Mounting/unmounting external firewire drives

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no-spam2@lycos.com - 13 Jan 2007 17:22 GMT

What is the correct procedure of mounting, unmounting, powering up and
off an external firewire hard-drive connected to a Powerbook G4?

I store a lot of files on the external drive, but I don't need to
access it all the time, so now and then I drag the drive to the
"trash/eject" icon which powers it down. I know this is correct so far,
but after it has powered down, is it safe to switch it off completely
(using the power switch)?

And how about re-mounting the drive if I've just ejected it? I know
that "Disk utility" will (sometimes, but not always) mount the drive
for me, but is there a better way?

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Dave Seaman - 13 Jan 2007 18:17 GMT

> What is the correct procedure of mounting, unmounting, powering up and
> off an external firewire hard-drive connected to a Powerbook G4?

> I store a lot of files on the external drive, but I don't need to
> access it all the time, so now and then I drag the drive to the
> "trash/eject" icon which powers it down. I know this is correct so far,
> but after it has powered down, is it safe to switch it off completely
> (using the power switch)?

After the drive has disappeared from the desktop it is safe to disconnect
the FireWire cable and also to switch off the drive (if it has a switch)
and/or disconnect the power cable, if you are using one.

> And how about re-mounting the drive if I've just ejected it? I know
> that "Disk utility" will (sometimes, but not always) mount the drive
> for me, but is there a better way?

The simplest way is to reconnect the cable.

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Dave Seaman
U.S. Court of Appeals to review three issues
concerning case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
<http://www.mumia2000.org/>

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John Johnson - 13 Jan 2007 20:49 GMT

> > What is the correct procedure of mounting, unmounting, powering up and
> > off an external firewire hard-drive connected to a Powerbook G4?
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> The simplest way is to reconnect the cable.

Based on the OP's other reply, it appears that the cable is never
disconnected, but the drive is only unmounted to keep it quiet. Under
those circumstances, I'd recommend using the power switch on the drive
rather than disconnecting/reconnecting the FW cable (which would do the
job too). The power switch is quicker, easier, and puts less wear/tear
on things.

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Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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John Johnson - 13 Jan 2007 18:45 GMT

> What is the correct procedure of mounting, unmounting, powering up and
> off an external firewire hard-drive connected to a Powerbook G4?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> but after it has powered down, is it safe to switch it off completely
> (using the power switch)?

yes.

> And how about re-mounting the drive if I've just ejected it? I know
> that "Disk utility" will (sometimes, but not always) mount the drive
> for me, but is there a better way?

What happens when you turn the power switch back on, while it's plugged
in?

Signature

Later,
John

johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu

'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

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no-spam2@lycos.com - 13 Jan 2007 19:26 GMT

> > And how about re-mounting the drive if I've just ejected it? I know
> > that "Disk utility" will (sometimes, but not always) mount the drive
> > for me, but is there a better way?
>
> What happens when you turn the power switch back on, while it's plugged
> in?

You mean after unmounting it (dragging it to the trash/eject icon),
which unmounts and powers down the drive, the physically turning off
the external drive's power switch?
I just tried it. It mounts!

The thing is that because I can't stand the noise of the drive and
don't want to have it spinning unnecessarily (causing tear and wear) I
want to turn it off in the midst of a session, which is when I drag it
to the trash/eject icon. And since the drive circuitry is somehow still
powered on (the drive enclosure's LED is still lit) I believe it might
cause more wear to the circuitry to physically switch it off, then on
again as opposed to just spinning up the drive mechanism. I'm sure it's
just a matter of sending a specific command to the drive, which tells
it to start spinning the drive again. Isn't there any small application
tool which will let me do this?

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John Biltz - 14 Jan 2007 03:04 GMT

>>> And how about re-mounting the drive if I've just ejected it? I know
>>> that "Disk utility" will (sometimes, but not always) mount the drive
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> it to start spinning the drive again. Isn't there any small application
> tool which will let me do this?

Most of the newer external drives will power themselves down if they are
not being accessed. A simple way to test this is to plug it in to the
computer, access it and wait a few minutes. If it takes longer when you
try to change a directory or something its probably powering itself down
just like you can do in preferences for your laptop.

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Shawn Hirn - 23 Jan 2007 05:31 GMT

Yup. No problem. To mount the drive, just power it up again.

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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / January 2007

Mounting/unmounting external firewire drives