In article <3JadndafHtey4FfXnZ2dnUVZ_gRi4p2d@earthlink.com> ,
Ant <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote:
:In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Arno <me@privacy.net> wrote:
:> Ant <ant@zimage.comant> wrote:
:> > On 10/4/2009 8:25 PM PT, Arno typed:
:
:> >> Anyways, maybe your money would be better spend on a USB Flash
:> >> drive. They are typically in the 0.1A power class and whould work
:> >> on practically every USB port.
:
:> > Thanks Arno. Aren't Flash drives really expensive and limited with disk
:> > sizes (only have seen 64 GB and really expensive)?
:
:> Not that expensive anymore, but 64GB is about the largest at the
:> moment. How much data do you actually want to lug around?
:
:A lot like 500 GB. 64 GB is small.
That's why I've been using 500GB 2.5" drives for the backups I keep in
my safe deposit box. Those laptop drives are rated for 500,000
start/stop cycles (vs. 50,000 typical for desktop drives) and are
designed to withstand higher non-operating shock -- just what I want for
drives that will spend much of their lives being started, stopped, and
carried around.
>>>>>> Yeah, nothing like those 2.5" external drives portability wise.
>>>>> Yeah, still need to think about the USB power issue that you and others mentioned.
>>>> It isnt a problem with those 2.5" external drives that have two USB cables.
>>>> The most you might need is a couple of short USB cables with thin
>>>> plugs when you have very close USB ports and thicker plugs on the
>>>> cables that come with the drive.
>>> Ah two. I will keep that in mind. It will suck for netbooks
>>> that have limited/low numbers of USB connections.
>> Yeah, but I cant think of any with just one.
>>> Are hubs a no no for drives that use two USB cables since hub
>>> coneects to the same port?
>> Nope, its fine, the second one only uses the power pins, not the data pins.
>> Corse the hub is just about as big as the external power wart.
> Do these external 2.5" HDDs also have ESATA support and dual USB too,
A tiny subset do.
Someone else said that the ones that that support sata drives take more
power than the ones that dont tho, havent measured that myself yet.
> or are those only found in those big enclosures and docking stations?
Nope. And the big enclosures and docking stations are never dual USB cable powered.
> I am trying to which one is better.
The 2.5" drives are much more portable. Even the docking
stations are much bigger than a 2.5" USB only external drive.
Ant wrote:
> On 10/5/2009 5:19 PM PT, Ed Light typed:
>
>>> Anyways, maybe your money would be better spend on a USB Flash
>>> drive. They are typically in the 0.1A power class and whould work
>>> on practically every USB port.
>>> Arno
>>
>> I think Flash drives go bad a little easier.
>
> Because of the number of writes?
Because they're not physical like hard drive, I would think -- just
delicate memory cells. Some anomaly made mine unreadable. I
repartitioned it and formatted it but it was not usable.
> No problem there. They use the same USB mass storage driver that USB
> flash memory devices use. You do lose the ability to perform SMART
> queries on the drive
HD Sentinel gets SMART info. from my Western Digital 3 1/2" USB drive.
However, I have 2 1/2" IDE drive in a Rosewill USB enclosure, and it
can't get any SMART data from it.
In article <7j1gbmF33g6n8U2@mid.individual.net>,
Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
:Robert Nichols wrote
:> Ant <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote
:
:>> Do these docking stations require drivers? I want to be
:>> compatible with many OS like Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, etc.
:
:> No problem there. They use the same USB mass
:> storage driver that USB flash memory devices use.
:
:> You do lose the ability to perform SMART queries on the drive,
:
:Nope, particularly with the ones that have eSATA.
:
:> because there is no established method to pass
:> those commands through the USB interface.
:
:Some of the USB bridges do support that now.
Do you know if they can do that without installing a driver (presumably
Windows-only) for that particular bridge? Last I heard, there was no
standardized method of passing commands needed for SMART through a USB
bridge, leaving every manufacturer free to implement it in a different
way (and probably patent their chosen method, thus making it unlikely to
be adopted as a standard).
T'would be nice to hear that things are moving in a better direction
than that.
Robert Nichols wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
>> Robert Nichols wrote
>>> Ant <ANTant@zimage.com> wrote
>>>> Do these docking stations require drivers? I want to be
>>>> compatible with many OS like Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, etc.
>>> No problem there. They use the same USB mass
>>> storage driver that USB flash memory devices use.
>>> You do lose the ability to perform SMART queries on the drive,
>> Nope, particularly with the ones that have eSATA.
>>> because there is no established method to pass
>>> those commands through the USB interface.
>> Some of the USB bridges do support that now.
> Do you know if they can do that without installing a driver
> (presumably Windows-only) for that particular bridge?
Yes they can, just by passing the SMART request thru the bridge.
> Last I heard, there was no standardized method of passing
> commands needed for SMART through a USB bridge, leaving
> every manufacturer free to implement it in a different way
In practice there arent that many ways its done, so the bridge
can allow for at least the most commonly used methods.
> (and probably patent their chosen method, thus
> making it unlikely to be adopted as a standard).
I dont recall that anyone has patented any of them.
> T'would be nice to hear that things are moving in a better direction than that.
>> Do these external 2.5" HDDs also have ESATA support and dual USB too,
>
> A tiny subset do.
>
> Someone else said that the ones that that support sata drives take more
> power than the ones that dont tho, havent measured that myself yet.
>
>> or are those only found in those big enclosures and docking stations?
>
> Nope. And the big enclosures and docking stations are never dual USB cable powered.
>
>> I am trying to which one is better.
>
> The 2.5" drives are much more portable. Even the docking
> stations are much bigger than a 2.5" USB only external drive.
Thanks. I think I will look for 2.5" ones instead of docks and
enclosures. Now, the hard part is which ones are good since they are
rare (with ESATA)?
--
"Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what
we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken
over--'conquered', if you will--by a master race of giant space ants.
It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume
the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain,
there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one,
welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a
trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to...toil
in their underground sugar caves."--Kent Brockman in The Simpsons' Deep
Space Homer (1F13) episode.
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address: philpi@earthlink.netANT
( ) or ANTant@zimage.com
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.
> Thanks. I think I will look for 2.5" ones instead of docks and
> enclosures. Now, the hard part is which ones are good since they are
> rare (with ESATA)?
These are the few on newegg. Be sure to read all the user reviews.
Apparently you must plug in the USB for power while using the esata.
>> Thanks. I think I will look for 2.5" ones instead of docks and
>> enclosures. Now, the hard part is which ones are good since they are
>> rare (with ESATA)?
>
> These are the few on newegg. Be sure to read all the user reviews.
> Apparently you must plug in the USB for power while using the esata.
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...lue=360%3A7801
Thanks. Wow, not very many models and reviews. Are people not liking
these external 2.5" USB HDDs or something?
--
"An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox." --Mexican Proverb
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address: philpi@earthlink.netANT
( ) or ANTant@zimage.com
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.
Re: What's a good external HDD to buy these days? 
Linear Mode
