External USB Hard Drive Setup - My Experience

Question

Short Summary: I reformatted my 300Gb external hard drive to Mac Extended format (not journaled) with 3 separate partitions: Photos, Music, and Backup Files. Plugged the HD into the AirPort base station and then ran the AirPort Disk Utility (HD accessed via base station password) and place the AP Disk Utility icon on the task bar. I clicked on the icon, entered my password, and the three partitions appeared on my desktop. I am now able to read/write to the HD with both Mac computers and my Windows computer (loaded with the windows version of AP Utility software) via my wireless network.
My Hardware: Cable Modem, AirPort (AP) Extreme 802.11n, SeaGate 300GB USB/Fire Wire External HD, iMac w/ core duo, PowerBook Pro w/ core duo, AP Express setup as a print server, and my Windows XP computer for gaming.
Initial Setup: I shut down all computers and replaced my old AP extreme with the new one. I plugged in the SeaGate HD to the AP base station, turned on the AP then turned on the HD. Turned on my PowerBook (PB) Pro, loaded the new AP software and was connected to the internet with no problem. Similar to other posting on this topic, my external HD was not visible despite running AP Disk Utility.
Follow on troubleshooting: The HD was formatted in Mac Extended (Journaled) and had 9 GB of data that was stored via USB wire directly from my PB Pro. I transfered the data to my PB Pro via USB and then, using the standard OS10 Disk Utility application, reformatted the HD in Mac Extended (Journaled) with 3 partitions. I reconnected the HD to the AP base station and ran AP disk utility again. Lo and behold, the 3 partitions showed up on the desktop of my PB Pro. I loaded the AP software onto my iMac and Windows Computer and they both recognized the HD. I successfully op tested file transfer via the wireless network (about 2.5 MB/sec data transfer rate).
The Kicker: I then ejected the HD from my computers, disconnected it from the AP base station, and then hooked it directly to my PB Pro to transfer 11 GB of music files. As expected the data transfer rate was much higher. I reconnected the HD to the AP base station but the HD got hung up and was no longer accessible via the wireless network. I connected another external HD (ACOM 160 GB, NTFS file format) and while it was accessible, not all files were visible. I disconnected the ACOM HD from the AP base station, hooked it directly to my PB Pro, transferred 1 GB of music files and reconnected it to the AP base station. It reappeared on my PB Pro after running the AP Disk Utility, however, the files I just transferred were not visible. Noticing a pattern, I have determined that for my hardware lineup, any files that are directly transferred to the HDs either cause the HD to hang up or are not visible. I can only speculate on why this occurs; maybe there is a causal link to the format standard of the disk (NTFS, Mac Extended (journaled) or the processing of pre-existing data on the HD.
The Final Fix: I connected the Seagate HD to my PB Pro with a USB cable and then cleared it of all data by erasing all partitions and contents using the normal Disk Utility application. I then re-formatted and re-partitioned to 3 partitions with the Mac Extended format (not journaled). I reconnected the HD to the AP base Station, went through the AP disk utility again and all 3 partitions were made available to both of my Mac computers and my Windows computer. Data transfer is now strictly limited to wireless transfers.
Conclusion: Though the wireless transfer takes longer, all data is present, visible and accessible by all three computers. Once the data is present, applications such as iPhoto and iTunes works just fine with minimal drop off in performance. While my experience with my Apple computers has been somewhat more satisfying than adding new hardware to my windows platform, this particular case demonstrates that data standards and PnP are still elusive goals in the computer industry.
Cheers and hope this helps someone,
HCW3
iMac and PowerBook Pro   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

Answer 1

Tom,
Welcome to the world of cross polination between OS X and Windows, glad to know I am not alone.
First off, you should load the APE software on all computers using your wireless network. This will enable you to access the USB HD from all computers.
Secondly, I am not certain if it is necessary to reformat your HD. I had the good fortune of having only a few files on my SeaGate 300GB so it was somewhat painless for me to reformat. This is what I do know from years of building windows computers and setting up my current network: starting with clean disks is always the best way to build a new system. With that said, try this: connect your second maxtor (the one with the itunes library) to the APE USB port and access it via your MacBook Pro. Go into Finder, select that drive and type .mp3 into the spotlight box. Does it find your music files on that drive? When your double click on a song it should play. If you go back into finder and select that USB drive again, do you see a folder for that artist? If you answer yes to the previous questions you are experiencing the same thing I did. Whenever I wrote files to the USB drive via the USB cable, they were not visible when I accessed the drive wirelessly. I have not figured out why this is so and I am sorry that this doesn't really help you out.
As far as the windows computer not seeing the USB drive via the ethernet connection, that is a tough one to troubleshoot since the APE would presumably allow hardwire connectivity. It seems to me that the APE should be acting similarly to a USB hub. It may have something to do with the modulation of the data stream between the USB line and the ethernet line, though this is probably a bad guess.
My best advice would be to transfer your itunes and video to DVD-ROM disks and then reformat the USB drive to Mac Extended and assign it a new volume name. Plug it in to the APE and verify you can access it via all your computers. If so, transfer the music back to the USB disk wirelessly. This will take a while so do it before you go to bed. I recognize that this is a very neanderthal work around, however, it will preserve your files and allow you to start from a clean slate. It will also take a while for itunes to repopulate the library list from the new location of the files, so start this before you leave the house for work.
Howard Warner
iMac and PowerBook Pro   Mac OS X (10.4.8)