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Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II - Good or Bad?
- Thread starter steffi
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And what about the so called "SmartWare" which is preinstalled? A lot of reviewers on amazon complain about it.
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http://www.amazon.com/review/R16UO83RK9FCZX/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R16UO83RK9FCZX
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http://www.amazon.com/review/R16UO83RK9FCZX/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R16UO83RK9FCZX
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Although SmartWare is an annoyance during the initial setup, I personally think that people over exaggerate the problems that it actually presents. I have the original 1TB My Book and at first when trying to setup the drive to be read and written in both Windows and OS X, SmartWare/firmware on the HDD was a little troublesome but that was me not reading thinking that it was like a regular external HDD with no software. After you get everything setup and disable the firmware/SmartWare, the drive runs fine and you won't notice SmartWare.
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I think you're always better off buying an OEM hard drive and an empty enclosure. It takes about 10 minutes to put everything together and you will never have any crapware installed on your new enclosure.
My firewire 800 enclosure is very fast. It takes almost no time to move entire tv shows or full HD movies from my MBP to the enclosure.
My firewire 800 enclosure is very fast. It takes almost no time to move entire tv shows or full HD movies from my MBP to the enclosure.
The Studio Edition drives are pretty good, there is a huge amount of negative reviews on them, but that didnt stop me from buying them. They come with a 5 year warranty on them, and having 3 interfaces (FW 800/400, USB) is a HUGE plus. I have the Passport Studio as well as the MyBook Studio, and they are both great drives. Highly recommend them. When you get yours however, erase and reformat the drive to get all the junk software off of it.
There is a difference between the SmartWare from edition I and edition II. I don't know if they've resolved the issue though.
I have two of these units, both are 2GB models. They've been working fine for me for the last year or so. Can't say what the throughput is on FireWire 800, but they're plenty fast for my Time Machine and data storage applications.
I only have the original MyBook Studio so I won't comment on the drive but I've had to do stuff for a friend with the Smartware drive and it's a PITA. It doesn't do anything that a (free) 3rd party solution won't do better and the way it makes itself constantly present as an additional drive is quite annoying.
I did test the speeds on FW800 ages ago but I can't remember now, sorry. For Time Machine though, a full restore from backup completes in half the time compared to my USB2.0 WD Elements. I think I should say that my Studio is much noisier, vibrates more and puts out more heat than any external 3.5" drive I've used.
I did test the speeds on FW800 ages ago but I can't remember now, sorry. For Time Machine though, a full restore from backup completes in half the time compared to my USB2.0 WD Elements. I think I should say that my Studio is much noisier, vibrates more and puts out more heat than any external 3.5" drive I've used.
I have a WD Studio at work, and its performed flawlessly since I got it. The interfaces are, like others said, a plus, and the warranty is really good, since I also have a WD Essentials drive, which has a 2Yr warranty (would be 1Yr in the US).
I have the previous one-the one without the status on the drives. It is absolutely fantastic.The only issue I have had is rather odd-a couple of times I have gotten a warning that the drive has failed-yet the drive keeps plugging away-and even more odd when I open the Drive manager software both drives report normal status-
Very Strange......
Very Strange......
I got a 2tb My Book Studio Edition II back in March and it works great connected to my Mac Mini HTPC.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277682779&sr=8-1
So far I have had no problems. I do file transfers with the Firewire and I can transfer several gigs in a couple of minutes. I have not measured the times myself, but it performs pretty good to me. Since it has no fan it is also really quiet. It's not silent, but it's good for watching movies.
I did not however install the Smart software. I read all the complaints about it, so I decided not to install the Smart software since it is optional for the My Book Studio drive.
I really like this drive. It works great and looks great next to my Mac Mini HTPC.
Also the price has even come down the last few months, which is a nice bonus for those interested in the drive.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277682779&sr=8-1
So far I have had no problems. I do file transfers with the Firewire and I can transfer several gigs in a couple of minutes. I have not measured the times myself, but it performs pretty good to me. Since it has no fan it is also really quiet. It's not silent, but it's good for watching movies.
I did not however install the Smart software. I read all the complaints about it, so I decided not to install the Smart software since it is optional for the My Book Studio drive.
I really like this drive. It works great and looks great next to my Mac Mini HTPC.
Also the price has even come down the last few months, which is a nice bonus for those interested in the drive.
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Yeah I can back that up. I have no problem with their RMA return system online.
Umounts + doesn't wake up
I purchased the 2TB model last week, and it works fine except that as the computer sleeps and wakes, the drive doesn't always wake.
We leave an iMac on 24/7 and have it go to sleep when it wants. But when it comes back on, the drive doesn't wake with it. The drive stays off completely and you have to push the power button to wake it. I'm fine with this, but my wife doesn't get why iPhoto loses our pictures (she launches it and the drive isn't mounted, so it switches to a different iPhoto gallery- losing the setting that points it at the external drive)
So that is pretty frustrating for me.
We are using it over the FW800 interface- and that may be part of the issue. I suspect there is a problem in the fw/esata/usb chipset it uses- and I'm a little worried that it could be something that couldn't be addressed by a firmware update. We'll see. I don't know that to be a fact- but signaling issues could be at a chip level where the firmware doesn't see the issue. I am running the latest firmware available from WD (1.015), and running the latest version of the WD Drive Manager software (2.25). I'm hopeful that WD will address the issue, but I'm not holding my breath based on my previous experiences with compatibility issues on their drives. I think that firmware release notes actually claimed that it addressed a resume from suspend issue with FW, but it didn't for the mac. From the release notes: "Fixed failure to re-enumerate 1394 (FireWire) when resuming from Windows® VistaTM operating systems sleep state" Maybe this actually broke Mac support. I didn't try the drive before updating the firmware...
I owned a previous drive with a problem because it used an Oxford Semiconductor eSata/USB chipset with a known bug that prevented it from working with the SI3132 eSata expresscard. I spent days researching the issue and found documentation that Oxford Semiconductor found the bug and issued a firmware update for the chipset that resolved the problem. I contact them directly to see if I could get the update and they referred me to WD saying that they can't provide the update directly to consumers. So I contacted WD, provided them with the details from Oxford, including a reference to the bug and the update that fixes it and WD said they would not be issuing an update for the drive. It was a WD MyBook ES that had eSata and USB interfaces.
Anyway- that is to say that I don't have much confidence in WD updating their drives to fix bugs. That said, the WD Studio Edition II is a relative bargain for what it provides. 2TB of RAID 0 or 1 storage with swappable drives (though they can only be replaced by WD GreenPower drives). Still, at ~$200 street price it is a bargain, and maybe WD is changing - my bad experience with them was 3 years ago.
I purchased the 2TB model last week, and it works fine except that as the computer sleeps and wakes, the drive doesn't always wake.
We leave an iMac on 24/7 and have it go to sleep when it wants. But when it comes back on, the drive doesn't wake with it. The drive stays off completely and you have to push the power button to wake it. I'm fine with this, but my wife doesn't get why iPhoto loses our pictures (she launches it and the drive isn't mounted, so it switches to a different iPhoto gallery- losing the setting that points it at the external drive)
So that is pretty frustrating for me.
We are using it over the FW800 interface- and that may be part of the issue. I suspect there is a problem in the fw/esata/usb chipset it uses- and I'm a little worried that it could be something that couldn't be addressed by a firmware update. We'll see. I don't know that to be a fact- but signaling issues could be at a chip level where the firmware doesn't see the issue. I am running the latest firmware available from WD (1.015), and running the latest version of the WD Drive Manager software (2.25). I'm hopeful that WD will address the issue, but I'm not holding my breath based on my previous experiences with compatibility issues on their drives. I think that firmware release notes actually claimed that it addressed a resume from suspend issue with FW, but it didn't for the mac. From the release notes: "Fixed failure to re-enumerate 1394 (FireWire) when resuming from Windows® VistaTM operating systems sleep state" Maybe this actually broke Mac support. I didn't try the drive before updating the firmware...
I owned a previous drive with a problem because it used an Oxford Semiconductor eSata/USB chipset with a known bug that prevented it from working with the SI3132 eSata expresscard. I spent days researching the issue and found documentation that Oxford Semiconductor found the bug and issued a firmware update for the chipset that resolved the problem. I contact them directly to see if I could get the update and they referred me to WD saying that they can't provide the update directly to consumers. So I contacted WD, provided them with the details from Oxford, including a reference to the bug and the update that fixes it and WD said they would not be issuing an update for the drive. It was a WD MyBook ES that had eSata and USB interfaces.
Anyway- that is to say that I don't have much confidence in WD updating their drives to fix bugs. That said, the WD Studio Edition II is a relative bargain for what it provides. 2TB of RAID 0 or 1 storage with swappable drives (though they can only be replaced by WD GreenPower drives). Still, at ~$200 street price it is a bargain, and maybe WD is changing - my bad experience with them was 3 years ago.
Question re: WD My Book SE II
I just got my Western Digital - My Book Studio Edition II 2TB (RAID 0) and installed the WD manager on my MacBook Pro. It seems to function fine so far and did not update the WD Manager driver or software yet at this point.
At this point, I am in a dilemma on which method of backing up I should be doing. Here I am asking you for your opinion or advice.
My intention of using this new back up was two things: One, to back up a snapshot of my entire laptop files and all on one 1TB file. Two, use the other 1TB portion as an external hard drive where I can move files manually in/out of the external hard drive.
Now the questions:
1) If I do RAID 1 format which will naturally create two files, via which method: Disk Utility or WD Manager?
2) After formatting to RAID 1, then now with TimeMachine manager - would Time Machine back-up on both two files (mirrored) or will it only back up on one file instead of two?
3) Should I update the WD driver or not? I read some says not to and to...due to Studio Edition II version is the issue. That had me concerned which is why I stopped at my tracks from implementing back ups and lead me to these questions.
Again, it is my ultimate goal to just use one file for time machine and the other for extra hard drive only for pictures/videos and other files too. This is my preferred choice unless others advise otherwise.
I read else where on various forums throughout the web, that in general WD back-ups RAID 1 does not match on both files, causing it to lose certain files whereas TimeMachine (journaled) does not lose any files, but could be prone to bad back ups too.
Help!
Any advice from you is much appreciated. I need to back up FAST before I get my MacBook Pro in for repair.
Much thanks!!
M
I just got my Western Digital - My Book Studio Edition II 2TB (RAID 0) and installed the WD manager on my MacBook Pro. It seems to function fine so far and did not update the WD Manager driver or software yet at this point.
At this point, I am in a dilemma on which method of backing up I should be doing. Here I am asking you for your opinion or advice.
My intention of using this new back up was two things: One, to back up a snapshot of my entire laptop files and all on one 1TB file. Two, use the other 1TB portion as an external hard drive where I can move files manually in/out of the external hard drive.
Now the questions:
1) If I do RAID 1 format which will naturally create two files, via which method: Disk Utility or WD Manager?
2) After formatting to RAID 1, then now with TimeMachine manager - would Time Machine back-up on both two files (mirrored) or will it only back up on one file instead of two?
3) Should I update the WD driver or not? I read some says not to and to...due to Studio Edition II version is the issue. That had me concerned which is why I stopped at my tracks from implementing back ups and lead me to these questions.
Again, it is my ultimate goal to just use one file for time machine and the other for extra hard drive only for pictures/videos and other files too. This is my preferred choice unless others advise otherwise.
I read else where on various forums throughout the web, that in general WD back-ups RAID 1 does not match on both files, causing it to lose certain files whereas TimeMachine (journaled) does not lose any files, but could be prone to bad back ups too.
Help!
Any advice from you is much appreciated. I need to back up FAST before I get my MacBook Pro in for repair.
Much thanks!!
M
I have two of these drives, both 4TB in size (2x2TB discs).
I cant remember if my drives had smartware on them. If they did I was able to just reformat and remove it. Something which you can't do on their later drives unfortunately.
I use both drives via firewire800, and have never had any issues with them whatsoever. I did, however, remove WD Manager since the is a huge thread over on the WD forums in regards to how the WD RAID Manager plays around with your system memory in the background. if you check your logs you will probably see many errors. Hence i removed this software. If my drives ever fail the lights on the front will warn me, and i can then put WD RAID Manager on to try and resolve if need be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbBdAuzxXk&sns=em
I cant remember if my drives had smartware on them. If they did I was able to just reformat and remove it. Something which you can't do on their later drives unfortunately.
I use both drives via firewire800, and have never had any issues with them whatsoever. I did, however, remove WD Manager since the is a huge thread over on the WD forums in regards to how the WD RAID Manager plays around with your system memory in the background. if you check your logs you will probably see many errors. Hence i removed this software. If my drives ever fail the lights on the front will warn me, and i can then put WD RAID Manager on to try and resolve if need be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbBdAuzxXk&sns=em
Hi,
I recently switched from a PC to a MAC. I have been using the WD in RAID 1 with FAT 31 filesystem.
I just upgraded the two drives with bigger WD Green caviar ones (2TB each) and I'd like to know which RAID manager I should use between the WD Drive manager (compatible with MAC OS 10.5 only) and the native MAC one?
My plan is to split the drive in 3 partitions, two 500GB time machines and 1 TB FAT dedicated to storing. Do you know if the RAID 1 manager within the drive can manage different partitions and also different filesystems?
Thank you for your help!
I recently switched from a PC to a MAC. I have been using the WD in RAID 1 with FAT 31 filesystem.
I just upgraded the two drives with bigger WD Green caviar ones (2TB each) and I'd like to know which RAID manager I should use between the WD Drive manager (compatible with MAC OS 10.5 only) and the native MAC one?
My plan is to split the drive in 3 partitions, two 500GB time machines and 1 TB FAT dedicated to storing. Do you know if the RAID 1 manager within the drive can manage different partitions and also different filesystems?
Thank you for your help!