Help or tips on config new Mac Pro hard drives

Been saving for over a year and just bought a new Mac pro. The day after MacWorld with no upgrade announced ☹.
My configuration is the 2x 2.8Gh quad-core processors, 2 GB of RAM, ATI Graphic card (standard), and a 1TB hard drive in the first hard drive bay.
I am upgrading for the original 1 processor G5 (sounds so slow now). I am planning on taking my 1TB hard drive from that machine which contains my entire iTunes library, and its full! Mostly of legally ripped DVDs and TV shows.
I am planning on configuring my hard drives like so.
Drive Bay 1: 1TB drive, I am considering partition it so there are about 400 gigs on a boot drive for applications and libraries and using the other 400 or so gigs left over as a drop box for things from my over full iTunes hard drive. (TV shows which have ended, so the tags won’t be changed)
Drive Bay 2: 1TB, or 500 gigs depending on the price I get for a hard drive. If it’s a 1TB I will just have it mirror the drive in bay 1. If its 500 gigs, I will have the iTunes “drop box” mirrored in drive 2 and use my time capsule to back up the OS, applications and libraries.
Drive 3 will be my currently full TB hard drive from my current machine and drive 4 will be a TB drive as an exact mirror for back up purposes.
Can I set up these mirrors I want with time machine? Also I have never partitioned a drive, I know you can do it in disk utility, is it a pretty self-explanatory process?
Is this set up of drives a good idea? A RAID seems too costly and just too much since I am not worried about response times of the drives, as long as my media plays properly I am generally happy. I do some work in PS and FCE but not enough to warrant percent scratch disks and RAIDed drives. I also read about a back up program called SuperDuper but it seems like time machine can do anything I would need super duper to do so is it worth the 30 bucks.
Also I have never used migration assistant, is that fairly painless or am I better off just syncing what I can with Mobile Me, and brining the rest of the things I need over VIA external hard drive? (Documents and pictures and such)
I haven’t gotten a new Mac in 5 years so are there any other tips you recommend when setting up my OS? I read somewhere to create an Admin profile that you never use for log in, and than your own profile? Just simple things like that. I have been browsing my old Macworld magazines looking for small tips!
Well thank you for reading my long post! I am super excited about this Mac to ship in 2-4 days I even shelled out for next day shipping so I didn’t have to want any longer than I needed to.
Thanks in advance.

I've had my MP just a few months, and like you I've filled the drive bays in no time.
I keep on top of things using two pieces of software;
CarbonCopyCloner - this runs two nightly 'incremental' bootable Clones of my OSX/iTunes/iPhoto 'System' HD, one to an internal drive, one to an external FW800 D2.
ChronoSync - This I use for everything else, work in progress & archives etc - During and towards the end of my jobs (I'm a photographer), I will use ChronoSync to perform perfectly synced Backups to external FW800 D2s and will soon be purchasing a NewerTech Voyager Q to facilitate the use of bare HDs for rotational backups.
Time Machine isn't a program I've looked into and frankly the way I work doesn't really require that 'Archive' backup style.

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Linc Davis is quite right.
But be careful not to generalize that too much. The new cylinder Mac Pro has enough USB bandwidth available to run one USB-3 both directions at once, full tilt. So when you get more than a handful of USB drives or intend to use it for production at high throughput, it may start to slow down.

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I'm going to replace the SSD drive, as it failed, and it comes with a 3.5" tray that should attach to the Mac Pro hard drive carrier, but when I push it back in to align up with the hard drive connector, since he removed the screws, it doesn't align up and go in without me manually connecting it. I'd like to get it back to the way it was with the screws.
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ChrisMc73 wrote:
Yeah there are two models for this Icy Dock SSD Kit...I think I want the screwless version.
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http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2705

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Another thing you can do in Lion (and ML) is click on the "Info" button in Disk Utility to get the SMART status of the drive.It's more detailed now than it used to be and it might tell you if something is wrong.
A lot can go wrong with a hard drive which is why I tend to point people to the downloads section of the following web site:
http://scsc-online.com
They have a free hard drive troublleshooting download book there. I reccommend people download that before asking questionis because there are tons of problems that can act like hard drive problems when there's nothing wrong with the system at all. For example, how full is the drive? How many applications are running? What's the status of Spotlight indexing? How many apps are you running? How much memory do you have?
I could probably think up 20 or 30 more if needed.

Mac Pro Hard Drive

I installed a new 1 TB hard drive (purchased from the Apple store). When I boot up the computer I get a message "the disk you inserted is not readable by this computer". Any suggestions for fixing the problem?

Hmm, I got two (stupid?) questions about this. First did you initialize the disk. Second, why would you ever buy an over priced hard drive from Apple?

HELP. Safari on my new Mac Pro won't open my own webpage.

I have just changed platforms from PC to Apple Mac with the sole purpose of generating new content for my web page www.austin-thomas.co.uk
Unfortunately, I cannot open my own web page using Safari on my Mac Pro running Leopard, although I can access other web sites without problems. I have tried my web site on several other Macs running Safari and Leopard and it loads as normal. I still have my PC linked though the same router as the Mac Pro and I can access the site OK via Windows Internet Explorer, so I don't believe it is a router or a permissions problem.
Any help or suggestions is gratefully appreciated as I have a new and expensive computer that for some strange reason is not compatible with my website.
Many thanks in advance,
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It sounds like it's just timing out trying to access parts of the website.
Can you try changing your DNS settings to those provided by [OpenDNS|https://www.opendns.com/start] to see if that makes a difference? The linked website has easy to follow directions.
I've seen the occasional post that also mentions power cycling the router sometimes helps (even when their other connected computers were behaving fine - don't ask me how that works... )

Help setting up Windows on new Mac Pro

Hi all, Just tried to set up Windows xp on this new machine 2 x 2.66 Ghz Dual Core, and after going through bootcamp set up I keep getting a windows set up screen that says to press enter to continue. I do this and nothing happens. I press the alternative keys and nothing happens. I have tried installing also a few programs through the drive and not sure if this is getting hung up but I have had to install them through my laptop connected to a firewire.
I had no problem installing bootcamp and windows on my laptop.
Any ideas here.
Mac Pro, MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2 x 2.66 Ghz Dual Core

Post your question in the Boot Camp discussions:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1165

New MacBook Pro hard drive is full - but Nearly All Files on DropBox. Please Help!

I recently bought a new MacBook Pro and I am no longer able to download files from my email because it is out of space. I store everything on DropBox and nearly no files on the hard drive. I am looking for assistance to reduce the 72.68GB of "other" on my hard drive. Many Thanks!
about my Mac:
Storage Space:
<Image Edited by Host to Remove Personal Information>

You have a very small hard drive, and not enough free space for your computer to function well. You need an external hard drive. If you anticipate adding a lot more files, you can clone your existing system to the external, and then boot from it. Or you can shift some of the stuff that you currently store in Dropbox to a backup area on your external drive, and then cut down what you keep in Dropbox to contain ONLY the files that you need to be able to access when not at home. You can also change the location of your Dropbox folder, with the caveats noted at the bottom of the help article I have copied below:
From Dropbox Help:
How do I move my Dropbox folder to a new location?
You can move your Dropbox folder to any location on your hard drive using the Dropbox desktop application. If you decide to move the folder, we strongly recommend choosing a location on the same hard drive as your operating system. Dropbox won't work correctly should the Dropbox folder ever become inaccessible.
You can select the new location from the Dropbox desktop application preferences.
Using the Dropbox desktop application on Mac OS X
Click on the Dropbox icon from your menu bar.
The Dropbox icon
Click on the gear icon and select Preferences... from the menu.
Click the Account tab.
Move the Dropbox folder location by selecting your folder from the drop-down menu labeled Dropbox location.
Let Dropbox move your folder and its contents to its new location.
Important: Your Dropbox folder will keep the same name as before and can't be changed by using the move feature. Dropbox will not sync your Dropbox folder if it has been manually renamed or moved through your operating system. If Dropbox loses track of your Dropbox folder, it will attempt to re-sync the folder in its entirety using its last known location.
Dropbox for Business users: If you've connected a personal and a work Dropbox, you'll see both of your Dropboxes listed here. Select the correct toggle before moving the Dropbox folder location.
For our advanced users
If you want to put your Dropbox folder on an external drive, proceed with caution:
The Dropbox folder must be available when your computer boots and before the Dropbox desktop application starts. Some USB drives, for example, take some time to mount before your computer recognizes them. The Dropbox desktop application could start before such a drive is ready and get confused. You'll receive an error and Dropbox will give you the opportunity to relink your Dropbox account or exit if it is unable to find your Dropbox folder.
If the external drive is disconnected from the computer while Dropbox is running, there's a small chance that the application will start deleting files before realizing that the entire drive has been removed. Again: When it comes to using an external drive for your Dropbox folder, tread carefully.

Inserted my Mac Pro hard drives into a RAID enclosure accidentally... help!

Hi guys,
I am regular member of the Logic Pro forum, but am hoping for some help regarding a fairly large data loss disaster.
I have recently sold my Mac Pro tower, in favour of a new iMac, and prior to selling I removed my two additional audio hard drives from the Mac Pro. Unfortunately these were only backed up a year ago (and now my slackness has come back to bite me!), and since then a fair bit of audio work has been completed in Logic Pro.
My plan was to access the hard drives' content on my iMac using a dual-HD USB3 hard drive enclosure. I purchased the ORICO 3529 NAS series, which, while having RAID functionality, I also understood could be used simply as a dual drive unit for normal access of two drives.
So when I got the ORICO unit, I put my two audio drives into it, and plugged into the iMac. I expected to see my drives, but instead I got the message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer". I had switched the ORICO to JBOD mode, but possibly not prior to initially powering up the unit - which it appears defaults to RAID mode.
I have since tried the HDs in another single enclosure, as well as putting them in a friend's Mac Pro, and in both cases each disk brings up the same error.
It appears I have somehow formatted these drives to be part of a RAID setup, just by putting them in the RAID unit. I am not sure whether this means that all my data is lost, or whether instead it means that the directory or some other part of the file structure or format have been damaged and need to be re-built. While I am a competent computer user in a music context (using Pro Tools and Logic Pro), I am by no means a programmer, and am not really sure where to go from here.
Two of the very helpful regulars on the Logic Pro forum have advised me that potentially a tool like DiskWarrior might help recover the data, although as we went through some additional troubleshooting, they have since suggested that DiskWarrior may not be the solution, and instead I should talk to a RAID specialist about how to recover some of the data on these disks.
So on that note I thought I would put it out here for any Mac users who might be experienced with RAID and willing to make any recommendations. In the meantime I am not going to try to use any tools (like DiskWarrior) in case they cause more harm when in fact I should be seeking out a RAID expert to work on the solution with me.
If you have any thoughts or have had an experience similar (if you are as silly as me!), I would be grateful for any suggestions you might be able to offer.
Cheers and thanks!
Mike

Also, first thing is don't touch change or modify. Disconnect and get them off line.
The first program that can probably help, http://www.SoftRAID.com - their demo (the support they give is probably worth the cost too). Alsoft Disk Warrior support - even remote login - also can be excellent if or when needed.
SoftRAID 'takes over" the Apple RAID and can do wonders.
What you have is an external device with its own built-in bridge and probably a switch (mirror, stripe, JBOD, None).
You need to get them in a case that has no built in bridge or RAID of its own. A Mac Pro would be excellent.
See what OWC has in external cases. http://www.macsales.com/firewire ( a good place to start looking at any type of external interface for storage)

Help! Mac Pro hard drive set-up

Hello Gang,
I just made the switch from PC to Mac. After following the forum for a few months I decided to get a Mac Pro instead of the iMac24. According to Apple it should be delivered by 3/12. Anyhow, being an absolute newbie to both Mac,CS3,and Lightroom I'm not sure how to go about setting up my HD's for optimum performance such as RAID configurations, as well as allocating partitions, and RAM use. I'm coming from a dinosaur of a PC that ran everything from one small HD, so this is all very new to me. Here's what I've ordered:
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
2GB (2 x 1GB)
320GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (Two dual-link DVI)
One 16x SuperDrive
In addition I ordered the following from OWC and others:
8GB Ram (2GBx4)
2 500GB Western Digital RE SATA RAID Edition (WDGWD5000ABYS)
1 Western Digital 1 TB My Book Pro Edition II external HD
NEC MultiSync 2490WUXi monitor (won't be available for 2 more weeks!)
I'm not a professional, so I'm not dealing with the huge files most of you probably deal with. My images are all RAW format from my Canon 30D. Any help or suggestions you can give me in this regard would be GREATLY appreciated!
Mike

I never had good luck with RAID on Windows, so when I switched a few years ago, I set up my 1st gen MacPro like this:
Four internal 400GB drives, 1 in each bay. Drive 1 is my "working" drive; it has my OS installed and all of the programs I use on it -- email, office, creative suite 2 and 3, Aperture, iView Media Pro (now MS Expressions Media), etc. Drive 2 is an exact copy of Drive 1 that I back up daily with SuperDuper. Drive 3 has all of my RAW files and works in progress on it, and Drive 4 is an exact copy of Drive 3, except for a 40 GB partition that is used for scratch disk only. I also have three 500 GB external drives hooked up for extra store. External drive 1 is an exact copy of internal drive one, external drive 2 is an exact copy of internal drive 3 with my RAW and works in progress on it, and external drive 3 is for completed projects.
I also have a few externals that I backup to once a week and keep offsite at a friend's house. My really, really important stuff is also backed up to my Amazon S3 account.
This system works for me because I am extremely lazy when it comes to backing up or any other maintenance tasks that have to do with my computer. All those years of being on Windows and having to waste hours every week diagnosing/troubleshooting obscure little problems really burned me out, so when I finally switched, I wanted only the most reliable, easy to use programs on my new system. SuperDuper is a godsend and I don't even bother with TimeMachine anymore. After the first month, the novelty wore off and I went back to uperDuper (which does incremental backups, too, once you've back up the entire drive).
The MacPro is a dream machine and you're going to be in awe of how quiet and truly competent it is, especially compared to Windows. A couple of things I should warn you about though: when you're running multiple drives and lots of RAM, things can get pretty warm inside the case. Make sure you're keeping an eye on the temps with a program like Temperature Monitor (freeware):
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994
Disk Warrior is another program I recommend highly ($99.00):
http://www.alsoft.com/
Although Apple and OSX are truly wonderful, no OS is perfect, so pay attention to the warnings and reviews of others before mucking around with your system. This is especially true when it comes to Apple's firmware updates. My logicboard was screwed up by firmware update 1.1, which caused my fans to constantly run at high speeds:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30862
Luckily, I was under Applecare when it happened and they replaced the entire board for me (for free) as well as the fans. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the bill (these aren't cheapy pc parts that you can pick up at Fry's). I decided then and there to never firmware update my MacPro again unless something was noticeably wrong. If it ain't broke, don't fix it is really true when it comes to this puppy.
Two other things you might want to invest in: 1) a good calibrating system (I bought mine from www.chromix.com) and 2) if you plan on going online at all, definitely get 1password:
http://1password.com/
Enjoy your new system!

New MacBook Pro Hard Drive Slow

On Monday night I was browsing the internet when my mid 2012 MacBook Pro started running slowly. I have never really had an issue with my Mac running slow and, so, after a particularly long spin of the rainbow wheel of death, I manually shut my computer down. When I tried to restart, all I got was the grey screen with the flashing folder-with-a-question-mark. I looked online with my phone to find a solution and I proceeded to try a number of suggestions from the support community, including trying to manually restart in safe mode, but as I didn't take my OS X installation disk to school with me, there wasn't much left for me to do (especially because I'm just over 3months outside the 1year warranty and live over an hour away from the nearest apple store). The next morning I took it to my college's OIT help desk and was later told my hard drive had failed and I would need to replace it. Thank god I utilize google drive for my work. Thank god. Today, after paying the $122.49 (no pitance on my part-time minimum-wage school salary) for the "apple recommended" hard drive, as opposed to the $55 amazon alternative, I find that my computer is running slowly again. Not even internet slow. 10-minutes-to-adjust-my-dock-preferences-slow. Writing-this-post-took-almost-an-hour-slow. Also, in the middle of writing this the spinning wheel of death reappeared for at least 10mins, and not wanting to manually restart given what happened last time I tried simply shutting my laptop and giving it a little nap. When I opened it I got a blue screen and (after a few minutes of silent sobbing) was forced to manually restart, which luckily brought me to the login. Why is my once-beloved Mac doing this to me? Is it the expensive new hard drive to blame? Has the issue from before held over and may soon kill this new drive? Any explanations or advice would be greatly appreciated as I have final exams and papers due next week and cannot afford to get to the apple store before I need to research and write two 15-page papers.

Remove the Symantec security software > Remove Symantec software for Mac OS using RemoveSymantecMacFiles
About Norton / Symantec > Viruses, Trojans, Malware - and other aspects of Internet Security: Apple Support Communities

Transfer songs from iphone to new mac (my hard-drive failed and has been replaced), some songs i have bought on itunes and others were old copies, any ideas?

hi
i have recently had my mac hard-drive replaced and consequently have lost all my old stuff - had to download a new itunes for example. i synced everything onto my iphone before it broke luckily. some songs i purchased on itunes, others i downloaded ages ago from CDs. how do i transfer these onto my itunes library again so i can sync?

iTunes can transfer your purchases or you can download them again. Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
For songs ripped from CDs, you need to use a 3rd-party utility. Here are two that will help you.
http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php

ICal not syncing from existing iPhone to new macbook pro hard drive

Hi everyone,
Can anyone help? I have just had the Hard drive on my Macbook Pro (mid 2009) replaced and I have then restored all previous hard drive content and settings from my time machine. Everything transferred across with no problem except that when I came to sync my iPhone with my computer, everything else will sync except for iCal.
iCal on my computer currently has the same calenders but with nothing in them. I want to be able to sync my iPhone calenders with my Macbook calenders so that the information gets transferred accross to my Macbook.
I have tried adjusting the sync settings in itunes and I have tried backing up and restoring my iphone to see if I could force the computer into recognising my iPhone ical files but to no avail. I am now stuck and could really do with some advice.....
Thanks
SiBB

Connect to the MacBook. It will ask you if you want to sync with the MacBook. It should then ask if you want to save what is on the iPad. Tell it yes, and it should do so. You should have your iPad apps backed up anyway, but I am pretty sure that you do not lose anything by transferring to another machine. The iPad does not care if it was a Mac or PC that it is synced with, it is not in either format. You do need to go and authorize your Macbook on your iTunes account.
Besides there is a step by step instruction on [How to transfer or sync iPad contents to Mac|http://www.softwarebbs.com/wiki/Howto_transfer_or_sync_iPad_contents_toMac].
Hope it can do you a favor.

New Macbook Pro hard drive crash after 9 months? How to avoid it again...?

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Is there anything I should be doing to avoid this happening again?
- let the battery run down completely / always keep it charged and power source plugged in?
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If anyone has any tips / advice...otherwise I'm considering selling it.
Thanks

You can't just take that drive from the older system and install it in the new system. Even though both run Lion the Lion install on the older system does not have the correct driver set for the new hardware. In fact Apple came out with a newer version of Lion Just For these Newer System.
It may now be on the Apple servers bot it wasn't a few days, 5-12, ago..

Help or tips on config new Mac Pro hard drives

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