AEBS won't mount TB drive for iTunes network storage

[DarkHeraldMage]

I'm really hoping someone can help me with this. I have a TB drive that until recently has resided on my PC which streams/syncs to my AppleTV. Well, I've finally decided to stop copying everything over to it there and just place it on the network. I have an AEBS with a 500 GB drive already attached which is running seamlessly as a Time Machine Drive.

I went and bought a tiny little USB powered hub and connected it this weekend. The Time Machine drive is connected through it now and still works perfectly, but whenever I connect the TB drive and try to mount it so I can alias all the files into my MBP's iTunes, it kills the AEBS and I have to restart my whole setup to get the internet back.

I tried connecting the TB straight through to the AEBS, but that didn't do it either, so I know the problem isn't the hub. To clarify, Finder shows the two drives under the AEBS, but as soon as I try to connect to the TB drive the network connection drops across the whole network. I have no idea what would be doing this and would be devastated if it turns out that the TB drive is just too much, but I seriously doubt that's the issue.

My only possible idea is that the Time Machine drive is HFS and the TB drive that was connected to my PC is still formatted as FAT32. Does anyone know if this could be the root of the problem? I'd hate to have to wipe it and reformat and then copy all my files over from a backup drive, but I will if it's the only way. Please don't jump to assumptions though and tell me this is what to do unless you know for sure or have had experience with this kind of problem. Someone...help? Please.

 

[alphaod]

You need to format it as HFS+

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

You need to format it as HFS+

Are you sure? I've had FAT32 drives connected to the AEBS before and they worked, though I will be honest - they did drop connection every once in a while. I think in this case though the size of the drive is preventing an initial connection at all.

 

[alphaod]

Are you sure? I've had FAT32 drives connected to the AEBS before and they worked, though I will be honest - they did drop connection every once in a while. I think in this case though the size of the drive is preventing an initial connection at all.

Well no idea then; I had a FAT32 drive connected, didn't work and when I formatted it as a HFS+ drive, it worked.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

This appears to have worked...maybe. I woke up this morning and the 700 gigs had transfered from my backup drive to the newly HFS formatted drive for AEBS attachment. As a side note, when I did the original backup (copying all files from one drive to the other) on my Vista PC, it took over 24 hours to finish transferring; when I connected them to my MBP to do the reformat/restore, it took less than 7 hours. I love .

Anyways though, I woke up this morning and connected the HFS terabyte drive to the hub on my AEBS and then aliased all the video files into my MBP's iTunes library. I gave it about 20 minutes, but they still hadn't been loaded in and I had to leave for work. This is a good sign though simply because it didn't auto disconnect as soon as I tried to mount it. Tonight will be the real test though when I attempt to sync/stream videos from a drive not directly connected to a computer.

I also have the tedious task of going back through all the videos and marking them as new/not new since that didn't copy over from PC iTunes to Mac iTunes. Boo.

In summary - thanks for reaffirming what I thought might be the problem. It always helps to hear that someone else has the same thought you do, especially when it turns out to be right.