One more question regarding mounting drives
 

I currently have my G5 set up to awake from sleep at 2:58 AM.

I then have SD scheduled to run at 3:00 AM, and 3:01 AM (2 different drives being backed up right after one another).

On the first schedule, I have it set to do nothing upon completion.

On the second schedule, I now have it set to automatically sleep the computer.

Now, both backup drives are normally not mounted, but when SD launches to perform its scheduled backups, the drives are automatically mounted (like they're supposed to be). However, it seems as if the computer sleeps (SD does this upon successful completion of the second backup), the drives don't get unmounted first.

When I wake my computer up after hours of being asleep, the drives are there, and then about 10 seconds later, they automatically unmount. Point being, I want these unmounted before the computer goes to sleep. Is there any easy way to do this?

Should I just set my G5 up to go back to sleep at, say, 3:30 AM, and not have SD sleep my computer at all?

Thanks.

The issue here is that the SD! application sleeps the Mac after a few second delay, but the drives are ejected by the 'schedule driver', which might take a bit more than that to get control back. So... you could have your Mac simply time out normally (and go to sleep)... since I don't know whether forcing it to sleep at 3:30 is a good idea: it's hard to know when the backup will really be done.

I can't really set my computer to sleep (time out) automatically because I use it as a production machine and the software I use specifically says to turn off the energy saver and option to sleep when not active, so I always have to do this manually.

What would you recommend doing? I'd say this machine gets used 4-5 times throughout the week and I have it set to run nightly backups. I have a Lacie drive that is specifically for backups. Would you recommend leaving the drives unmounted when not running? Should I turn the drives off when not in use or leave them on? (They still make sound even when they're unmounted)

Is there any way to let these drives unmount before sleeping the computer?

Thanks for the help.

I'm a bit confused: if your software says to not sleep the Mac, why are you sleeping it at 3:30?

It's not that it says not to sleep the mac...it's that it says to turn the energy saver completely "off" - as in, don't let it automatically sleep the computer or hard drive if it's been inactive for a certain amount of time. I'm allowed to manually sleep the computer. I just want my backups to run nightly, yet do so in an effective way that my computer and external hard drives aren't running for no reason. I don't do my primary things on this computer, it's only for business clients, yet it still gets used 4-5 times a week.

I'm curious as to what's suggested as far as leaving my backup drive mounted and/or unmounted. Also, leaving the drive on? Do most people leave their backup drives on 24/7 even though they're only running nightly for about 10 minutes? I also want to know how to allow my computer to go back to sleep after running these backups, yet unmount the volume as well...without letting my computer automatically "sleep" as this preference is supposed to be turned off, specifically stated in the software I use.

I've been letting the computer just sleep after SD runs, but it doesn't unmount the volume. I know you already said to just let the computer automatically time out, but I don't think I want to change this setting as my software specifically states not to. I'm sorry if this seems confusing.

I leave my drives on 24/7 (they spin down automatically when not accessed). Unfortunately, given the nature of the operations involved, I don't think you'll be able to set SD! to sleep *and* also unmount automatically unless you set the sleep event yourself.

So let's say I set my computer to turn on at 2:58 AM and sleep at 4am...given the fact it takes about 10-15 minutes for SD! to typically do a smart update...

If I was doing a full erase, and then copy backup (taking much longer) for whatever reason, odds are I'd be doing it manually during the day.

What are your thoughts on this? Still risky?

Should work. Just recognize that you might sleep it, on occasion, mid-copy.