Quorum disk question

What is the best practice for the quorum disk asignment in a dual-node cluster ?
1.Is there any benefit to have a dedicated quorum disk and if yes - what size should it be ?
2.The manual says: "Quorum devices can contain users data". Does it mean they can contain the NFS shared data in the NFS cluster? Is there a problem that the quorum device in this case will be under the volume manager (SVM or VxVM) control ?
TIA

Best practice is to use a disk that is actively used within the cluster as a quorum disk. This means that because data is frequently read from and written to the disk, any problems with the disk will be highlighted very quickly. That way a new QD can be nominated before the old disk fails and causes the entire cluster to fail if one node then goes down. (This would happen because the remaining node would not be able to gain majority).
A QD can be any shared disk with data on undere SVM or VxVM control or just on it's own.

Similar Messages

ASM quorum disk question

Hi,
Documentation says that the QUORUM disks does not contain any user data and the QUORUM disk are added as the failure groups to the disk groups? didnt find much on google as well.
Can any one please confirm
1. are the quorum disks created to contain the VOTING or OCRs (RAC)?
2. what data does the quorum disks contain. if it is not holding any user data?
3. use of quorum disks?
Thanks,
Vishnu P

855370 wrote:
Hi,
Documentation says that the QUORUM disks does not contain any user data and the QUORUM disk are added as the failure groups to the disk groups? didnt find much on google as well.
Can any one please confirm
1. are the quorum disks created to contain the VOTING or OCRs (RAC)?
2. what data does the quorum disks contain. if it is not holding any user data?
3. use of quorum disks?
Thanks,
Vishnu P
>Hi,
Documentation says that the QUORUM disks does not contain any user data and the QUORUM disk are added as the failure groups to the disk groups? didnt find much on google as well.
Can any one please confirm
1. are the quorum disks created to contain the VOTING or OCRs (RAC)?
2. what data does the quorum disks contain. if it is not holding any user data?
3. use of quorum disks?
Thanks,
Vishnu P
Back in the 1980 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), first created the VAX & then created the VAX Cluster.
When you had an even number of systems, you did not want each half to think they were a valid cluster (bifurcate).
In order to avoid this problem DEC added a Quorum Disk. A valid Cluster was 50% + 1 members.
In a two node RAC, you don't want each system independently decide it was the remaining cluster member
& not share changes with the other system.

Cluster Quorum Disk failing inside Guest cluster VMs in Hyper-V Cluster using Virtual Disk Sharing Windows Server 2012 R2

Hi, I'm having a problem in a VM Guest cluster using Windows Server 2012 R2 and virtual disk sharing enabled.
It's a SQL 2012 cluster, which has around 10 vhdx disks shared this way. all the VHDX files are inside LUNs on a SAN. These LUNs are presented to all clustered members of the Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V cluster, via Cluster Shared Volumes.
Yesterday happened a very strange problem, both the Quorum Disk and the DTC disks got the information completetly erased. The vhdx disks themselves where there, but the info inside was gone.
The SQL admin had to recreated both disks, but now we don't know if this issue was related to the virtualization platform or another event inside the cluster itself.
Right now I'm seen this errors on one of the VM Guest:
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering
Date: 3/4/2014 11:54:55 AM
Event ID: 1069
Task Category: Resource Control Manager
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: ServerDB02.domain.com
Description:
Cluster resource 'Quorum-HDD' of type 'Physical Disk' in clustered role 'Cluster Group' failed.
Based on the failure policies for the resource and role, the cluster service may try to bring the resource online on this node or move the group to another node of the cluster and then restart it. Check the resource and group state using Failover Cluster
Manager or the Get-ClusterResource Windows PowerShell cmdlet.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering" Guid="{BAF908EA-3421-4CA9-9B84-6689B8C6F85F}" />
<EventID>1069</EventID>
<Version>1</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>3</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-03-04T17:54:55.498842300Z" />
<EventRecordID>14140</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="1684" ThreadID="2180" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>ServerDB02.domain.com</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="ResourceName">Quorum-HDD</Data>
<Data Name="ResourceGroup">Cluster Group</Data>
<Data Name="ResTypeDll">Physical Disk</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering
Date: 3/4/2014 11:54:55 AM
Event ID: 1558
Task Category: Quorum Manager
Level: Warning
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: ServerDB02.domain.com
Description:
The cluster service detected a problem with the witness resource. The witness resource will be failed over to another node within the cluster in an attempt to reestablish access to cluster configuration data.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering" Guid="{BAF908EA-3421-4CA9-9B84-6689B8C6F85F}" />
<EventID>1558</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>42</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-03-04T17:54:55.498842300Z" />
<EventRecordID>14139</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="1684" ThreadID="2180" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>ServerDB02.domain.com</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="NodeName">ServerDB02</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
We don't know if this can happen again, what if this happens on disk with data?! We don't know if this is related to the virtual disk sharing technology or anything related to virtualization, but I'm asking here to find out if it is a possibility.
Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks.
Eduardo Rojas

Hi,
Please refer to the following link:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithmayer/archive/2013/03/21/virtual-machine-guest-clustering-with-windows-server-2012-become-a-virtualization-expert-in-20-days-part-14-of-20.aspx#.Ux172HnxtNA
Best Regards,
Vincent Wu
Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Failover Cluster Quorum Disk is fallen off the shared volume

Hi, we had a Cluster that was holding 40+ VMs and was originally setup with the building 1GB Ethernet adapter, we yesterday installed Qlogic 10 GB NIC teaming for both of the nodes and reconfigured the network on both nodes. However now the Quorum disk
is not a part of Cluster Shared Volume How can I add that disk back to the shared volum please?

Hi Riaz,
Add a quorum disk is easy so please let us know if there is any specific error occurs during the steps provided in following thread:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/0566ede4-55bb-4694-a134-104fac2a7052/replace-quorum-disk-on-failover-cluster-on-different-lun?forum=winserverClustering
If you have any feedback on our support, please send to [email protected]

Can't start cluster, 2 node 3.3 cluster lost 2 quorum disks

Hi,
I have a 2 node cluster 1 one iscsi quorum disk, I was in the middle of migrating the quorum device to another iscsu disk, when the servers lost contact with the disks(iscsi targe problem), so the 2 cluster nodes where left with no quorum, because of the 2 quorum devices 3 votes are needed, I only have 2 votes from the 2 cluster nodes.
iscsi disks are back online, but the cluster/quorum isn't able to get hold of them.
May 11 11:21:59 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 965873 kern.notice] NOTICE: CMM: Node vmcluster2 (nodeid = 1) with votecount = 1 added.
May 11 11:21:59 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 965873 kern.notice] NOTICE: CMM: Node vmcluster1 (nodeid = 2) with votecount = 1 added.
May 11 11:22:04 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 832830 kern.warning] WARNING: CMM: Open failed for quorum device /dev/did/rdsk/d1s2 with error 2.
May 11 11:22:10 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 832830 kern.warning] WARNING: CMM: Open failed for quorum device /dev/did/rdsk/d2s2 with error 2.
May 11 11:22:14 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 884114 kern.notice] NOTICE: clcomm: Adapter e1000g2 constructed
May 11 11:22:15 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 884114 kern.notice] NOTICE: clcomm: Adapter e1000g1 constructed
May 11 11:22:15 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 843983 kern.notice] NOTICE: CMM: Node vmcluster1: attempting to join cluster.
May 11 11:22:15 vmcluster1 e1000g: [ID 801725 kern.info] NOTICE: pci8086,100e - e1000g[2] : link up, 1000 Mbps, full duplex
May 11 11:22:16 vmcluster1 e1000g: [ID 801725 kern.info] NOTICE: pci8086,100e - e1000g[1] : link up, 1000 Mbps, full duplex
May 11 11:23:20 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 832830 kern.warning] WARNING: CMM: Open failed for quorum device /dev/did/rdsk/d1s2 with error 2.
May 11 11:23:25 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 832830 kern.warning] WARNING: CMM: Open failed for quorum device /dev/did/rdsk/d2s2 with error 2.
May 11 11:23:25 vmcluster1 genunix: [ID 980942 kern.notice] NOTICE: CMM: Cluster doesn't have operational quorum yet; waiting for quorum.
Looks like the server thinks the ID of the disks have changed:
[root@vmcluster1:/]# scdidadm -L (05-11 11:27)
1 vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t5d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d1
1 vmcluster2:/dev/rdsk/c3t5d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d1
2 vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t4d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d2
2 vmcluster2:/dev/rdsk/c3t4d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d2
3 vmcluster2:/dev/rdsk/c1t0d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d3
4 vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c1t0d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d4
5 vmcluster2:/dev/rdsk/c3t6d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d5
5 vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t6d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d5
6 vmcluster2:/dev/rdsk/c1t1d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d6
7 vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c1t1d0 /dev/did/rdsk/d7
[root@vmcluster1:/]# scdidadm -r (05-11 11:27)
scdidadm: Device ID "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t5d0" does not match physical device ID for "d1".
Warning: Device "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t5d0" might have been replaced.
scdidadm: Device ID "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t4d0" does not match physical device ID for "d2".
Warning: Device "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t4d0" might have been replaced.
scdidadm: Device ID "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t6d0" does not match physical device ID for "d5".
Warning: Device "vmcluster1:/dev/rdsk/c3t6d0" might have been replaced.
scdidadm: Could not save DID instance list to file.
scdidadm: File /etc/cluster/ccr/global/did_instances exists.
Disks are ok, and accesible from format
[root@vmcluster1:/]# echo | format (05-11 11:28)
Searching for disks...done
AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
0. c1t0d0 <DEFAULT cyl 8351 alt 2 hd 255 sec 63>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,2829@d/disk@0,0
1. c1t1d0 <DEFAULT cyl 1020 alt 2 hd 64 sec 32>
/pci@0,0/pci8086,2829@d/disk@1,0
2. c3t4d0 <IET-VIRTUAL-DISK-0-1.00GB>
/iscsi/[email protected]%3Astorage.lun10001,0
3. c3t5d0 <DEFAULT cyl 497 alt 2 hd 64 sec 32>
/iscsi/[email protected]%3Astorage.lun20001,1
4. c3t6d0 <DEFAULT cyl 496 alt 2 hd 64 sec 32>
/iscsi/[email protected]%3Astorage.lun30001,2
Is there a way to remove a quorum device without the cluster online?
Or is there another alternative?, try and fix the did problem ?
Thanks!

This is the primary reason that you have one and only one quorum device. There are many failure modes that result in your cluster not starting. Looks like your only option is to hand edit the CCR. If this is a production cluster, please log a service desk ticket for the full procedure. If it's just a development cluster and you are happy to take a risk, the basic outline is (IIRC):
1. Boot nodes into non-cluster mode
2. Edit /etc/cluster/ccr/global/infrastructure and either remove the cluster.quorum_devices.* entries or set the votecount to 0
3. cd /etc/cluster/ccr/global
4. Run /usr/cluster/lib/sc/ccradm replace -i infrastructure infrastructure
5. Reboot back into cluster mode
6. Add one new quorum disk
You may need to run one or more of:
# cldev refresh
# cldev check
# cldev clean
# cldev populate
to get the right DID entries between steps 5 and 6.
Tim
---

Sun cluster quorum disk

Hi,
I just want to know how to assign quorum disk under Sun cluster. Can I use LUN disk that is shared for both node as quorum disk and do I need to bring the disk first to vxvm control before using it as quorum disk? Appreciate any response/advise.
Thanks.

No you don't need to bring the disk into VXVM control.
First run scdidadm -L from either node. This will give you a list of shared disk devices. Find one that is shared between the nodes and note its DID. ie d21
scconf -a -q globaldev=d21
Once you have added a quorum disk you can set install mode to off.
scconf -c -q installmodeoff
I would also recommend reading this:
http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/816-3384/6m9lu6fig?q=sun+cluster+add+quorum+disk&a=view
Then reset you quorum count.
scconf -c -q reset

Adding quorum disk causing wasted space?

Hi,
Any idea whether this is a bug or an expected behavior?
Seeing this with ASM 11.2.0.4 and 12.1.0.4
Have a Normal redundancy disk group (FLASHDG22G below) with two disks of equal size. With no data on the disk group the Usable_file_MB is equal to the size of one disk, as expected.
But if I add a small quorum disk to the disk group, the Usable_file_MB decreases to 1/2 of the disk size. So, half of the capacity is lost.
Thoughts?
[grid@symcrac3 ~]$ asmcmd lsdsk -k
Total_MB Free_MB OS_MB Name        Failgroup Failgroup_Type Library Label UDID Product Redund   Path
   20980    20878 20980 SYMCRAC3_A FG1        REGULAR         System                         UNKNOWN /dev/symcrac3-a-22G
     953      951    953 QUORUMDISK FGQ        QUORUM          System                         UNKNOWN /dev/symcrac3-a-quorum
   20980    20878 20980 SYMCRAC4_A FG2        REGULAR         System                         UNKNOWN /dev/symcrac4-a-22G
[grid@symcrac3 ~]$ asmcmd lsdg
State    Type    Rebal Sector Block       AU Total_MB Free_MB Req_mir_free_MB Usable_file_MB Offline_disks Voting_files Name
MOUNTED NORMAL N         512   4096 1048576     42913    42707            20980           10388              0             N FLASHDG22G/

There are two separate issues:
1) ASMCMD silently fails to add quorum failure groups. Adds them, but as regular failure groups.
2) Even if a quorum failure group is added with SQLPlus, the space is still lost – I have just confirmed it. And it doesn’t matter whether I add a quorum disk to an existing group or create a new group with a quorum disk.
For #2 here is the likely source of the problem. Usable_File_MB = (FREE_MB – REQUIRED_MIRROR_FREE_MB ) / 2.
REQUIRED_MIRROR_FREE_MB is computed as follows (per ASM 12.1 user guide):
–Normal redundancy disk group with more than two failure groups
   The value is the total raw space for all of the disks in the largest failure group. The largest failure group is the one with the largest total raw capacity. For example, if each disk is in its own failure group, then the value would be the size of the largest capacity disk.
Instead, it should be "with more than two regular failure groups".
With just two failure groups it is not possible to restore full redundancy after one of them fails. So, REQUIRED_MIRROR_FREE_MB = 0 in this case.
Also REQUIRED_MIRROR_FREE_MB should remain 0 even when there are three failure groups if one of them is a quorum failure group. But the logic seems to be broken here.

Understanding Quorum Disk

We've got a simple 3-node Hyper-V cluster setup which initially passed the verify tool 100%. We created it, added the drives from the SAN, everything works great (including planned/unplanned fail-overs) BUT.... when we now re-verify the cluster we
get a quorum warning.
I understand that we can designate one of the disks on the SAN as a quorum disk, and if we do that warning goes away, but if we do that does that mean we cannot use that disk for actual storage of VMs?

We've got a simple 3-node Hyper-V cluster setup which initially passed the verify tool 100%. We created it, added the drives from the SAN, everything works great (including planned/unplanned fail-overs) BUT.... when we now re-verify the cluster we
get a quorum warning.
I understand that we can designate one of the disks on the SAN as a quorum disk, and if we do that warning goes away, but if we do that does that mean we cannot use that disk for actual storage of VMs?
With a 3 node cluster you can use "node majority" so everything should work fine w/o Quorum disk.
Right, you don't store any data on Quorum disk. Keep it for system (cluster voting) use.
For your reference see:
Understanding Quorum
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731739.aspx
Hope this helped a bit :)
StarWind VSAN [Virtual SAN] clusters Hyper-V without SAS, Fibre Channel, SMB 3.0 or iSCSI, uses Ethernet to mirror internally mounted SATA disks between hosts.

Quorum exam question

just been doing some revision from my 70-412 exam and i have a question. four servers, 2 in main branch and 2 in remote branch are part of a cluster. you are supposed to choose two option that will result in the cluster remaining available if two node from
the same site fail. knowing that best practice is to have either disk or file share majority, but the question doesnt say anything about a third site. so am i supposed to just put node majority and no majority disk only. it feels wrong some how. I guess i
know the answer but it just sucks having to go against everything you know thats supposed to be right. cant help feeling im wrong somehow....

But how can i use node majority when i need 50% + 1 for quorum and the the question says storage is replicated btwn main branch and the remote. can i use No majority disk only and node and file share??

Windows 2008 R2, converting to dynamic disk questions

Hello,
   I have a Windows 2008 R2 server and I want to convert the drive into a dynamic disk for mirroring. The disk currently is divided into two partitions. The C: partition which is System,Boot, Page File, etc. and the D: partition which
is data. The questions I have are:
    Can a disk with multiple partitions be created without data loss or anything?
    I know you have to reboot, but how long does it usually take to do the reboot/conversion before the server is back up?
    I want to mirror the drive to a 2nd identical disk in the server, and am planning to use Computer Management. Do I have to partition the second drive first, or will the process do it automatically?
    The server is a dedicated server that is provided by a hosting company, so I would be doing it through Remote Desktop. Can it be done that way?
Thanks.

Hi,
You can convert the drive into a dynamic disk within both local logon session and remote desktop session. The system requires reboot twice to make the conversion take into effect. You do not have to partition the second drive.
For more detailed information, please refer to the articles below:
Dynamic disks and volumes
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757696(v=ws.10).aspx
Create and test a mirrored system or boot volume
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738132(v=ws.10).aspx
Regards,
Mandy
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Toshiba Satellite L645D S4036 recovery disk question AND ASKING ADVISE

long story-LAPTOP DROPED,MONITOR CRACKED,WOULD NOT BOOT PROPERLY.I PURCHASED RECOVERY MEDIA FROM TOSHIBA.3RD DISK WOULD GIVE ERROR.I CALLED TOSHIBA,THEY TOLD ME BAD HARD DRIVE .I REPLACED AND LOADED RECOVERY DISC,SAME MESSAGE MISSING FILES OR CORRUPT.
I TRIED LOADING VISTA AND HAD IT WORKING SLOWLY-MISSING LAN DRIVER,SO I MANAGED TO SLIP IN NEW BIOS,WENT FROM 1.50 TO 2.20.THEN EVERY THING DISAPPEARED,VISTA STOP WORKING.
I NEED SOMEONE HELP IF YOU HAVE THETIME,MY STUBORNESS IS GETTING THE BEST OF ME.I AM ABOUT TO PURCHASE ANOTHER RECOVERY DISK AND SEE IF IT WILL WORK,BELIEVING THE OTHER RECOVERY WAS BAD.AND HOPING UPDATING BIOS WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM .THANKS

Satellite L650-07U (PSK1EC-07U00Q)
This site is for US computers. I doubt you'll get your questions for that Canadian model answered here.
There appear to be two recovery partitions. Maybe one for 32- and one for 64-bit Windows. Or maybe one is for English and the other for French.
Your User's Manual isn't much help either. You probably need to ask Toshiba tech support in Canada.
About all I have to offer is this: Be wary of drives with advanced-format technology. See my message about that.
-Jerry

Startup disk question/problem

Should the startup disk always be at the top of the list of disks upon startup? Or is it now the case, with 10.5 on a MacBook, that the internal disk is at the top of the list whether or not it is the startup disk?
Situation: New MacBook Mac OS 10.5.8, new Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD3200BEVT 320GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive in an external MacAlly SATA FW/USB case. I erased (formated) the external drive, and, using Restore in Disk Utility, made what I expected to be a clone of the MacBook's internal drive.
Problem: After repairing permissions, using Start Up Disk preferences I selected the new drive as the start up drive. Upon restart I get mixed signals as to which is the startup drive. The original (internal) drive is at the top of the list on the right of desktop but, in the Start Up Disk Preferences list, the new drive is highlighted. (Further: I am able, after right clicking on the internal disk, to select it, to eject it.)
Questions: Have I bought a drive that won't work as a start up drive or doesn't Disk Utility Restore in 10.5.8 create a bootable drive as in 10.4 or does the internal disk always show up at the top of the list on the desktop in 10.5.8? When I swap the drives, putting the new drive in the MacBook, will it boot?
This procedure for swapping new drives has always worked with my Macs thru Mac OS 10.4.11.

Check with Western Digital (the FAQs on their website) whether that hard drive is bootable on your Mac. Not all of them are.
Quote from a Western Digital FAQ:
While it may be possible to boot your computer to an external hard drive, Western Digital does not provide technical support for booting your computer using an external hard drive. If you intend to make a copy of your boot drive, or install your operating system, please use a second internal drive (EIDE or Serial ATA), rather than an external drive.
And their list of bootable drives:
The following external hard drives are bootable on Intel-based Macintosh computers systems through USB:
• My Book Essential Edition
• My Book Essential Edition 2.0
• My Book Home Edition
• My Book Mirror Edition
• My Book Office Edition
• My Book Premium Edition
• My Book Premium Edition II
• My Book Premium ES Edition
• My Book Pro Edition
• My Book Pro Edition II
• My Book Studio Edition
• My Book Studio Edition II
• My Passport Studio
The following external hard drives are bootable on Intel-based Macintosh computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b):
• My Book Home Edition
• My Book Mirror Edition
• My Book Office Edition
• My Book Premium Edition
• My Book Premium Edition II
• My Book Pro Edition
• My Book Pro Edition II
• My Book Studio Edition
• My Book Studio Edition II
• My Passport Studio
The following external hard drives are bootable on Power PC based Macintosh computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b):
• WD My Book Premium Edition
• WD My Book Pro Edition
The following external hard drives are not bootable on Power PC based Macintosh computers systems through USB/FireWire 1394(a/b):
• My Book Essential Edition
• My Book Essential Edition 2.0
• My Book Home Edition
• My Book Mirror Edition
• My Book Office Edition
• My Book Premium Edition II
• My Book Pro Edition II
• My Book Studio Edition
• My Book Studio Edition II
• My Passport Studio
• My Passport Elite
• My Passport Essential
• WD Passport
• WD Passport (Silver)
You will find a more up to date list on their website.

Dropped Frames in Viewer, and Hard Disk Questions

Hi,
I'm new to FCE (v3.5.1) having just upgraded from iMovie. I'm on a 2GHz Core Duo MacBook with 2GB RAM. I have a 120GB internal drive that has 16GB free. In my initial use of FCE, I've run into two problems.
(1) I'm finding that frames are regularly dropped during playback in the Viewer - as much as half the time. The same video clips playback flawlessly in iMovie and in Quicktime. These frames are on my MacBook's internal hard disk and are each roughly a minute in length.
I should note that these clips were exported from iMovie (I copied them out of an iMovie project file / package). Might this be causing the problem?
(2) Also, I'm finding that the audio playback of these clips (that were copied from the iMovie package) is okay in the Viewer but not in the Canvas (I hear beeping) -- I found mention that the audio format of iMovie and FCE are different, so I expect I need to reimport these clips anyway. Is there an easy way around this?
(3) I know I said two problems, but number 3 is a question, not a problem! Given my hardware setup described above, should I be able to get away with working with the clips located on an external Firewire hard disk? Or should I only work with clips located on my internal drive. Similarly, can I effectively work with a scratch disk that is external FW, or should I keep that on my internal drive?
Thanks in advance,
Tim

(1) I'm finding that frames are regularly dropped during playback in the Viewer - as much as half the time. The same video clips playback flawlessly in iMovie and in Quicktime. These frames are on my MacBook's internal hard disk and are each roughly a minute in length.
Need to know info more about the clips from iMovie.
Clips coming into FCE need to match the Sequence settings. This is set up before a Project begins using the Easy Setups. My guess is there is a mis-match.
2) Also, I'm finding that the audio playback of these clips (that were copied from the iMovie package) is okay in the Viewer but not in the Canvas (I hear beeping) -- I found mention that the audio format of iMovie and FCE are different, so I expect I need to reimport these clips anyway. Is there an easy way around this?
The work around is to render, Command+R or Sequence>Render All from the menu.
iMovie uses DV Stream and is a multiplexed format whereas FCE uses DV. The QuickTime files that FCE likes has the audio seperate from the video allowing them to be edited with or without the video.
3) I know I said two problems, but number 3 is a question, not a problem! Given my hardware setup described above, should I be able to get away with working with the clips located on an external Firewire hard disk? Or should I only work with clips located on my internal drive. Similarly, can I effectively work with a scratch disk that is external FW, or should I keep that on my internal drive?
Using FCE an External firewire is a much better option than your internal.
Search this forum for Canon/LaCie, most users get in strife with this combo. Most other stuff seems fine.
Before unloading $$ it's always best to do a bit of checking around.
Al

"Clean up hard disk" question.

i am working through windows vista, step by step manual. i have a question about system and maintenance > administration tools > free up disk space (also called "disc cleanup").
i wish to cleanup my hard drive to free up space and improve performance using this feature.
i am at the diologue box where you check the files you no longer need, or where not deleted upon a programs conclusion.
anyway, i want to check one box for "temporary files" that amount to 8 gigabytes of memory.
how do you know if it is safe to do this?
could i be deleting something important?
should i just leave it be?
i consulted windows vista help on this, and it said you can safely delete temporary files that have not been modified in over a week.
however, i see no listing of dates in the diologe/check box page.
any ideas anyone?

Hello,
The TechNet Sandbox forum is designed for users to try out the new forums functionality. Please be respectful of others, and do not expect replies to questions asked here.
Since your post is off-topic, I am moving it to the
off topic forum.
Karl
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Photoshop scratch disk question

Hi All,
I do a lot of work with photoshop elements, and currently have an external drive with a 2GB partion as my scratch disk - connected via firewire.
However I am beginning to find this set up a little annoying as it means I am stuck to one location unable to move when using photoshop.
I was thinking about partioning the internal hard drive on my PB instead and so having the scratch disk available wherever and also the transfer speed would be by the Gb instead of 400Mb. (am I right?)
Is it a good idea to partion a hard drive on a portable? is it worth all the hassle of reinstalling and also has anyone had any problems after partioning? like battery life decreasing?
Thanks in advance,
Naj

you seem have to put this question in the software session but fine. well, actually, you don't need to specifically partition you drive for photoshop and just let it choose your start-up disk or other connected drive you choose. but, for external drive, you have to connect while you start up you system. if not, your ps will always switch back to your start-up disk when you start your ps.

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