Mac compatible back up tape drives?

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Level 1

16 points

Mac compatible back up tape drives?

I recently bought a HP external tape drive, connected via SCSI to my G4, running OS 10.4. This looked like a good backup solution. Installation seemed to go well, with the tape drive showing up in my system profile, but no Icon appeared on the desktop. So, I tried to find a driver to download, only to learn that they didn't exist for a Mac. I can't find any other brands which support the Mac either. Questions: Is there a 'work around' that could make this device operable? Are there other brands that are Mac compatible? At present I'm using a WD external hard drive for back up, but it seems flaky - its appearance on the desk is hit or miss. What's a good alternative for back up?

Cube & G4 Tower, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Sep 13, 2008 7:00 AM

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Answer 1

Mulder

Level 6

8,990 points

Sep 13, 2008 11:27 AM in response to Glenn Haste

I recently bought a HP external tape drive, connected via SCSI to my G4

Which model of HP tape drive did you get? Did it include any software at all; was it even formatted as a Mac HFS volume? Did the vendor know you wanted a Mac-compatible drive and sell this one to you anyway?

You may be able to use Retrospect ($119) depending on which HP drive model you have. A download update for it adds support for these HP tape drives:

HP StorageWorks Ultrium 1840 (SAS) Tape Drive
HP StorageWorks Ultrium 1760 (SAS) Tape Drive
HP StorageWorks Ultrium 920 (SAS) Tape Drive
HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448 (SAS) Tape Drive
HP StorageWorks DAT 160 (SAS) Tape Drive

You may have to call or email them to find out all the drives that are supported by it. If that won't work for you, I'd return the drive for a full refund and ask them to find one that is Mac-compatible and comes with Mac drivers to mount it.

Mulder

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Answer 2

Glenn Haste Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 14, 2008 3:06 PM in response to Mulder

Thanks for the reply - I posted in the Safari discussion by mistake, so I'm surprised that anyone even looked at it.
I do have Retrospect, so I'll look at their web site. Initially, it doesn't look good, because I have a Superstore DLT 1, which wasn't included in your list. But maybe a driver for one of those listed would work. I hope so, because it looks like a good device, with capacity of 40 GB native & 80 GB compressed. Either one would work for me.
Depending on what I learn in the Retrospect site, I may re-post to another discussion, which my be more appropriate. I know that multi-posting is frowned upon, but maybe once by mistake may be permitted?

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Answer 3

Mulder

Level 6

8,990 points

Sep 14, 2008 3:17 PM in response to Glenn Haste

Cross posting to multiple forums is a definite line you shouldn't cross. But once a topic is closed, you can repost a similar question for the same problem in another forum.

And it may help if you update your system to at least 10.4.11, as that might help with the whole issue of being able to mount SCSI devices that have no downloadable drivers. If you're already running something higher than 10.2, be sure to update your profile with the current information.

Mulder

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