UKC

My passport drive has "dropped off" my Mac (ie I get a message saying that it was unplugged without going through proper procedures and simply disappears off the screen - still actually plugged in of course) this is the second time it has happened any ideas?

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

bump

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Wait for a Mac wizard to suggest some software fixes - there's bound to be one along soon. If software fixes don't work, you're probably looking at a hardware problem.

External drives have a dinky circuit board built into them. I've known these boards to die, so that could the case here. If it is, there's a good chance the drive itself is fine and you won't get any data loss. You can crack open the box, remove the drive, then slot the drive into a USB caddy to access it.

Hope this helps.

In reply to Tony Naylor:

Cheers

It is working now but i reckon it could at any time

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

I occasionally have something similar happen to my backup drive - a Seagate Barracuda in a OWC Voyager disk swapping thingy...

My solution is to unmount it (force unmount if necessary) and run disk utility. Sometimes there's actually something wrong with the directory and sometimes there isn't. Quite annoying, IMHO, but Time Machine (I guess this is what you are using too?) can be a bit finicky and rumor has it it is particularly finicky when the drive is attached to a hub. Or the hubs have a tendency to momentarily unmount drives causing the OS to grumble. If they aren't actually writing, should be no harm done.

I've just (today) enabled the Unix "noatime" switch which stops the OS writing to files whenever you access them - I'm not sure it'll work, but I'll know in a week or so.
http://blog.alutam.com/2012/04/01/optimizing-macos-x-lion-for-ssd/#noatime

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

This can be due to a failed controller board or drive, but it can also be a bad USB cable or even a loose connection. A new USB cable is much cheaper than a new drive!

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

It would be a good idea to backup to a new drive if the data is important to you. Could be the cable or the drive/controller.

These problems generally only go one way so if you can backup (I'd do it in bitesized chunks in case the drive fails while backing up), which might indicate its failing due to heat.... (if it does then stick a fan near it while you backup or stick it on an icepack (separated with towels).

Kev

In reply to Jack B:

Thanks for all the replies.
It was using a firewire cable, I have now switched to the usb but it still seems to be doing it (though it has been stable for the past two days). The cable is an integrated part of the passport casing so I can't just switch cables. This is the second one I have had. A previous one did the same 12 months ago and now this one is doing the same.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Sounds like it's on the way out. Switch brand? If they are constantly failing (twice in a year is terribad) get a different external.

In reply to Removed User:

Any recommendations for a Mac?

One that is a few years old now and still doing fine (the Mac that is)

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

The fact that it's a mac doesn't particularly mean anything. External drives are external drives - they work on any machine with usb ports. I go Western Digital myself but that's just personal preference.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Well, if we are talking about backup strategy - time machine onto something with about 2-3 x the storage capacity that you are actually using (at least). Recent versions of the Mac OS let you backup to 2 separate drives which is kind of cool - you can have one drive at home and one at work, for example.

And then a clone of your hard drive (Carbon Copy Cloner is probably the best bet at the moment) that you can use for a reasonably quick recovery if your computer and drive goes belly up or is stolen.

As exO says - doesn't really matter what you use, as long as it isn't one of those absolutely awful disaster-waiting-to-happen striped drives that advertise more speed and capacity for less money

In reply to pneame:

reliability is more important than price to me. thinking of going for WD My book for MAc

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

For the sake of clarity the failing drive is a Seagate "Go-flex" second one to fail in this way.
My first drive was a WD My passport that failed by corrupting

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Seagate blow in my experience.

What's the deal with the mac branded stuff? Any drive will do and will work out cheaper than a 'mac' drive. You're literally paying extra for the branding.

In reply to Removed User:

Ah but it has to be formatted for Mac, if it is NTFS then it would have to be re-formatted for Mac. HFS is Mac only but I gather that FAT32 can be used by both. most brands do a Mac version of their products.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

I bought an external drive recently which was branded as Mac & Windows compatible. Once out of the packing & connected it needed to be reformatted before my Mac could use it. But its easy to do & doesn't take long.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

I have a WD drive that is going on 5 years, it once fell down a small set of stairs. If your backups are that important maybe you should consider two drives.

Do you take the backup drive with you anywhere? I bet this is a yes.

How hard is it to formatt a drive, click click done.