Library on external USB or Firewire?

In case anyone has any doubts about Firewire being faster than USB, I just moved my library from an external 1Tb USB drive to a Firewire 400 drive. The difference in speed is amazing, I can move the adjustment sliders in realtime with no problems, previously it was click on a slider, wait for its effect, then click etc.
So if you are using a USB drive for a managed library and are having speed issues, I suggest you invest in a Firewire drive, you won't regret it
David

In my real world testing moving GB's of data around, FW800 and USB (if I am not doing other things on the computer) pretty much operate in a similar fashion. This has always been a bit surprising to me. And for small amounts of stuff USB 2.0 is fine.
BUT, Western Digital is now offering USB 3.0 drives which per spec are 10 times faster transfer rates!! Now that really has me drooling. Steven

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Mounting of external usb or firewire harddisk does not work anymore

Hello,
since two days I have the problem, that my xserve doesn't mount an external usb or firewire harddisk.
The disks are not on the desktop and not visible in Disk Utility.
On my macbook the harddisks work.
In System Profiler are the hard disks partly visible:
FireWire-Bus:
+Maximal: Bis zu 800 MBit/s+
AluBOX:
+Hersteller: ONE TECH+
+Modell: 0x640+
+GUID: 0x101003C31001DF+
+Maximal: Bis zu 800 MBit/s+
+Verbindungsgeschwindigkeit: Bis zu 800 MBit/s+
Untereinheiten:
+AluBOX Unit:+
+Softwareversion des Geräts: 0x10483+
+Spec-ID des Geräts: 0x609E+
+Firmware-Version: 0x824+
+Version des Produkts: 8.24+
Untereinheiten:
+AluBOX SBP-LUN:+
+Integrierter Hub:+
+Hersteller: Unbekannt+
+Modell: Unbekannt+
+Maximal: Bis zu 800 MBit/s+
+Verbindungsgeschwindigkeit: Unbekannt+
USB-Hochgeschwindigkeits-Bus:
+Ort für Host-Controller: USB (Integriert)+
+Treiber für Host-Controller: AppleUSBEHCI+
+PCI Geräte-ID: 0x268c+
+PCI Revisions-ID: 0x0009+
+PCI Hersteller-ID: 0x8086+
+Bus-Nummer: 0xfd+
+LaCie Hard Drive USB:+
+Version: 0.00+
+Bus-Strom (mA): 500+
+Geschwindigkeit: Bis zu 480 MBit/s+
+Hersteller: LaCie SA+
+Produkt-ID: 0x0c41+
+Seriennummer: 152D203380B6+
+Hersteller-ID: 0x059f+
Has anyone any idea what it is?
Thanks
Message was edited by: kai23

Is the enclosure locked? External drives won't mount if the enclosure is locked, typically.

Aperture Library on External USB disk

Hello
My internal, 250GB disk on my iMac is almost full.
Are there any performance / reliability issues I should be aware of of moving my 50GB aperture library to an external USB disk ??
I don't use time machine to back it up - just the aperture vaults. I would probably back it up to a second external USB drive.
Any help much appreciated.
Andrew

USB2 is a poor connectivity method for hard drives on Macs, adequate for backup where speed is unimportant but bad news for a Library. Aperture performance is largely about the Library, so you want it on a relatively unfilled internal drive, definitely not on an external USB drive.
Hard drives slow as they fill above 40% or so. Take enough data off the internal drive to maintain at least 100 GB free space and keep the Aperture Library on the internal drive with Referenced Masters on external drives.
In the future buy large hard drives (currently the 1 TB size is cost effective) that have multiple connectivity methods that include Firewire800 and eSATA. One good source is OWC: <http://www.owcomputing.com/>.
Good luck!
-Allen Wicks

Moving entire iTunes library to external USB hard drive

My internal hard drive is nearly full. I need to move the entire current 10 GB iTunes library of songs, podcasts, album art, etc. to a 300 GB external USB hard drive with plenty of space. Within a few weeks I'll get a new replacement computer with a much larger internal hard drive and will want to relocate the iTunes library again onto the new machine. The iTunes Help Forum had some tips but explained "From now on, new songs & other items are stored in the new location. Songs you've already imported stay in their current location." That doesn't help. I won't be importing anything new until I've gotten my new computer and am running iTunes on it. Any help is very much appreciated.

Copy /Music/iTunes/ folder to the external.
To use this folder, hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library*.
Select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
Make sure the external is connected and ready before launching iTunes.
When you get your new computer, copy the entire iTunes folder from the external to /Music/ on the new computer.

Exporting an Apeture library to external USB hard drive

1st step:
I can copy the library (25 GB)from the laptop to external USB hard drive (80 GB empty), but I can't use it.
I can't import any other project into the library.
The message is: there is not enough space on the disk. After that when I try to use the library the message is: the library is locked.
2nd step:
I open the library from the laptop, I change the preference and put the new library on the external USB hard drive (same 80 GB empty).
I work with the new library and I try to import the folder into a new project but after few moments the program stacks.
I have another external hard drive (fireware) and I have not the same problems.
Powerbook G4 1,67 Mhz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1,5 Gb Ram

The fastest external option would be a new SATA solution from FirmTEK.
http://www.barefeats.com/hard71.html
Currently they are the only provider of this type of solution.
17" MBP 2.16 Ghz/2 GB Ram/120 GB HD, G5 dual 2 Ghz/ 4 GB RAM / Radeon X 800XT / Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Can I share folders from an external USB or Firewire device

I can do this from Windows to Mac, Windows to Windows and Mac to Windows. But for some reason, I cannot get this to work between two Macs.
I have a Maxtor external USB/Firewire hard drive that I have connected to my iMac G5. I have two folders on there - movies and music. I created a non-admin user that has soft-links in its home directory that point to these two folders.
My Windows PC and my Wife's Windows laptop can connect fine over SMB, but when I try to access those same folders from my Powerbook, it complains that the "alias could not be opened because the original item cannot be found".
How can I fix this?

By the way, I am aware of Sharepoint, but this should all be possible without having to buy an extra software interface. Presumably there is a way to configure AFP manually via the terminal or something? I have searched Google and found nothing on this subject.

ITunes library on external USB drive connected to Netgear R7000 router

I have my iTunes Library on an external USB hard drive. When the drive is connected directly to my iMac, I access the library by Option-Launching iTunes at which point I am asked to choose or create an iTunes Library. I choose the library on the external HD and everything is fine,
However when I connect the same HD to the USB3 port on my R7000, I am not able to choose the library successfully. When I Option-launch iTunes and select the iTunes library I get an error that says, "The iTunes application could not be opened. An unknown error occurred (13008)"
Curiously I am able to navigate to the Readyshare iTunes library. For example I can get too this file...
Jazz>iTunes Media>Music>Acoustic Alchemy>The New Edge> 01 Oceans Apart.m4a
and when I do a "quick look" on my iMac by pressing the space bar on that file, it plays. However when I double-click on that file, I get the same error that "The iTunes application could not be opened. An unknown error occurred (13008)"
Anyone have any idea what the problem is?

Oh groan, not another conspiracy theory. No, it's a lot more likely Apple and Netgear and the dozens of other manufacturers haven't gotten together with the thousands users who have come up with hundreds of thousands of ways of rigging things up and tested each and every one of them. I am confident if Apple were out to mess things up for you they could have come up with something a lot more devious.
Did you do a web search for this? With a Google search specifying Netgear with this error I found:
ReadySHARE USB Hard drive access issue from a Mac Computer (Time Machine or iTunes not working properly)
- Able to see USB hard drive content but unable to write to USB hard drive connected to router's Readyshare port from Mac computer.
- Error that says "The iTunes application could not be opened. Unknown error 13008"
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22763/~/readyshare-usb-hard-drive- access-issue-from-a-mac-computer-%28time-machine-or
In fact it is almost certain that it is an issue of that particular model router and the drive formats it can use.

External itunes library setup format-usb vs firewire

I was wondering what would be the best external setup for my itunes library. I have a 1.5TB usb 2.0 drive and a 2.0TB firewire 800 drive setup in a raid 0 format. Would it be better to set it up with the firewire drive by itself? I am trying to find the fastest setup possible.

raid0 don't make any sense at all
if just 1 of the harddisks die all data is lost
and both usb2 and firewire800 will be slower then the harddisks so
the speed inc the raid0 gives will not be noticed by you because
the Interface is slowing you down

Mount external (USB or Firewire) drive BEFORE login?

It appears that 10.6 is no longer referencing the fstab file (what I would normally expect to modify.)
I have two external drives that I want mounted for a file backup (rsync cron job) but I do not want the system to have to be logged in to do this.
Other than using cron to "mount" can I set this to happen at boot?

Open the Terminal in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and run:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount
AutomountDisksWithoutUserLogin 1
(49685)

External USB HD w/ Snow Leopard - boot from Windows machine

Is there a way for me to install Snow Leopard on an external USB or Firewire so that I can plug it in and boot it up from a PC?
Thanks,

Nope. And if you could, it would be a violation of the license to OSX.

Copy my itunes library from desktop windows PC to an external USB hard drive

What is the easiest way to copy my Itunes library from a windows PC to an external USB Drive?

How to move iTunes library

I have a first generation apple tv synced to a itunes library on an external USB drive. Movies and Music Won't Play

Here's my setup. First Generation Apple TV. G4 Powermac running OS X 10.5.8 iTunes 10 with the Library stored on an External 3 Terabyte USB 2 drive. It's plugged into a PCI USB 2 card. Everything worked fine till I transferred my iTunes library to the external USB drive. Things seem to sync up fine. I have it set to copy TV shows to the Apple TV's internal drive and that seems to work but when I try to play music or movies that are streaming from the library, I get an error. With movies I get the "The selected video cannot be played. The format was not recognized." error. The movie and music list seems up to date but now it won't play. Did I waste my money on this external drive? How do I get this setup to work?

I don't think this will be a complete answer to your question, but may point you in the right direction.
I have a similar setup (same OS X and iTunes versions), but my library is on a network attached 2TB harddrive (vs a USB 2 drive). Mine works fine, both syncing (which you don't have a problem with) and streaming. It's possible that iTunes doesn't like the USB 2 drive, but I don't know. Are you able to watch TV shows on your PowerMac after having moved the files to the USB drive? If you can watch content on your laptop but not on your AppleTV, it suggests the Apple TV doesn't like the USB drive.
Perhaps you didn't transfer iTunes library content correctly. (Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know.) The iTunes library consists of a list of content and it's location (local harddrive, network drive, etc.). If you simply moved the files, but didn't actually update the library with the new locations, this can explain why you can't stream the content. The Apple TV displays what is in the library, but cannot play it if the library entry is pointing to the wrong location. Note: This "library update" I'm referring to is not the same as simply changing the iTunes media folder location in iTunes > Preferences > Advanced.
When I moved my content to an external drive, I had to delete everything in my iTunes Library, then re-import everything (File > Add to library). Don't let the phrase "delete everything in my iTunes library" freak you out. Deleting entries in the library is not the same as deleting the files (which you definitely do NOT want to do).
If you select an item in your iTunes library and press the Delete button, it asks for confirmation thus:
Are you sure you want to delete the selected TV show from your iTunes library?
It's OK to answer "Delete TV Show". It will then ask you if you want to delete the file. Do NOT delete the file. You can select your entire library and delete everything at once, just make sure you do NOT delete the files when it asks. When that is done, make sure the iTunes Media Folder Location is set to where you want and that the files are there. Then, go to File, Add to Library and re-import everything. It will take several minutes to more than an hour, depending on the speed of your computer and the size of your library.
I have had to do this everytime I've moved my library to different storage devices. If there is a simpler way, I am not aware of it.
I hope this helps.

Daisy chain two external drives via Firewire, then connect one via USB to the TC?

Hi,
I have two external drives that have both Firewire and USB ports. My 1st generation 500 gb Time Capsule (maybe all of them?) only has USB ports so up til now, I have connected one or the other drive via USB. (I've tried to connect both to a powered USB hub but one drive has problems showing up. At this point I only use the one drive that shows up and connect it directly with no hub to the Time Capsue.)
My question is: Can I daisy chain the two drives via Firewire and then connect one of them (probably the one that has no problems connecting with USB) to the Time Capsule via USB?
Second, somewhat-related problem...
I don't know why one drive isn't connecting very well when directly connected to the Time Capsule. Both are Fantom drives. One is a 1TB, the one that has prblems connecting is a 250GB. I've tried connecting directly or through a powered hub. The 1B has no problems, the 250 gb won't show up most of the time and disconnects itself fairly quickly if it does connect. I've switched cables; that hasn't helped. The 1TB stays connected most of the time but sometimes it disconnects too. I suspect the Time Capsule just isn't able to deal with external drives so I don't puch it. It would be nice to be able to have both drives accessable through the TC though.
Thanks for any help.
Cheers,
John

Doing some experimentation, connecting the drives directly to the MBP:
- Neither of the two drives Firewire daisy-chained and going through the powered USB hub connected to the MBP mount. I was using old aliases on desktop.*They don't show up on network otherwise. (Each drive self-mounts with both Firewire and USB direct connections.)
*Even after making new aliases, neither drive will mount using their new aliases when directly connected (not through hub) with USB or Firewire (and Thunderbolt adapter.) That's weird.
- Both the 240 gb and the 1TB drives going through powered hub connected to MBP mount by themselves.
- Two drives daisy-chained via Firewire and one drive connected to the MBP via Firewire (and Thunderbolt adapter) self-mount. No surprise there but that doesn't help me as I want to have the drives further away from the MBP and connected to the Time Capsule, which doesn't have a Firewire port anyway...
- All of the USB and the Firewire cables work as does the Thunderbolt adapter. I tested them.
I wonder.... I have a Firewire to what appears to be an Ethernet connector. I wonder if that would be any good. I'm afraid to try it though...

Sharing External USB & Firewire Hard Drives?

I have a MacBook Pro and a Mac Mini. The Mac Mini has an external firewire and external USB drive attached. I can log into my Mac Mini from my Macbook Pro using file sharing. The problem is I can not connect to the exrternal drives. They are not showing up as options to mount. I could swear I was able to do this before with my old G5. How can I set this up so when I connect to the mac mini I can access the external drives?
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me with this problem!

Well, to be more specific:
Sharepoints allows simple management of the network sharing of folders.
Mac uses Samba as a 'universal' sharing protocol. (Samba, or SMB, is a wel-estabished protocol).
Manual management of the Samba configuration file is possible, but can be tricky. It's a file hidden from easy accessibility within the /private directory structure.
Sharepoints simply allows easy, graphical interface to that file. Sharing of certain folders (and in this case...a USB or Firewire drive), user-access permissions, and other cool stuff...is all handled in a very simple window.
(however, you don't NEED it)
You can download it to your existing machine, and take a look, practice.
It will much clearer once you have a 2cnd Mac. Until this it will all seem like theory.
"de rien"

Changing external USB hard drive into a FireWire Drive???

I have been reading in some of the other discussions about how it is possible to change a USB external hard drive into a FireWire external hard drive. Is this true ??? I recently pruchased an external USB hard drive only to now find out that I cannot use it to boot from. Apparently OSX will only boot from a FireWire drive ??? Is there some way to change my current external USB hard drive into a FireWire compatible drive or do I have to purchase a FireWire drive ??? Thanks.

All I can remember was an internal USB/firewire hub (for PCs, by the way), I haven't seen external adapters like cables; but you may simply ask in your local computer store about.
Yes, you can boot only from firewire drives. I was told that it is possible the new Intel Macs are able to boot from USB drives, but haven't had the time to verify this so far.
A possible solution may be to remove the harddisk from the USB enclosure and put it into a firewire case. This should work and you just need to buy the firewire case without the need for another harddisk. Just ensure that the case is able to take your harddrive (2.5" / 3.5" drives, connection interface).

Library on external USB or Firewire?

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