External HDD on a Mac

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 01:08 GMT

I have a Lacie 320 quad external drive hooked up now and in use for data
backup. I'd like to disconnect the drive from the system unless I'm
actually using it for backup (I back up data manually).
Question is;
In shutting down the drive to disconnect it from the computer, I know I
have to unmount it first. Should this be done with the system up and
running using the normal unmount procedure, then turn off the drive and
disconnect it from the system, or is it ok to disconnect the drive and
turn it off BEFORE booting up the computer?
I guess the real question would be whether or not the prior shut down
procedure done normally by OSX10.4.10 includes an unmounting of the
external drive so that it can be disconnected off line without causing
issues to the data stored on the drive.

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Dudley Henriques

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dorayme - 03 Dec 2007 01:43 GMT

> I have a Lacie 320 quad external drive hooked up now and in use for data
> backup. I'd like to disconnect the drive from the system unless I'm
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> external drive so that it can be disconnected off line without causing
> issues to the data stored on the drive.

You can start the Mac and later start the external, watch the
external mount, do the business of backup and then unmount the
external and turn it off while the Mac stays on.

You can start the external and later start the Mac, do the
business of backup and then unmount the external and turn it off
while the Mac stays on.

You can start the Mac and later start the external, watch the
external mount, do the business of backup and then shutdown the
Mac and later shut down the external.

You can do pretty well anything but turn off the external before
it is unmounted.

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 02:00 GMT

>> I have a Lacie 320 quad external drive hooked up now and in use for data
>> backup. I'd like to disconnect the drive from the system unless I'm
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> You can do pretty well anything but turn off the external before
> it is unmounted.

Got it.
What was worrying me was the fact that I intend disconnecting the
external completely from the computer...just as a precaution in case for
some reason we take an electrical strike from lightning near enough to
spike the computer even if off.
At least this way the data would be safe.
also, the local Mac guru suggested to me today that using the Mac with
the external hooked up the way I do....having the Mac sleep down about
20 times a day, might wear on the external drive over time. It was he
who suggested I back up when necessary and keep the drive disconnected
from the system otherwise unless needed. Including the electric spike
benefit, this seemed logical to me as the procedure to use to best
utilize the external drive for my manual backups.

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Shawn Hirn - 03 Dec 2007 02:43 GMT

> What was worrying me was the fact that I intend disconnecting the
> external completely from the computer...just as a precaution in case for
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> benefit, this seemed logical to me as the procedure to use to best
> utilize the external drive for my manual backups.

Just click on the disk drive icon, press command-e to eject it, then
power it off. To guard against damage from a lightning strike, you also
need to disconnect the disk drive from the power outlet and the firewire
port.

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 03:03 GMT

>> What was worrying me was the fact that I intend disconnecting the
>> external completely from the computer...just as a precaution in case for
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> need to disconnect the disk drive from the power outlet and the firewire
> port.

This is exactly the plan, and thanks for the feedback.

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dorayme - 03 Dec 2007 05:59 GMT

> ...having the Mac sleep down about
> 20 times a day, might wear on the external drive over time...

All that acceleration from cold is likely to wear a HD out
quicker, that is true. I tend to leave my desktop internal HDs
spinning, certainly all day long and sometimes for days on end.
The monitors screen save and then go black after a while but
still on.

I do like you with an external though. I turn all off (including
disconnecting all power and adsl connections) if there is any
lightening about. Damn nuisance, lightening, I tend to stop
working. Have had some bad experiences.

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 06:21 GMT

>> ...having the Mac sleep down about
>> 20 times a day, might wear on the external drive over time...
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> lightening about. Damn nuisance, lightening, I tend to stop
> working. Have had some bad experiences.

If you recall, I've been experimenting with ways to back up my data
files for a bit now since switching to the IMac. I never realized how
much sheer stuff I've accumulated over time. Between working in real
aviation on flight safety and instruction issues and the work I do for
the flight simulation community, I've gathered up a fine mess of odd and
assorted "stuff".
I thought I had the problem licked when I decided to use 2 flash drives
for weekly backing up manually until they reached the limit for DVD's,
then backing what was on the flashes to 2 DVD's.
This actually worked, but I soon discovered that it took forever to
transfer data using this media.
Brainstorm!!! The external is of course much faster and much more room
with far less hassle. Believe it or not, it didn't even dawn on me to
use the drive, then disconnect it between backups.
Now it seems the perfect way to backup data. It's fast, dependable, and
makes sense.
I keep an identical folder of whats backed up on the computer, so both
the documents folder and the external are the same. If I lose one, I
have the other and both going down the same time is eliminated by taking
the external off line completely. Perfect....I hope anyway!! :-))
One more thing I did that makes sense backup wise. Instead of using
folders for different categories, I simply have assigned a common prefix
before the file name so the OS sorts everything related together
alphabetically. The tutorials I was talking about yesterday are all
filed as "tutorial; How to do this and that" etc, so all the tutorials
are together and easy to find. Reference stuff has a ref; prefix. Works
great so far.
Someone once told me that making folders on a drive was better than just
putting files on it space wise, but at 320GB, I think this won't be an
issue.
Understand you like bikes. I've had several and like to ride. Getting a
bit old now and some back issues prevent that, but I do miss riding.
Dudley

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dorayme - 03 Dec 2007 06:38 GMT

> Understand you like bikes. I've had several and like to ride. Getting a
> bit old now and some back issues prevent that, but I do miss riding.
> Dudley

Me too. I must take up an offer in January though to ride an
older BMW 65R for a short country trip. Looking forward to it. I
have done a lot of miles on Triumphs in previous years.

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 06:51 GMT

>> Understand you like bikes. I've had several and like to ride. Getting a
>> bit old now and some back issues prevent that, but I do miss riding.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> older BMW 65R for a short country trip. Looking forward to it. I
> have done a lot of miles on Triumphs in previous years.

I rode all the way up through Canada to Moosejaw from Maryland once with
a couple of pilot friends on Harleys. I had an FLH. Had a great time!
Our son has one of the new big Honda touring bikes. He loves to ride as
well.

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dorayme - 03 Dec 2007 07:25 GMT

> >> Understand you like bikes. I've had several and like to ride. Getting a
> >> bit old now and some back issues prevent that, but I do miss riding.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Our son has one of the new big Honda touring bikes. He loves to ride as
> well.

Sounds like fun. Australia is a big country and the coast road
around is very pleasant motor biking, especially in the winding
forest roads. <g>

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Jeffrey Goldberg - 03 Dec 2007 15:04 GMT

In <doraymeRidThis-370C4D.16595403122007@news-vip.optusnet.com.au>, dorayme...:

> I do like you with an external though. I turn all off (including
> disconnecting all power and adsl connections) if there is any
> lightening about. Damn nuisance, lightening, I tend to stop
> working. Have had some bad experiences.

I've personally only lost an internal modem due to lightning. Though at a
place I once worked, we lost about a dozen NICs and a couple of switches
in one strike outside of the actual building that was hit. Pretty much
everything in that building was fried. (People were just fine.)

-j

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dorayme - 03 Dec 2007 20:16 GMT

> > I do like you with an external though. I turn all off (including
> > disconnecting all power and adsl connections) if there is any
> > lightening about. Damn nuisance, lightening, I tend to stop
> > working. Have had some bad experiences.
>
> I've personally only lost an internal modem due to lightning.

I lost an external modem and a modem port on a 7300 in one
strike. (I had to then use the printer port for another external
modem (I have always had an absurd oversupply of external dial up
modems lying around - don't ask!). From then on, I have tried to
remember to unplug the dialup and/or adsl line to machines in
thunder storms. Sydney is not big for storms and the electricity
supply is not flakey at all. I recall my fry-up happening after a
strike the like of which I have never experienced before or
since, seemed to be right out in the street! Lost a cheap clock
radio in the same strike. Curiously, nothing else.

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Dave Balderstone - 03 Dec 2007 06:03 GMT

> In shutting down the drive to disconnect it from the computer, I know I
> have to unmount it first. Should this be done with the system up and
> running using the normal unmount procedure, then turn off the drive and
> disconnect it from the system, or is it ok to disconnect the drive and
> turn it off BEFORE booting up the computer?

If the computer is off you can connect or disconnect the external drive
with impunity.

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Dudley Henriques - 03 Dec 2007 06:27 GMT

>> In shutting down the drive to disconnect it from the computer, I know I
>> have to unmount it first. Should this be done with the system up and
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> If the computer is off you can connect or disconnect the external drive
> with impunity.

Thanks Dave.

I hope I bought a good drive. The Lacie came recommended highly by the
Apple folks. I'm not sure what format Lacie uses; probably FAT32 but
they say the drive is formatted for the Mac but can be hooked up to a PC
as well at any time.
I'm wondering; if I DID have to put my data saved on the external over
to a PC, would I have any problems with the files themselves? Most are
doc, pdf,html,txt, and jpg and a few gif's I guess. These would be ok I
think. I changed all those phd files to html and pdf's so unless you see
something I might have missed in all this, I'm assuming I'm good to go.

:-)

Dudley

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Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / December 2007

External HDD on a Mac