Startup problems -SuperDuper or external HD?

[John Brennan]

Hi,

I have successfully used SuperDuper to backup my main drive and use it as a startup drive. It's an external SeaGate FreeAgent Pro firewire. Unfortunately, Im having no luck with my new drive I purchased. This external is a SeaGate FreeAgent|Desk USB2.0. Specks below for both.

Does going from FreeAgentPro to FreeAgent make a difference?

I want to place Windows via Parallel's on the external.

My computer is a MacPro 2x2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon.

Thanks,

John



Firewire:
FreeAgent Pro:

Manufacturer: Seagate
Model: 0x3110
GUID: 0x20370100001EE2
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
FreeAgent Pro Unit:
Unit Software Version: 0x10483
Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
Firmware Revision: 0x110
Product Revision Level: 4109
Sub-units:
FreeAgent Pro SBP-LUN:
Capacity: 931.51 GB
Removable Media: Yes
BSD Name: disk5
Mac OS 9 Drivers: Yes
Partition Map Type: APM (Apple Partition Map)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
backup_1:
Capacity: 129.88 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk5s10
Mount Point:
backup_2:
Capacity: 801.39 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk5s12
Mount Point:
USB:

USB:
FreeAgent:

Capacity: 465.76 GB
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk4
Product ID: 0x3001
Vendor ID: 0x0bc2
Version: 0.00
Serial Number: 2GEVMSH2
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Seagate
Location ID: 0xfd100000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 0
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
BU:
Capacity: 465.44 GB
Available: 465.29 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk4s2
Mount Point: /Volumes/BU

 

[Cave Man]

I'm not clear on what you're attempting to do. Can you elaborate in more detail?

Also, did you initialize the boot drive that's giving you trouble with a GUID partition table in Disk Utility?

 

[aaronw1986]

I believe you need firewire to boot, so that would explain why the USB wouldn;t work.

 

[lermal]

I believe you need firewire to boot, so that would explain why the USB wouldn;t work.

+1 arronw1986. I just put in a new WD Blue 500 GB and was going to use SuperDuper to image my drive, however I have a new Unibody Macbook - so no Firewire. I read through the documentation, and it highly recommends a Firewire drive to work. Here's a quote from the doc,

"On top of that, USB drives have a large number of limitations regarding speed and – even if USB 2.0 Hi-Speed rated – can slow down to USB 1.x speeds when used in conjunction with slower devices.

So, if at all possible, please get a FireWire drive!"

 

[Cave Man]

All intel Macs can boot from USB drives.

 

[dbwie]

my experience

I have a Unibody MacBook, and I backup to an external USB drive using SuperDuper without a problem, ONLY if the drive was plugged directly into one of the MacBooks USB ports, and NOT into a USB 2.0 powered hub. Not sure why this is the case.... just my observation. I also have the same issue with syncing my iPod Nano. (Probably an issue with the hub, but it seems like the new Leopard update is supposed to address USB issues). My external drive is a standard 500 GB PATA drive in a Metal Gear Box II usb/firewire case.

EDIT: I have also been able to boot up the laptop from the external USB drive without any issues. On my old Powerbook G4, I used the same version of SuperDuper to back up to this same external drive using Firewire 400. The speed of backing up on Firewire 400 vs. USB 2 on my new computer felt about the same.