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External Hard Drives - What to avoid?

Sometimes Apple and OS X are moving targets. What works with one release, doesnt always work with the next.

Perhaps vendors unknowingly modify to fix things with one release, then are left with product that doesnt work with the next due to previous changes made, and Apple tries to address a particular problem.

There really is a lot of variance in the marketplace.

Perhaps if one purchases products from the Apple store, there might be some confidence that it will "just work".

Wondering what devices Apple actually have in their labs to test with. I imagine a rather small subset of the available devices.
 
If an external drive using Firewire is allowed to go to sleep on some MacBook Pro units the drive ejects itself. That's been reported since Mountain Lion. I've only heard about it on MacBook Pro's and nothing else.
 
MacRobert10 said:
If an external drive using Firewire is allowed to go to sleep on some MacBook Pro units the drive ejects itself. That's been reported since Mountain Lion. I've only heard about it on MacBook Pro's and nothing else.
Click to expand...

And I would add "some" FireWire drives; not all.
 
I dont know if it is already here, the usb3 enclosure with UASP from startech.com the one with integrated cableseem has poor connector, or some power conflict with my mac mini it only works stable at the 2nd connector from the sd card slot, I update the firmware too, nothing it only works stable at this port.

this enclosure its blazing fast, cold, but seems the cable connector is not optimal or has some power issue, besides the 2nd connector its is ramdomly "unplugged".
 
Update:

Seems My Startech.com USB3-UASP enclosure is good, the Issue seems the power distribution on the Mac Mini USB ports.

I noted when I plug the enclosure I have Wifi Denial on any network I try to connect or suddenly the data througtput falls to 0, as soon I unplug the enclosure everything backs to normal, so this dont appen at every port.
 
Mago said:
Update:

Seems My Startech.com USB3-UASP enclosure is good, the Issue seems the power distribution on the Mac Mini USB ports.

I noted when I plug the enclosure I have Wifi Denial on any network I try to connect or suddenly the data througtput falls to 0, as soon I unplug the enclosure everything backs to normal, so this dont appen at every port.
Click to expand...

You may want to try using a quality cable.

There was a whitepaper a while back that discussed how poor USB 3.0 cables cold cause interference with WiFi, and reliable USB 3.0 connections.
 
Does USB 3.0 really work very well? I seem to keep reading about people having this problem or that problem with them.
 
Good drives + good cables + built-in Mac USB 3.0 ports + up-to-date OS X = few if any problems.

Never had any issues with my most of my drives.

Recent memory had an issue with a Toshiba drive not always mounting. These were all branded, turn-key drives purchased over past 2-3 years.

When building your own - ie empty case + your own hdd, can have some issues if you don't know origin of the bridge chip, cables, and hdd. review the thread, and you will see some common problems.
 
g4cube said:
Good drives + good cables + built-in Mac USB 3.0 ports + up-to-date OS X = few if any problems.
Click to expand...

I've had several 3.0 problems, and every OS point release fixes one thing and breaks another. In 3.5 form factor most WD seem to be better, Hitachi worse. In 2.5 Hitachi seems to be solid, as well as most other brands. So its a crap shoot.

Many trick there systems into using the simpler 2.0 protocol and have few if any quirks, which is fine if all you are doing is backing up.

If you using the drives for scratch or working video libraries, its a headache for sure.
 
Since Mountain Lion, regardless of the OS version, if I let the system go into a deep sleep, if I wake it up it will always tell me the USB drive had been ejected improperly.

I have an old Firewire drive that I rarely use anymore but when I have and the system goes to sleep, when it wakes up it will always be there. I don't think I've ever had any problems with Firewire.
 
MacRobert10 said:
Since Mountain Lion, regardless of the OS version, if I let the system go into a deep sleep, if I wake it up it will always tell me the USB drive had been ejected improperly.

I have an old Firewire drive that I rarely use anymore but when I have and the system goes to sleep, when it wakes up it will always be there. I don't think I've ever had any problems with Firewire.
Click to expand...

This happens because OS X only waits a limited time for drives to unmount.

If drive is mounted, but spun down due to energy saver, drive may first try to spin up, then unmount. If not done quickly, OS X waits a little, the shuts down, even if drive has not unmounted.

That is usual cause of issue.
 
g4cube said:
This happens because OS X only waits a limited time for drives to unmount.

If drive is mounted, but spun down due to energy saver, drive may first try to spin up, then unmount. If not done quickly, OS X waits a little, the shuts down, even if drive has not unmounted.

That is usual cause of issue.
Click to expand...

Would you agree that it's a bug in the OS? I would think so because I don't see this on Snow Leopard or Lion systems.
 
Nope. A feature, so users experience fast startup.

What is a reasonable time to wait?
 
I guess that makes sense, but some externals also have their own built in sleep times. I know one of mine has a 3 minute and another a 1 minute inactivity period then they put themselves to sleep by themselves. It has nothing to do with Mac's or OS X. This can be overridden with drivers from the manufacturer. I have to wonder if this doesn't have some type of effect.

Oddly, the one that's Firewire always wakes up properly, not one false ejection ever. The other, the WD, reports "improperly ejected" any time the system puts itself to sleep nearly 100% of the time.
 
MacRobert10 said:
I guess that makes sense, but some externals also have their own built in sleep times. I know one of mine has a 3 minute and another a 1 minute inactivity period then they put themselves to sleep by themselves. It has nothing to do with Mac's or OS X. This can be overridden with drivers from the manufacturer. I have to wonder if this doesn't have some type of effect.

Oddly, the one that's Firewire always wakes up properly, not one false ejection ever. The other, the WD, reports "improperly ejected" any time the system puts itself to sleep nearly 100% of the time.
Click to expand...

Which OS version(s) have you checked?

Just curious.
 
FWIW that's when they switched to the 64 bit efi from the 32 bit efi. That may be coincidence though, but that also seems to be when the wake from sleep problems occur.
 
ZVH said:
Which OS version(s) have you checked?

Just curious.
Click to expand...
Wow, I forgot about this thread. I've checked this stuff basically on Leopard up through El Capitan. I haven't used El Capitan enough yet to experience any problems so I don't know if they exist there. It really seemed to start occurring when Mountain Lion came out.
 
With SSDs being the rage, and considering all the info on this site about the effects of sudden power outages causing SSD sudden death sometimes, it's worth noting that if externally connected power down before connecting/disconnecting. There aren't very many external SSDs yet but I'm sure they're coming.
 
TheBSDGuy said:
With SSDs being the rage, and considering all the info on this site about the effects of sudden power outages causing SSD sudden death sometimes, it's worth noting that if externally connected power down before connecting/disconnecting. There aren't very many external SSDs yet but I'm sure they're coming.
Click to expand...

UPS
 
Beware of some of the USB 2.0 2.5" Toshiba Convio's. Test the performance before buying. I know someone that got one and it runs like it's a drive from 2000 (slow). I think it's that way to save energy and be low power
 
WorkerBee2015 said:
Beware of some of the USB 2.0 2.5" Toshiba Convio's. Test the performance before buying. I know someone that got one and it runs like it's a drive from 2000 (slow). I think it's that way to save energy and be low power
Click to expand...

Anything that specified words like "low power" or over emphasizes being a backup drive will probably be slow. WDs green drives have a variable spindle speed and they love to sleep. Terrible performance when used as a regular drive but never noticed when used as a backup.

…this of course is assuming the drive is working correctly in the first place. ;)
 
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but if you've got a USB 3 system, make sure the drive or housing you get is USB 3 as well and test it to make sure. I bought an aftermarket enclosure that claimed it was USB 3 and put an SSD in it and it was clearly bottlenecking at about the data rate used for USB 2. I replaced it with a better quality enclosure and the problem was fixed.
 
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