We format our drives for use in Protools as follows:
This applies to SCSI and FireWire drives.
In line with digidesign recommendations we format with Apple Drive Utility (or ATTO in OS9). If certain drive combinations cause mounting problems then it is likely there is an FWB formatted drive in the system. We will format with FWB if required, note this requires formatting with the Apple Harddisk Utility first as FWB can't format ATTO disks. Now that OSX is virtually ubiquitous this information is increasingly redundant.
We now fully support Storcase FireWire 800 bay system with Seagate drives as a primary recording medium. These offer greater capacity and speed whilst maintaining the reliability of having systems built in to the rigs. They also allow true hot-swapping without the danger of port damage.
Standalone FireWire drives, e.g. LaCie, are reserved for backup purposes and are not recommend as a direct recording medium. This is because both the firewire and power connections are too exposed to accidental removal. Hot-swapping is not recommended as power spikes on the bus can destroy the FireWire ports.
Be extremely careful to unmount all FireWire drives before
removing.
Power all drives externally DO NOT use bus power especially with
multiple drives.
Pocket drives especially are very fragile, treat with care and
BACKUP!
A pair of SCSI drives is still the most reliable recording media. We use Storcase Datastor with Seagate drives exclusively. Storcasemake the hardware that Glyph and Rorke supply, so these systems are all compatible as long as you follow the guidelines below.
There are two common drive bay and caddy types, Ultrawide and Ultra160. Although the drive inside a caddy may be capable of Ultra320 the caddy will set the drive to it's standard.
Ultrawide are compatible with both Ultrawide and Ultra160 bays. The caddy model is DE100iCSW/B and has a cream coloured cable connecting to the internal drive.
Ultra160 are only compatible with Ultra160 bays with a repeater board installed. The caddy model is DE100iCSW160/B and has an orange and white cable connecting to the internal drive.
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