USB Hard Drive & Docking Question

I need an easy way to dock two MacBook airs. They will be used separately, but I am hoping to use the same monitor, keyboard, and hard drive.
Is there a way to dock a hard drive, so that when unplugging the dock, there is not the unmounting error? I have little kids, and they will not know how to manually unmount a drive prior to unplugging the USB.
Would I need a powered USB dock? (Or would I need a powered HD?) Would that keep the HD running, so no data loss and no error message?
Or is it inevitable that you must always unmount every time?
Joel

Even if the drives are formatted HFS+, the Windows will be able to read them. The AEBS reads the disk using the proper format and presents the data so that the Windows computers never know the actual drive format.

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USB Hard Drives & RAM Question

Hi,
I've been trying to use this IDE-USB hard drive casing with my macbook, but it doesn't seem to work well. The situation has improved a lot since the firmware upgrade, but its not completely resolved. Other cases seem to work just fine.
Funny thing is, that particular hdd case works perfectly fine on my old toshiba laptop, and on my desktop. If my primitive, comparatively cheap PC's can run it, why can't my expensive MacBook? Is there a way to fix this bug?
And has the 4GB RAM issue been resolved? Can I upgrade my MacBook without having it crash on me?
I really want Apple to take a look into this. Instead of trying so hard to diss PC's, Apple should actually look at their own products. I know its not a big deal, but its just ironic because Apple makes such a big deal about their stuff being so great. Phhh.
Message was edited by: dac90

I bought it from a local shop, sorry can't really give you a link. But its similar to the ones you get on ebay. Just so you know, the casing isn't the problem - like I said, I've tried it on other computers.
I know I can always buy a new casing, but I need Apple to know that the USB has its issues. I mean - a premium notebook like this should be able to handle everything shouldn't it?
I don't see why OS X should be a problem - I've tried the same casing with different hard disks. So its most definitely a hardware compatibilty issue - particularly considering that the situation HAS improved since the EFI upgrade.

Uber-Noob Question about automounting USB hard drives

First, let me say I'm not just new to Arch, but new to Linux as well. Been playing with it off & on for years, but mostly 'off'. In the last 3 weeks I've installed 10-12 different distros between my 2 home PC's and VMware on my laptop. I've installed Arch probably 5 times now, and have got the process down pretty good. I've probably learned more about linux from installing and configuring Arch than any other distro, book, web site, etc. So now I've got it up and running again in VMware on an Ubuntu 7.10 install on my old pc. I've got gnome working, sound is fine, samba is fine, really no problems. Except mounting USB drives. I've read several posts here and the wiki, but nothing seems to be clear really.
I think it may be a problem in the VM environment, but I want to be sure. I'm planning to replace my Sidux install on my main PC with Arch later today or tomorrow. Assuming I get it installed, and get gnome installed, will the gnome volume manager work like it does in other distros? I don't mind doing the config by hand, but I do a lot with USB flash drives and USB hard drives, and it seems like it just doesn't work very well in Arch. I actually replaced my ubuntu install last week with Arch, but got tired of trying to access my music on my USB drive, never could get it to mount. So I just re-installed Ubuntu (shame on me, I know).
So any help in getting some understanding in what needs to be done would be greatly appreciated. (forgot to mention, I did follow the wiki steps for autofs, as well as the usb drive wiki stuff).
Thanks.

it's all working fine now, the problem was in the VM. I installed Arch on my main PC, and except for being an idiot, all went well. My USB drives automount in gnome, as does my CD. Haven't tried the ipods yet, but I'm sure there won't be a problem. Key for me: add my user to the storage group and reboot (logging off would of done the trick too I'm guessing). Had the same problem with setting up X, needed to reboot and all was well. Great distro, a helluva lot of fun to install and configure, and I've only done so little:)

How to restore machine using a TM backup on a usb hard drive from older imac to a brand new iMac?

My imac (the one that had a superdrive in it), had a broken superdrive and was sent for repair. Whilst being "repaired" the screen was broken. I now have a brand new imac albeit without a dvd drive. My question is how to I restore my the old TM back up which had been made to an external usb hard drive to the new imac. Help files say that I should not restore from a TM file to a different machine and that I should use migration assistant. Whilst I can see the external usb drive in TM it is not being recognised in Migration assistant when I click on back up from a TM backup on another machine or disk.
Any ideas?
Just noticed that this new machine is running OSX 10.8.4 the broken imac was on mavericks

This is very simple first run Software Update on the new machine and get your machine upgraded to the most recent version of Mountain Lion 10.8.5. Install all other software updates Apple recommends in Software Update. Then care fully read Pondini's guide on using Migration Assistant located at:
http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html
Your migrated data will be in a new account, to access it log into the new account.
Also DO NOT repeat DO NOTuse Wi-Fi to migrate data, if your TM backup drive uses USB, then connect it via USB and follow the on-screen instructions as described in Pondini's guide.

Partitioning and Formatting USB Hard Drive

I'm using a FreeAgent USB hard drive on my system, but placed a lot of files on it before realizing that Mac can't write to an NTFS file system. I've got about 35 GB of files on a 250GB drive. So, two questions:
1. Is there something I can use to partition the drive and format part of it to FAT32 and part of it to the Mac format (realizing that I won't be able to read the Mac formatted partition in Windows).
2. Is it possible to partition the drive without removing the files that are now on it and reformatting (obviously leaving part of it as NTFS)?
I'll probably be able to do 1, but just thought I'd ask about 2 for information purposes.
Thanks,

I suppose I could just format it FAT, but I have some vague notion that the Mac format will work better with the Mac OS, especially for backing up. I'd primarily use the Mac partition for backup, and for storage of video files that just take up too much space on the MacBook internal HD. Don't know how realistic that is, and I'm also not sure which backup program would be best suited. I'm pretty new to the Mac environment, and am not even all that sure whether to keep the *.dmg files that I've used to install several programs that I purchased for the Mac.

Airport Extreme + shared USB hard drive // Mac + PC Access

We are getting ready to purchase an Airport Extreme for our home network. Here's what we are working with:
1) Airport Extreme
2) MacBook
3) MacMini
4) PC
5) TBD USB hard drive that will be connected to AirPort Extreme *for use as shared hard drive*
From the Apple website, regarding the Airport Extreme "Hard Drive Sharing":
+How does it work? Just connect the external hard drive to the USB port on the back of your AirPort Extreme and — voilà — all the documents, videos, photos, and other files on the drive instantly become available to anyone on the secure network, Mac and PC users alike. It’s perfect for file sharing, collaborative projects, and more.+
Can anyone recommend a specific brand and model USB hard drive that they have experience with in this scenario that was/is used as a shared drive that is accessible from both Macs and PCs?
I ask this question because I have a WD external hard drive that did not play nice - it was either PC or Mac, not both.
Thanks

I have 1-4 and a Seagate FreeAgent Desk drive (not an endorsement, just answering your question), and can access the drive from all of 2-4. How you format the drive and/or what files you store on the drive will affect your ability to access/use those files on the drive from Mac/PC. For example, I can't use my iTunes library stored on the drive from the PC, as it's formatted for Mac. Honestly, I never have accessed the drive from my PC until you asked this question, but it worked!

USB Hard Drive with Time Machine/Time Capsule

Does a USB hard drive connected to a Time Machine volume or a Time Capsule become an extension of that volume for Time Machine's purposes, or does it become just a place to
copy what's already on the TM/TC, or both?
And if both, I hope that user procedures for choosing the option I
want to use is simple and foolproof.

fanboy512 wrote:
A USB hard drive if formatted correctly can be used as another source of Time Machine backup destination..or can be used as a networked HD but is not an extension of the the Time Capsule per say.
Message was edited by: fanboy512
I am sorry. I do not understand.
In a Time Machine (without Time Capsule) scenario, I would have Time Machine working with an external hard drive connected via FireWire 800. So, with a USB drive connected to the FireWire drive, would I then see two volumes? Or only one?
In a Time Capsule scenario, with a second USB drive connected to to the back of the Time Capsule, you say it becomes a networked HD. I have four questions.
What good is a networked HD to me?
I cannot use the second USB drive to make the Time Capsule volume bigger - True?/False?
I cannot use the second USB drive to make a backup copy of the Time Capsule volume - True?/False?
To backup the Time Capsule volume, I could simply do a Desktop copy/drag to an external FireWire hard drive - True?/False?
By the way, one objective is to first buy a 500 GB Time Capsule and then find a way to get more capacity later in time if I need it.

USB hard drive is not recognized on MBP running Lion

Hello,
I have:
- Freecom ToughDrive Pro USB hard drive
- New MBP running Lion 10.7.3
When I plug the disk in an USB port in the MBP, the light that indicates operation starts blinking but very lighltly colored and the disk is not recognized by the computer. I have put data on it using iMac Snow Leopard. I have plugged the disk into a MBP running Snow Leopard and it works. I have also tried another Lion (older MBP) and it also works.
What is wrong? How come the disk is not mounted or shown in Disk Utility. Can it be a power issue? Any ideas?
I have noticed there a lot of similar posts in the forum and none has been satisfactorily solved. Is this a mayor Lion bug? If yes, how can I downgrade to Snow Leopard?

dafnedr wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
However... how is it possible that with all other MBPs I have tried it works just fine? Has Apple lowered the power levels in recent models? The other MBP where I have tried the disk on are just over a year old, my current one is only a month old.
Are you saying that USB ports on different Apple computers are supplying different levels of power? That's psychotic! It should be a standard power level... or it should go up on newer models... not down!!!
I think I'm just gonna return this piece of scrape and get my old (one year old) MBP back... Snow Leopard was bliss compared to this... I rather go back than have to jump to a store to buy a cable to make something work that should work by default.
On the one Mac it does not work on that Mac does not put out enough power to fully power the drive. If it works on other Mac's we know that the drive works, so that question is answered. And it doesn't work on your newest Mac then there can only one answer, Not Enough Power is being put out by the USB port to fully power it.
Yes the one Mac that it is not working on has a lower USB power output. Why, I have no idea.
This is Very Common you can find posts about it on all notebook forums. Psychotic, No. Yes Mac is touted as "It Just Works" which is a flat out LIE.
Do what you think is best for you. Good Luck

How to i get my usb hard drive to auto show on desk top

Hi
I have a small business and so multiple macs with 1 single external hard drive for storage
One of the Macs automatically connects to the USB hard drive when the mac starts up in a morning, whereas with the others you have to search for the shared drive and manually connect to it.
We have now changed to a new hard drive and would like all the Macs to automatically link in the morning and so wondered how this is done. Also the older mac is now still looking for the old drive and I cant stop it!
Hope this makes sense?
Hope someone can help
Cheers
Michael

You need to find the IP of that drive.
If they in fact do show up on the Desktop, then create a new Folder maybe named Shares on/in the Desktop, drag all those Shares shown on the Desktop to that Folder, drag that Folder to the right side of the Dock between Applications & Trash, this should give you a popup menu to select from.:-)
Mount that Share once, then once the Globe Icon shows up on the Desktop, drag that Globe Icon to the right side of the Dock between Applications & Trash. You now have a Dynamic Mount, a quick click on the Icon in the Dock will connect you.

CPU is very hot when using Thunderbolt display and mac attached USB hard drive for TimeMachine

Hello,
i've bought the new MacBook Pro 15" and a Thunderbolt display. Everything works fine for me due to the latest updates, but i experience an issue which i really don't understand. When i connect an usb hard drive for TimeMachine to my display it works like expected (CPU has a temperature of 64°C), but when i connect it to an usb port of the mac while using my display the CPU temperature goes crazy (spikes about 80°C) and it gets very noisy. Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?
May this has something to do with the dual graphics adapter and how the system handles the data stream to thunderbold ports and usb devices? Which graphics card is used for the external display, the internal gpu or the adapter from ati? I've googled a lot but haven't found appropriet answers about these questions.

Hi there ulairi9!
I understand how this would be a frustrating issue! I have an article here that can provide some troubleshooting steps for you, and can hopefully help you resolve the issue. That article specifically addresses the issue you are experiencing, and can be found here:
AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule: External USB drive becomes inaccessible
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3271
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!
Cheers,
Braden

USB hard drives S

Hi guys,
My iMac only has one FireWire port (800) and this is being taken up by my audio interface (RME FF400)
My question is, will a USB hard drive be fast enough to record audio? I'm recording a maximum of 6 to 10 tracks at the same time .
Any information you guys can provide would be great, also any brands you guys have used and can recommend.
Thanks a lot
John

No need to bother with USB. You can easily daisychain the audio interface and hard drive on the same FireWire port and it performs fine. Also, to be perfectly honest, you could easily use the internal drive to do this amount of tracking.

What packages to install, and how to install in an USB hard drive

Hello.
Well, as I said in another thread, I want to install in an USB hard drive. But I don't know how, because it hasn't graphical installer, but text installer. I tried in a virtual machine, and it was fine, but when I want to start it, an error appears, "Was not found a bootable system" or something. Maybe a VM is not as a computer, but... well. I didn't change anything while I was installing GRUB, and I know that I've to install it in /dev/sdb.
And I want to know too, what packages to install and what packages don't (the ones which are neither "base" nor "base-devel"). But I'll install sudo, links and ndiswrapper (for wifi).
Thanks, and excuse me if my English is bad.

Gotta use the wiki my friend and this one is even translated into Spanish:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … C3%B1ol%29
As to your question about which packages you'll need beyond those in base and base-devel - that depends on what you want on your system... no one can answer that but you!
Welcome to Arch.
Last edited by graysky (2011-01-01 19:50:46)

Does Time Capsule hard drive sleep? Do USB hard drives connected sleep?

Hello - I have an AEBS (1st generation) with a NewerTech miniStack connected to it. The miniStack never sleeps, even after applying the new firmware and software yesterday.
So now I am thinking about buying a Time Capsule, but have questions about hard drive sleeping.
2 questions:
1. Does the Time Capsule internal hard drive ever sleep?
2. Does an external USB hard drive connected to a Time Capsule ever sleep?
Thanks in advance.

Check out:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6862728#6862728
I'm using an AEB gigabit with G-Drive Q500

I put my macbook to sleep and unplugged my external USB hard drive, now It

does not show up on the desktop and can not be verified in Disk Utility. This is my first mac but have been running linux for a while now. Any help would be appreciated.

rustytiger wrote:
I put my macbook to sleep and unplugged my external USB hard drive, now it
does not show up on the desktop and can not be verified in Disk Utility. This is my first mac but have been running linux for a while now. Any help would be appreciated.
Well I hate to ask the silly question here but... did you plug the external hard drive back in?

External USB Hard Drive disconnects during large file transfers.

I have a Western Digital 2TB USB Hard Drive that Ive been using perfectly for a couple of years on my MacBook Pro. A couple of months ago I bought a 27inch iMac and started using it as my main computer. So I had that hard drive connected to my iMac.
I started to notice that during large transfers (be it many files or 1 big one), usually into the Gigs, I suddenly got a warning message saying that the Hard Drive was inappropriately disconnected. It doesnt appear in Disk Utility so I have to manually connect and disconnect the drive in order for it to show up again on the iMac. I tested it again on my MacBook and the same thing happened.
Another problem:
Sometimes it will dissappear from the iMac without a warning message, it just doesnt show up. (Usually after long periods of inactivity). I then have to manually disconnect and connect for it to show up.
So what do you think? Is my Hard Drive Dying?

I've been having similar problems with Lion on both external USB2 drive docks and more recently a Mediasonic 4 bay Firewire RAID drive. It was suggested that powersaving mode shut these down but changing that didn't completely solve the problem. I'm returning the Mediasonic for a replacement but suspect that it is something in the OS that is causing it.
If the replaced drive still causes the problem, I'll do a rebuilt of the system, eliminating apps that were migrated over, even though the system is only 5 months old. If anyone has solved similar issues, please let me know as well. Thanks.

USB Hard Drive & Docking Question

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