Picking the right external drives

i have been looking at the G-tech series, the G-DRIVE mini or G-RAID mini
but have heard that the Hitachi drives are too great? But hey, if they're good enough for Chase Jarvis surely they're good enough for me?
Also been looking at the Western Digital My Book series.
Ideally i would like a 2tb firewire drive for external storage with a possible RAID, a 1TB (or required amount) for a scratch disk and another 1tb drive for time machine.

rkaufmann87 wrote:
The drives themselves are fine it's the enclosures that cause problems. What we frequently see on these forums is people that have a WD EHD and they'll lose they're connection. Many will plug them into a PC and they can then be used so they then think it's a problem with their Mac. However when any other make is plugged in they work fine so it points the finger at the WD enclosures. People buy them because they're cheap however almost always when we get someone that is complaining.
I don't use WD enclosures, just WD drives. Perhaps that is why I haven't had the problem.
I'm glad to hear you have had good luck with them, have all the machines you have plugged them into been Macs?
They were all PC's until I switched to my iMac in 2009 and it has been either my iMac or MBP since then.
I'm sure you will be please with your new OWC drive and enclosure, OWC specializes in Macs so you know if you buy something from them it almost always works fine.
I also purchased 16GB of Samsung DRAM from them. It will go into my 27" refurbished i7 when it gets here on Monday.

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The right external drive for my configuration

I am looking to get an external hard drive for backup purposes and also to extend the storage space of a sorely limited Powerbook G3. It has a 6GB hard drive. In other words, you can't use it for anything except the internet and a few documents!
I've done some research but am no closer to figuring out what drive would be best for me. The thing is, I need the convenience of a portable because I'll be using it for backup with all 3 of the computers in different places in the house (an iBook G4, a Powerbook G3, and an iMac G3). But because I'll be using it for 3 computers and want to store bootable clones of at least my iBook's 60GB drive and the iMac's 20GB drive, I need more storage space than I've seen in portables. I also need to be able to run applications off it for the Powerbook.
I don't think I can afford to get more than one drive, especially since portables seem pretty pricey. I'd really rather not spend more than $150 and definitely not more than $200.
Anyone have any suggestions for the best solution?

Hi amybl,
You can get a portable 120-160GB firewire/USB drive for less than you think. OWC's drives are rated highly too.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
John
If your PB is the Firewire model the Firewire 400 (w/o USB) is even cheaper.

Choosing the right external drive

Hi
It's about time I backed up my systems before it's too late.
I'm going to purchase an external firewire hard drive to backup an iBook G3 900Mhz & an iMac intel core duo
1) Can I use a S.A.T.A. drive?
2) Should I partition it with the Apple Partition Map scheme?
3) Or should I get an external caddy and use two separate drive?
regards
Steve

Hi Steve,
When I acquired an external hard drive I had a few complications. For example, I got an external thinking it was a hard drive, but found that it was only an empty hard drive enclosure that did NOT even contain a hard drive at all. Then I got an enclosure that actually contained a hard drive inside, but there were compatibility issues and no customer support that I'd call supportive.
I ultimately ended up with a very affordable 300 gig AppleMac compatible Seagate. It has one USB and 2 Firewire ports. I don't recall if it came with those cables, or not. Although they provide an easy to read user manual, when I DID need support and assistance, I found their customer service to actually be very helpful. They had me up and running in no time.
My external is partitioned. Although I could have partitioned it almost any way I wanted, I partitioned mine into 2. One side is for storing space-hoarding media and storage-greedy software programs, while the other side of the partition is a bootable snapshot of my hard drive that contains everything that was on the hard drive at the time that I installed the external. I think that it is the SATA type, but I'm not certain. I hope this helps you out a little bit.
Oops! I almost forgot. If you are going to back up the two differently formatted computers i.e., G3 versus Intel, then you WILL need 2 separate hard drives. If you do NOT plan to snapshot your hard drives for the purpose of booting, then you may be able to use the one install disc, that comes with the external, on both computers for backing up your files, and applications as long as the backed up data is compatible to (and stored on) both units.
Be aware that this will NOT work if you plan to use the external for the purpose of booting either one of the aforementioned computers, because they are totally different platforms. I could pull it off on my 2 Pismos, because they are the same platform, but I cannot accomplish it on an iBook and on a Pismo if either one of them has been snapshot for booting. Just in case the expense is not necessary, I would buy one drive and see if it can used for both platforms, before investing in a second external.
Good luck,
A Little Fish in the Big Mac pond

I just purchased an external disk drive to store my pictures. I want to keep the last 12 months of pictures on my iMac and move the rest to the new external drive. As new pictures are added I want them to be put on the iMac internal drive. How?

I just purchased an external disk drive to store my growing number of pictures. I want to keep the last 12 months of pictures on my iMac and move the remaining pictures to the new external drive. As I take more pictures I want them to be put on the iMac internal drive. Every 3 to 6 months I would then move some additional pictures to the external drive. I am nuervous about losing any of the pictures and want to make sure I follow the proper procedure. What is the right way to handle this?
Thanks.

Here's one way to do what you want:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

I'm using Time Machine and a LaCie external drive to backup. I also have a 8 GB LaCie flash drive I want to use for small jobs. If I plug the LaCie flash drive in, is my Mac going to think it is the LaCie external drive and start trying to backup?

I'm using Time Machine and a LaCie external drive to backup. I also have a 8 GB LaCie flash drive I want to use for small jobs. If I plug the LaCie flash drive in, is my Mac going to think it is the LaCie external drive and start trying to backup?

no.

I have an issue with time machine, it doesn't find the Lacie external driver it use to use. it is the same drive that I usaly use for time machine back ups. It is corectly plugged. What can I do ?

Hi,
I'm trying to back up my macbook with time machine on the Lacie external driver I usualy use for this, but today my computer doesn't find the driver. I haven't done back up in 6 month.
Today, the Lacie driver is pluged and running, but the computer just does'nt find it.
what shall I do ?

Some things to consider:
Is the drive mounted, i.e., visible via Finder and/or on the Desktop?
Is the drive still selected in System Preferences, Time Machine? If not, use the "Select Disk" button.
Is Time Machine still turned on (System Preferences, Time Machine)?
Can you see the drive (and mount it) using Disk Utility (in your Utilities folder)?
charlie

2 of the same external drives showing up in Lr

Yesterday, I mistakenly imported some trash files (html) into Lr. This caused Lr to crash whenever the image came up in the viewer on my screen. Weird, but luckily I was able to get the files out of Lr, and everything seems all better.
However, during the crash, I pulled out the external drive everything is stored without unmounting it. I know know that mac and programs really don't like that.
Now post crash, in my left nav, Lr is showing the same external drive twice. And now when I import, it goes to the second one.
What did I do and is it fixable?
Thank you very much. Image attached,
35,000 images so far, and Lr is very quick. Backing up my backups...
Lr 2.1
imac 3.06 Core 2 Duo 4 GB SDRAM
35,000 images so far in 1 catalog
Canon Gear

You described what you did!
You do have but one drive, and LR is seeing double, so to speak?
I suspect, though, that it's using different folders inside the "doubled version". Use LR to consolidate all images inside of one, then delete the 'other', after double checking there are no images inside of 'it'. This all after a complete backup.

Interactive guide to pick the right Home Theater System.

Maybe someone else already had the same question, but I would like to put this again, What about to had and interactive guide on the besbuy.com to pick the right system, for example we start with the receiver a/v then with the speakers system and the distance that we need to cover the mounts breakers and the correct wire and all the things that we need to do to have a professional installation, i know for sure that many people will prefer to Magnolia installed for them.....

Remember that Insignia is made by LG and it is the lower end product line of LG as well. The concept of "seperates" is always better in my opinion. The best part is you can "piece" it together as you can afford items. Don't go cheap or you will regret it down the road and want to upgrade anyways. If you don't know much about each item, Sony is always a good stand bye and also some top end stuff but for the upper end lines you will pay. Picking up Yamaha, Denon, HK, or even Onkyo stuff is decent and their lower end models will out perform some of the other companies upper end items.
Im guessing the wife wants the wireless speakers? Ever thought about a wired speaker and get creative about how to hide the wires?

Picking the right quoattion and the value should show in PO

Dear All,
When comparing quotations the CST and VAT applicable Suppliers where VAT may be Cenvatable or Not and CST is not Cenvatable .After maintaining comparision in quotations it has to pick the right supplier quotation depending on which condition type and should show in the PO as Non Deductable Tax.
It should differenciate with the Cenvatable amount and Non Cenvatable amount which should show in PO
Please suggest me which are all Condition types with Controal data should i Difine in my Pricing Procedure.
Thanks,
Tiru

Hi,
VAT and CST comes from Tax Procedure and depends on the Tax Code which you maintain in RFQ in ME41. You can see Taxes in ME47, select line item And click menu Item > More functions > Taxes
And once you finalise the quotation and go for PO creation w.r.t. RFQ, it copies the Tax Code automatically in PO. You can see "Taxes" under "Invoice" tab at item details level in PO.

Are you having problems with the Lacie external drive after upgrading to the new operating system

Are you having problems with the Lacie external drive after upgrading to OS X Mavericks?

See here for everyone discussing the issue you are having:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5475136?tstart=0

17" combo drive Intel iMac- is this the right external DVD drive to get?

Earlier in the week, I bought a refurbished 17” white Intel iMac from the Apple Store. It came without the Superdrive, only the combo drive.
As this will be a holiday gift for a niece with small kids, I thought being able to burn DVD’s using iDVD would be nice for her. I understand she can attach an external FW DVD drive to do this, and I just want to make sure to give her the right info for buying in case she wants it (she has someone that can put it together for her)-
DVD Drive: PIONEER DVR-112, from here, $32.90 (from ‘lakewoodlawnman’ in an earlier post) http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA36700&RSKU=AA36700
Enclosure (recommended in the same post, with instructions for assembly): ANYWARE ME-340U2F USB2.0 & FIREWIRE FOR 3.5" & 5.25" DEVICES EXTERNAL ALUMINUM ENCLOSURE $30.90
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=AA39270&CartID=done&nextloc=
Does this look okay? Do you think there will be any problems with it and the iMac 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo?
If you have any other suggestions, I’d appreciate it (these forums rock, btw!)
Thanks!

I own 2 Pioneer 110-Ds that work with iDVD and over at ripdifferent.com there are several people that use the drive and enclosure I suggested and it works with idvd for them.
One of the 110s is in the same enclosure.
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-110:
Firmware Revision: 1.41
Interconnect: FireWire
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2000 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No

I want to search an external hard drive but when I click on it and do a command F the darn highlight jumps right back to 'home computer'. How can I search the actual external drive?

This is extremely irritating and frustrating. I think someone said to click on the external drive's name and do a command F but that doesn't work.
I also need to know why Apple Mail rules aren't working. I have them set to 'any' the email of the spammer, and 'move to junk on my mac'. It will work on that specific email, but not on others from the same email address as they come in.
But mostly I need to find something in one of two external drives and I need it yesterday.
Thanks.

YAY! That did it.
Thank you so much.
And a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year to you!
bonnie

Picking the right SATA ports for Hard Drives.

With in a week I'll be puting together my new system, I'm currently buying and ordering parts now.
K8N NEO4 Platinum (Non SLI)
Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
Saphire/ATI x850XT
Enermax 24pin 535w PS
(4) Corsair 512Mb XMS DDR400
(1) Raptor 74GB 10000rpm SATA/150 (primary C: drive)
(1) Maxtor 300GB 7000rpm SATA/150
(2) WD 100Gb IDE drives
(1) Plextor DVD burner IDE
(1) Plextor CD burner IDE
My question: As you can see, I have two SATA devices and four IDE devices. I won't be using RAID.
Which two SATA ports should I use? I don't quite understand the differences. Maybe not a concern?
For the IDE bus, should I make the two hard drives primary on each IDE bus, and have the burners secondary?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!

I just built my machine using the K8N Neo4 Platinum myself.
I am using the first two Nvidia SATA ports (the purple colored). I think it is easier to connect your SATAs on there.
Make your optical drives on one IDE channel and your other 2 hard drives likewise. Make your DVD burner the Master and set your CD burner as a Slave. Same with your IDE hard drives. Set either/or WD to a master and the other to a slave.
Those are just my suggestions, as there are many different combinations to plug these IDE devices in. You are primarily looking for best performance since devices sharing an IDE cable won't get top performance (as in the Slave devices).

Using the same external drive with Time Machine on new mac?

I recently got a new mac because my old one broke. Thankfully, I had a fresh backup on Time Machine ready to restore onto my new computer. But when I try to use Time Machine with my new computer, it keeps wanting to do a whole new backup. It won't recognize the latest backup to only add new or changed files.
Here's a breakdown of my events:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
want to continue using the external drive with Time Machine from where I left off (only adding new files since the last backup) on my new computer
Time Machine wants to do a whole new backup
Question: How can I continue to use my existing external hard drive with Time Machine on my new computer, picking up where I left off (not a new, complete backup)?
My old computer was Snow Lepoard, my new one is Lion.

Bergers wrote:
new computer
restore Time Machine on new computer at install
That should have left a "trail" in your SystemMigration log, so Time Machine can figure out what happened and automatically "inherit" the old backups. But sometimes, obviously, that doesn't work.
Since it didn't, there's a chance you can do it manually. See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Am I correct that Quantum does not support the eSATA external drives?

I bought an eSATA external drive when they first became available and I get a huge amount of storage space (something like 120 hours of HD).
Can you mix and match your old DVR with the new Quantum DVR? In other words, could I keep my old one up in the bedroom or is quantum all or nothing?
The 6 channels at once thing is appealing - particularly during football season ... but going backwards on recording capacity is a dealkiller, regrettably.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

BigDaveVT wrote:
So I've renewed my FIOS contract. If/when the six-channel DVR starts supporting eSATA, I'll reconsider switching to it. If the port is on there, it's a shame that they're not enabling it. I guess that they want an upcharge for extra capacity rather than letting you buy it yourself.
The VMS boxes are in a sense using older firmware such as the guide being the older version then what the multi room boxes use right now which is why the ports arent enabled yet. I'm sure once they release a new firmware upgrade they will be enabled.

Picking the right external drives

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