Hard Disk ToolKit Version 4.5 Frequently Asked Questions April 8, 2001
Starting with the 4.0 version of Hard Disk ToolKit (including the Personal Edition), the software was significantly enhanced. We strongly encourage users of earlier versions of Hard Disk ToolKit to upgrade to the latest version. This FAQ primarily deals with questions pertaining to the current version. Some questions relating to earlier versions are at the end of this document.
Note Moving from a previous version of HDT to HDT 4.5 is not covered by a free updater. All current owners of Hard Disk ToolKit can upgrade to the new version at an extremely discounted price. To upgrade, contact the FWB Upgrade Center at 800-656- 5443 or order on-line for immediate delivery http://www.fwb.com/cs/buy/main.html. To purchase upgrades internationally, see the complete list of FWB distributors on our web site at http://www.fwb.com.
New with Hard Disk ToolKit 4.5 • Support for FireWire Arrays. • Compatible with Mac OS™ 9.1. • Support for the latest model iMacs and G4's (including the G4 Cubes). • New bootable CD. • Many new SCSI and IDE drive mechanisms supported. • Many new FireWire drive mechanisms supported (including the latest bridges from Oxford Semiconductor). • Improve caching implemented on the FireWire driver. • Supports many new devices.
Information covered in this FAQ · What do I use Hard Disk ToolKit for? · Owners of earlier versions of Hard Disk and RAID ToolKit · Starting your system from a bootable CD · Installation and system software · Formatting and Auto Initializing · Working with drivers · Working with volumes and partitions · Passwords and encryption · Device testing and benchtesting · Miscellaneous application questions · Hard Disk ToolKit RAID information · RAID technology information · Software compatibility information · Hardware compatibility information · System problems and solutions · FWB Software product information
1 · Technical support through e-mail · Web sites with useful information · Drive manufacturer web addresses · Web sites with useful information on FireWire · SCSI card manufacturer web addresses · Disk repair utility manufacturer web addresses
What do I use Hard Disk ToolKit for?
Hard Disk ToolKit manages the preparation and performance of hard disk and removable cartridge drives. It works on many levels: from devices, to volumes, to drivers. · At the device level, Hard Disk ToolKit formats and auto initializes devices; creates new simple and array (RAID) volumes; provides a fast, raw copy of the contents of one device to another; and diagnoses (and in some cases repairs) disk media. · At the volume level, Hard Disk ToolKit provides password and encryption protection; performance testing; and volume management tasks, such as deleting volumes or changing volume attributes. When a device is prepared, its disk media is divided into territories called “partitions.” A partition used for storing user data, such as document and application files, is called a “volume.” All volumes are partitions, but not all partitions are volumes. Some partitions store data that is normally inaccessible to a user, such as partition map and driver data. Most volumes can be mounted to and unmounted from the Desktop. A mounted volume is represented by an icon on the Desktop. · At the driver level, Hard Disk ToolKit provides device drivers that make it possible for a system and its associated hard disk devices to talk with each other. Additionally, using HDT’s Device Data files, Hard Disk ToolKit device drivers adjust drive operational settings to maximize a device’s speed, safety, and efficiency. Many Hard Disk ToolKit functions require that a current HDT driver control the device you want to work with. You have a few of options for putting an HDT device driver in place: · The Update Driver command on the Devices menu installs or updates device drivers without erasing the data currently stored on the device. Although Update Driver does not destroy data, we recommend backing up data before you proceed. If you have RAID volumes that were created by software other than FWB’s RAID ToolKit or Hard Disk ToolKit, do not use the Update Driver command to update these RAID array drivers. To use Hard Disk ToolKit array drivers, you must back up all the data on the array and recreate the array with HDT. You’ll find more details about RAID later in this FAQ. · The Auto Initialize command on the Devices menu completely prepares the selected device for use, including updating the device driver. Auto initializing destroys all data on the device. Back up data before you auto initialize. · The New Volume command on the Devices menu creates new volumes of a size and type you specify out of unallocated free space. Included in this process is the installation of a current device driver on the host device. Unallocated free space is raw material not yet allocated to a storage volume. It is free for dividing up or pooling into a mountable volume. It is not the unused storage space on a prepared volume.
2 Owners of earlier versions of Hard Disk and RAID ToolKit
If you own an earlier version of Hard Disk ToolKit or RAID ToolKit, we strongly recommend that you delete it and all its components before you install the latest version of Hard Disk ToolKit (make sure to remove FWB Tools from your Extensions folder). Once you install HDT, the first thing you should do is update all the device drivers of the devices you want HDT to control. · Owners of Hard Disk ToolKit must temporarily start up from the install CD or another volume to update the driver on their startup drive. If you own FWB Software’s RAID ToolKit, you can use this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to take control of your RAID arrays. · Owners of RAID ToolKit versions 1.9 and later can simply update their drivers with this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to get the benefit of HDT’s regular tool set plus its new RAID functionality. · Owners of versions of RAID ToolKit prior to version 1.9 must back up all their data and reformat their arrays with this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to make use of its latest array drivers and to have access to its functions.
Starting your system from a bootable CD · Starting your system from an externally connected CD-ROM drive · For Power Macintosh, PowerMac clones, and PowerBook 3400's · Starting your system from a PowerBook 1400 Starting your system from an externally connected CD-ROM drive Usually you cannot start up from external CD-ROM drives that are not Apple drives that came as part of your original system. This may work only for a limited number of external CD-ROM drives. · Insert the bootable CD. · Restart your system while holding down Command-Option-Shift-Delete. This technique tells the computer to ignore the current startup volume selected in the Startup Disk control panel. Ignoring the selected startup volume forces the computer to look for another volume from which to start the system. The computer starts its search with the highest SCSI ID on bus 0 (or, with IDE/ATA, from the master drive connected to IDE channel 0), and counts down, for example ID6, ID5, ID4, and so on. Power Macintosh models typically have two buses, bus 0 and bus 1. In this case, the search goes from bus 0 to bus 1.
For Power Macintosh, PowerMac clones, and PowerBook 3400's This also works on my Quadra 840AV. It might work on yours. · Insert the bootable CD. · Restart your system while holding down the “C” key.
Note HDT Version 4.5 bootable CD includes version 9.1 of Mac OS. It should boot most PowerMacs including G4s and the latest iMacs. However, newer machines that ship after
3 HDT 4.5 release may not boot with the CD. Please contact FWB Software for information on how to obtain a bootable CD that will work with the latest systems.
Starting your system from a PowerBook 1400
Note Typically, the Command-Option-Shift-Delete or the "C" key at startup methods should allow you to start up from a bootable CD. We discovered with our PB1400 that the following method worked when others didn't. This is not a standard method for starting up from a CD on this PowerBook model, but it worked for us, and it's worth a try! 1. Insert the bootable CD. 2. Restart your system while holding down Command-Option-Shift-Delete-C.
Installation and system software · Does HDT/HDT•PE version 4.5 work with Mac OS 9.1 · If you are installing or upgrading system software · My serial number doesn’t work · Can I use an earlier version of Hard Disk ToolKit (e.g., 1.8) to modify drives that have been formatted with a later version (e.g., 4.x)? · System 7.x Does HDT/HDT•PE version 4.5 work with Mac OS 9.1 Yes, and further, Hard Disk ToolKit™ 4.0 and newer is compatible with Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) volumes for users operating from Mac OS 8.1 and greater. Both Mac OS Standard and Mac OS Extended HFS volumes using HDT drivers operate properly under Mac OS 8.5.
Note It is VERY important to boot up with extensions off under Mac OS 8.1 and later when you use any of Hard Disk ToolKit or Personal Edition’s low-level functions such as formatting, partitioning, updating the driver, or testing.
HFS Plus is an enhanced version of Apple's Hierarchical File System (HFS) introduced in Mac OS 8.1. In an HFS environment, files are stored on a disk in chunks called allocation blocks. One allocation block is the smallest a file can be on a given volume. On a standard HFS volume, allocation block sizes are tied to the overall size of the volume--the larger the volume, the larger the minimum allocation block size on that volume. If you have lots of small files on a large volume, the files are likely to take up more space than they actually need because the allocation block size for storing information can only get so small; for example, if you have 7KB of data on a Mac OS Standard 2GB volume, the file it's stored in will nonetheless take up 32KB. That same 7KB of data will be stored in an 8KB file on a Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) 2GB volume. Allocation block sizes are still linked to volume sizes, but they are significantly smaller on HFS Plus volumes than they are on Mac OS Standard volumes. The advantage of HFS Plus is that it allows for much smaller allocation block sizes on large volumes. Data, particularly for small files, is stored more compactly with less wasted space. You get more complete use out of the full capacity of your storage volumes.
4 Your computer must be running Mac OS 8.1 or later to access the files on a local Mac OS Extended format volume. · Mac OS Extended volumes shared on a network by a workstation or server running Mac OS 8.1 or later can be seen by a computer running older versions of the Mac OS. · If a Mac OS Extended volume is connected to a computer running Mac OS 8 or earlier, you will be unable to see or access almost all files on the Extended volume. The one file you will be able to see and access is named "where_have_all_my_files_gone?" This is an Apple-provided Read Me file that explains what happened to your files. · You will be able to see and access your files if you connect the hard disk to a machine running Mac OS 8.1 or later. HDT 4.5 is default to create Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) volume. To create a Mac OS Standard (HFS) volume with HDT 4.5, select the Mac OS Standard volume type from the Auto-Initialize or Create New Volume pop-up.
Note Creating a new volume erases all data on the volume being created. Back up valuable data before you create a new volume!
You cannot use Hard Disk ToolKit to resize (expand or shrink) an HFS Plus volume.
If you are installing or upgrading system software If you’re installing new Mac OS system software on a new drive, the following procedure will erase all data on the selected disk, so back up any valuable data from that disk before you proceed: 1. Start your system from the Hard Disk ToolKit install CD and auto initialize your hard disk with HDT. Do not apply any HDT security features, yet; Apple system software cannot ask for an HDT password. If security is already in place, remove it temporarily until you have installed the Mac OS. 2. Once you’ve auto initialized, restart your system using the Mac OS installation disc. 3. In the Mac OS installer, click the Options button and turn off the option to Update Apple Hard Disk Drivers. This is to prevent Apple’s installer from overwriting HDT’s high-performance device drivers.
If you’re upgrading system software: 1. Backup all your drives and run a virus scan before you upgrade. 2. Check FWB’s web site (http://www.fwb.com) to ensure you have the latest version of Hard Disk ToolKit. 3. Using Hard Disk ToolKit, update your device drivers to the latest version. Do not apply any HDT security features, yet; Apple system software cannot ask for an HDT password. If security is already in place, remove it temporarily until you have updated the Mac OS. 4. Restart your system with the Mac OS installation disc. 5. In the Mac OS installer, click the Options button and turn off the option to Update Apple Hard Disk Drivers.
5 This is to prevent Apple’s installer from overwriting HDT’s high-performance device drivers.
My serial number doesn’t work You’ll find the serial number on the Installer CD-ROM jewel box. When you get to the Personalization dialog box during the installation process, make sure you enter information into the name, organization, and serial number fields. If you leave any of these fields blank, the installer will return an “invalid serial number” error message.
Name and organization must each have at least three characters: avoid using punctuation or spaces in the first three characters. Use the SHIFT key, rather than caps lock, to type capital letters for all the letters in the serial number. Don’t put any spaces in the serial number.
Can I use an earlier version of Hard Disk ToolKit (e.g., 1.8) to modify drives that have been formatted with a later version (e.g., 2.x)? Better not. Later versions have newer device drivers. Using an older version can harm the driver and consequently the data on the drive.
System 7.x Version 4.5 of HDT does not support System 7.x. If you are using System 7.x, we recommend that you update to the latest Macintosh System (at this writing, System 8.6 or above). It is available from Apple. Another alternative is to purchase from our web site earlier versions of HDT that works with System 7.x.
Formatting and Auto Initializing · What is the difference between Format and Auto Initialize? · I’m getting error messages during formatting · I can’t format a device · I can’t auto initialize my disk · My system hangs when I initialize a device (or create a partition) · When I low-level format a drive, I’m not getting anything other than the default template. Where are the other templates?
What is the difference between Format and Auto Initialize? • Auto Initialize is a one-step procedure for formatting and initializing a drive. Use it when you want to initialize a drive without doing your own customization of drive parameters or partitioning the drive into more than a single volume. With Auto-Initialize you specify whether you want a quick or low-level format and whether formatting should be verified, but everything else is automated, requiring no user intervention. Auto-Initialize is particularly useful for small drives and removable cartridges, neither of which normally are set up with multiple volumes (partitions).
• Format also allows you to choose between quick and low-level format, but it has more user-configurable parameters and requires you to set up any data partitions after the format is complete. Format is particularly useful for large drives where you want multiple partitions.
6 I’m getting error messages during formatting A drive reports errors during the format process to tell your computer that something is wrong. These messages are generated by the drive and not by HDT/HDT•PE. Error messages listing “HARDWARE ERROR” or “MEDIUM ERROR” can indicate a mechanical problem with the drive or a bad cartridge or optical disk. If you get one of these errors, contact your drive manufacturer for technical support and, if necessary, local repair outlets.
I can’t format a device · If you selected Quick Format, your device might need a lower level format. Use HDT to perform a Low Level Format. · If you selected Low Level Format, you might have cabling and termination problems or your device might be defective. Check cabling and termination. If the problem persists, you might need to replace the device. · The disk media may be write-protected either by manual means, through the write- protect switch on the media, or by software (for example, the software write-protection available for Zip and Jaz media in Iomega Tools). Remove write protection either by reversing the switch on the media or by launching the software that provided the write protection and unlocking the disk. · Hard Disk ToolKit may not support the device and the generic settings it uses under these circumstances may not be compatible. This is a concern only with SCSI devices. Devices may not be fully supported because they’re old or because they’re new and we haven’t yet added support. To check the level of device support offered in Hard Disk ToolKit, first look in the Supported Devices file in the Hard Disk ToolKit application folder. Devices are listed by manufacturer. Second, select the device in Device view and click the Info button. The level of support is listed under Device Support. If you have a drive that isn’t supported, check the FWB web site (http://www.fwb.com) for the latest Device Data files. If the Device Data files you find on our web site are newer than the ones on your hard drive (in the Hard Disk ToolKit application folder), you can download the newer files and replace yours. If new Device Data files don’t include support for your drive, please contact FWB to let us know. · Device disks may have unrecoverable bad blocks. Run Hard Disk ToolKit’s Device Test (Scan and Reallocate). This will remove bad blocks from use on SCSI devices. According to IDE/ATA drive vendors, IDE/ATA drives automatically remap bad blocks without requiring external software intervention. So Device Test wouldn’t be of use on IDE/ATA drives. FireWire drives are based on IDE/ATA drives so Device Test wouldn’t help either.
I can’t auto initialize my disk · Try Low Level formatting the device first. Then try auto initializing. · There may not be enough free memory. Free up more RAM by quitting all applications and launching Hard Disk ToolKit. If you’re still having trouble, restart with extensions off (restart while holding down the Shift key). Try allocating more memory to HDT. Select the application icon on the Desktop and press Command-i. In the application’s information box, allocate more memory. Restart your system. · A non-FWB driver may already control the media. Check your Extensions and Control Panels folders for manufacturer-provided software that controls their devices. Back these up and remove them from your System Folder. You might also try first formatting the disk with HDT’s Format command. This will wipe all drivers and partitions off the disk. · It may be that an existing volume cannot be unmounted for some reason (e.g., open file, program active, used for Virtual Memory, etc.). Close all open files and applications,
7 turn off Virtual Memory, and try again. For optimal results, restart your system with extensions off before you Auto Initialize. To do this, restart while holding down the Shift key until you get the message: Welcome to Macintosh. Extensions Off.
My system hangs when I initialize a device (or create a partition) This can usually be attributed to problems on the SCSI chain. Restart with extensions off (hold down the Shift key during startup), and check your SCSI chain for cable or termination problems.
Large drives may require that more memory be allocated to the HDT or PE application. Try increasing the memory allocation by selecting the application icon, pressing Command-i to open the Get Info dialog box, and increasing the application memory allocation.
Contact FWB Technical Support if this persists. Further investigation may be needed.
When I low-level format a drive, I’m not getting anything other than the default template. Where are the other templates? The default template settings are for the best use of the drive in a general setting. If the drive comes with settings that can be adjusted to make it perform optimally in a specific environment, we create a template for that specific use (the maximum range of choices we offer are default, digital pre-press, or digital video; not all drives have all choices available). You may find that HDT does not provide a digital video template for your new AV drive. This is because the drive’s default operational settings are already optimally adjusted for digital video and would not benefit from a specialized template in HDT. You can low-level format the drive with HDT’s default template, and it will come out as well prepared for digital video as it would have had we included a digital video template.
Working with drivers · I’m having problems updating or installing a driver Some rules of the road for Update Driver Problems shrinking a data partition (Shrink Failed message) Large volumes on non-Power Macintosh computers Other solutions to driver update problems · I want to update my device driver, but I’m afraid I’ll lose all my custom driver settings · I updated Hard Disk ToolKit, and now my removable media won’t eject when I drag its volumes to Trash · What is the Synchronize cache on system shutdown option in the Configure Driver dialog box? · Why do I have two drivers on my removable cartridge? I’m having problems updating or installing a driver Normally, Update Driver is a swift, efficient, trouble-free method for installing Hard Disk ToolKit’s high-performance device driver. Occasionally, problems can arise. The following information provides some rules of the road and troubleshooting procedures for specific circumstances that might interfere with a successful driver update.
8 Some rules of the road for Update Driver · Back up all valuable data before you update drivers. · You should not use earlier versions of Hard Disk ToolKit (or RAID ToolKit) to update later versions of its driver. For example, you should not update a version 3.0 driver with version 2.5 of Hard Disk ToolKit. · If you have RAID volumes that were created by software other than FWB’s RAID ToolKit or Hard Disk ToolKit, do not use the Update Driver command to update these RAID array drivers. To use Hard Disk ToolKit array drivers on these devices, you must back up all the data on the array and recreate the array with HDT. · If the existing driver version precedes version 2.0, you cannot update a driver if the device is the drive you started up from; the drive HDT is running from; or a disk you’re also using for Virtual Memory. HDT will warn you that you cannot update a device driver if it fits any of these criteria. · If the existing driver is not a Hard Disk ToolKit driver, you cannot update if the driver is controlling your active startup device. Temporarily start up from another device to update a third-party driver. · Make sure to turn off all instances of password protection and data encryption that might exist on the device before using the Update Driver command. · Space limitations on the disk can prevent the Update Driver command from executing. If this happens, you must reinitialize the device in order to install the latest HDT driver. Reinitializing erases all data on a disk; be sure to back up all your valuable data before you do this. · Whenever you update a driver, driver settings are reset to the default for that drive. This ensures the highest degree of safety for all supported drives. If you wish to preserve your custom settings, open the Configure Driver dialog box, note your custom settings, update the driver, then reenter your custom settings. · When HDT updates the driver on removable media cartridge, it will install both IDE/ATA and SCSI drivers. Dual drivers allow you to interchange removable media between IDE and SCSI removable drives and to use IDE-configured laptops in SCSI Disk Mode.
Update Driver failed, telling me I don’t have enough room
If you have plenty of free space on your disk, but installing or updating a driver fails, defragment your disk with an optimizing utility, such as Norton Utilities Speed Disk (if you have version 3.5 or later, turn on the disk resizing option), and try the operation again.
If this fails, it may be that the new driver is larger than the old and requires more space than is set aside in the driver partition. In such cases, Hard Disk ToolKit tries to shrink your data partition to make room in the driver partition for the new driver. If there is a file near the edge of the data partition, HDT will not be able to shrink that partition. The applications we’ve noticed putting files at the edge of the data partition include older versions of Norton Utilities and Disk Express. To address this situation, try these steps: 1. If you run Norton Utilities’ Filesaver, turn it off until you have completed Update Driver. 2. Run a disk optimizer, such as Norton Utilities Speed Disk. 3. If you use Speed Disk, turn on the option to erase unused space. If you have Norton Utilities 3.5 or later, select the option for Disk Resizing. 4. Optimize the volume. 5. Try to update the driver with HDT again.
9 If you still get the “not enough room” message and you have Norton Utilities, you can use Norton’s Disk Editor to make the Norton Filesaver files visible. Once they’re visible, you can remove them from the edge of the data partition by dragging them to Trash. 1. Open any one of the Norton Utilities applications. 2. From the Utilities menu choose Disk Editor. 3. Disk Editor asks you to choose a volume. 4. Pick the first volume on the drive you want update. 5. Norton displays a list of files. 6. Scroll to the bottom of the list. 7. You should find up to five files that begin “Norton FS.” These are the invisible files that are camping on the edge of the data partition. 8. To make them visible, select the file and click the Info button. 9. A window with a checkbox matrix opens. One of the checkboxes is for Invisible. 10. Turn Invisible off. 11. You should now be able to see these files in their enclosing folders. 12. Drag the newly revealed files to Trash, and empty Trash.
Other solutions to driver update problems
You may be trying to update a drive that is using a pre-version 2.5.x of Hard Disk ToolKit that is also: · your startup drive · the drive HDT is running from · a disk you’re also using for Virtual Memory HDT will warn you that you cannot update a device driver if it is a version prior to version 2.5.2 and fits any of these criteria.
Your options are: · to start up from another drive · to run HDT from another drive · to temporarily stop using the disk for Virtual Memory Before you update a driver, restart your system with extensions off (hold down the Shift key during startup). This will temporarily disable Virtual Memory and any other extensions looking for files on another volume.
You might not have enough “contiguous free space,” or unpartitioned space, to install the driver. Take the following steps. Try installing the driver after each step. Back up your data before you begin. · Close all open folders and turn off file sharing. · If you’re updating the startup drive, startup from another device temporarily. · If you’re using Virtual Memory, turn off Virtual Memory temporarily. · Defragment your hard drive (try using a disk optimizer). · If you’re running the Norton Utilities’ “File Saver” application, turn it off. · Use HDT to reduce the size of the volume. As a last resort, back up all your data and use “Auto Initialize” to reinitialize the drive to contain a new driver and volume, then restore the data.
Is the device is level 2 or level 3 encrypted? You cannot update the driver of a Hard Disk ToolKit level 2 or level 3 encrypted volume with the current version of Hard Disk ToolKit.
10 You must first decrypt the volume using the original Hard Disk ToolKit application, and then use the current version of Hard Disk ToolKit to update the driver. After doing this, you may re-encrypt the volume.
You might be trying to update a formatted device with no partitions on it. Try auto initializing the device. This will create partitions and update the driver.
I want to update my device driver, but I’m afraid I’ll lose all my custom driver settings When you update a driver, driver settings are returned to their default values. This is to ensure the highest degree of safety for supported devices. Before you update a driver, note your custom driver settings in the Configure Driver dialog box, and re-enter them after the update.
I updated Hard Disk ToolKit, and now my removable media won’t eject when I drag its volumes to Trash If you have removable media with a pre-Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0 or a non-FWB driver, and you either turn on the drive that contains the media after your computer starts up or insert the media after the computer starts up, and you mount one or more volumes on the media with Hard Disk ToolKit or FWB Tools, the media may not eject when you drag its last volume to Trash. Update the driver on the removable media with Hard Disk ToolKit 3.0 or later. Then configure the driver (with HDT’s Configure Driver command). In the configuration dialog box, make sure the “Physical eject on unmount” checkbox is checked.
What is the Synchronize cache on system shutdown option in the Configure Driver dialog box? It is primarily for use on devices that are connected to the fast internal bus of PCI Macintosh models. Some users were reporting sporadic data corruption during shutdown on these machines. This was due to incomplete flushing of the write cache.
Some older devices do not support Sync-Cache. If it defaults to “on,” the drive supports it.
If it defaults to “off”: · the drive may not support the feature · the drive may not require the feature · you are not using an HDT-supported device If Sync-Cache defaults to off, use it at your own risk.
Why do I have two drivers on my removable cartridge? We put them there for removable media and ATA PowerBooks with SCSI disk mode. Hard Disk ToolKit installs both an IDE/ATA driver and a SCSI driver on removable media. This allows the media to be used smoothly between both types of devices. It also allows use of IDE-configured laptops in SCSI Disk Mode.
11 Working with volumes and partitions · I can’t resize my volume · I went to change Boot Priority in Change Volume Attributes, and I couldn’t find it. How do I tell my system which disk it should start up from? · How do I create a DOS volume? I can’t resize my volume · If you’re trying to make the volume smaller, it might be that the disk is fragmented. Defragment the disk. · If you’re trying to make the volume larger, it might be that you didn’t specify that the volume should be expandable when it was first created. Only when the volume is first created can you specify that it should be expandable. · You can’t use the Resize function on HFS+ volumes with Version 3.0.2. or earlier. HFS+ (Extended) Volumes may be resizes using HDT 4.x.
I went to change Boot Priority in Change Volume Attributes, and I couldn’t find it. How do I tell my system which disk it should start up from? We removed the Boot Priority option from Change Volume Attributes and the Bootable option from New Volumes. For a long time, users have been able to tell their system which disk to boot from through the Startup Disk control panel, included in the Mac OS.
Select Control Panels from the Apple menu, then choose Startup Disk. Click on the disk you wish to startup from in the Startup Disk control panel window. This change takes effect the next time you start your system.
How do I create a DOS volume? You can create a DOS volume on a removable cartridge through the Finder provided you have the PC Exchange control panel in your Control Panels folder at startup. The PC Exchange control panel ships with the Mac OS 8 and newer.
If the cartridge has not been formatted, insert it into the device. The Finder’s Erase Disk dialog box opens automatically. Choose DOS from the pop-up menu, then click Erase.
If the cartridge has been prepared for use with HDT: 1. Use the HDT Format command on the Devices menu to format the cartridge (this will erase all drivers and partitions). 2. After format, eject the cartridge. 3. Restart your system. 4. Insert the cartridge. 5. The Finder’s Erase Disk dialog box opens. 6. Choose DOS from the pop-up menu. 7. Click Erase.
12 Passwords and encryption · What happens if I defragment an encrypted volume? · Under Hard Disk ToolKit 1.x, I encrypted my volumes. Can I update my drivers with a newer version of HDT? · My PowerBook shut down after I entered my encryption password · What happens if I forget my password? What happens if I defragment an encrypted volume? Your data should be fine, but to be absolutely safe, back up your encrypted volume before you defragment. If your defragmenter provides the option to erase free space after defragmenting (or optimizing), you should turn this feature on before you proceed with defragmentation.
Under Hard Disk ToolKit 1.x, I encrypted my volumes. Can I update my drivers with a newer version of HDT? Not right away. First you must decrypt your volumes with the Hard Disk ToolKit 1.x Primer application. Then you can use a current version of Hard Disk ToolKit to update the driver and, if you wish, re-encrypt your volumes.
My PowerBook shut down after I entered my encryption password If a PowerBook 3400, 2400, or 1400 gets an order to sleep (but doesn’t) before you enter a password to mount the drive, the PowerBook will shut down. Simply restart your system and enter the encryption password.
What happens if I forget my password? Prevention is the best recourse. In a networked environment, you can set up an administrative password that a system administrator can use to access your volumes if you should forget your password. Do this through HDT’s Default Master Password command on the Devices or Volumes menu. Master Password is a good solution for networked environments, but not intended or designed for individual use.
Individual users might stash current passwords in a secure place, available should the user’s memory fail.
Regrettably, if these steps are not taken in advance of forgetting a password, the only recourse we can recommend it that you reformat or auto initialize the drive. This will wipe out all data currently on the drive.
Device testing and benchtesting · I’m having trouble testing a device · I’m getting error messages during testing · I was running a device test, and HDT wouldn’t allow me to multi-task with other applications
13 · My BenchTest results are not as good as they were a few months ago. It’s the same system and the same device. What happened?
I’m having trouble testing a device · HDT might need more memory. Increase the HDT application’s memory size by using Get Info from the Finder File Menu. · Your device might have SCSI problems, such as improper termination, loose cabling, and the like. Check cabling and termination. · The device or media might be bad. Replace the device or try the same operation a different removable media cartridge.
I’m getting error messages during testing A drive reports errors during the testing process to tell your computer that something is wrong. These messages are generated by the drive and not by HDT/HDT•PE. Error messages listing “HARDWARE ERROR” or “MEDIUM ERROR” or “Remap Failed” can indicate a mechanical problem with the drive, a cabling problem, or a bad cartridge or optical disk. If you get one of these errors, try to reformat the drive and retest. If the problem still persists, contact your drive manufacturer for technical support and, if necessary, information on local repair outlets.
I was running a device test, and HDT wouldn’t allow me to multi-task with other applications Your device test is probably set up for write-enabled media scanning. When you set Device Test up for write-enabled media scanning, Hard Disk ToolKit prevents you from switching to other applications. This is to minimize the risk of data loss should a disk error occur during a write operation.
My BenchTest results are not as good as they were a few months ago. It’s the same system and the same device. What happened? · Benchtests performed on devices containing files larger than 64 MB are not reliable. The largest transfer size accepted during a BenchTest is 64 MB. Back up your very large files (greater than 64 MB); remove them from the device; and test again. · Typically, each new generation of Hard Disk ToolKit improves the accuracy and reliability of BenchTest results. Your last results may have been obtained from an earlier version of HDT. · You should also make sure both benchtests were run under similar settings (for example, virtual memory off, AppleTalk on, and no application other than Hard Disk ToolKit was running.)
Miscellaneous application questions · I’m unable to drag devices onto the buttons in the Selector window · Device Copy is returning corrupted data I’m unable to drag devices onto the buttons in the Selector window You may not have Apple’s ObjectSupportLib extension installed. Power Macintosh models without Apple’s ObjectSupportLib do not support drag-and-drop functionality. ObjectSupportLib is built into Mac OS 8 and later. You don’t need to add it.
14 Device Copy is returning corrupted data The Device Copy option you selected is not supported on the selected devices. Device Copy does not produce useful data between IDE and SCSI devices.
Hard Disk ToolKit RAID information · Overview · Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit on an array I created with another company’s software? · What kinds of drives can I make into arrays with the RAID function of HDT? · Can I mix and match striping, mirroring, spanning and regular stand alone partitions? · Can I mirror a striped or spanned volume? · Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID function to create an array with drives of unequal size? · Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID function to create an array with my IDE drives? · If I have free space after I create an array, can I use it to create more volumes? · Can I use a SCSI array volume as my startup volume? · Can I use a FireWire array volume as my startup volume? · I auto initialized space on two drives, now I can’t mirror them together. Why? · My mirror keeps breaking. Why? What can I do to keep it from breaking? · My FireWire mirror won’t auto cutover, why? · Mac OS wants me to initialize or eject my FireWire mirror array. Why? What should I do? · Can I create a mirrored array from an existing volume? · I’m getting a strange icon for a volume on the Desktop and the volume won’t open · I’m getting a “Volume can’t be found” message at startup · The Partition List window lists mirrored partition member as a simple volume · I get the message "Member partition not found." What should I do? · How do I undo striping, spanning, or mirroring? · Can I reposition my array host devices on the SCSI chain? · I’m not seeing the performance I expected from creating an array. Why? · I erased some devices in my striped array. How can I recover the data? · I’m having problems updating or installing a driver on my array · I received a “missing member” message when I started up my computer · Partition List window lists partition title as
If you own FWB Software’s RAID ToolKit, you can use this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to take control of your SCSI RAID arrays. · Owners of RAID ToolKit versions 1.9 and later can simply update their drivers with this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to get the benefit of HDT’s regular tool set plus its new RAID functionality.
15 · Owners of versions of RAID ToolKit prior to version 1.9 must back up all their data and reformat their arrays with this version of Hard Disk ToolKit to make use of its latest array drivers and to have access to its functions. RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. “Array” is used to describe a group of devices working together (an array of devices) as opposed to a single device working alone. Typically, arrays outperform single drives because they have use of two or more devices’ disks, read/write heads, data ports, and on-board cache.
A RAID volume is composed of multiple member partitions: partitions from multiple drives are pooled into one, visible volume. A RAID volume appears on the Macintosh Desktop as a single icon, just like a standard volume. Once a RAID volume is mounted on the Desktop, data can be written to and read from it just like a standard volume. Applications use it as if it’s a single drive.
You can make RAID arrays from fixed disk drives as well as removable media drives, though you can’t combine space from different types of drives. For example, you can create an array from multiple removable drives or multiple hard drives; but you cannot create an array from a removable drive combined with space from a hard disk drive.
You’ll get best results if the member drives are identical makes and models (and firmware revisions). This is not essential to the creation of an array, but if your goal is to improve system performance, your best opportunity to do that is to match up devices with the same performance capabilities. For arrays, it’s also a good idea to use devices on the same bus, unless you have multiple PCI SCSI or FireWire cards. In that case, attach each member drive to a different card for best performance.
For an array volume to mount, all devices that contain member partitions must be powered on and fully spun up. With removable cartridge drives, all removable cartridges used to create the array must be present in their enclosures and ready to use.
Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit on an array I created with another company’s software? If you have RAID volumes you created with another utility, you must reformat the host drives with Hard Disk ToolKit. This will allow Hard Disk ToolKit to take over as the primary RAID driver for these drives. Back up all your data before proceeding! Formatting irrevocably wipes all data from the drive.
What kinds of drives can I make into arrays with the RAID function of HDT? You can put any two or more hard drives together to create arrays. Exceptions are noted in the following bullets. If possible, put together the same model hard drives with the same firmware revision numbers. You can put drives together that are not the same model of firmware revision, but you may not see performance gains you’re hoping for. If you can’t match identical drives, the next most important statistic to look at is the drives’ revolutions per minute (RPM). · You can’t array IDE and SCSI drives together. · You can’t array FireWire and SCSI drives together. · You can’t array IDE and IDE drives together (HDT’s RAID feature supports only SCSI and FireWire RAID).
16 · You can’t array removable and non-removable media together. · You can’t array two SCSI devices on different types of bus, for example one device is connected to a native port on the CPU and the other is connected to an adapter card; however, you can array an internal and external drive together if they are connected to the same type of bus, for example native NuBus or PCI ports. It’s a lot more flexible with FireWire array—you can have one or more FireWire drives hooked up to a FireWire interface card and the other drive(s) to the motherboard. · The Apple iMac does not have a SCSI bus and therefore cannot use the HDT SCSI RAID functionality. Newer iMacs have FireWire ports which HDT FireWire RAID functionality’s can take advantage of.
Can I mix and match striping, mirroring, spanning and regular stand alone partitions? Yes. You can have striped volumes, mirrored volumes, spanned volumes, and simple volumes all on the same system. And you can have each type of volume on the same hard drives.
Can I mirror a striped or spanned volume? Not with Hard Disk ToolKit. HDT’s RAID feature supports multiple arrays on a given system, but each array can be of only one type. For example, using HDT’s RAID feature, you can create a mirrored array, a spanned array, or a striped array, and you can have each type of array volume on the same hard drives, but you cannot use HDT to mix array types within one array volume. (At this stage of RAID technology, striping with mirroring is achievable with a hardware-based array only. It’s referred to as RAID Level 5.)
Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID function to create an array with drives of unequal size? Yes, when you use Create Array Volume from the Devices menu. · With a mirrored array, your array volume can be as large as the largest block of free space on the smallest drive. For example, if you have a 2GB drive and a 4GB drive, the largest mirrored array you can make is 2GB (in fact it’s 4GB because 2GB are used for the visible volume, and 2GB are used for the mirror.) · With a striped array, you can allocate different amounts of space from each host device. For example, if you have a 2GB drive and a 4GB drive, the largest striped volume you can create is around 6GB, which you would have if you allocated all the space available on each drive. The most efficient striped array uses equal amounts of space from each member drive. · With a spanned array, you can allocate different amounts of space from each host device. For example, if you have a 2GB drive and a 4GB drive, the largest spanned volume you can create is around 6GB, which you would have if you allocated all the space available on each drive.
Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID function to create an array with my IDE drives? No. Hard Disk ToolKit creates only SCSI or FireWire arrays.
17 If I have free space after I create an array, can I use it to create more volumes? Yes, provided you have more than 800KB free. Free space is listed in the main application window’s Device view. It’s the value in parenthesis in the Capacity column. You can use free space to create a simple (non-RAID) volume or another array using it along with free space from another drive.
A SCSI RAID volume won’t mount to the Desktop The devices or media you used to create the volume may not have been ready when the SCSI bus was scanned. Take the following steps: · If the RAID volume consists of removable media, make sure the removable media cartridges are present in their devices. · Use FWB Mounter to rescan the SCSI bus to display devices that are ready for use. · Select and mount one of the member devices of the array. · If you can’t mount one of the member devices, use FWB Configure to reset the bus on which the member devices are located. The devices or media you used to create the volume might not be present on the SCSI bus. Check the devices in the array: · If the RAID volume consists of hard disk drives, make sure they are properly connected to the SCSI bus and are receiving power. · If the RAID volume consists of removable media, make sure the removable media cartridges are present in their devices. Ensure that the devices are receiving power and are correctly connected to the SCSI bus. For full functionality, Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID features require Macintoshes with SCSI Manager 4.3 in ROM. SCSI Manager is built-in to Power Macintosh (and later) models and PowerBooks starting with the PB3400. If your machine runs SCSI Manager 4.3 after startup (rather than from ROM), you can create RAID volumes, but they won’t mount when you restart your system. You must mount them manually, through Hard Disk ToolKit.
Note If you have SCSI Manager 4.3 only by way of a Hammer Storage NuBus SCSI JackHammer card software, you can’t array devices on the JackHammer bus with devices on buses without SCSI Manager 4.3 (in this case, for example, devices on the native bus). Since the iMac has no SCSI bus, HDT’s RAID functionality is not available to that computer. Newer iMacs have FireWire ports which HDT FireWire RAID functionality’s can take advantage of.
Can I use a SCSI array volume as my startup volume? Yes, IF your machine has SCSI Manager 4.3 in ROM, you can start up from a striped, spanned, or mirrored array volume. The two exceptions are the B&W G3 and the G4 desktop machines. You can boot from spanned or mirrored array volume but not from a striped volume.
18 Can I use a FireWire array volume as my startup volume? No. Unlike its SCSI counterparts, a FireWire array volume cannot be set as a startup volume.
I auto initialized space on two drives, now I can’t mirror them together. Why? Arrays are not created out of existing, simple volumes (with the exception of mirroring an existing volume). They are created out of formatted but unpartitioned free space (the value that appears in parenthesis in the Capacity column in the main application window); or by re-initializing existing volumes as RAID volumes. In each of these cases, one way to create RAID volumes is through the use of the Auto Initialize Array command on the Devices menu. In Device view of the main application window, select the devices you want to array together by Shift-clicking on them, then from the Devices menu select Auto Initialize Array (and an array type). This irrevocably wipes out all data on the selected drives, so back up all important data before you proceed.
You can create array volumes with formatted but unpartitioned free space using the Create Array Volume command on the Devices menu. In Device view of the main application window, select two drives with unallocated free space (by Shift-clicking on them), then from the Devices menu select Create Array Volume and a volume type. Your existing volumes will not be affected, but for safety, back up all important data before you proceed.
My SCSI mirror keeps breaking. Why? What can I do to keep it from breaking? Ruling out drive failure, there are a few things that can cause a mirror to break: 1. The timing between the mirrored drives may not be synchronized. Sometimes on a dual bus machine you can have enough difference between the times of the two buses that they cause the mirrors to break. To remedy this, remove all other externally connected SCSI devices, and put both drives on the same SCSI bus, daisy chained together and terminated. 2. Flaky SCSI situations. First, simplify the SCSI chain by removing every device connected to your system except the mirrored drives. Verify that cables are seated properly and that the SCSI chain is properly terminated. If you have spare cables and/or terminators, swap them in to see if they make a difference. 3. Both drives are not ready at boot. Both drives must be available for loading drivers. If only one driver loads and can’t find the other driver on the other hard drive, Hard Disk ToolKit assumes that the drive is down and the mirror is broken. Turn on all externally connected devices and give them a few seconds to spin up before you boot. The same situations that can cause hangs can cause driver corruption. Driver corruption may cause the mirror to become unsynchronized.
My FireWire mirror array won’t Auto Cut-Over, why? Due to the nature of FireWire's ease of connecting and disconnecting, the Auto Cut-Over feature for FireWire mirror volume is implemented in a slightly different manner than its SCSI counterpart. When one of the mirror drives is disconnected, an alert will prompt the user to plug in the disconnected drive. If the drive is not available or damaged, the user will need to restart the machine to cut-over to the remaining drive.
19 Also, since there's a possibility that the drive is most likely accidentally disconnected, rather than damaged, FWB's driver will lock the remaining drive as a read-only volume to prevent any modification of the contents which will break the mirror volume. If the other mirrored drive is not found or is determined to be a defective volume, the user can unlock the remaining drive by turning it into a single drive volume. When a replacement mechanism is available, you can use HDT to recreate the mirror volume.
Mac OS wants me to initialize or eject my FireWire mirror array. Why? What should I do? Since Apple Mac OS 9.1 now supports third party FireWire drives, there will be instances that Apple's driver, in the absence of FWB's driver, attempts to mount arrays that were created with HDT as single drives. To combat this situation, HDT's array driver will block the drives from mounting as single drives, thus preserving the array volume. Mac OS 9.1 will give the user options to "Initialize" or "Eject" the drives. Make sure you click on "Eject", and then run FWB FireWire Loader to install our driver in order to mount the arrays.
Can I create a mirrored array from an existing volume? Yes, when the volume is not your active startup volume and both devices are of the same device type (SCSI or FireWire) on the same type of bus (FireWire devices can be on separate bus). A mirrored volume will retain most of the attributes that apply to it as a simple volume; however, if the original volume was an expandable volume, that is, when it was created, you specified that its size could be increased, then this expandability is lost when the volume is mirrored. You cannot mirror your startup volume because a volume must be unmounted to be mirrored, and your startup volume can't be unmounted. You can get around this by starting up from a volume other than your normal startup volume, then mirroring your unmounted normal startup volume.
To create a custom mirrored array from an existing volume: 1. Back up all valuable data on the existing volume before you proceed. 2. Both drives must be using Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID driver. You may need to update the driver on the existing volume to meet this condition. 3. There must be adequate free space on the mirror drive. Free space is drive space not currently allocated to an existing volume. 4. In the Selector window, select two drives that will make up the RAID Mirror. One of the two drives must contain the volume to be mirrored. 5. From the Devices menu, select Create Array Volume, then Mirrored (RAID 1), then Mirror Existing Volume(s) from the sub-menu. 6. Make your desired changes to the mirror parameters: Mirror all volume(s) on device This option is enabled by default and all volumes on the device are selected for mirroring. If you do not want to mirror all the volumes on a device, deselect this option, then select the volume you want to mirror. Auto Mirror Cut-Over This option is enabled by default. When an error is detected during a read or write operation and this option is enabled, the mirrored partition will become separated from its source. You can then find and fix the error and re-mirror the volume.
20 Notify On Errors This option is enabled by default. When an error is detected during a read or write operation and this option is enabled, an error message appears and the read/write operation is prevented from continuing. If this option is enabled on a server, access to the server may be stopped until the system administrator dismisses the dialog. This option does not apply to FireWire mirror array. 7. Click OK. If you’ve selected devices that have a capacity of more than 2 GB, an alert box appears, warning you that the volume may not be compatible with older systems. 8. When the RAID volume is successfully created, an alert box opens. Click OK. The RAID volume mounts to the Desktop and is ready to use. You can use it just like a standard Macintosh volume.
I’m getting a strange icon for a volume on the Desktop and the volume won’t open This can indicate that auto mirror cut-over occurred on a SCSI mirrored array. If cut-over occurs and one or more devices are spun down and then spun back up while HDT is running, rescan the bus (using the Rescan button) before performing any operations.
I’m getting a “Volume can’t be found” message at startup Cutover has occurred for a SCSI mirrored array. This may occur because one of the members of the array was not powered on and fully spun up at startup or a read or write error occurred
Check the members of the array with HDT’s Device Test. If no problems are found, re- synchronize the array. See the Hard Disk ToolKit User Guide for more information on Device Test.
The message only occurs with SCSI array.
The Partition List window lists mirrored partition member as a simple volume This can indicate that auto mirror cutover occurred with the mirrored array. The formerly mirrored partition (or the mirror) is now a simple volume. Re-create the mirrored array using free space on another device. The problem only occurs in SCSI configuration, see the Hard Disk ToolKit User Guide for more information.
I get the message "Member partition not found." What should I do? When you get this message it means that the computer is seeing at least one drive of a striped set but not the other(s). If there is an access problem with one of the drives in an array, you should see this message repeated for every member of the striped array. Typically, this is caused by one of a number of possible problems—cabling being the most likely. In order of likelihood, the source of trouble can include: · communication (cabling) problems · corrupted drivers · drive failure
21 Each of these possibilities is discussed below.
1. There is a communication problem. The connections are not secure, so the computer is not seeing all the drives. Launch Hard Disk ToolKit, and try to access a drive by double-clicking on it in Device view in the main selector window. If double-clicking brings up the Partition List window, Hard Disk ToolKit has drive access, at least in a small way. If Hard Disk ToolKit cannot access the drive, you should receive a message from the application. If the drive does not show up in the main screen, there is either a cabling problem or there is a problem with the drive itself. Generally, you just need to check the connections on the drive or replace the cables with known good cables. If the problem is due to cabling, it is highly likely (though not certain) that you are having trouble accessing one of the drives through Hard Disk ToolKit. Note which drive has the problem. If you can access all drives, it’s unlikely that you have either a drive or a cabling problem; you might have a corrupted driver. What follows are some troubleshooting steps you can take for different system configurations. If there’s a possibility you’ll be needing technical support, write down all the steps you take, including the SCSI IDs of the drives; which cabling arrangement caused which symptom or error message; and any error messages you encountered. Draw diagrams of the configuration or mark cables with tape to keep the problem from getting confusing. CASE 1. Dual Bus Arrays Dual bus arrays have two cables coming from the computer going to the member drives of the array. First of all, the buses must be of the same type. HDT’s RAID option doesn’t work with dual bus arrays where one device is connected to an adapter card and another is connected to a native bus port. If your array drives are all connected to like- type buses, here are some tips for diagnosing problems: Shut down the computer. Exchange the cables: attach the cable that was connected to the first drive to the second drive; attach the cable that was connected to the second drive to the first drive. Restart your computer. Launch Hard Disk ToolKit. Try to access the drives again. If the drive with the problem changes, there is a cabling problem. The troubled cable is the one connected to the drive that now has the problem. Make sure that cable is seated properly. If the problem persists, try another cable. If the drive with the problem doesn’t change, try making it the only drive on the computer by leaving it on the bus, terminating the second port on that drive, and removing the other drives from the other buses. Launch Hard Disk ToolKit, and try accessing the drive again. If you can access the drive through Hard Disk ToolKit, one of the earlier attached cables has a problem. If you cannot access the drive, switch the cable and terminator one more time to be absolutely sure the cables are okay. Remove the problem drive and hook up the other drive. If you can access the other drive, you have a drive problem and should contact the drive’s manufacturer.
22 CASE 2. Single Bus Arrays Single bus arrays have one cable coming from the computer going to the member drives of the array. To diagnose problems with single bus arrays: Isolate the member drives on the SCSI bus by removing all other devices connected to the computer. Restart. If the problem goes away, it was a cabling problem. Add one device at a time until the problem recurs. If the problem doesn’t go away, shutdown and switch positions between the cable from computer and the terminator (this is to determine if the problem is on the first or the second drive in the array). Restart. If the problem persists, try accessing the members drives separately in RAID ToolKit.
2. The drivers are corrupted. Unfortunately, updating the driver will not help. Shut down your system. Turn off each of the member drives. Restart. Wait until restart is complete, then turn your member drives on. Launch Hard Disk ToolKit. In Volume view, select a volume and click the Mount button. If you can mount each volume, back up your data and reinitialize the member drives.
3. There is a drive failure. Be sure to verify first that this is not a cabling problem. If you follow the suggestions for diagnosing cabling problems and it still seems to be a failed hard drive, you should call the drive reseller or manufacturer. If there are any options for recovering data, the reseller or manufacturer should help you to do so. Drive Savers (800-440-1904) is successful at recovering data on problem drives. If you are NOT concerned with lost data, use Hard Disk ToolKit to perform a low-level format of the hard drive. The process of reformatting includes stringent tests on the integrity of the hard drive but also makes further data recovery attempts impossible. If there is a problem with the hard disk media, the format process should catch it and issue format error conditions. Put all this information in your notes to tell the drive’s manufacturer. This will make it easier for them to make a proper assessment of the problem and repair or replace the drive.
How do I undo striping, spanning, or mirroring? First you have to back up all data from the array volume because the next step wipes out all data stored there. Then in Volume view of the main application window, click on the array volume you want to delete and select Delete Volumes from the Volumes menu. Follow the application prompts to complete the deletion. Once HDT is finished, you will have free space equal to the amount allocated to the array from each host device.
Can I reposition my array host devices on the SCSI chain? Back up the array volume before you attempt this! There should be no problem, even with moving one host device to another bus. But any time you move devices around you are taking a risk; for example, if another device has the same SCSI ID number as the array host device, once you connect up the host, you break the array. Also, we have noticed particularly that stripe volumes can be finicky about having their host devices repositioned on the chain. Do this at your own risk.
23 I’m not seeing the performance I expected from creating an array. Why? Are the drives you’re using in your array the same manufacturer, model, and firmware revision? You can put hard drives together that are not the same model or firmware version, but you may not see performance gains you would otherwise get with, for example, striped arrays (normally a 1.6 to 1.7 times the performance of a single drive). If you can’t match identical drives, the next most important statistic to look at is the drives’ revolutions per minute (RPM). An array is as fast as the slowest member drive.
These are the main things that can cause slow performance when a striped array isn’t performing up to specifications: · cabling problems · fragmented Finder Preference file · fragmented drives · Read or Write cache is not enabled on one or both drives · Blind Transfers are not enabled on one or both drives (SCSI drivers only) · Max Chunk is not set to 65535 on one or both drives (SCSI drivers only) To address these problems take these steps: 1. Delete the Finder Preference file from the Preferences folder in the System Folder, then reboot. 2. Defragment your striped volume with a defragmenting utility. 3. Verify your cables and termination. Anything that degrades the SCSI signals that move across your cables slows performance because your system will perform many verifies for every transmission that is improper. 4. Configure device drivers for host devices, enabling blind transfers (SCSI drivers only), optimizing the Max Chunk setting (SCSI drivers only), and enabling read and write caching (IDE drivers only). 5. For SCSI drives, launch FWB Configure and edit caching mode page settings to turn read and write caching on. If these steps don’t help, you can try reformatting and testing each drive separately. Back up your data before doing this. Reformatting irrevocably deletes data. Testing will show if one drive is causing the problem. To be absolutely sure that there is a possible drive problem, use the same cable and terminator on each drive when testing. Also make sure you are using a fast SCSI bus or a PCI card.
For FireWire devices, you may want to consider adding a PCI bus. The current speed limit of a single FireWire bus is 40 Megabytes per second. To get any thing faster requires an additional FireWire card and a set of decent drive mechanisms.
I erased some devices in my striped array. How can I recover the data? DriveSavers may be able to help you with that. Visit their web site http://www.driversavers.com, or call 1 (800) 440-1904.
I’m having problems updating or installing a driver on my array Are you trying to update a non-HDT or RTK array driver? Back up your data, then reformat your drives and recreate the array with Hard Disk ToolKit’s driver.
24 I received a “missing member” message when I started up my computer At least one of the devices or media you used to create a RAID volume is not present on the SCSI bus. Check devices in the array: · If the RAID volume consists of hard disk drives, make sure they are properly connected to the SCSI bus and are receiving power. · If the RAID volume consists of removable media, make sure the media are present in their devices. Ensure that the devices are receiving power and are correctly connected to the SCSI bus.
Partition List window lists partition title as
I receive an error message when I try to resize a RAID volume RAID volumes cannot be resized. Although you cannot resize the volume, you can move the data to a new, larger volume. 1. Back up the data from the existing volume. 2. Delete the volume. 3. Create a new volume using the devices from the old volume, adding space or devices as needed. 4. Restore the backed up data to the new volume.
RAID technology information · What is RAID? · What does it mean when you say that Hard Disk ToolKit works at the driver level? · What RAID levels does Hard Disk ToolKit support? · What is RAID Level 0 (Striping)? · What is RAID Level 1 (Mirroring)? · What is Spanning? · How can I tell (or verify) if my drives are striped, spanned, or mirrored? What is RAID? RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. It was developed at the University of California at Berkeley in the mid-1980s. Its designers described a way of linking several drives together so that they behaved and appeared as one large drive. They designed RAID to provide greater performance, capacity, and reliability by coordinating the read/write activities among a series of linked drives. Each drive in the link is considered a "member" drive in the array.
There are many options for setting up a RAID array. Data can be distributed across the disks in an array, yielding fast performance. Data can be replicated on a matching disk, yielding a high-level of data protection. Data can be distributed across disks in an array, with redundant data stored on a dedicated parity disk, yielding both fast performance and a high level of data protection. Each of these options represents a different RAID level.
The primary factors that define the RAID level of a subsystem are:
25 · the way data is written to the disk array · whether there is some form of data redundancy · whether and how the array is expandable Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID options allows the user to choose RAID Level 0 (Striping) or RAID Level 1 (Mirroring) options. There is also an option called Spanning that allows the user to create larger logical volumes on the Desktop using smaller physical hard drives. Each option has advantages and disadvantages. Some of the benefits and risks associated with using each method are discussed below.
What does it mean when you say that Hard Disk ToolKit works at the driver level? There are three ways to control arrays: · through hardware, with a RAID controller board · through the bus, with a RAID host adapter · through software, with Hard Disk ToolKit—specifically, through the Hard Disk ToolKit driver A driver is the software program that translates commands between the computer’s operating system and a connected device. Normally, each device has its own driver and negotiates its own communication with the CPU. When you stripe, span, or mirror a device with Hard Disk ToolKit, each device has its own driver, but one device contains a head/master partition and the other devices each contain a tail/slave partition. The head/master partition contains the driver for the array.
What RAID levels does Hard Disk ToolKit support? Hard Disk ToolKit supports the following RAID levels: · RAID Level 0, Striping · RAID Level 1, Mirroring · Spanning (which is not assigned an industry-standard RAID level) These RAID levels are defined and discussed in terms of their advantages and disadvantages below.
What is RAID Level 0 (Striping)? RAID Level 0, or striping, increases data throughput to and from the member drives. Striping involves writing portions of data to two or more hard drives as nearly simultaneously as possible. Because multiple drives are working simultaneously to read or write data, data moves much faster that it would with a single drive.
In a two-drive array, striping provides increased throughput by letting each of the devices write 1/2 of the data. If data is being written to the media on the first drive, the next data to be written is sent to the second drive. When data is being written to the second drive, the next data to be written is sent to the first drive. This alternation continues until the write operation is completed. Reading from a striped array works the same way.
For writes, striping breaks the data stream into equal-sized chunks. (The size of the chunk is called “stripe size.”) Alternating chunks are sent to each drive of a striped set. For reads,
26 the driver pulls these chunks from the media and rebuilds them into a simple data stream. The logical volume that you see on the Desktop is the result of this rebuilt data stream.
Advantages of Striping · Striping gives you faster access to your drives. It gives you a data transfer rate that is 1.8 times faster than a single drive. (Procedural overhead prevents it from being a full two times faster.) · When you stripe two physical hard drives together, you can have a larger logical partition (which shows up as an icon on your Desktop). For example, if you have two 1 Gigabyte drives, you can create one 2 Gigabyte striped volume. · You can stripe more than two hard drives when you use HDT 3.0 or RAID ToolKit version 1.7 and above.
Disadvantages of Striping · ALL of the information, including system directories and your user data, is split into small portions that are alternately allocated between the drives. There is no data redundancy. If you lose access to one of the hard drives of a striped partition set, whether that partition is across two drives or more, you will lose access to all the data in that volume. · There is no commonly available utility that will assist you in recovering files from striped arrays when an array member has failed. Drive Savers (800-440-1904) has reported some success with recovering files on striped arrays; however it is far less expensive and more convenient to have back-up copies of your files close at hand. When you are striping you should do frequent backups.
Note Striping is no more likely to have problems than two or more stand-alone hard drives; however, the system directories cannot be easily fixed with Disk Repair or Recovery Utilities such as MacTools or Norton Disk Doctor.
What is RAID Level 1 (Mirroring)? RAID Level 1, or mirroring, is a means of protecting your data from hard drive failure. In a two-drive mirror array, the same data is sent to each of the two drives in the array. In other words, data is mirrored. Each drive has the same exact information as the other drive. If one drive fails, you can use the data from the other drive. Mirroring is sometimes also referred to as data duplexing or drive duplexing.
For writes, the data stream is sent to both drives. For reads, data is alternately read from each drive (as it is with striping) for improved speed.
Advantages of Mirroring · Mirroring (RAID level 1) gives you total data redundancy. The only way you can lose data due to drive failure is if both drives fail at once. · When one drive fails, you can use the working mirror as a stand-alone drive or you can copy it onto a replacement drive and resynchronize the mirror. · Since the data is on both drives, HDT’s RAID implementation takes advantage of this fact by reading data from both drives simultaneously (striped reads), potentially doubling data retrieval speeds.
27 Disadvantages of Mirroring · Writes are synchronized, so the writing speed of the array is only as fast as the slowest member. · Mirroring takes a lot of hard drive. Your functional drive capacity is half the amount of your actual drive capacity. For example, if you have two 1-Gigabyte hard drives, you have 2 Gigabytes of physical space, but when they are mirrored to each other you will only have a 1-Gigabyte partition showing on the Desktop.
What is Spanning? Spanning allows you to create one large logical volume from several smaller hard drives. For example, you can have two 1-Gigabyte hard drives act like one 2-Gigabyte hard drive. With spanning, the combined drives act like one stand-alone hard drive. The first drive is filled up, and when it reaches its capacity information is written to the next drive. Fragmentation occurs across both hard drives.
Advantages of Spanning · Spanning creates a larger logical volume from smaller physical hard drives.
Disadvantages of Spanning · There are no speed gains over stand-alone hard drives. · If files are fragmented and one drive fails, you may not be able to recover the files if the fragments go across both hard drives.
How big can I make my SCSI spanned volume?
The short answer is 4GB maximum. Some versions of the Mac OS will not support a 4GB volume, however. Different versions of the Mac OS support different maximum volume sizes. It is important to be aware of the differing volume size limitations across versions of the Mac OS. Later versions support larger volume sizes. If you have a large volume that you created with a later version of the Mac OS, and you connect it to a Macintosh with an earlier version of the Mac OS that doesn’t support volumes that large, irrecoverable data loss can occur. To find out the largest volume supported on your computer, click on the Info button in About Hard Disk ToolKit’s dialog box. Here are some volume size limitations that apply to different versions of the Mac OS: · System 7.1 and earlier on Macintosh model computers: 2 GB · System 7.5 and later on Macintosh and Power Macintosh models with NuBus: 4 GB · System 7.5.2 or later on Power Macintosh with PCI models: 2 terabytes (HDT nonetheless allows a 4GB maximum on spanned volumes)
How big can I make my FireWire spanned volume? While SCSI spanned volume is only limited to 4GB in maximum size, FireWire spanned volume has no such restriction. We have successfully span more than 250 GB in our lab. Theoretically, HDT will allow a 2 TB maximum on FireWire spanned volumes.
How can I tell (or verify) if my drives are striped, spanned, or mirrored? There are a couple of ways you can tell if you have striped, spanned, or mirrored drives: · Select the volume in the main Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID window, then click the Get Info button. An information window opens that tells you if the volume is striped, spanned, or mirrored.
28 · Double-click on the drive in the main Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID window to open the Partition List window. This is where you can see a listing of all the partitions on the entire device. The head/master partition for the SCSI and FireWire RAID volume indicates the type of array you’re looking at: · A striped array head/master partition is called “T_StripeHead”. · A spanned array head/master partition is called “T_SpanHead”. · A mirrored array head/master partition is called “T_MirrorMaster”.
Software compatibility information · MkLinux partitions · LinuxPPC partitions · Norton DiskLock · Norton Filesaver · Disk repair utilities are not repairing my drive · At Ease for Workgroups 2.0 · At Ease for Workgroups and the HDT Driver · QuickTime 1.5 · AppleShare servers · Stuffit Deluxe, Stuffit Expander 3.0.X, and Compact Pro · Stacker 1.x and 2.x · Should I use Iomega Tools or HDT on my Jaz/Zip drive? · I can’t seem to format Iomega disks that I write-protected with Iomega Tools. · FaxSTF MkLinux partitions Hard Disk ToolKit can create custom partitions for use with MkLinux™. Format the drive. When the Create Volumes dialog appears, click "Cancel". Manually create the following partitions: · Volume Type: Apple_HFS, Name: "MacOS HFS Boot partition" - At least 80 MB · Volume Type: Scratch, Name: "root", Type: "Apple_UNIX_SVR2" - At least 100 MB · Volume Type: Scratch, Name: "usr", Type: "Apple_UNIX_SVR2" - At least 200 MB · Volume Type: Scratch, Name: "swap", Type: "Apple_UNIX_SVR2" - 64 MB LinuxPPC partitions Hard Disk ToolKit can create custom partitions for use with LinuxPPC™. Simply format the drive and when the Create Volumes dialog appears, select LinuxPPC from the popup menu and allocate enough disk space for the operating system.
Norton DiskLock Hard Disk ToolKit lists the volume name <:damaged:> for locked volumes protected by Norton DiskLock. Using DiskLock to unlock the volume restores the volume name to normal in RTK.
Norton Filesaver If you are having problems updating a driver on a system using Norton Filesaver, it might be that Filesaver has (properly) placed invisible files close to the edge of a partition, preventing Hard Disk ToolKit from adjusting that partition’s size to accommodate a slight expansion of the driver partition. To get around this, temporarily turn off Filesaver, make the
29 Filesaver files visible, and delete them from your disk. After you update your drivers, you can regenerate these files by turning Filesaver on and restarting your computer. See the “Working with drivers” section for full information on making Filesaver files visible.
Disk repair utilities are not repairing my drive There are situations where no utility software can repair your drive. On the rare occasions when this occurs, we advise users to back the drive up, reformat, and then restore the backed up data.
At Ease for Workgroups 2.0 Do not use the “Lock hard disk at startup” feature. The program is not SCSI Manager 4.3 savvy. SCSI Manager 4.3 is part of Macintosh System 7.5.3.
At Ease for Workgroups and the HDT Driver The HDT driver is compatible with At Ease for Workgroup’s “Lock Startup Volume” security feature. However, you need to disable At Ease’s “Lock Startup Volume” security feature BEFORE updating or installing HDT drivers.
QuickTime 1.5 QuickTime 1.5 causes drivers that support true background asynchronous I/O to fail under some rare conditions. Upgrading to QuickTime 2.0 or newer fixes the problem completely. FWB recommends that you use Apple's QuickTime 3.0.2 or later.
AppleShare servers If you are unsure which versions of AppleShare and/or the Mac OS you are using, keep volume sizes on AppleShare servers at or below 2 GB to avoid a limitation of Apple File Protocol. Volumes larger than 2 GB will show incorrect file and folder information on remote machines unless stations have been upgraded to System 7.5.1 or later. Testing in FWB labs has shown that networks using AppleShare version 4 or later and System 7.5.1 or later support volume sizes on AppleShare servers up to 4 GB.
Stuffit Deluxe, Stuffit Expander 3.0.X, and Compact Pro These applications erroneously report a data integrity error after decompressing files from encrypted volumes on systems running SCSI Manager 4.3. As a workaround, decompress the file from an unencrypted volume, just disregard the messages, or upgrade to the latest versions of these applications.
Stacker 1.x and 2.x The FWB driver in this release is now compatible with Stacker 1.x and 2.x on systems using SCSI Manager 4.3.1 (or later), but only on the main SCSI bus (i.e., the internal bus on dual bus systems, e.g., Quadra 950, Power Macintosh 8100, or the standard bus on other Macintoshes).
30 Should I use Iomega Tools or HDT on my Jaz/Zip drive? This decision is up to you. Each driver has its own special features. If you choose to use one, do not use the other on the drive. If you use the Iomega Tools software, do not use HDT to format cartridges or use FWB Tools control panel and vice versa.
I can’t seem to format Iomega disks that I write-protected with Iomega Tools. If you use third-party software, such as Iomega Tools, to software write-protect your volumes, Hard Disk ToolKit will not be able to format or update those write-protected volumes. It can format volumes when you remove third-party write-protection with either the HDT Security option or the Iomega software you used to protect the cartridge. It can format volumes you have write-protected with HDT.
FaxSTF If you have FaxSTF on your system, check that you are running version 3.2.2 or later. Earlier versions prevent FWB Tool Manager™ from launching properly.
31 Hardware compatibility information · How can I tell if my drive is supported? · Where can I find out the largest volume my system supports? · Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit on my IDE-configured Macintosh? · SCSI Disk Mode · PowerBooks, Duos, and ATA drives in SCSI Disk Mode · Older disk utilities and 4GB drives · Power Management · Mixed bus-type arrays · Mixed device-type arrays · Iomega Jaz arrays · Quantum Lightning Drives · Macintosh 6100, 7100, 8100 · NuBus SCSI JackHammer · Atto SCSI cards · Limited block size for Apple-labeled hard drives · PowerBook 190 · PC Card (PCMCIA) · Iomega ATAPI Zip drive · Apple-labeled Seagate ST11200N and ST3600N mechanisms · ProTools card · My drive is SCSI-3 but Hard Disk ToolKit reports it as SCSI-2 · My drive is not as performing as fast as it should · A volume won’t mount to the Desktop · Hard Disk ToolKit does not recognize a device on the SCSI bus after bus rescan · I’m having problems mounting removable media · I am having format and update problems with my Iomega Zip (or Jaz) cartridges. · HDT cannot detect my FireWire drive in device view · My FireWire drive doesn’t appear on the Desktop after I installed the software and restarted the machine · My operating system complains and asks me to either eject the disk or initialize my FireWire drive · I have trouble renaming a FireWire drive · I cannot start my system from my FireWire drive · My MO media ejects when inserted · CD-ROM Jukeboxes How can I tell if my drive is supported? To find out the level of support available to your drives through Hard Disk ToolKit or Hard Disk ToolKit•Personal Edition, select the drive in Device view and click the Info button. This will take you to the Device Info window. Scroll to the Device Support field. There are four levels of support: · Complete The device identity (company, model, and firmware revision level) matches the device data entry exactly, and we provide optimal operational settings designed specifically for that drive. · Full The device identity partially matches an entry in the device data file, for example, it matches the drive manufacturer name only or the drive manufacturer and model only,
32 and we'll provide operational settings that are generally optimal for that manufacturer's family of drives. · Generic The device does not match any entry, so we support the device with generic operational parameter settings. · Unsupported The device is not supported by any of our device data entries (you'll see this particularly with CD-ROM and non-hard disk devices). If a device is not directly supported, it will be supported through “generic mode.” This does not necessarily mean its performance will be impaired.
More on Generic mode
HDT/HDT•PE’s device driver is the same for all like devices. For example, HDT provides the same high performance device driver to both a Seagate and a Quantum hard drive.
Model-specific customization comes into play with SCSI mode page parameters. These are changeable settings stored by the drive itself that affect how the SCSI drive operates. Every SCSI drive listed in the Supported Devices file has been evaluated and configured for maximum compatibility and performance by the drive engineering team at FWB.
In almost all cases, if HDT/HDT•PE doesn’t specifically support a drive, you’ll be able to format the drive in “Generic Mode.” Generic Mode means that FWB drive engineers haven’t evaluated the drive or configured its mode page parameters for maximum compatibility and performance. Consequently, HDT will send generic (i.e., default) mode page parameters to the drive. If there is a problem with the default parameters, you’ll probably get an “Illegal Request” error when you format the drive.
With few exceptions, HDT/HDT•PE should be able to format unsupported drives, but not always to optimal parameters. If you have a drive that isn’t supported, check the FWB web site (http://www.fwb.com) for the latest Device Data files. If the Device Data files you find on our web site are newer than the ones on your hard drive (in the Hard Disk ToolKit application folder), you can download the newer files and replace yours. If new Device Data files don’t include support for your drive, please contact FWB to let us know.
New drives are released every week and FWB receives many from vendors wishing our support. FWB strives to support as many devices as possible, though we do not support every device. We primarily add support for new, modern devices. If you have an older device that you would like supported, contact our Technical Support department. We may ask you to send the drive in so that we can add support for it.
Where can I find out the largest volume my system supports? Different versions of the Mac OS support different maximum volume sizes to be mounted to the Desktop. To see how large a volume your system supports, launch Hard Disk ToolKit and select About Hard Disk ToolKit from the Apple menu. In the About box, click the Info button. The largest volume that you can mount to your Desktop is the last item listed.
33 There is a difference between the largest volume you can mount to the Desktop and the largest volume you can startup from. For maximum compatibility across platforms and computer models, we recommend that your startup volume be less than 2 GB.
Can I use Hard Disk ToolKit on my IDE-configured Macintosh? Yes, provided you format or auto-initialize your IDE-configured disks with Hard Disk ToolKit. Older (pre-G3) IDE-configured Macintosh models can create a type of partition using the ROM-based ATA driver that has no partition map. It contains one large HFS-type volume. Hard Disk ToolKit does not explicitly support this special type of volume, but it will allow you to Format or Auto Initialize the device and create a supported volume type.
SCSI Disk Mode Hard Disk ToolKit 4.5 supports SCSI disk mode docking on PowerBooks. (But see the next item.)
PowerBooks, Duos, and ATA drives in SCSI Disk Mode These devices do not support the advanced SCSI function “Allow Disconnect.” Using Hard Disk ToolKit’s Configure Driver command in the Partition List window, disable “Allow Disconnect” for the HDT driver that controls the PowerBook’s internal hard drive before you use the PowerBook in SCSI Disk Mode. By default, Allow Disconnect is enabled if your drive supports it.
Older disk utilities and 4GB drives Older disk diagnostic and repair utilities do not properly recognize volumes that have capacities larger than 4GB or allocation block sizes larger than 63.5KB. Norton Utilities 3.2.1 or later has been updated to handle large volumes (3.5.2 or later is required for Mac OS 8; 4.0.1 or later is required for HFS+ volumes).
Power Management Power Management works on most machines, but because of many problems with different drives and drive firmware, power management does not operate reliably on all machines. If you own an Apple drive, firmware updates are available on their ftp web site: ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/Macintosh/Utilitie s/Firmware_Utilities/.
Mixed bus-type arrays Mixed bus-type arrays are not supported in the Hard Disk ToolKit RAID option. Mixed bus-type arrays are arrays where multiple drives are connected to different types of buses, such as when one member of the array is connected to a native bus and the other is connected to an adapter card.
Dual bus arrays are supported. Dual bus arrays are arrays where multiple drives are connected to the same type of bus, such as one or more PCI accelerator cards, two ports on a native SCSI bus, or two ports on a native PCI SCSI bus.
34 Mixed device-type arrays Mixed device-type arrays are not supported in Hard Disk ToolKit. For example, a MO drive and a hard disk cannot be combined together to form an array.
Iomega Jaz arrays Hard Disk ToolKit’s RAID feature allows two or more Jaz cartridges to be arrayed together. Cartridges that are members of an array will not be ejectable until all members of the array are mounted. After inserting all cartridges that make up the array, they can be ejected by using the unmount button in HDT or by dragging the array volume to Trash.
Quantum Lightning Drives We've revised mode page 39, Quantum Drive Control Parameters, In FWB Configure (one of the utility modules in Hard Disk ToolKit). This is HIGHLY relevant to Quantum Lightning drive models 365S, 540S, and 730S. Included are SCAM2DIS (called Power-On Sync Spin, POSS, on these drives) and SCAMDIS (called Power-On Wait Spin, POWS, on these drives). Both of these options must be turned on (their checkboxes must be checked) for these Quantum drive models to work on Macintosh computers.
Macintosh 6100, 7100, 8100 Contrary to the System 7.5.3 release notes, the original models of the Power Macintosh (6100/60, 7100/66, and 8100/80) do not support volumes larger than 4 GB under System 7.5.3. To determine the largest volume supported by your current combination of Mac OS System Software and Mac OS-compatible hardware, run either the main Hard Disk ToolKit application or FWB Mounter, open “About Hard Disk ToolKit” or ”About FWB Mounter” under the Apple menu, and select the Info (or System Info) button. The last entry in the Info window lists the largest volume supported by your system.
NuBus SCSI JackHammer For maximum performance and compatibility, owners of FWB’s NuBus SCSI JackHammer must update all devices on the JackHammer bus with the latest Hard Disk ToolKit driver. Some third-party drivers erroneously reduce the amount of System heap space available for drivers and extensions. This can prevent Hard Disk ToolKit from loading any additional devices on the bus. To avoid this problem, update all devices on the system with the Hard Disk ToolKit driver.
ATTO SCSI cards It has been reported to FWB that there is a incompatibility with newer version of ATTO firmware. You may want to contact ATTO tech support and ask for a firmware version that works with Hard Disk ToolKit.
Limited block size for Apple-labeled hard drives When formatting a drive and changing the block size in the “Format Options” dialog, DO NOT use block sizes other than 512 for Apple-labeled hard drives (with Apple logo sticker). Also, some SyQuest drives, mainly 5 1/4” 88 MB mechanisms, cannot be used
35 with block sizes other than 512. Using a block size other than 512 with these mechanisms may cause drive or cartridge problems.
PowerBook 190 Hard Disk ToolKit and Personal Edition do not support non-Power Mac machines.
PC Card (PCMCIA) PC Card devices on PowerBooks are not explicitly supported in this release.
Iomega Atapi Zip Drive HDT version 4.0 and later support ATAPI Zip drives.
Apple-labeled Seagate ST11200N and ST3600N mechanisms If you have one of these devices with early revisions of Apple firmware, our driver doesn’t perform optimally with them. If you encounter problems with these drivers, back up your data, and reinitialize your Apple-labeled Seagate drive with Apple’s HD SC setup.
ProTools card DigiDesign, the makers of the ProTools card, tell us that no formatting utility can detect drives connected to the ProTools card. Move your drives to a regular SCSI bus to format with HDT. You can contact DigiDesign at http://www.digidesign.com.
My drive is SCSI-3 but Hard Disk ToolKit reports it as SCSI-2 HDT simply displays the information that the drive returns when the program sends the drive an Inquiry command. It is up to the drive manufacturer to designate a drive SCSI-2 or SCSI-3. HDT cannot change this designation. SCSI-3 has mandatory commands that must all be supported to “honestly” state a drive is SCSI-3. A drive may support parts of SCSI- 3, such as Ultra-SCSI, and not be marked SCSI-3 even though it supports the most important performance enhancing part of SCSI-3.
For more information about SCSI, see FWB’s Guide to Storage, included in Acrobat PDF format with the full retail version of Hard Disk ToolKit or available from Amazon.com.
My drive is not as performing as fast as it should Are your expectations too high? Drives rarely perform as fast as advertised. Some manufacturers include error correction data (that has nothing to do with user storage) in their calculations of data transfer rate. Do you have a bottleneck in your system? Today’s modern drives shine only when connected to a high-speed interface. Ultra-2 SCSI drives perform best on an Ultra-2 SCSI bus.
Two of the main HDT settings that affect drive performance are Blind Transfers and Max Chunk (full version only). Both can be found in the Configure Driver dialog. Get fastest performance by enabling Blind Transfers and setting Max Chunk to 65535. Lesser values
36 will cause slower performance. The only reason you would need to turn off Blind Transfers or lower Max Chunk is if the drive did not work correctly at these settings. Optical drives are notorious for their inability to use Blind Transfer.
Enabling Read and Write Cache settings with FWB Configure should also improve drive performance.
With blind data transfer mode enabled, the CPU allows the SCSI chip to oversee data transfers, thus freeing the CPU to tend to other tasks. It’s called blind data transfer because, during data transfer, the CPU checks data once per block, rather than byte-by-byte, and then turns the operation over to the SCSI chip.
Byte-by-byte checking is called the polling method. With the polling method, the CPU checks that there has been a Request/Acknowledge handshake with every byte of information that is transferred.
The polling method requires more CPU time, which slows the machine down. Blind transfers tend to be faster.
You should turn blind transfers off: · when the timing between the SCSI device and the SCSI chip is irregular (this can happen particularly with slow removable devices and old SCSI drives) · when you’re using a Daystar or other third-party CPU accelerator card that is incompatible with blind data transfers To turn off blind data transfers with HDT/HDT•PE: 1. Open the HDT/HDT•PE Application, and locate the drive you wish to configure. 2. Double-click on that drive. The partition list appears. 3. Click on “Active SCSI Driver,” then click the “Configure Driver” button. 4. Uncheck “Blind Transfers.” 5. Quit HDT/HDT•PE. 6. Restart your computer. Changes take effect after restart.
A volume won’t mount to the Desktop The volume might not have been set up to automatically mount to the Desktop. Try using the FWB Mounter, in the Hard Disk ToolKit application folder, to mount the device. · If you’ve just formatted the device or created the volume, use HDT to change the volume’s attributes so that it mounts automatically to the Desktop. · If you are trying to mount a device in Device view, switch to Volume view and mount the desired volumes from there. · If the device is a removable, it might not have a driver in memory. Make sure the FWB Tools extension is installed in the Extensions folder. · It may be that a drive is spinning up too slowly. If the computer starts up before a connected drive has spun up completely, the drive won’t mount. Once the computer has started up, try restarting. If the volumes on the drive don’t mount after this restart, the problem is not spin-up time. If the volumes on the drive mount on this restart, it’s a good indicator that the drive is taking too long to spin up. If this is happening with an externally connected drive, turn the drive on before you start your computer and wait a minute to be sure it is fully spun up. Then start your computer. If this is happening with an internally connected drive, you can solve the
37 problem by making it your startup drive and removing System Folders from all other drives on the system. This will prevent your system from looking for another startup drive when it decides the designated startup drive is taking too long to boot. If you don’t want to start up from this drive, you can mount it manually with HDT once it is fully spun up.
The volume may be formatted in an unsupported partition format. Devices with old partitions (circa 1986) are not supported by Hard Disk ToolKit. Removable cartridges partitioned in this style will not mount. Back up and re-initialize hard drives and removable cartridges to bring them into a modern format.
On a drive of greater than 1GB capacity, the driver partition must reside in the first 1 GB of disk space, or Macintoshes earlier than the 840AV cannot mount it. Back up the data on the drive, then re-initialize the drive. Try installing the driver again.
Hard Disk ToolKit does not recognize a device on the SCSI bus after bus rescan · Is the device getting power? Check the power indicators on the device. For example, for an internal hard disk, you should see the LED turn on (if it is externally visible) and hear the drive spinning up. If you have an external hard disk, you should hear a fan spinning. Check the power cable. · You might be having problems with cabling on the SCSI bus. Are the cables connected properly? Make sure the cables and connectors are seated properly and that there are no bent or broken pins on the connectors. These pins are especially delicate on 68-pin Fast & Wide SCSI-2 connectors. Are the cables still working properly? Bad cables aren’t always visible. To check for bad cables, try swapping cables with ones that you know work properly. Are there any burn marks on the connectors? Burn marks indicate arcing, which can happen if the connectors are not seated properly. Do all of the cables have the same impedance? Be sure to use SCSI cables with the same impedance. Check termination. Try again with termination on then off. · Some devices won’t boot up unless all devices on the SCSI bus are turned on. Were the devices on the SCSI bus powered on before the computer? Make sure all of the devices on the SCSI bus are turned on, then restart your computer with the Restart command in the Finder’s Special menu. To prevent this in the future, power on all SCSI devices first; wait a few seconds, then power on your computer. · You might have problems with the SCSI bus configuration. Are the SCSI IDs set properly? Make sure each device on the SCSI bus has a unique ID. Was the SCSI bus terminated correctly? Make sure that only the first (internal) and last (external) devices on the SCSI bus have a terminator attached to them. Is the device the last device in a long SCSI chain? Try attaching just the device in question to the SCSI bus. If the system then recognizes the device on the SCSI bus, your SCSI chain might have been too long (6 meters, or 20 ft., maximum), there might be a bad cable, or there might be some other communications problem. · Sometimes SCSI chips on computers fail and cause failures. Test the device on another computer.
38 I’m having problems mounting removable media To mount removable media cartridges you must do one of three things: · Boot up with the FWB Tools extension turned on. · Boot up with a removable cartridge in the drive. · Insert the removable media cartridge then use FWB Mounter or the Hard Disk ToolKit application to mount it. FWB Mounter reads the driver that is on the cartridge and loads that into memory. If there is a problem with the driver on the cartridge, you’ll want to avoid it by using the Hard Disk ToolKit application instead. Hard Disk ToolKit first loads a driver for the device then attempts to mount the cartridge.
If you are having problems mounting cartridges or optical disks, check your System Folder for other extensions or control panels that provide drivers for removable media drives. User's can experience problems when multiple programs are trying to mount and control the same removable drive. Try restarting with the cartridge or optical disk in the drive while holding down the SHIFT key (this turns extensions off). Does the cartridge mount to the Desktop? Can you mount it manually with HDT/HDT•PE by choosing the removable drive and clicking the MOUNT button? If it shows up, then you probably have an extension conflict. Common culprits are DOS Mounter, SCSI Probe, PLI init, and any other extension included with other removable drives. Remove all competing extensions except the FWB Tools Extension. If you still have problems, try another removable cartridge or optical disk.
I am having format and update problems with my Iomega Zip (or Jaz) cartridges. Are the cartridges write-protected with Iomega Tools? If you use third-party software, such as Iomega Tools, to software write-protect your volumes, Hard Disk ToolKit won’t be able to format or update those write-protected volumes until you remove third-party protection.
If the Iomega Tools extension is in your Extensions folder, Iomega’s password dialog box will open when you insert the cartridge. Enter the password. The next time you launch Hard Disk ToolKit, and try to access the volume, HDT’s Security dialog box will open automatically and give you the option of either changing or removing the volume password.
The Zip or Jaz media might be bad. Try the same operation with another cartridge.
My FireWire drive doesn’t appear on the Desktop after I installed the software and restarted the machine Verify that the drive is powered up and the Firewire cable is connected. Try restarting the computer if the drive still won’t mount. Check for loose cabling. Verify that the device is powered on. If the problem persists there may be a hardware failure.
HDT cannot detect my FireWire drive in device view Verify that all necessary FireWire components are installed. You will need the following components:
39 · FireWire Enabler 2.3.3 or later
· FireWire Support 2.3.3 or later
· FWB Disk Driver
· FWB FireWire Support Lib
Check the Extensions Manager to ensure that all these components are enabled.
My operating system complains and asks me to either eject the disk or initialize my FireWire drive
If the drive is not initialized, Mac OS will complain and ask you to either eject the disk or initialize it. Simply select Eject, launch HDT and then format/initialize the disk.
I have trouble renaming a FireWire drive File Sharing may be on. Open the Sharing Setup Control panel and turn File Sharing off before you rename the disk.
I cannot start my system from my FireWire drive Currently, there are some models of Macintosh that can’t start up from a FireWire drive. Check Apple’s web site at http://www.apple.com for more information.
None of the array type can be set as a start up drive.
My MO media ejects when inserted Until the optical cartridge is formatted by Hard Disk ToolKit, the drive will eject it if you started up with extensions on. Restart your system while holding down the Shift key (this turns extensions off). Launch HDT, and insert the optical cartridge. Use HDT to prepare the cartridge for use.
CD-ROM Jukeboxes If you have connected a CD-ROM changer—or jukebox—to your system, Hard Disk ToolKit may take longer to launch. If there are CDs in the jukebox, the HDT startup screen may display for as long as 15 minutes. HDT is scanning for detailed information on all of the device’s SCSI LUNs—each tray or slot in the device has its own LUN. HDT scans all SCSI buses for the devices attached to your system. The more devices you have, the longer HDT takes to launch. If you reduce the number of CDs loaded in the device, HDT may launch faster.
If you have started up from the HDT Installer CD and are launching HDT from the CD, it will take longer than normal to launch. Applications run from CDs are not as quick to
40 respond as those run from hard disk drives. If you launch HDT from a hard disk, you’ll likely get a faster launch.
System problems and solutions · My computer hangs or crashes when copying large files or large numbers of files on internal SCSI bus · My system hangs when a device is on the internal bus of an 7500/8500/9500, but there are no problems when connected to the external bus · I’m having trouble accessing partitions on a device, and my system hangs during file transfers · “Sad Macintosh” error icon appears at boot up · Many files on my system are corrupted · I got a message saying that my device is unreadable and needs to be initialized · My hard disk drive is having unexplained disk read/write problems · Drive or array starts booting up but crashed after awhile · My disk diagnostic utility is telling me that I have numerous disk errors · I’m getting cryptic error messages for master directory block, extents, and/or directory contents · A small file occupies too much disk space · A hard disk isn’t reading or writing data to the disk. Finder disk error messages appear, such as “Can’t write to disk” or “Can’t read from disk” · My computer does not boot (a question mark displays) My computer hangs or crashes when copying large files or large numbers of files on internal SCSI bus This is a bug on internal SCSI buses on Macintosh 7500/8500/9500 computers with drives connected to the internal bus that are set to SCSI ID5. Change SCSI IDs so no drive is at ID 5 on the internal bus.
My system hangs when a device is on the internal bus of an 7500/8500/9500, but there are no problems when connected to the external bus Slow devices or drives don't do synchronous data transfers right. Use Hard Disk ToolKit’s Configure Driver command to turn off Allow Disconnect for the internally connected drives.
I’m having trouble accessing partitions on a device, and my system hangs during file transfers Your device might be having SCSI problems. For advice on solving SCSI problems, see “Hard Disk ToolKit does not recognize a device on the SCSI bus after bus rescan.”
The driver or system software might be corrupted. Rebuild your Desktop by holding down the Command-Option keys during restart. If possible, back up your data. Reinstall system software and update SCSI drivers with HDT. Attempt to run with extensions disabled. To disable all extensions, hold down the Shift key when you startup the computer.
41 “Sad Macintosh” error icon appears at boot up There is a problem either with the system software or system hardware. If one of these numbers appears with the Sad Mac icon, there is a software problem, possibly a corrupt driver: · 0000000F 00000003 · 0000000F 0000000C Disk drivers might have been corrupted by incorrect SCSI bus termination. If the following suggestions don’t help, refer to your Macintosh computer manual.
Check your cabling and termination. Are the cables connected properly? Make sure the cables and connectors are seated properly and that there are no bent or broken pins on the connectors. These pins are especially delicate on 68-pin Fast & Wide SCSI-2 connectors. Are the cables still working properly? Bad cables aren’t always visible. To check for bad cables, try swapping cables with ones that you know work properly. Are there any burn marks on the connectors? Burn marks indicate arcing, which can happen if the connectors are not seated properly. Do all of the cables have the same impedance? Be sure to use SCSI cables with the same impedance. Check termination. Try again with termination on then off.
Use HDT to update the driver on the hard disk.
Many files on my system are corrupted A virus may have infected your system. Remove the virus. Check the devices on your system with a virus detection and eradication program.
Optionally: 1. Back up the data. 2. Reinitialize the drive using HDT. 3. Restore the data. I got a message saying that my device is unreadable and needs to be initialized A system crash probably destroyed directory information. 1. Run Apple’s Disk First Aid program. 2. Use a third party recovery tool to recover information from this crash, if possible. 3. Use HDT to reinitialize the disk. Reinitializing will erase all existing data. 4. Restore data from a previous set of backups. My hard disk drive is having unexplained disk read/write problems Your drive might be having problems with the “Command Queuing” or “Parity Checking” driver configurations. In the Configure Driver dialog, disable “Command Queuing OK” or “Disable Parity.”
Drive or array starts booting up but crashed after awhile · The hard disk’s System Folder or the SCSI drivers may have been corrupted by a system crash or virus. Replace the System Folder on the hard disk first by booting initially off a floppy disk or System CD and reinstalling using the Apple System
42 Installer. If after the reinstalling the System and Finder the problem persists, use the Hard Disk ToolKit program to update the drivers on the hard disk. · Multiple System Folders may exist on your disk. Make sure you have only one System and Finder pair on your drive. Find any extra ones using Find File and remove them. If you try to remove an active System/Finder, you will get an error indicating it is in use. Remove all inactive System and Finder files. · The Desktop file may be corrupt. Rebuild the invisible Desktop file. Hold down the Command (Open Apple key) and Option keys while the computer is starting up. This does not damage your data, but does remove any file comments. · The directory on your hard disk may be damaged. Apple’s Disk First Aid program can repair some bad directories. If the directory is unsalvageable, you can recover the data on the drive with a recovery utility or restore the data from previous backups. · A virus may have infected your hard disk. Check your hard disk with a virus detection and eradication program. It may be necessary to use HDT to format the drive and restore the data from a previous backup that is known to be virus-free. · Your SCSI hard disk may have been incorrectly terminated. Check cabling and termination. Are the cables connected properly? Make sure the cables and connectors are seated properly and that there are no bent or broken pins on the connectors. These pins are especially delicate on 68-pin Fast & Wide SCSI-2 connectors. Are the cables still working properly? Bad cables aren’t always visible. To check for bad cables, try swapping cables with ones that you know work properly. Are there any burn marks on the connectors? Burn marks indicate arcing, which can happen if the connectors are not seated properly. Do all of the cables have the same impedance? Be sure to use SCSI cables with the same impedance. Check termination. Try again with termination on then off. · SCSI IDs may conflict. Check your SCSI IDs. Make sure no two devices on the same bus have the same ID number. Remember that the host device has its own ID, usually ID7.
My disk diagnostic utility is telling me that I have numerous disk errors Some of the diagnostic and repair utilities currently available don’t recognize volumes larger than 4 GB, or allocation block sizes larger than 63.5 KB. Volumes or allocation block sizes larger than this may inspire the utility to report serious problems with the master directory block, extents, and directory contents.
Contact the software manufacturer for an update to the utility. For example, Norton Utilities 3.2.1 or later has been updated to handle large volumes.
Norton Utilities running with PC Exchange 2.2 enabled will sometimes falsely report errors. (PC Exchange version 2.2 comes with Mac OS 8.1.) Make sure your diagnostic tool is compatible with your system software. Try starting up with extensions off before running the diagnostic utility. (To start up with extensions off, hold down the Shift key during startup.) You can also try disabling PC Exchange 2.2, using an older version of PC Exchange, or upgrading your Mac OS to version 8.5 or later.
I’m getting cryptic error messages for master directory block, extents, and/or directory contents You may have volumes larger than 4 GB or allocation block sizes larger than 63.5 KB. Most disk diagnostic and repair utilities currently available do not properly recognize volumes that have capacities larger than 4 GB or allocation block sizes larger than 63.5 KB. Some utilities may erroneously report such volumes as having numerous serious problems
43 with their master directory block, extents, and directory contents. Norton Utilities 3.2.3 or later has been updated to handle large volumes.
A small file occupies too much disk space Macintosh’s Hierarchical File System (HFS) determines the minimum allowable file size by the size of a volume; the larger a volume is, the larger the allowable minimum file size will be. For example, if the minimum file size is 32 KB, any file smaller than 32 KB will still take 32 KB of space in a volume.
HFS+, introduced in Mac OS 8.1, allows for a much smaller minimum file size and, consequently, much more efficient storage of small files. See “Does HDT/HDT•PE version 3.0 work with Mac OS 8.5” for more information on HFS+.
When you create a new volume, the “Smallest File Size” field shows the minimum file size for the given volume size. To decrease the minimum file size, reduce the size (or expandable size) of the volume. You can reduce a volume’s minimum file size (or expandable size) only when you create the volume.
A hard disk isn’t reading or writing data to the disk. Finder disk error messages appear, such as “Can’t write to disk” or “Can’t read from disk” · If the device is a removable, it might be set to write-protect mode. Make sure the write- protect tab on the disk cartridge is in the write-enabled position. · The volume might be set for read-only. Check the attributes for the volume (double- click the volume in the Selector window to open the Volume Attributes dialog box), and disable the “Read-only” attribute if it is enabled. · Your device might be having SCSI problems. For advice on solving SCSI problems, see “Hard Disk ToolKit does not recognize a device on the SCSI bus after bus rescan.” · If you have an older drive, it may have developed bad blocks. To fix bad blocks, take these steps: · Use a disk diagnostic or repair utility. A system software analysis program, such as Norton Disk Doctor, can be a helpful tool for finding and fixing hard disk problems. These types of programs are most useful for analyzing system directory problems. · Back up your data, then use HDT’s Test routine to scan and remap bad blocks. · You can also reformat the drive to eliminate bad blocks. You may need to turn off the “Disable Certification” option to remap bad blocks during a format
My computer does not boot (a question mark displays) · Your hard disk may have incorrect termination. Check your cabling. For advice on solving SCSI problems, see “Hard Disk ToolKit does not recognize a device on the SCSI bus after bus rescan.” · Software may have affected your computer’s battery-backed-up parameter RAM (PRAM). To reset PRAM, hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys while booting. Apple’s recommended practice is to let the system boot three times while holding these keys. If you’re using an add-on video board, you might have to hold down the spacebar on a subsequent restart to reset the monitor. · The Desktop file may be corrupt. To rebuild the invisible Desktop file, hold down the Command (Apple) and Option keys while the computer is starting up; a dialog will inform you that rebuilding is in process. · The hard disk’s System Folder or the SCSI or IDE drivers may have been corrupted by a system crash or virus. Replace the Mac OS on the hard disk first by starting up
44 initially off a floppy disk or CD and reinstalling using the Installer. If the problem persists, use HDT to update the drivers on the hard disk. · The directory on your hard disk may be damaged. Apple’s Disk First Aid program can repair some bad directories. If the directory is unsalvageable, you can recover the data on the drive with a recovery utility or restore the data from previous backups. · Your system software or device driver is corrupted. Hold down Command-Option- Shift-Delete to prevent booting off of a hard disk, so that it can boot off of a floppy or CD. · You may need to replace your device driver software. 1. Back up your data. 2. Insert a Macintosh startup disk or CD into your computer’s floppy or CD-ROM drive, turn on your hard disk, then turn on your computer. 3. To update the drivers, run HDT and use the “Update Driver” option. The System/Finder files may have been corrupted or lost and may need to be replaced. 4. If a dialog comes up asking you if you wish to initialize it, use a recovery program to recover or repair the drive.
FWB Software product information · What are the differences between Hard Disk ToolKit and Hard Disk ToolKit•Personal Edition? Should I upgrade? · What is Crisis Tool? What are the differences between Hard Disk ToolKit and Hard Disk ToolKit•Personal Edition? Should I upgrade? Personal Edition provides the basic Hard Disk ToolKit features most customers need. The “full edition” includes more utilities and an expanded Hard Disk ToolKit application. It offers users RAID support, more driver configuration parameters (4 in PE, 12 in the full version), more formatting options, security options, and informational capabilities.
The “full edition” also sports a FireWire Loader with RAID support whereas the PE Edition includes FireWire support for single drives only.
HDT•PE and HDT both include the Mounter utility, Device Data files, and the FWB Tools control panel. HDT contains these additional utilities: · FWB Configure provides access to mode page parameters for customizing and fine- tuning a drive. FWB recommends FWB Configure for hard drive or SCSI/IDE engineers, graphic artists, and digital audio and video users—power users who need special access to their drive's mode pages. · Event Monitor keeps a running record of what happens on your drives. It provides data on such events as invalid password attempts, recovered errors, and fatal data loss. Use it to obtain information on a failing drive before failure creates a major data catastrophe. · FWB Launcher for launching all HDT utilities from one convenient location HDT also offers custom mode page templates and benchtesting. Our engineers have configured unique mode page settings for many popular drive models. The result is optimized performance tuning of your hard drive. Test performance tuning with HDT’s BenchTest feature.
If you’re interested in upgrading to the full edition of Hard Disk ToolKit, contact our upgrade department. In the USA, call FWB Upgrade Center at 800-656-5443. Outside the
45 USA, call 408-969-8623. Fax to 408-969-8621. From anywhere, send e-mail to [email protected], or visit our web site at http://www.fwb.com.
What is Crisis Tool?
Before we describe this tool, it’s important to understand that you can never format the drive from which you’ve launched Hard Disk ToolKit (HDT). Formatting wipes out all information on the drive, so if you were formatting the drive that contains HDT, it would get erased and couldn’t finish the job. · If you have multiple hard drives, you can have a back-up of HDT on a second, bootable drive. · If you have a removable cartridge drive, you can prepare a removable cartridge with a System folder as well as a back-up of HDT, for a bootable emergency cartridge. · If you have only one hard drive: you can boot from the install CD and run the version of Crisis Tool that is stored on it. Diagnostic Disk. For users with removable media drives, we recommend using a cartridge as a Diagnostic Disk. Install system software, Hard Disk ToolKit, and any other diagnostic and computer/drive utilities on the cartridge. Boot up with the cartridge in the drive and with your extensions off (boot while holding down the SHIFT key). This way you can diagnose or modify your primary boot drive.
If your system doesn't boot from the cartridge, but instead boots from your internal drive, try rebooting while holding down SHIFT-OPTION-COMMAND-DELETE. This should enable your system to ignore your internal boot drive and look for another drive to boot from (i.e., the cartridge). If you take a few minutes to set up a Diagnostic Disk, you may thank yourself for saving time and trouble in the future.
Using Crisis Tool after booting from the HDT install CD When you boot from the install CD and run the Crisis Tool version of Hard Disk ToolKit, there are a couple of things you should be aware of: · Some functions are disabled because you are operating from a locked volume—the CD. · If you normally use Mac OS version 7.6 or earlier, the CD version of Crisis Tool allows you to create volumes larger than your system can support.
Disabled functions
These functions are not available when you boot your system from the HDT install CD and run Crisis Tool from it: · saving BenchTest results · using online help · connecting to the FWB web site with the application's web button · accessing the HDT Launcher through the application's launcher button All of these functions are available if you run Crisis Tool without booting from the install CD or any other locked volume.
46 Users of Mac OS 7.6 or earlier
The Mac OS we provide on the bootable install CD is Mac OS 9.1. If you normally boot from a Mac OS version 7.6 or earlier, Crisis Tool allows you to create large volumes that are supported in Mac OS 8.0 and later, but not Mac OS 7.6 or earlier.
To avoid problems with unsupported volume sizes, when you boot your system with the install CD and create new volumes with Crisis Tool, be sure to uncheck the "Create volumes larger than 2GB" checkbox in the Auto Initialize dialog box or to select a volume size smaller than 2GB in the New Volumes dialog box.
Technical support through e-mail
Note If you experience problems with a pre-2.0.6 version of HDT/HDT•PE, please upgrade before contacting Technical Support. We cannot support older versions. Updaters are available on our web site to move from 2.0 to 2.0.x versions. Our web address is http://www.fwb.com. Our updaters include READ ME files on all fixes implemented since the last version. Before installing any FWB software, please be sure to refer to the READ ME file for any additional information that wasn’t available when the user guide was printed. FWB is an industry leader in the Macintosh market for driver software. Most companies test the compatibility of their own developing software with Hard Disk ToolKit, but from time to time some incompatibilities may occur. Please refer to the READ ME file included on your installation disk for a list of any known problems. If you do find an issue you believe to be a conflict and it isn’t covered in the READ ME or on our web site, please contact us and give us a detailed description of the issue including the hardware and software involved and what you have done so far for troubleshooting.
If you are an owner of an FWB retail product you can use FWB Technical Support.
For OEM (original equipment manufacturer) copies of HDT or Personal Edition, technical support is provided by the company that bundled the software with the hardware. Call the equipment vendor for help identifying this company. We are always adding to our list of serial numbers, so if you aren’t sure whether yours is a retail version of HDT/HDT•PE, feel free to contact us. · E-mail: Our e-mail address is [email protected]. You must remember to include your serial number, your system configuration information (computer model, OS version, hard drive manufacturer(s) and model(s), HDT version, 3rd party software installed, etc.) and a return e-mail address. · READ ME file: You might save time by looking at the READ ME file first to see if it contains the answer to your question. If your question is in reference to whether or not a particular drive is supported please check the Supported Devices list included in the Hard Disk ToolKit folder.
47 Tech support for an OEM version of HDT PE
FWB sells HDT•PE OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to drive manufacturers and resellers. They bundle it with their drives. This means that when you buy one of their drives, it comes with the OEM version of HDT. (The manual cover will say “OEM Version, Not for Individual Sale”).
You may also receive HDT bundled with a clone computer.
Companies that bundle our software have agreed to support both the hardware and software. You can contact them for any available updaters and replacement of diskettes. If you would like technical support directly from FWB, you can purchase a Registration Upgrade, which includes: · new CDs with the latest version of software · a new serial number (one which includes tech support from FWB) To order a registration upgrade, contact our upgrade department. In the USA, call FWB Upgrade Center at 800-656-5443. Outside the USA, call 408-969-8623. Fax to 408-969- 8621. From anywhere, send e-mail to [email protected], or visit our web site at http://www.fwb.com.
Web sites with useful information · Apple’s Tech Info Library: http://til.info.apple.com/ · Mac OS 8.1: About Mac OS 8.1 Extended Format: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n30344 · Mac OS 8.1: Mac OS Extended Format and Performas: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n24386 · Flashing "?": Solution on Performa/Power Mac 54xx, 55xx, 6400, & 6500: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n22078 · Flashing Question Mark on the Screen: Causes and Cures: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/N13784 · Troubleshooting Hard Drives: When To Reformat (3/97): http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n21103 · Macintosh Desktop & PowerBook Computers: IDE Hard Drive: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n15826 · 2/3/4/6 GB Firmware Utility: Read Me: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n30239 · 1.2 GB Firmware Utility v1.1 Read Me: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n22102 · PowerBase: SCSI Manager Update 1.2- Internal SCSI HD: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n36240 · Emergency Handbook: Problems starting up: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n43046 · Troubleshooting Hard Drives: Reformatting: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n21103 · DriveSavers disk recovery tips: http://www.drivesavers.com/5/mactips.html Other useful 3rd party resources · http://www.macintouch.com · http://www.macsurfer.com · http://www.macfixit.com
48 · http://www.barefeats.com
Drive manufacturer web addresses · Fujitsu http://www.fujitsu.com · Hitachi http://www.hitachi.com · IBM http://www.storage.ibm.com · Iomega http://www.iomega.com · Maxtor http://www.maxtor.com · Quantum http://www.quantum.com · Samsung http://www.samsung.com · Seagate http://www.seagate.com · Toshiba http://www.toshiba.com · Western Digital http://www.westerndigital.com
Web sites with useful information on FireWire · http://www.apple.com/firewire · http://www.1394ta.org · http://www.1394showcase.com
SCSI card manufacturer web addresses · Adaptec http://www.adaptec.com · Advansys http://www.advansys.com · Atto http://www.attotech.com · Initio http://www.initio.com · Orange Micro http://orangemicro.com
Disk repair utility manufacturer web addresses · Alsoft http://www.alsoft.com · Micromat http://www.micromat.com · Symantec http://www.symantec.com
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