Firewire vs. ethernet external hard drives

What is better in terms of external hard drive connections? I have a home/office Verizon wireless network, MacBook Pro and G5s using Airport, with all peripherals connected via Ethernet to the router and want to add a hard drive. I am not sure if I should just connect a firewire hard drive to one desktop workstation? I also want to be able to be able to set up Time Machine, hopefully for my 3 workstations when I go to Leopard.
Also, any suggestions as to the best hard drive brand and models?

Thanks so much.
Do you know what the issues are with network drives and Time Machine. Is it with the devices or with the actual software? If its the hardware are there types that work best?
I am trying to figure out how to set up my backup and storage situation on my network. I like your suggestion of using a Firewire drive cabled to my main Power G5 workstation and using file sharing for the other Macs. I have a wireless MacBook Pro and a G4 and another G3 connected to my Verizon router via Ethernet. So using your suggested setup, I should be able to have all computers access the LaCie drive connected to the G5. But I would like to use Time Machine for the laptop and the G5 since this is where most of my work is done.
What would you suggest? What I would like to end up with is one fast as possible drive for my music, video and pics that I can play and work off of. But I was also looking for some way to have some duplication and automation using TM that could also backup the ongoing graphic work in the office. I was thinking of connecting a Time Capsule or another brand of Ethernet connected drive to my network via a Ethernet switch I have dedicated for 2 network printers. I could keep the Firewire drive on my G5 or maybe connected it to the Ethernet connected drive and have TM backup everything. Am I overcomplicating this?

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IMac won't Boot using FireWire connection on external Hard Drive?

Hello,
I Have an iMac 24" 2.16ghz 3GB RAM with a 1Tb Western Digital external Hard Drive.
I'm running my iMac of an external Hard Drive as my internal drive is faulty. Currently this set up works best for me as i can 'piggy back' off the University's computers.
When i hit the option key on start up the computer doesn't 'see' the Hard Drive when it's connected via it's FireWire port. Using the USB port works fine.
I know the Hard Drive's FireWire connection works as i previously used it as a back up drive.
As i use Final Cut 7 as my main application working via USB isn't really a practical option..
Can anyone shed some light on what the issue might be?
Many thanks in advance!
Daniel

Try doing a SMC reset in additional to what Apple recommends in the following Apple Advice letter.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151?viewlocale=en_US
SMC RESET
• Shut down the computer.
• Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Attach the computers power cable.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Roger

Firewire 800 2 External Hard Drives, 1 w/800, other w/400

Backstory:
My current External Hard Drive has both USB & Firewire 400. I've just purchased another, larger, that has both 400 & 800. The original I'll call the 400 is set w/Time Machine. I'd like to switch that to the new 1, "800", but still keep the old connected as a secondary back up device for specific items.
All that being said, how do I go about doing this?
With the 400 already installed on my computer, it IS visible on my Desktop as it should be. When I attempted to start the new 1, 800, it does not show.
Due note, I was unaware only 1 firewire item shows at a time. Should I be concerned about my computer, or is this common? Both show properly in my "System Profiler", but ONLY 1 AT A TIME.

Strange. I have seen posts claiming certain Macs don't recognize 2 firewire ports at the same time.
That is nonsense. I have two FireWire drive connected to two separate ports. Please provide a link to such a post.
When I unmounted my 400 (old), then it showed in the profiler, but still not on the desktop.
If the 800 drive's volume does not mount when the other drive is disconnected, there is something wrong with the drive.
Connect the 800 drive by itself (no 400 drive connected). Run Disk Utility. Does the drive show up in the sidebar? If so, is there a volume indented under the drive in the sidebar? If not, you may need to go to the Erase tab (or Partition tab) and format the drive. If there is an existing volume, select it in the sidebar and click the Mount button in the toolbar.
So the first step is getting the 800 drive to be recognized properly by itself.

Ethernet external hard drives

since airdisk only works when it wants to and is slow.
i am looking at an ext. HD with ethernet capability such as "WD world edition II"
does anyone have experience with using ethernet drives with mac equipment.
-will the drive appear automatically or will i have to connect to it every-time?
thanks
Message was edited by: avinbc

Stellalilly9109, Welcome to the discussion area!
This area is for discussing the 802.11n AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS) and wireless networking. Your question has nothing to do with that.
You should ask your question in the iTunes discussion area.

WD My Book Studio FireWire 800 External Hard Drive & Mountain Lion

I just recently purchase a 2 TB WD My Book Studio FireWire 800 External Hard Drive (model #WDBC3G0020HAL-NESN) to perform backups of my 1TB iMac which currently is running OS X Lion 10.7.5. The packaging says the external hard drive is compatible with Lion, but I was curious to find out if I upgrade to Mountain Lion in the near future will that cause issues with the external drive or is it still compatible with Mountain Lion?

That is actually the thread that I was looking at earlier that caused my concern.
Is there any way to 100% verify with apple that there are no firewire problems with external hard drives and Mountain Lion before I hook up my new drive and possibly upgrade in the near future.
Also, I have heard good things about both SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner.
I basically want to be able to boot from my external hard drive partition if I have a major hard drive issue.
Will both of those programs do that for me and will I really go wrong with either one of them?
Thanks again for you repsonses, they have been a big help!

I need to capture directly to a my external hard-drive

I have tons of material recorded on a MiniDV. It is on standard definition, but I have no space in my hard-drive to capture directly on it.
Nevertheless, I do have an external hard-drive, and I'd like to capture directly on it. How can I do that?
I am using Final Cut Pro v.3.0
I have a MacBookPro
I am capturing from Camera to Computer through FireWire.
My external Hard-Drive only works with USB.
Is there a way to do this?? I'm merely a beginner.

Hi -
You need to designate the external drive as your scratch disk -
FCP3 is several versions ago, and I assume your are on OS 9?
You need to get to where you control your System Settings, or preferences for FCP.
There should be a pane that allows you to designate your scratch drive of your choice.
I've forgotten what it looks like in FCP 3, in newer FCP versions it looks like this:
!http://www.spotsbeforeyoureyes.com/ScratchDiskTab.jpg!
But as pointed out, you really need to be capturing DV with a Firewire external.
MtD

Amazon is selling this SEAGATE external hard drive. Should I buy it?

*Seagate FreeAgent Desk for Mac 2 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 800 Desktop External Hard Drive ST320005FJA105-RK (Silver) by Seagate*
If no one can find a problem with this selection, I will buy it. However, if you do see a problem with it, please do let me know.
~~L
Message was edited by: Lorna from Hawaii

Hi Ziatron - thanks for that information. Looks like a great enclosure!
Just a couple of questions. You've obviously had a lot more experience than me with hard drives, particularly with building your own - which I've never attempted (it does look simple though).
The eSATA interface on that enclosure looks interesting, as the port is a dual connection for both eSATA and USB 2. Why would Lorna need eSATA though - she has a 24" iMac that I understand has a FireWire 800 port? Don't you need an eSATA port on the computer to get the full benefits of eSATA (such as increased speed)?
That's a good point you make about cooling fans. Where did you see that the Seagate didn't have a fan? I must have missed that when I checked the Amazon site and looked at the specs. I don't think there was any mention of a fan - I probably just assumed it had one!
John

I have 1 gb of memory with10.6.8 and want to upgrade my OS can i use an external hard drive to solve this

I am running 10.6.8 and have 1gb of memory and want to upgrade can i use an external hard drive to solve this problem

You are confusing RAM (Ramdom Access Memory) with hard drive storage space.
You need to install more RAM, not an additonal hard drive.
You can purchase an external hard drive, if you like, if you want to install the new OS X upgrade onto an external drive. If you want to run the new OS X Mavericks from the external drive, depending on your Mac model, you need a fast protocol external hard drive.
Either a USB 3.0, Thunderbolt or FireWire 800 connected external hard drive.
To start, if you are running your Mac on 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, this is the barest of RAM to run Snow Leopard.
Without knowing any of your Macs specs, you realistically should be running your current OS with, at least 4 GBs of RAM.
Newer versions of OS X need, at least, 4 GBs of RAM or more as these newer OS X versions use more Mac computer resources than earlier OS X versions.
What year, screen size, CPU speed and amount of RAM installed in your Mac?
Be aware, if your Mac is running any older software that used to run under older PowerPC model Macs, those software apps will no longer will work under newer versions of OS X.
The emulation software that allows older PowerPC apps to run under OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, called, Rosetta, no longer exists in newer versions of OS X and is long dead.
Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
Good Luck!

Mounting external hard drive at start up

Hello, I have a G5 and I recently purchased an ethernet external hard drive. I also have a PC and two powerbooks. Since I have so many computers and so many different users I want to be able to centralize my music collection and also all the files like pictures and movies. The problem is that the other users at my house hate mounting the external hard drive each time they turn their computer on, or bring it back from sleep mode. In windows I have the HD mapped and each time the computer starts the drive is mounted automatically. I would like to do the same thing on OS X. As soon as I start any of the mac computers and they finish booting up, I want to be able to see the external HD mounted without having to click any buttons or type in any passwords. Anybody knows how to do this? Thank you so much for your help
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

sounds like you should set up a file server with OSX server software...

External Ethernet/NAS Hard Drive with Time Machine

Hi,
I'm going to be purchasing a Mac Book Pro once leopard is launched and I'm wanting to get an external hard drive to back up using Time Machine. Now, I'm wanting to set this up through a wireless router so that a can make my backups without having to remember to connect every so often.
Does anybody know if Time Machine works via NAS/Ethernet as the Tech Spec of Time Machine just mentions USB and Firewire? I presume it will work, as it would seem a little daft if it doesn't.
Following on from that, does anybody have any recommendations for external NAS/ethernet hard drives? I was wanting something from 250GB to 500GB. I have seen this one -
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4J9D&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=ext ernalhard+driveethernet&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=50473
And this one -
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128482
Any help is very much appreciated!

Yes, networked drives, servers, etc., will work as a Time Machine target -- all it needs is a folder it can write to. I'll leave the drive recommendation to someone else.

External hard drive via ethernet ok?

I've been looking for an external hard drive to attach to my g4 450mhz tower (yeah, it's eight years old this month). I need to download files (photographs, illustrator files, and indesign files), fonts, etc. from my computer and bring them with me to New York.
Today, I saw this iomega 500gb drive with ethernet and usb 2 and was wondering if this would work for me and how reliable ethernet is to transfer files...
My concern is with getting something that will hook up to my old tower, and then I'll need to attach it to a new Macbook Pro in NY to download my files.
Good solution? Bad? It's 159 euros...
It's just the first time I see ethernet as a connect possibility...you know it's usually sata, firewire and usb...
I guess the usb 2 would be compatible with my old usb port...yes? no? but be slow as ****. Then I thought maybe cause it has ethernet that might do me good...
thanks for any advice/suggestions...

I have a 733 G4 and it doesn't support USB2 which was not finalized until 2001 and your machine is probably older but like mine has only USB old and Firewire400 support. I think the easiest most compatible solution for you would be an external Firewire400 drive, which is about the same speed as USB2 and a lot easier to deal with than an ethernet drive, and probably cheaper. Also, the FW400 drive will plug right in to the MBPro which has a FW400 port right next to the FW800 port. I know I have a FW800 drive that has all the other ports on the back of the drive, so you can plug in a USB2 or FW400 or another FW800 and still only be using one port on the MBPro. Check out Other World Computing for some ideas.

Non-firewire MacBook via USB to Intel Mini as External Hard Drive

I'm working with the aluminum MacBook that doesn't have a firewire and a Core 2 Duo Intel Mini. Is it possible to connect the Mini to the MacBook via USB and have the Mini act as an external hard drive for the MacBook?
If so is it possible as well to do it the other way around; the Mini as the boot drive and the MacBook as the external hard drive?
Thanks.

Wesley
I really think there is no way to connect a computer in target mode to the Unibody Macbook which has no Firewire port.
I did the stupid thing to plug a USB2toUSB2 cable into a brand new Macbook and it fried the USB port (which are soldered on the motherboard) thereby loosing my computer.
I still don't know IF I made a mistake or IF the cable was the culprit.
see this post about my mishap
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9778687#9778687
So my advice...do your data trasfer via Ethernet or external HD or take out the old disks.
yours
Pierre

FireWire External Hard Drive Workaround

Scenario:
1.) AirPort Extreme connected to Mac Mini via ethernet.
2.) Mac Mini connected to a FireWire External Hard Drive.
3.) MacBook Pro connected to AirPort Extreme via 802.11n (wireless).
4.) AirPort Utility is administered from the MacBook Pro.
Problem:
Considering that the AirPort Extreme does not support a FireWire External Hard Drive, I was hoping to find a work around. Is there any way to indirectly access the FireWire External Hard Drive connected to my Mac Mini from my AirPort Utility administered from my MacBook Pro? Essentially I want to access files from the External Hard Drive on my MacBook Pro without being physically tethered to my Mac Mini or the External Hard Drive. That is, I would like to define the External Hard Drive as an Airport Disk in Airport Utility so I can utilize the Back To My Mac feature.
Solution:
Your solution goes here...

That is, I would like to define the External Hard Drive as an Airport Disk in Airport Utility so I can utilize the Back To My Mac feature.
No that won't work.
If your Mac mini simply has File Sharing enabled you can get to the drive using Back To My Mac with no involvement of the AirPort Extreme base station (AEBS).

Ethernet not connected when using external hard drive

My brand new Mac Mini (mid 2010) works fine when I connected it out of the box to my router via Ethernet cable. But when I boot that new mini using an external hard drive (La Cie 500 GByte Firewire 800 connection), the Ethernet shows up as "Not connected". It advises that I should plug it in, or the other end may not be plugged in. But when I simply reboot again to the internal hard drive, without changing any connections, the internet connection works fine. When I boot a different and older Mac Mini (2.0 GHz Core Duo) off that same external hard drive (using Firewire 400 of course), the internet connection works fine. I'm stumped despite using Macs since 1986. I tried automatic mode, but I can't get far, because it thinks there is nothing plugged into the Ethernet port. But there is, and it even works when booting off the internal hard drive. Both the internal and external OS are at 10.6.4, latest. I also tried erasing the internal hard drive so it couldn't get confused, but that didn't help. What else to try?

The ethernet service has nothing to do with the cable plugged or not, and the ethernet cable is working fine with the other system, so definitely the issue with your other OS. Forget about the working OS for now and boot into the OS that has the problem and select the ethernet service from the service list in System Preferences > Network then click on minus button then apply the changes then click the plus to add it again.
If this didn't work, go to :
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration
and trash the NetworkInterfaces.plist file then restart and see if it solves the issue.

I currently have a MAC Mini, which has 1 Firewire 800 port. I have a 1TB external hard disk that runs at Firewire 400. Can I insert another external hard drive that runs at Firewire 800?

Here's the deal. Currently running SL 10.6.8 on a MAC Mini. Planning for eventual upgrade to ML. Have a 1TB external hard drive partitioned into two volumes, one volume for Time Machine and one volume for SL which I periodically update using Superduper. Thus I always have a point-in-time bootable backup on the external hard drive.
The MAC Mini supports Firewire 800. However, booting from my current external hard disk is pretty slow, since it only supports Firewire 400. I am considering buying an Iomega MiniMax which supports Firewire 800. Then, I would use the MiniMax as my bootable backup volume, and relegate the older hard drive to Time Machine.
So, question #1 is, can I daisychain the new MiniMax between the MAC Mini and my existing external hard drive? My expectation is that the new Mini Max would run using Firewire 800 and that the existing hard drive would run at Firewire 400 speed as it does today. If it doesn't (e.g., daisychaining in the Firewire 400 external disk with the MiniMax Firewire 800 external disk ends up running the whole leg at 400), my resolution will be to run the existing hard disk off an available USB port and have just the MiniMax running at Firewire 800.
Why am I going to all this trouble? That's question #2. I don't trust upgrades; they always break something. When I upgraded from 10.5.x to 10.6.x, the web directories got renamed, and all of my web apps 403'd until I figured out what happened. Plus, I have accounts for other family members, and in order to ensure their ability to use the computer during my upgrade process, I need to have the ability to fall-back quickly to a known-stable version of OSX. So what I'm trying to do is insulate myself from problems by partitioning the MiniMax into two volumes, taking a Superduper image of my current installation on the Mac Mini to MiniMax external drive volume 1, then upgrading to ML on the MAC Mini, and take a SuperDuper image of that to MiniMax external drive volume 2. Then, if the upgrade results in problems I can't resolve immediately, I can simply reimage the MAC Mini from MiniMax volume 1. BUT ...
... I've read that the ML installation creates a "service and support" partition that is different than the startup disk. I'm concerned that I won't be able to reimage the hard disk in the MAC Mini once I upgrade it to ML because of the partitioning changes it introduces on the startup disk. Theoretically, I +should+ be able to use the disk utility on my SL system to repartition the disk in the MAC Mini prior to reimaging it from my backup, but I'm considering the possibility that the new partition may be of a type that the SL disk utility cannot identify, and might therefore be unable to delete or even detect. So I'm hoping someone else has been down this road and can advise me. Even at Firewire 800 speeds, booting from an external disk is still going to be slow, so I want to be able to restore my SL image to the MAC Mini hard disk.
A little background on me. I work for a major disaster recovery provider. I used to have a Mac PRO G5, which I got used, and the first thing I did with it was install a second hard disk, SuperDupe an image from the first disk to the second, and made sure I could boot from the second. THEN I started using and customizing the MAC. I really feel vulnerable with the MAC Mini, since it only has the single internal hard drive - sort of like going out in public dressed only in a long T-shirt. So my whole thing is, I ABSOLUTELY MUST BE ABLE TO PUT THINGS BACK THE WAY THEY WERE before I do the migration to ML.
Obsessive-cumpulsive? Yep. Anal? You got it. That's why I'm in the DR business.

You may have overloaded the port, following the instructions below it should reset:
+1. Shut down the computer.+
+2. Disconnect all devices and all other cables, except the keyboard and mouse cable(s).+
+3. Disconnect the computer from the power outlet and wait for 3 to 5 minutes.+
+4. Plug the computer back in and turn it on.+
+5. Reconnect the device(s) (one at a time if there is more than one) and test. Test with each port if you have more than one.+
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1317?viewlocale=en_US

Firewire vs. ethernet external hard drives

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