when hard-wired and the TC, too is fine without the WD at the party.
With apologies for the tome.

kevlee64 wrote:
Thanks, but the drive is connected directly to the back of the Time Capsule by an ethernet cable.
Ah, that's a different colored horse.
You have a NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive, not a USB external drive connected to the USB port.
Many of those need software/firmware updates to work with Lion. Check with Iomega.

How to use an iPhoto library, stored on an external HD connected via USB to a Time Capsule ?

Hi,
I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15", connected to a Time Capsule.
My iPhoto library is stored on an external HD, connected to the Time Capsule via USB.
I want to sync my photos with my iPhone (iOS 7.1)
The issue is that iTunes can't display anything in the "photos" tab, within the iPhone section in iTunes.
The search icon is turning, turning, even for hours, and then impossible to activate the sync between iPhoto and the iPhone.
What I do not understand, is that it works very well when the same HD is connected directely to my MacBook via USB.
Why is the sync impossible when the HD is connected to the Time Capsule ?
I have been told that storing an iPhoto library on a network HD is not recommended by Apple, but it seems to work for many users, according to forums.
So I would grant the feedback from users that have a similar configuration to mine.
Thanks
Stéphane

I have been told that storing an iPhoto library on a network HD is not recommended by Apple, but it seems to work for many users, according to forums.
Hmm, well you experience rather contradicts the forums, no? iPhoto is not designed for network access, end of story. If you try use it that way then things fail.
See this article
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5168
for more. Note the comment:
“Additionally, storing the iPhoto library on a network rather than locally on your computer can also lead to poor performance or data loss.”

I can not store all my Music on my internal Macbook pro hard drive so I am storing it on a large external drive connected to my airport extrem. How do I get Itunes to search for the music here with out trying to copy it to my laptops hard drive??

I can not store all my Music on my internal Macbook pro hard drive so I am storing it on a large external drive connected to my airport extreme (2 TB drive plugged into the USB port). I see the drive on my laptop and I can add and delete files no problem. How do I get Itunes to search for the music here with out trying to copy it to my laptop's hard drive? I don't have enough space to do that.

How did you move the music to the external drive? What exactly is on the drive? The entire iTunes folder or only music? If it is the entire iTunes folder you can do the option+start suggestion earlier. If you copied only music and did so by dragging it there then you need to delete it again and consolidate/organize it there instead so iTunes tracks the move. iTunes 12 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19507

How do I see an external HD connected to my AE ?

How do I see an external HD connected to my AExtreme. My AE is working flawlessly with my Apple and non-Apple devices. The HD is formatted with NTSB so both Apple and PC can access the files. The USB HD works fine with direct USB connection. I use AP Utility 5.6 to configure. The HD is clearly registering as it is on the AirportExpress Utility Disk pane. I just cannot see it on my desktop or in the finder. I do have the home network protected with WPA and the HD has a password (which I don't know where to enter in the Utility. Thanks in advance

Any replies to this one? Anyone????

How can I have the external HD connected to my Airport Extreme show up on Windows 7 and 8.1?

So, I have an Airport Extreme which works flawlessly. I have a 1 TB external HD connected to it. On my Maccbook Pro and a windows 7 laptop, I can view the HD as "Z". For some reason, on another Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Laptop, it is not showing up under my computer. Any advice? THANKS!!

You can share files with iOS devices by using filebrowser or other file app.
To play movies on the iOS device though you would need a player that is outside of itunes.. because itunes will not play from the router.. it has no media extensions.. neither does the TC which merely adds an internal disk but is otherwise identical.
So look up how to play movies with a player on the iOS.. there is several available I am sure.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/apple/3512138/how-put-films-on-ipad/
BUT itunes depends on a computer running in the network.. so storing the itunes library on the AE is useless.. and will slow the network down no end. It is much better to put files where they can be accessed.. ie directly on the computer.

Powerpivot 2012 on Excel 2010 - External Data connections not saving passwords, having to re-enter password EVERYTIME I refresh data

Hey Guys,
Using Excel 2010 with latest version of Powerpivot 2012 available 11.1.3129.0
For my SQL Server Data connections in Powerpivot I DO NOT have any issue, when clicking refresh it never asks me to enter a password and uses my Windows AD info.
However, for my plethora of other external data connections (Informix, Oracle, Etc...) that I would like to have fluid use within Powerpivot, big problems.
Lets start with Oracle. Below is a screenshot of my connection tab within Powerpivot.
So as you can see, all the details are entered and Allow Saving Password is selected. Now I will close out of Powerpivot and Excel completely and re-open. I will navigate to the Powerpivot tab
and select Powerpivot Window. And then will select to "Refresh All" and am quickly prompted with the "Data Source Credentials" window to re-enter my data source password, again.
What I have already tried. The above method for starters in which I use a connection string under Table Import Wizard --> Others (OLEDB/ODBC)... I found it the least annoying route, although
still have to re-enter password everytime, which is what I hope this forum can help with.
I also have tried doing a direct Oracle connection in Table Import Wizard but also does not eliminate my #1 problem.
I have also created an ODC file to try and use that with stored credentials within the file, also still asks for password each and everytime.
The same thing happens with my other data connections to Informix and DB2. So any help and/or suggestions anyone has would be great. I also cant upload these powerpivots to our powerpivot gallery
on SharePoint 2010, I have a sneaking suspicion it is due to the version of powerpivot I am currently using.
Thanks

Hi there,
My company is not using Excel 2013, only 2010. So that is what I have to work with. From what I have read this is a huge hole in the Powerpivot 2012 framework and is extremely frustrating. This seems so basic and simple and like something everyone using
this product would use, and yet it still doesnt work.
Great feedback. Connect is the right place for this feedback on 2010 as well. Thanks!
Ed Price, Power BI & SQL Server Customer Program Manager (Blog,
Small Basic,
Wiki Ninjas,
Wiki)
Answer an interesting question?
Create a wiki article about it!

I have my Time Machine on an external drive (not connected to Airport Extreme) and I have an external HD attached to airport extreme. Is it possible to have Time Machine backUp computer HD AND external HD connected to Airport Extreme. How?

I have my Time Machine on an external drive (not connected to Airport Extreme) and I have an external HD attached to airport extreme. Is it possible to have Time Machine backUp computer HD AND external HD connected to Airport Extreme. How?

Is it possible to have Time Machine backUp computer HD AND external HD connected to Airport Extreme.
Sorry, but no.
Time Machine will backup your Mac, but not the hard drive attached to the AirPort Extreme.
Time Machine will back up a hard drive only if it is attached directly to your Mac via USB or FireWire.

Problem mapping USB external drive connected to Airport Extreme on my PC

I am having a problem mapping my USB external drive in my PC running WIndows Vista. Here is what I have so far:
USB External Drive connected to my AirPort Extreme which is connected to my Century Link modem/router.
I have installed the USB drive using the Airport Utility. In the Disks section the Enable File Sharing is checked, Secure Shared Disks is set to With a Disk Password, I have entered the password in the next 2 rows, and finally AirPort Disks Gues Access is set to Not Allowed. The section below named These Settings Configure Windows File Sharing is empty. Am I supposed to put something here?
I was also told I need to map the drive in my PC, but when I go to do that via the Computer and the Map Network Drive, I get stuck where it asks me to enter a folder name. I read many of the posts which tell me I need to enter among other things the disk's ip address, but I am unable to find it anywhere. Where do I find what to put here?
Can someone please help this frustrated user?

I had my USB drive on my APE working with Time Machine under 10.5.1 very reliably. A few days ago however, I needed to suspend a backup operation, and when I came back to restart it, time machine refused to mount the disk image on the drive. After several attempts to get it to connect with no luck I decided to delete the image (the sparce image file) and start over. Now TM refuses to create a new image.
BTW, on the Mac OSX hints site there have been suggestions to start a backup with the drive directly connected, then stop the backup, move the sparce image file to the root of the drive, reconnect the drive to the APE base station to get it working. I tried this again, but I think Apple has changed something in 10.5.2, because when directly connected TM no longer creates a sparce image file.
Anybody else seen this behavior after upgrading to 10.5.2?

How do I create an interrupt on the PCI-DIO-96 from an external signal connected to the lines PC0 or PC3 of a port?

Hi everybody,
we are currently using the PCI-DIO-96 for data acquisition from an old AT-DIO-32F card. All PPIs and ports work in mode 0 (standard input/output). The manual mentions the possibility to create an interrupt from an external signal connected to the lines PC0 and PC3 of port C from a PPI. To get the interrupt I have connected my interrupt service routine to the PCI-DIO-96, enabled the master interrupt enable bit in the interrupt configuration register 2 and enabled interrupt enable bits of every PPI chip in the interrupt configuration register 1. The interrupt should be generated if a signal low-to-high transition occurs on th
e lines PC0 or PC3 of a PPI. We've simulated the signal low-to-high transition with an external voltage source connected to the line PC0. We actually saw in the memory that the line toggled from state low to state high, but no interrupt was generated. I don't have a guess what I am doing wrong. Perhaps anybody knows the solution of this problems.
Thanks and best regards.
Sven Jungnickel

You may want to try disabling your USB or IEEE-1394 host controller. It's possible that one of these devices could be on the same interrupt as you DIO-96 and causing the interrupt to not be serviced.
Regards,
Erin

Unable to view folders of a usb external drive connected to AEBS

My Macbook can see the External Drive connected to AEBS but unable to browse the folders. When I click the external drive to view the folders the beach ball remain spinning for a long time and then gives an error unable to connect. My MacBook Pro can see all the external drive files with no problem.

How is that drive formatted? It needs to be Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or FAT32 for the AirPort Extreme to be able to read the disk correctly.
In most cases, you will also need to use a powered USB hub with the AirPort Extreme....even if the hard drive has its own power supply since the USB port on the AirPort Extreme is under powered.
My MacBook Pro can see all the external drive files with no problem.
Your Mac can read more types of drives than the AirPort Extreme.

Is possible to have a time machine backup on an external hd connected to either a primary or secondary router and not have "back to my mac" using 10.7.3?

Is possible to have a time machine backup on an external hd connected to either a primary or secondary router and not have "back to my mac" using 10.7.3?

The bottom line is that Apple does not support Time Machine backups at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme. If they don't support their own router, they certainly don't support other routers from other manufacturers.
Connect the drive directly to the Mac using either USB or FireWire.....or....use a Time Capsule. Either of these setups will be supported.
If you want to try the unsupported method(s), you can certainly do so. But, I would suggest that you have a secondary backup plan in place if this is important data that you will be backing up.

Imac has crashed..need new hard drive....had external drive connected...was using time machine.....so...itunes file should be on external drive....how do i import them to my new mac mini?

my iMac has crashed...was told I need a new hard drive.....meantime I bought a mac mini.....I had an external drive connected to the mac....and was using time machine for backups....so....how do i move itunes music files to my new mac mini from the external drive?

Turn Time Machine OFF temporarily in its preference pane. Leave the window open.
Navigate in the Finder to your backup disk, and then to the folder named "Backups.backupdb" at the top level of the volume. If you back up over a network, you'll first have to mount the disk image file containing your backups by double-clicking it. Descend into the folder until you see the snapshots, which are represented by folders with a name that begins with the date of the snapshot. Find the one you want to restore from. There's a link named "Latest" representing the most recent snapshot. Use that one, if possible. Otherwise, you'll have to remember the date of the snapshot you choose.
Inside the snapshot folder is a folder hierarchy like the one on the source volume. Find one of the items you can't restore and select it. Open the Info dialog for the selected item. In the Sharing & Permissions section, you may see an entry in the access list that shows "Fetching…" in the Name column. If so, click the lock icon in the lower right corner of the dialog and authenticate. Then delete the "Fetching…" item from the access list. Give yourself read access if you don't already have it. Click the gear icon below the list and select Apply to enclosed items from the popup menu.
Now you should be able either to copy the item in the Finder or to restore it in the time-travel view. If you use the time-travel view, be sure to select the snapshot you just modified. If successful, repeat the operation with the other items you were unable to restore. You can select multiple items in the Finder and open a single Info dialog for all of them by pressing the key combination option-command-I.
When you're done, turn TM back ON and close its preference pane.

Time Capsule, Time Machine and external HD connected to time Capsule

Hi. I am a new mac user and have an imac.
I have a 1T Time capsule with an external hub connected to the time capsual. The Time caspsule creates a wireless home network which has the internet connected to it.
To this external hub I have a printer connected along with 2 external WD 500 Hard Drives. I wanted to use one of these WD 500 HD to store my iphoto library and data. I then wanted the time machine to backup the WD 500 HD to the time capsule, which currently is where the time machine backups are stored.
I can see all devices and they all work. I can only see the external HD's via the time capsule in finder.
I can't seem to get the time machine to backup the external HD to the time capsule. In summary - the external HD is connected an external hub to the time capsule. The Imac accesses it via a wireless home network which is created by the Time capsule.
Is this possible?

Hello DazImac. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
I can't seem to get the time machine to backup the external HD to the time capsule. In summary - the external HD is connected an external hub to the time capsule. The Imac accesses it via a wireless home network which is created by the Time capsule.
Is this possible?
Sorry, but no. Time Machine will not back up network drives ... which a USB drive attached to the TC's USB port would be treated as.

How do I configure my timecapsule to back up an external drive connected to macbook?

How do I configure my timecapsule to back up an external drive connected to macbook?

First, insure that the external drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended Journaled
If it's not, and you already have data on the drive, you will need to move that data to another temporary storage location....as the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) will erase everything on the drive. Once the drive has been formatted, move the data from the temporary storage location back to the external drive
Click the Time Machine clock icon at the top of the screen
Click Time Machine Preferences
Click Options
Click the name of the external drive to highlight it, and then click the - (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from the list of "excluded" items for backup
The drive will now be backed up by Time Machine on the next and all subsequent backups

Won't boot with external display connected

My MacBook Pro (circa 1997) won't boot with the external display connected. I can connect the external display (20in flat planel) after it has started, and it works just fine.
I have tried two different DVI cables (one of which I think is a DVI-A cable) and the DVI-to-VGA cable. The result is the same.
During the boot phase I get the tone, the apple logo and the progress wheel. After 30 seconds to one minute those disappear to be replaced by an empty blue screen.

In case anyone wonders, my "solution" was to change to a WB Elements Desktop 3TB (only USB 2.0 is currently available for this model). I miss the speed of USB 3.0, but it's much nicer to not have to remember to unplug and plug in the hard drive each time I boot.
Still hoping to see a proper solution to this (since I don't have the WB My Book anymore, I can't test adaher's suggestion).

External HD connectivity

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