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screamingFit · Feb 26, 2003, 03:46 PM

I have the need to transfer data from one 80GB Firewire hard drive to another non-enclosed drive. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to copy all the data off onto my Ti, swap drives, then copy all the data back onto the new drive.

Question is, could I hook both drives up in a slave/master configuration on the single Firewire bus? I know transfer speeds would probably be poor but it would make things a heck of a lot easier. I'd give it a whirl but I'm afraid of wrecking the data on my drive.

Thanks!

CatOne · Feb 26, 2003, 04:51 PM

Originally posted by screamingFit:
I have the need to transfer data from one 80GB Firewire hard drive to another non-enclosed drive. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to copy all the data off onto my Ti, swap drives, then copy all the data back onto the new drive.

Question is, could I hook both drives up in a slave/master configuration on the single Firewire bus? I know transfer speeds would probably be poor but it would make things a heck of a lot easier. I'd give it a whirl but I'm afraid of wrecking the data on my drive.

Thanks!

No need to worry about master/slave or whatever -- Firewire makes this pretty easy. It's designed for just this scenario (I think you can have like 6 devices, maybe more).

You just need to "daisy chain" them. Firewire cable from the Mac to drive 1, and then Firewire cable from the *other* firewire port on drive 1 straight into drive 2.

Then just drag everything over. It's actually quite fast...

screamingFit · Feb 27, 2003, 03:48 AM

Got that but the thing is, I only have one Firewire case. I'm talking about getting down and dirty with a screwdriver and having the Firewire case cracked open and running both drives on it.

Thanks for the reply.

scottiB · Feb 27, 2003, 07:29 AM

How are you going to power the 2nd drive? If you have a splitter, it might work.

screamingFit · Feb 27, 2003, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by scottiB:
How are you going to power the 2nd drive? If you have a splitter, it might work.

Yup - have a splitter to use.

Afraid to try it unless someone has tried it before. Afraid of frying the drive!

CatOne · Feb 27, 2003, 11:21 AM

Originally posted by screamingFit:
Yup - have a splitter to use.

Afraid to try it unless someone has tried it before. Afraid of frying the drive!

Dunno. I'd buy or borrow a firewire case myself... What good is an unenclosed 3.5" drive? Cases are around $100.

screamingFit · Feb 27, 2003, 12:47 PM

Originally posted by CatOne:
Dunno. I'd buy or borrow a firewire case myself... What good is an unenclosed 3.5" drive? Cases are around $100.

a) I don't know anyone. Want to send me yours?

b) This should be a one time thing - $100 is my groceries for the month.

I might just break down and try this out - throw caution to the wind and such.

scottiB · Feb 27, 2003, 01:14 PM

Actually, just noticing your location, you can borrow an older one of mine that's not being used. I have a first gen ADS Pyro case--not Oxford 911.

I work in Troy--PM me if you want to borrow it.

screamingFit · Feb 27, 2003, 05:36 PM

Originally posted by scottiB:
Actually, just noticing your location, you can borrow an older one of mine that's not being used. I have a first gen ADS Pyro case--not Oxford 911.

I work in Troy--PM me if you want to borrow it.

Real nice of you ScottiB. Sometimes when browsing these boards and you start to think Mac users have turned into complete dix and something like this comes along. I'd take you up on that offer but...

OWC just got my $100 for another case. So what if I live on ramen for the coming month. At least my data's safe!

Once I do have everything safely backed up, I will be hooking up the drives in tandem on the same case to fulfill my curiosity. I'll post my results on this thread.

Thanks again!

clf8 · Feb 27, 2003, 06:43 PM

I doubt you could just crack the case and run both drives. It's an IDE/ATA drive right? Can the Oxford (or any other chip set) handle multiple drives off the IDE bus and make them work over the Firewire? Could be possible, since they do have Firewire RAID setups. I would check a RAID case and see how many controllers (IDE, oxford, who knows) are in there.

bradoesch · Feb 28, 2003, 07:24 PM

I'm really curious about this now! I want to take apart my FireWire drive and try it with 2 drives now.