Final Cut Express HD won't work with external HD

[KJdanReuben]

I tried making a movie in FCE yesterday with my new G-Tech G-Drive set as the scratch disk. It is hooked to my MBP (2.2ghz SR) via Firewire 800. When I went to the capture screen, it didn't bring up anything except for the rainbow of colors in the preview area. All of my controls - play, stop, etc. - worked from Final Cut and the tape would play on the computer but I couldn't capture anything. So, I went and changed the scratch disk back to my boot drive and it worked fine. What is wrong with it? The guy at the Apple store said the two would work together; he even recommended the G-Drive. It also will not work when hooked via Firewire 400. I bought the G-Drive for this soul purpose, and now it is not working. I can, however, capture in iMovie '08 using an external scratch disk. Do I need to upgrade Final Cut Express HD 3.5 to Final Cut Express 4?

Thanks for all the help!
I also posted this in the Mac Software category. Wasn't sure which was the better area.

 

[zioxide]

Is the external drive formatted for Mac (HFS+ Journaled) or Windows (NTFS or FAT32)?

 

[KJdanReuben]

Is the external drive formatted for Mac (HFS+ Journaled) or Windows (NTFS or FAT32)?

Ummm, I'm not sure. I'll have to check. I didn't even think about that. Thanks!

 

[slu]

I bet the previous answer is correct as I had a similar problem with an external drive until I reformatted it for HFS

 

[KJdanReuben]

How do I format in HFS? I reformatted it in Mac OS Extended Journaled and it still isn't working. Are they the same?

 

[zioxide]

How do I format in HFS? I reformatted it in Mac OS Extended Journaled and it still isn't working. Are they the same?

Yeah, HFS+ is Mac OSX Extended.

hmm, is the drive showing up on your desktop? can you copy and paste files on to it in Finder?

 

[KJdanReuben]

I can do everything with it, except use it as a scratch disk for Final Cut Express HD. I can use it as one with iMovie '08, but not FCE. Thanks for all the help!

 

[KJdanReuben]

Would installing Final Cut Express HD on the G-Drive make a difference? Right now it is installed on my internal drive.

 

[zioxide]

Would installing Final Cut Express HD on the G-Drive make a difference? Right now it is installed on my internal drive.

No, the app has to be installed on the internal drive.

This is really weird. Can you post a screenshot of the FCE capture scratch setup dialog? (Command+shift+3 to take screenshots)

 

[KJdanReuben]

Here it is.

 

[KJdanReuben]

Someone please help! Thanks!

 

[noosemoose]

just kidding- didn't fully read earlier entry! whoops! also, the bars appear on mine too, but if i click the capture now button, it works. *hint- capture in imovie, 1080i set, and drag to disk, to FCEHD