External Hard Drive Woes

[Pointbreakd]

Ok so far I have tried 2 external Hard drives. The Acomdatal, which didn't work with protools (couldn't run session from it), and a Lacie Porshe (Tiger won't recognize it, sometimes it mounts sometimes it doesnt).

Does anyone know of a external drive that 100% certain works with Tiger (mac) and protools flawlessly.

Thanks!

 

[stratofied]

http://www.pacificproaudio.com/prod_disp_ppa1.asp

 

[onemind]

Any FW800 drive should give you excellent performance with pro-tools just look for seek times under 9ms and at least 7200 RPM. (I didn't want to ask the silly question, but I guess no question is silly....you're not using USB are you?)

Steve

 

[Pointbreakd]

nope not using usb

 

[JPF]

Are you sure your LaCie is OK? I've been using a 250GB LaCie Porsche with my Powerbook via Firewire 400 for a couple of months now with no problems whatsoever (HFS+ formatted).

In fact I was so impressed with it I bought a portable 80GB LaCie (USB 2.0) drive for iTunes storage and the occasional Garageband workout and sketch recording with nary a hiccup.

Apple wouldn't work so closely with LaCie and stock so many of their external hard drives and DVD drives in their own stores here in Europe if the problems you mention were commonplace. Perhaps you could try exchanging your problematic LaCie for a new one? Just a thought.

 

[MichaelK]

Did you try formatting the drive with Disk Utility?

 

[Pointbreakd]

i did try formatting it...no go.

I've heard a lot of stories about the porshe not working with Tiger.

Ended up just returning it and getting a Glyph from Sweetwater (at a pretty good price too).

I hate calling Sweetwater though, I feel like its a cult or something.

 

[Gerry]

Originally posted by Pointbreakd
I hate calling Sweetwater though, I feel like its a cult or something.

LOL!! I love those big 2 page ads they run, about the Band "Run don't Walk" (you know, the 2 chicks and the guy), with the little fine print in the left upper corner "Run don't walk is a fictitious band."

 

[MichaelK]

Interesting glitch, about the Porsche drives.

I use Sweetwater all the time. As long as their prices are more or less in line, I prefer to use them because they're a hell of a lot easier to deal with if a problem arises than anyone else.

 

[Pointbreakd]

I like sweetwater becaues there is that human interaction which is nice. But I find the sales associates to be creepy. I mean they just randomly call me to chat..."hows the band, family etc" I mean I understand from a psychological perspective that this is an amazing sales technique but I still feel that it's a bit fake and unneccisary.

Also the fact that now that I've called, I have to deal with the exact same guy everytime is strange. I've actually tricked the receptionist into letting me talk to someone else just to be caught when I started to place my order. They actually said to me "well I'm not supposed to talk to you becuase you are John's guy"

I am not John's guy.

who are these people....

 

[MichaelK]

Tell then you'd like to switch salesmen, or tell the guy to stop calling you. Some of those guys are definitely a little "too" friendly from what I've heard, but my salesman has never called me with that BS.

That's the price you pay for that personal touch: it's a real person. Hell, you're not going to like everybody! There are some decent salespeople there with a much more professional, less desperate attitude. I once had a salesman I didn't like; they switched me no questions asked.

 

[E-Rock]

+1 for the PacPro Drives!!!!
I work at a 4 room studio, 4 PT HD rigs, 3 Final Cut rigs, couple of LE systems ect...
Those drive kick ass!!!!

 

[rinnytin]

I've also had trouble with the LaCie Porsche drive. Check these out:

http://www.aicmicro.com/productdetail.asp?id=26150

They are cheap and have worked flawlessly for me, I've got a half dozen of them. They do have a fan in the back.

Also good (more expensive but quieter):

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/fw400-USB2-combo-drives/

I have not found Sweetwater to have competetive prices. Try Craig at http://www.calistromusic.com.

 

[rinnytin]

I've also had trouble with the LaCie Porsche drive. Check these out:

http://www.aicmicro.com/productdetail.asp?id=26150

They are cheap and have worked flawlessly for me, I've got a half dozen of them. They do have a fan in the back.

Also good (more expensive but quieter):

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/fw400-USB2-combo-drives/

I have not found Sweetwater to have competetive prices. Try Craig at http://www.calistromusic.com.

 

[Matt Gordon]

I've had issues with Lacie a DVD burner with both iMacs and G4's. Not sure what the deal was. I need an external drive also for my newest PB/M-Audio/PT-LE setup. Personally I like the Sweetwater guys. Very different though!

 

[dankayaker]

Check out the G-Tech GRaids. We use them for certain video programs and they have been very reliable.