Disk compatibility

[G.Wright]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Many users ask us what disks are compatible with SuperDuper! -- and while I have a list of brands and a discussion in the User's Guide that goes into some detail, I can't buy and test everything (sorry!).

In this thread, feel free to list your own experiences with disks, including boot compatibility, things you had to do to get the drive to work (e.g. most are shipped partitioned for Windows, and you'll have to repartition them for the Mac), speed, etc.

Note that, added to the list in the still-working-on-the-new-version User's Guide are (and remember -- FireWire is always preferred, although you can usually start up with a USB drive on an Intel -- not Power PC -- Mac):

• Apricorn
• G-Tech G-Drive
• Drobo

Finally, as I've said elsewhere, I don't generally recommend MyBook drives. They cannot be used as startup devices on Power PC based Macs, and -- at least in our internal -- have been more prone to trouble/failures.

Have at it!

I just spent several days researching what external hard drive I should buy to replace my failed Glyph GT 050Q 1TB. As my Glyph failed after only 3.5 years of very light use (maybe 2 hours/week) and gave me quite a few failed backups over the years - and also often wouldn't Eject, etc. - I couldn't justify paying their price for another one.

By necessity, I share Dave Nanian's enthusiasm for Firewire, because the only other ports available on my 2011 iMac are: Thunderbolt (fast, but few and pricey), or USB 2 (slow). But fact of the matter is, since he wrote this post in 2008, there have been A LOT of changes in external hard drives.

When I asked about Firewire at my local Best Buy store, I was informed that those are 'obsolete' - they didn't even have a Firewire cable, much less a selection of Firewire drives. Almost all of the externals on Best Buy's shelves were USB 3.0, only. Yes, I'm told those USB 3 drives will work on my USB 2 port - but at USB 2 speeds, obviously.

Some of the HDD manufactures that used to be reliable, are now less so. And one that used to be somewhat flakey - Western Digital - is now of the more reliable brands - BUT - they are apparently putting some kind of firmware in the chips of their external drives which have caused problems for some, and which is hard to get rid of.

Another up-and-coming brand mentioned above is the G-Tech G-Drive. Overall the G-Drives get pretty good reviews, but there are an alarming number of people reporting that they have problems with Firewire, and they are forced to use USB. If you have USB 3 on your computer, that is no big deal, but for those of us stuck with USB 2, it may be - unless you schedule all your backups to happen while you are asleep.

I finally bought a Mercury Elite Pro - 1.0TB - from OWC. It has FW800, as well as eSATA and USB 3.0 ports. I've partitioned it so SuperDuper and TimeMachine can each have their own partition, and connected with FW800 (Intel Mac users MUST repartition this drive - Disk Utility works, fine). My first backup of each was flawless - a relief, after fighting the Glyph for the past few days.

I'd really like to see some reports on the Thunderbolt drives - particularly how they work with SuperDuper and TimeMachine - boot ups - etc.

I'd also like to know if any kind of Thunderbolt-to-USB3 or Thunderbolt-to-eSATA converters are available, and if those setups will boot an Intel iMac - because the selection of Firewire drives does not seem to be getting any better.

I almost forgot - I use a Seagate GoFlex for Mac portable drive, 1TB which can switch from USB 2 to Firewire - no significant problems since 2011. I backup that one once-per-week and keep it off site.