I also have a second hard drive. I will run some tests on both.
sounds like a duff hard drive to me. Run techtools or the hardware tset
I will check that too... I will give results this afternoon...
Thanks!
Firewire vs. USB:
Found in an old post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/454859/
"Firewire is peer-to-peer, the devices transfer directly to each other, meaning they can sustain a constant rate of 400mbps. USB involves the processor, which slows it down significantly and can't sustain that 480mbps."
Also:
"Generally speaking, FW400 goes up to that speed level and remains there for the balance of the transfer. Where as USB2.0 will spike a bit faster, then maintain at a level around 200Mbps.
Real world, I have an external HD with both FW400 and USB2.0. I transfered some large files -- around 100GBs. The time required to transfer the files for USB2.0 was over twice as long as for the FW400 connection."
Information on my External Hard Drive:
See if the bold areas say something...
Connectivity Details Type: IEEE 1394 cable
Connectivity Details Type: USB cable
Cables (Details)
Details (CA): FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin)
Form Factor: External
Included Qty: 1
Data Transfer Rate Details
Interface: FireWire
Speed: 43 MB/s
Interface: Hi-Speed USB
Speed: 33 MB/s
Compatibility: Mac , PC
Model: III FireWire 400 and USB 2.0
Packaged Quantity: 1
Product Line: Maxtor OneTouch
Interface Provided
Connector Type: 4 pin USB Type B
Interface (Storage): Hi-Speed USB
Connector Type: 6 pin FireWire
Interface (Storage): IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Power Device
Frequency Required: 50/60 Hz
Nominal Voltage: AC 120/230 V
Average Seek Time: 9 ms
Buffer Size: 16 MB
Capacity: 500 GB
Connector: 6 pin FireWire
Hard Drive Type: External hard drive
Interface Type: IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB
Spindle Speed: 7200 rpm
External Hard Drive
Interface Speed: 400 Mbps (FireWire) / 480 Mbps (Hi-Speed USB)
Max Data Transfer Rate: 43 MB/s
