Using iMovie with external USB 2.0 drive

I use iMovie on a 2-year old MacBook Pro. The MacBok Pro has Firewire 800 and but only USB 2.0. I've been using an external Firewire drive with it for storing my movies. Now it is full and I need to get another external drive. However all the new drives I've seen are only USB.
My question: Will it be a problem to use iMovie using USB 2.0? (The new drives are all USB 3.0, but the computer is only 2.0). Will I be able to edit movies that are on the extenal drive? Or will I need to store the "in-progress" movies on the computer, and then move them to the external drive when I'm done with them.
And when I ask "will I be able to" I mean doing it without seeing endless beachballs...
Thanks!
Dan

There are plenty of firewire drives available. This is one of the best:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

Similar Messages

Using Final Cut with external USB 2.0 drive

I use Final Cut Studio on a 2-year old MacBook Pro. The MacBok Pro has Firewire 800 and but only USB 2.0. I've been using an external Firewire drive with it for storing my movies. Now it is full and I need to get another external drive. However the new drives I've seen tend to be only USB.
My question: Will it be a problem to use Final Cut using USB 2.0? (The new drives are USB 3.0, but the computer is only 2.0). Will I be able to edit movies that are on the extenal drive? Or will I need to store the "in-progress" movies on the computer, and then move them to the external drive when I'm done with them.
And when I ask "will I be able to" I mean doing it without seeing endless beachballs...
(Also, if the response is "get another FW drive," then any suggestions as to which one?)
Thanks!
Dan

DanK wrote:
Let me make sure I understand this: If I store completed movies on the USB drive, I should have no problem viewing them, as long as I have no other external USB devices connected to the MacBook.
You can use the USB drive for archiving projects but as said before you shouldn't edit with one. While the nominal maximum speed for USB 2 and FW400 is not that far apart the two protocols work differently. USB 2 achieves the max speed in "bursts" which is not what you want for video.
DanK wrote:
However for editing movies, I should have them on either the FW drive or on the computer itself.
Is that correct? Will it work to edit movies on the FW-400 drive, or should they be on the computer itself?
While you can have the project file itself on your system drive, all the media files should be on external drives. This way your system drive gets to run the software and the external keeps the media and renders.
DanK wrote:
And if I get a new FW-800 drive, will I be able to edit movies stored on that (i.e. will I see a difference between FW-400 and FW-800?)
FW800 is definitely faster. See a comparison here: http://www.barefeats.com/hard70.html

Bluescreen on windows startup with external usb 3.0 drive

Hi Community,
I recently bought an internal SATA III ssd and a SATA to usb 3.0 adapter, so i can use it as an external drive.
I want to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit on that drive, so I can boot from my iMac.
I used this step by step guide: http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.fr/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.h tml
The steps to create the partitions and apply the installation image all worked very well, but when i plug in the usb drive and select the windows installation after holding [ALT] on startup, the windows logo animation starts and after 2 seconds a bluescreen appears and the iMac restarts using MacOSX .
My specs:
iMac 27inch, Late 2012
3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB
The windows 7 installation i want to deploy is 64bits and the PC i used for this is 64bits windows 7 too.
SSD is 250GB Samsung 840 series
Any idea how to fix this?
Thanks ,
user9to7

[UPDATE]:
I tried to boot it from a windows 7 64bit PC. It also crashed there in exactly the same way.
So i think you'll probably need more information about how I installed windows 7:
1) Create 2 partitions: FAT32(350MB, active) and NTFS(remaining disk space)
2) Apply Windows 7 install.wim to partition using x86 version of imagex.exe in WaikTools.
3) Install boot manager with bcdboot on FAT32 partition
4) Done.
But what did I do wrong?
Thanks ,
user9to7

Seagate Backup Plus Slim External USB 3 Hard Drive Not Working with Mac Pro

Hi, I have just purchased a brand new Mac Pro. I have three 2 TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim External USB 3 hard drives that just don't jive with the new Mac Pro's. When the drive is connected, I cannot access the drive, read/write or even format. Finder completely locks up and the drive cannot even be force ejected. When I try to format, Disk Utility either spits out an error that the drive cannot be read, or simply locks up. This happens regardless of the OS on the Mac Pro. I am currently running 10.10.2
I have ruled out an issues with the drives, as I have tested all of them on a variety of systems and OS's, including Power Mac, Mac Book Pro, PC, OS 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 as well as on Windows. I have tried formatting in every file system including Mac OS Extended, Mac OS Extended (Journaled), NTFS and exFAT. ALL other systems have no issues with the drives. Apple has replaced my Mac Pro with a brand new one and the drives still behave the same way. Furthermore, I have tested the drives on three other Mac Pro's at work and they all reject the drives. So, on their own, there is nothing wrong with the Mac Pro, or the drives. However, the configuration of them together is wreaking havoc.
I have contacted Seagate, and this was their response:
The most recent version of the Backup Plus drives use the USB Attached SCSI (UAS) standard to increase transfer rates. It's possible that the drivers being used currently on your Mac Pro are having issues using this feature with the standard USB 3.0 drivers installed. I would recommend contacting Apple to check for any driver updates or see if they any suggestions for issues involving drives using UAS.
I have also started a case with Apple Support (Case # 755934373) and am waiting to hear back regarding Seagate's response. I've spent DAYS trying to troubleshoot this and am now at a complete loss. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears (or eyes in this case).
Thanks!

Hi danielsh6,
I recently bought the new Lacie Thunderbolt 2 D2 3TB and I had the same problem as you, i have a macbook pro early 2011, those support thunderbolt but many times there is a bug that doesn't let you connect any thunderbolt drives to your computer. The solution I found was installing this update:
Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.0
Before doing this I would recommend you updating to mountain lion (not yosemite yet as there is still some glitches and more on preview's macbook pro's).
Hope this helped!
Forest

Have new12 mini have added 16Gb ram and 2 500Gb momentus xt's. Want to set them up as stipped 0. i have a 3rd 2Gb external usb 3.0 drive that i could use to mirror the striped 0. how do i install the os after i set up striped 0?

i am guessing that i clone the main drive off to an external drive setup the striped 0 then clone it back. Also, do you think it would slow things down to have the 3rd external drive mirror as a backup to the striped 0. I have a time machine that is backing up the mini so i may not even need the external usb 3/0 drive for backup just use the time machine. Don't know if it would be more efficient to do a backup from the attached backup drive as apposed to using the time machine. if i end up using the attached drive as backup i will probably remove the mini from being backed up by the time machine.

Ok i have it figured out. its simple and straight forward. clone (carbon copy cloner) the main drive to an external drive. Set the two drives as a stiped 0 raid. Then clone the external back. Let Time Machine do backups. Set back and let her fly.

Arch: Install to & run from External USB Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

I wanted to play with ArchLinux 2009.02, but replacing the existing Debian-Lenny on the laptop's HDD wasn't an option. So I experimented with installing Arch on an external USB Hard Disk Drive.
I have tried to make this "newbie-friendly", so I hope the more experienced will forgive the detail.
Materials:
Three year old Dell Inspiron 6000
CPU = 2.0 GHz Pentium
RAM = 2.0 GB
Internal HDD = 80 GB
Internal CD/DVD R/RW
External USB HDD = Freecom FHD-2 Pro 80 GB
Archlinux 2009.02 install CD
Steps to install:
1. I put the Archlinux install CD in the drive and connected the external 80 GB HDD in the USB port.
2. When the Dell laptop was booted, I pressed F2 to enter the BIOS setup. I edited the boot sequence to the following:
Internal CD/DVD
External USB device
Internal HDD
On the Dell, you can also press F12 to select the preferred boot device for that boot.
3. I started the laptop and the Archlinux installation menu came up and I proceeded with installation following the "Official Arch Linux Install Guide" and the "Beginners Guide".
4. Used km to change to UK keyboard layout and then began the installer script (/arch/setup). I was installing from the core CD so I skipped the network steps.
5. HDD preparation.
This was fairly straightforward with two cautions:
(a) Make very sure that the external HDD (sdb) is selected for the operations.
(b) Remember to set the Bootable Flag for the first (/) partition on the HDD.
I chose 20 GB for /, 2 GB for swap and the remainder for /home.
6. The package selection and installation was fairly straightforward.
7. Configuration of System
This was section was straightforward with one warning:
USB had to be added to the HOOKS in the /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file!
I found this to be essential for my external USB HDD to function as a bootable device. Otherwise I got the same sorts of errors relating to unrecognisable file system types that other people have reported in the forum.
The relevant line from the end of the edited /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file is below:
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
8. Installation of GRUB was the other point where caution and/or correction was necessary.
When it asked where GRUB should be installed, I had to select sdb (my external USB HDD) and not any of the particular partitions on sdb. If the root partition sdb1 was selected then the laptop won't boot from the external USB HDD.
The GRUB /boot/grub/menu.lst as written by the installation routine specifies hd(1,0) which doesn't work when you try to reboot from the external USB HDD. When you boot Arch from the external USB HDD, as far as Arch is concerned - at that point in time - the external USB HDD is the first drive in the system. To fix this:
(a) When the Arch boot menu comes up, press e to edit the grub entries.
(b) Change the first line to hd(0,0)
(c) To the end of the kernel line add rootdelay=8
(d) Press b to boot the system with these temporary corrections.
(e) Once your Arch system has booted, edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst to make the above changes permanent.
The relevant portion of my /boot/grub/menu.lst looks like the following:
# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img
9. The laptop happily and consistently boots Arch Linux from the external USB HDD when it's plugged in before startup/booting.
Running Arch from the external USB HDD seems as quick as running Debian from the internal HDD.
So if there is a performance penalty associated with using an external USB HDD, my wife and I haven't noticed.
In summary, the three essential points to address during installation to an external USB HDD are:
Remember to set the bootable flag for the first partition.
Add USB to the HOOKS for /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file.
Correct the /etc/grub/menu.lst file.
I hope this is helpful.
Ted

Hi Rookie,
As you say, it is worth remembering the rootfstype= option for the kernel line just in case someone still has problems with GRUB after making all the other changes.
I was working with the most recent Arch 2009.2 release.
I only got messages about unrecognisable file system type when I tried booting with the "stock" or "as-installed" GRUB (before I edited /boot/grub/menu.lst). After editing /boot/grub/menu.lst to identify the drive correctly and add rootdelay, GRUB was able to do the rest and everything worked OK without any error messages.
Best wishes,
Ted

[Solved] External USB 3.0 drive not seen under /dev/sd*

Ok, thought this would be easy but for some reason I cant get arch to see the physical drive. Its a new Seagate 2TB external USB 3.0 drive. I connected it to a windows laptop and it was quickly recognized (ntfs). I then installed ntfs-3g but still cant see it. I then formatted it under windows as ext4, but its still not seen. I tried this with 2 arch PC's, both the same issue. I seen a few other posts and tried a few things like making sure the mod xhci_hcd was running. I have the latest updates on each system. fdisk -l does not show the device at all! I can see and boot to other USB devices fine just not this one, maybe since its USB3.0??
I noticed here, they talk about maybe USB3 is broke in the new kernels, after 3.10.2 maybe?
Similar issue: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=126299
Possible bug: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/36296
However, I would think that by now, this would have been fixed as USB3.0 is more common? Other than trying to find a OLD 3.10.2 kernel any other advice?
dmesg:
[47653.187708] usb 6-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[48258.419876] r8169 0000:02:00.0 enp2s0: link down
[48435.623148] usb 6-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
[48697.691980] usb 6-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[48938.171094] usb 6-1: USB disconnect, device number 3
[48975.057438] r8169 0000:02:00.0 enp2s0: link up
uname -a
Linux 3.15.7-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jul 28 20:06:17 CEST 2014 x86_64 GNU/Linux
lsusb: (Seagate USB)
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 003: ID 046d:c50e Logitech, Inc. Cordless Mouse Receiver
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 046d:082d Logitech, Inc. HD Pro Webcam C920
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 004: ID 0bc2:ab20 Seagate RSS LLC
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 05af:8366 Jing-Mold Enterprise Co., Ltd
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 013 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 012 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 011 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
lsmod:
Module Size Used by
uvcvideo 74983 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 3368 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 2239 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core 30407 1 uvcvideo
snd_usb_audio 131860 0
videodev 123032 2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
snd_usbmidi_lib 21428 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_rawmidi 20278 1 snd_usbmidi_lib
media 12611 2 uvcvideo,videodev
snd_seq_device 5244 1 snd_rawmidi
mousedev 10912 0
evdev 11784 8
mac_hid 3273 0
kvm_amd 52987 0
kvm 408583 1 kvm_amd
microcode 17157 0
serio_raw 5073 0
pcspkr 2059 0
k10temp 3242 0
snd_hda_codec_realtek 54803 1
r8169 59191 0
snd_hda_codec_generic 56366 1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
mii 4251 1 r8169
shpchp 25706 0
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 40396 1
radeon 1361721 21
snd_hda_intel 22831 1
snd_hda_controller 22975 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec 104665 5 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
ttm 67215 1 radeon
snd_hwdep 6652 2 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 83207 5 snd_usb_audio,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
snd_timer 19294 1 snd_pcm
drm_kms_helper 39643 1 radeon
snd 61276 14 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_usbmidi_lib,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device
tpm_infineon 7786 0
tpm_tis 9310 0
soundcore 5551 2 snd,snd_hda_codec
tpm 23363 2 tpm_tis,tpm_infineon
hwmon 3346 2 k10temp,radeon
i2c_algo_bit 5480 1 radeon
i2c_piix4 10801 0
button 4765 0
processor 25153 0
vboxvideo 2029 0
drm 244846 25 ttm,drm_kms_helper,radeon,vboxvideo
i2c_core 41648 6 drm,i2c_piix4,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,radeon,videodev
pci_stub 1381 1
vboxpci 15059 0
vboxnetflt 17700 0
vboxnetadp 18547 0
vboxdrv 345858 3 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt,vboxpci
ext4 494420 3
crc16 1359 1 ext4
mbcache 9155 1 ext4
jbd2 82948 1 ext4
sd_mod 37554 4
sr_mod 15026 0
crc_t10dif 1135 1 sd_mod
cdrom 35191 1 sr_mod
crct10dif_common 1436 1 crc_t10dif
ata_generic 3434 0
pata_acpi 3579 0
hid_generic 1217 0
usbhid 41250 0
hid 93052 2 hid_generic,usbhid
atkbd 17006 0
libps2 4571 1 atkbd
i8042 13666 1 libps2
serio 11018 4 serio_raw,atkbd,i8042
pata_atiixp 5163 0
ohci_pci 4192 0
ehci_pci 4152 0
ohci_hcd 35606 1 ohci_pci
ehci_hcd 64619 1 ehci_pci
ahci 24299 3
libahci 21772 1 ahci
xhci_hcd 149286 0
libata 174089 5 ahci,pata_acpi,libahci,ata_generic,pata_atiixp
usbcore 188509 9 snd_usb_audio,uvcvideo,ohci_hcd,ohci_pci,snd_usbmidi_lib,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci,usbhid,xhci_hcd
scsi_mod 138333 3 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod
usb_common 1712 1 usbcore
Last edited by banshee28 (2014-08-05 02:27:01)

R00KIE wrote:
Make sure you haven't blacklisted the uas driver. If the uas driver does not work well for you, check here [1] how to disable it for a particular drive.
[1] https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=183190
Awesome, THANKS!! Yes I got it to work following this and specifically Da_Coynul's post:
I was able to get my external drive working again by telling the usb-storage module to ignore uas for the device. Here is how to do it:
First, create a file named ignore_uas.conf in the /etc/modprobe.d directory containing the following*:
options usb-storage quirks=Vendor_ID:Product_ID:u
*(substitute your actual Vendor_ID and Product_ID obtained from the lsusb -v command).
Next, regenerate your inital ramdisk:
# mkinitcpio -p linux
Finally, reboot your computer.
Although this is not a solution to broken uas, at least it will let you use your drive as before hmm
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 2#p1428782
Thanks everyone...Now I can see the drive, and will work on formatting it with XFS...

My External USB CD/DVD drive not working while BOOT-UP

I am using HP Pavillion dv6000 series notebook (dv6205us) with Windows Xp 32bit...Actually I have hardware problem...
Actually my internal CD/DVD drive is not working...and I am using External USB CD/DVD drive...its work with windows platform but it cannot detected while booting process...
When I check in BIOS, it doesn't shows "USB CD/DVD Drive" in list...its shows the following options
ATAPI CD/DVD ROM Drive
USB Floppy
USB Diskette on Key
USB Hard Drive
Notebook Hard Drive
Network Adapter
I tried all USB options but it dosen't work. So, please help me in troubleshooting this problem.
And also 1 question:
My system also not supporting 64bit program like Red Hat Enterprises Linux 6. So can you help me find out does my system support 64bit programs. My notebook specification as follows:
CPU: Intel Pentium T2060 @ 1.6GHz (Dual Core)
CPU Instructios: MMX, SSE (1,2,3)
RAM: 2GB
Looking for your quick response.
Thank You.

64 bit instructions not supported:
http://ark.intel.com/products/28021/Intel-Pentium-Processor-T2060-%281M-Cache-1_60-GHz-533-MHz-FSB%2...

Where can I get the driver for my HP DE8A4L external USB CD/DVD drive?

Where can I get the driver for my HP DE8A4L external USB CD/DVD drive?
On the label it says, Model HSTNN-PD06-91
and
HP PN: 518819-001 Rev.B
I've had my Mini 110-1000 running our music system for a couple of years, no complaints. When I wanted a CD/DVD drive, I purchased a DE8A4L external USB drive directly from HP. It didn't come with a driver disc. When I plug it in, the USB subsystem does not enable it. Device Manager shows a yellow exclamation point, saying, "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware..." It is running Windows XP Home Edition SP3.
What gives with this device?

Following up on tactic 2) above, I upgraded the BIOS from version F07 to the latest version available on the HP download site, version F19. This went well, but unfortunately the system still does not recognize the device.
When I try to Device Manager, and select the DE8A4L DVD device, and try "search for a device driver", it says it cannot find a better match for the driver already installed.
This Mini 110-1000 only came with 1 Gb RAM, and Windows XP Home. Is one of these a critical limitation for running an external USB DVD drive?

HT4889 Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive, it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive. Why is it looking for other computers?

I'm trying to use Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive. I told it to look for a drive, yet it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive ... it just endlessly looks for other computers. Why is it looking for other computers at all, when I told it not to?

Wow, the wording in Migration Assistant is misleading. I've never used it before, so I thought I would try to copy my files from the external drive ... my old iMac died, but I managed to get everything I need off it, using the 'cp' command in single-user mode. So I guess I'll just have to manually copy the files from the external drive to the new machine. I was hoping that Migration Assistant might help somehow, but obviously not.
Thanks for the quick reply!

Booting from an External USB 2.0 Drive

Can someone please point me to an explanation on how to set-up a bootable drive using an external USB 2.0 drive and a MacBook?
Thanks

Well, as long as you have the drive you just need the software.
There are a few different ones that will do it. I use SuperSuper, but there is also Carbon Copy Cloner, and LaCie's SilverKeeper both of which are free.
Once you have the software, it is just a matter of running the cloning tool and then testing the clone to verify that it does indeed boot your Mac.

Can I use iphone as external USB analog modem for dialing into switches?

Can I use iphone as external USB analog modem for accessing data switches?
I want to use hyperterminal but don't have a land line to use and wanted to use my iphone as my hard land line..this isn't for tethering for internet access...make sense?

apple store sale guy said this set up will work but it did not. just bought my TC last monday.

FSCK and reboot issues with external USB drive

I'm having an issue with an external USB hard drive I'm using. I've always had issues with this drive cause my reboot to "freeze" when it's mounted. Basically the system message with be sent out, but it doesn't actually proceed with the reboot. No switch to init 6 or anything, but the shutdown process is still active. I can continue to use the computer as usual, but I can't cancel the existing shutdown or try to enter init level 6 by hand. So I just got around this by unmounting the drive before I shutdown. However, lately when I try to unmount the drive I get an error saying that the drive is in use and I should check to see what processes are using it by runing lsof or fuser.
Yesterday I tried copying dsome files from the drive but there wasn't and activity on the drive. cp didn't report any errors though, it just sat there and did nothing. I tried running fsck on the drive, but didn't get much farther. I'll see some activity on the drive for about a second, then all activity stops and fsck just sits there. When I try to kill fsck, it won't. Even with a kill -9.
I'm really confused as to what is going on. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone have any ideas what could be causing all this or what I can do to stop this? Thanks in advance!
David
[email protected]

Press the reset button on the device. It is located between the USB and power ports. Make sure to take-out the external USB drive before you reset the device. Or you can also restore the defaults by accessing the Administration tab > Factory Defaults sub-tab in the router’s web-based setup page. Check out this link for the set up; http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=32cffead811249aea7e9fc6730bf59ad_KB25681_EN_v1.xml...

[SOLVED] Problem with external USB drive started yesterday

My system freezes for about 65 seconds at the login screen. After 65 seconds, I can login and everything is normal afterwards.
I discovered that I can eliminate the freeze by disconnecting the external USB drive from the PC. Here are the error messages from kernel.log when the drive is connected:
Oct 15 23:10:14 localhost kernel: [ 17.035091] usb 1-1.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Oct 15 23:10:29 localhost kernel: [ 32.155955] usb 1-1.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Oct 15 23:10:29 localhost kernel: [ 32.325394] usb 1-1.3: new high speed USB device number 4 using ehci_hcd
Oct 15 23:10:31 localhost kernel: [ 34.045126] MediaState is connected
There is supposed to be a kernel boot option (irqpoll) to prevent this from occurring. However, that option seems to no longer work for kernels after 2.6.39. If I try using it with Arch, the system will not boot, saying all the CPU's failed.
I also don't understand why this just started happening yesterday, as the USB drive has been connected to the PC longer than I've been using Arch. Also, my kernel has not been updated since I installed Arch on Oct 8.
Does anyone know another fix or workaround for this problem?
Thanks,
Tim
Last edited by ratcheer (2011-10-17 01:30:08)

Problem solved
I feel stupid, but I also feel better. I turned off the PC, disconnected the power from the USB drive for about 15 seconds, reconnected the power, rebooted, removed the irqpoll kernel option, and Ubuntu started, perfectly. I need to learn that the USB drive just goes freaky sometimes and remember to do this. But, this is only the second time I've had to do this in months of use.
Tim

IMAC won't start with external USB drive

I've been running Leopard for a few weeks now and decided to connect an external USB hard drive to use with Time Machine, it did the backup fine and seems to be working fine... however, every time I start my imac in the morning I get a gray screen that just hangs. I have to unplug the USB drive then reboot again.. that salves the problem.. but is annoying to have to do that each time.. I also noticed today that my ipod when plugger in via USB will not mount on the desktop.. I have to unplug the USB hard drive then plug the ipod in again.. that solves the problem..
Anyone have this same issue..??? It seems to be USB related or Time Machine related.. maybe both..
Cheers
D.

The Disks are formatted with Ntfs as i am using Bootcamp with Windows 7. So repairing disks would not work in Mac OSX, and is not needed as the disks are ok. I would be a strange coincidence that both disks would be corrupted at the same Time.
I have tried three different other USB disks in the meantime and the Macbook could Boot up everytime with no problem. I found the answer in another forum. The controllers (USB to SATA) in the enclosures of the disks are not compatible with my Macbook, they are rather cheap WD disks and a lot of other users reported the same problem. ist might be possible to upgrade the firmware, but i will rather look for some other disks and try them first before i buy.

Using iMovie with external USB 2.0 drive

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