One external HD and two macs

[PMR]

So, I have two external HDD, but I want to share one with one imac and one macbook, here's why:

(my english it's a bit limited )

My imac is running tiger and I want that HD to backup minor things (plugged with fw400)
The mackbook is running leopard and I want the HD to make use of time machine (want to plug by usb)

Will this work? Does the drive mount in the two macs when I power it on? Can I access it at the same time even if it's plugged with fw400 to one mac and usb to the other?

I would try it, but I'm afraid of losing some data.

Thanks in advance.

 

[robbieduncan]

That will not work. At best it will mount on one Mac. At worst it will corrupt the disk.

The controller does not have any way to mediate between the Macs. To do what you are suggesting you need a networkable drive (with an Ethernet port) and a network.

 

[darwinian]

Yes, definitely do NOT try plugging into both.

The suggestion to connect a drive to the network is a good one --search for NAS (Network Attached Storage) and NDAS (Network Direct Attached Storage) for more information on these options.

Also, you can keep the drive connected via FW to your iMac and then share it on your local network, in which case the other machine will be able to access it. I don't know if TM will work with this option, however.

Finally the cheap suggestion would be to partition the external disk into 2 partitions, one for your TM stuff when connected to the MB and one for the incidental backup when connected to your iMac. Both partitions (volumes) will show up each time you plug it into each computer (separately!!), but you'll know which is which.

 

[PMR]

Ok, that's what I thought (sort of )

Thank you both for the quick replies!