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01/05/2006 04:43:28 PM · #1 |
I'm looking for advice similar to what Mstark24 is asking for in the hard drive thread, but my question is about hard drive compatibility with USB 2 in both Mac (desktop) and PC (laptop).
I got a 300 MB hard drive for Christmas (Samsung drive, no-name case). The outside of the box said it was for Macs and PCs, and that it worked with USB 2. But a pamphlet inside the box said that USB 2 was not supported for MacIntosh. I returned it today and now I'm looking for a similar hard drive, but one which will work on either USB 2 or firewire for the Mac.
Also heard that if I want to use a hard drive with Mac and my PC laptop, I have to use FAT32 formatting, which only allows a 32 MB partition.
Does anyone have any advice or comments? I'm not sure about the 32 MB partition limit, and I don't at all understand why a hard drive would work with USB 2 on a PC but not a Mac.
The primary use for this hard drive would be with the Mac, but I want to be able to read/write to the Windows-based laptop as well.
I hope someone here with dual system experience can help me. Thanks! |
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01/05/2006 04:45:38 PM · #2 |
| If it's USB it will work with ANY USB port. |
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01/05/2006 04:47:14 PM · #3 |
| There are many cases (enclosers) that have both firewire and usb on them also you can get a network (wireless) casse also an both machines can use it at the same time if you have a home network setup. |
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01/05/2006 04:51:08 PM · #4 |
Also did u give it a try on a mac, it should of worked just fine
this is the the protable one I got for christmas, I have the firewire version also check out lacie's hard drives I have a 260 gb I brought like 2 years ago and its awesome no problems at all.
firewire
Firelite Harddrive
usb 2.0
Firewire lite usb2.0
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01/05/2006 04:53:06 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by puzzled:
I don't at all understand why a hard drive would work with USB 2 on a PC but not a Mac. |
Any USB hard drive will work on a Mac. The only limitations are that you need OS X 10.2.8 or later for USB 2.0 support, and that the USB ports on anything older than a G5 or very recent model laptop are only USB 1.1 (slow). You can add a USB 2.0 PCI card to an older PowerMac, though. |
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01/05/2006 04:55:31 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by doctornick:
If it's USB it will work with ANY USB port. |
That's what the guy at the store said, but the "instruction" sheet in the box said that it only supported USB 1 (1.1?) for Macs. So I chickened out rather than taking the shopkeeper's suggestion and trying it at home.
How about the partitioning thing with FAT32? Is it true that it can only be in 32 MB partitions? Is it okay to not use a partion at all?
Edit to say that I have a fairly new G5 dual-processor PowerMac with Tiger OS. It's got USB 2.
Message edited by author 2006-01-05 16:58:49. |
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01/05/2006 05:05:24 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by puzzled:
I have a fairly new G5 dual-processor PowerMac with Tiger OS. It's got USB 2. |
Then it will work just fine. I suspect that you could format it as you nornally would for a PC, and the Mac will recognize it without a problem, but you'll proably lose some performance compared to formatting it for Mac to begin with. |
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01/05/2006 05:06:07 PM · #8 |
I have a 300gb seagate, works awesome. Has both Firewire for my mac and USB
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01/05/2006 05:10:10 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by puzzled:
That's what the guy at the store said, but the "instruction" sheet in the box said that it only supported USB 1 (1.1?) for Macs. So I chickened out rather than taking the shopkeeper's suggestion and trying it at home.
How about the partitioning thing with FAT32? Is it true that it can only be in 32 MB partitions? Is it okay to not use a partion at all?
Edit to say that I have a fairly new G5 dual-processor PowerMac with Tiger OS. It's got USB 2. |
It will work with your G5. Forget the so-called "instructions" in these boxes...LOL
FAT 32 does not mean it can only be 32MB partitions, what it means is that data is written in 32K sized blocks... |
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01/05/2006 05:14:42 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by puzzled:
Also heard that if I want to use a hard drive with Mac and my PC laptop, I have to use FAT32 formatting, which only allows a 32 MB partition. |
Actually, it'll support way more than that. The problem, Microsoft only provides you tools to format upto 32gig because they assume if you're using more than that you'll use the NTFS system.
However, Partition Magic and similar tools will allow you to format beyond that. Most external hard drives are formatted in FAT32 already. So this only becomes a concern if you need to re-format the drive.
As for the Mac not supporting USB 2.0, it might be an old pamphlet. But I believe Mac is dropping firewire in support of USB 2.0
FAT 32 does not mean it can only be 32MB partitions, what it means is that data is written in 32K sized blocks...
Actually, it doesn't mean that, you can adjust the size of the blocks with FAT32. It is called FAT32 because it is a 32-bit file system. FAT16 was 16-bit. And before that there was FAT12.
FAT16 allowed for upto a 4gig hard drive, with up to 65,517 files with a max file size of 2gig.
FAT32 allows for upto a 2TB hard drive, with up to 268,435,437 files with a maximum file size of 4gb.
Message edited by author 2006-01-05 17:18:36. |
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01/05/2006 05:26:56 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by puzzled:
I don't at all understand why a hard drive would work with USB 2 on a PC but not a Mac. |
Any USB hard drive will work on a Mac. The only limitations are that you need OS X 10.2.8 or later for USB 2.0 support, and that the USB ports on anything older than a G5 or very recent model laptop are only USB 1.1 (slow). You can add a USB 2.0 PCI card to an older PowerMac, though. |
I've got a G4 iMac, which has three USB 2 ports. Are they really working at the equivalent of 1.1 speeds?
I've got a USB2 HDD plugged in and it seems to trundle along quite well enough.
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01/05/2006 05:31:18 PM · #12 |
Wow, I knew I could rely on all of you - thanks a lot for the good explainations and recommendations. Now I'm good to go. I did return the hard drive already though, so I'll keep my eye on the other thread a bit longer for more general comments about brands and such.
I'm just so happy to know that with my Mac, the USB2 support is not a problem with hard drives that support it.
Wait - one more question: What about partioning in general? Best to leave as a huge 300 gig block or is it more convenient to partition?
Message edited by author 2006-01-05 17:33:12. |
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01/05/2006 05:34:04 PM · #13 |
The standards board which specs the USB standard !@#$% everything up.
Basically, there was
USB 1.0
USB 1.1 (offered new features same performance)
USB 2.0 (offered enhanced performance)
The standards group thought USB 1/1.1/2 was too confusing for us common people. So they designated ALL the new feature supporting USB systems (1.1/2.0) as 2.0 and refer to what most of us consider as true 2.0 USB as "High-Speed USB".
Anyone can tell these guys are a bunch of !@#$#% tards as in 5 yrs from now high-speed USB will be low-speed.
They should have done USB40, USB400....then the next one would be USB4000. After that, we'd likely see a new bus entirely come about. NUSB |
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01/05/2006 05:38:11 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by puzzled:
Wait - one more question: What about partioning in general? Best to leave as a huge 300 gig block or is it more convenient to partition? |
I've been using computers on a technical level since 1993. I have learned many lessons. Never partition if you don't have too.
Partition is often done for the following reasons:
a) multi-OS system (run Windows/Linux, keep each on a seperate partition.)
b) security (prevent users from accessing system files, but this can be done with use management in many cases)
c) keep system files seperate from installation. I think this is a mistake. I've encountered numerous systems who once had a 2gig system partition now full.
My strategy is this....
A simple folder labelled DATA DRIVE. I save all, and I mean ALL data files to this folder. There is an identical folder on my external drive.
I have one point of back-up. I just back up my date, and re-install my machine. |
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01/05/2006 06:03:37 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by AJAger:
I've got a G4 iMac, which has three USB 2 ports. Are they really working at the equivalent of 1.1 speeds? |
I was oversimplifying. The last round of flat panel G4 iMacs (released Sept 2003) DID have USB 2.0 ports. Earlier models only had USB 1.
Message edited by author 2006-01-05 18:04:36. |
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01/06/2006 03:58:50 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by AJAger:
I've got a G4 iMac, which has three USB 2 ports. Are they really working at the equivalent of 1.1 speeds? |
I was oversimplifying. The last round of flat panel G4 iMacs (released Sept 2003) DID have USB 2.0 ports. Earlier models only had USB 1. |
As a sort of postscript to this, I've not yet found a USB2 card reader that works. Could this be a power issue? For instance is the USB2 port not able to deliver the current required to run one properly? I've got the choice right now of using my Image Tank as a card reader at USB1.1 speed or of connecting the camera directly. Would some kind of auxiliary-powered hub work?
Plenty of questions, I know, but I'd like to get a fast card reader working.
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