Back up - trying to install Iomega eGo portable hard drive

I believe this external HD has both USB & Firewire connection. How are you connected? Firewire is best on Macs. What Mac model you you have? You should add this to your Discussion profile.

Depending on you connection, look at these links.

USB and FireWire Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151?viewlocale=en_US

What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire device
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88338

Dealing with FireWire problems (drives not mounting, devices unrecognized, etc.)
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20041221081432908

Common fixes for USB device issues (unrecognized, etc.)
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070824012114701

 Cheers, Tom 😉

I got the problem solved. The manual for getting started had really bad instructions and I told them they need to correct it. The customer rep at Iomega was very nice and helpful.

Now....I'm USB connected. I have an iMac. My question now is, what files do I backup? Can I just drag and drop the Mac HD to the Iomega backup hard drive? and the applications and my personal file? I think the thing I am most nervous about losing are my pictures and my Quicken files. The pictures can't be replaced and it would take me a long time to redo the Quicken files. When I do the upgrade, does it delete everything or does it just override all the old stuff? Sorry I'm such a novice, but I just want to do everything right. And I am tired of staring at my computer wishing I could upgrade but too scared to do it!!

what files do I backup?

Most users backup their entire hard drive contents - system, applications & files. As a minimum, backup your important files.

Can I just drag and drop the Mac HD to the Iomega backup hard drive? and the applications and my personal file?

You can't drag the Mac HD to the backup hard drive to copy everything. Generally, you can drag files & most applications, however, there are many invisible files associated with the System that would not get copied. You need to use one of the cloning apps below.

Depending on how many GBs of data needs to get copied to the external hard drive, it will take multiple hours to copy everything. I do mine over night. Be sure to turn of the Energy Saver. Depending on which cloning app you use, after the first clone you can then just update the things that have changed. Most of us use SuperDuper (shareware) or CarbonCopyCloner (donationware).

Whenever you upgrade your OS, like going from Panther 10.3 to Tiger 10.4, you will not lose anyhing if you use the Archive & Install feature & select preserve user settings.

Look at Mac Backup - Mac Backup Software, Hardware, and Guides for Your Mac
http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/tp/backuphub.htm
Mac OS X data backup FAQ http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html

You can use CarbonCopy Cloner @ http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html , or SuperDuper @ http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html , or IBackup @ http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html , or Silverkeeper @ http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper/ or the Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X.

 Cheers, Tom 😉

Diane:

Welcome to Apple Discussions. Are you the same Diane who is the Original Poster (OP)?

I concur with Tom in that you should clone your entire volume on the HDD to your external HDD using a utility like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. You can then use the schedule outlined in A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs to move your files back in place. This will put everything back where you want it. Keep the clone until you are satisfied everything is the way you want it.

😉 cornelius

Can you tell me how to format Iomega external hard drive? The Iomega support tell me they can't support me!!

morrisdancer:

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

If you are planning to use your Iomega drive for backing up a Mac, here are step by step directions.

Formatting, Partitioning Erasing an External HDD
• Connect external HDD to computer
• Turn on external HDD
• Start up computer and log in
• Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and launch DU.
• Select your Iomega HDD (manufacturer ID) in left side bar.
• Select Partition tab in main panel.
• Click on Options button
• Select Apple Partition Map (PPC Macs) or GUID Partition Table (Intel Macs)
• Click OK
• Select number of partitions in pull-down menu above Volume diagram.
For more partitions than one, after you have selected the number of partitions adjust the size of the partition by selecting the top partition and typing in the size; then move down if more adjustments need to be made.
(See Dr. Smoke’s FAQ Backup and Recovery for tips on partitioning external HDD)
• Type in name in Name field (usually Macintosh HD)
• Select Volume Format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
• Click Partition/Apply button at bottom of panel.
• Select Erase tab
• Select the sub-volume (indented) under Manufacturer ID
• Check to be sure your Volume Name and Volume Format are correct.
• Click Erase button
• Repeat above procedure to erase each partition
• Quit Disk Utility.


😉 cornelius

Cornelius, thank you for detailed instructions. Unfortunately, when I go to Disk Utility and select the Iomega HDD the main panel gives only First Aid/Erase/Restore. Nowhere is there Partition. Choosing Erase (which is what I feel I need to do) gives two items: Volume Format and Name both of which are greyed out thus unavailable to me. My Iomega drive is in fact a Prestige, sold as Mac compatible, but the user manual is useless - hence my venture into this discussion.
Have you any further advice? I am really grateful for any help.

morrisdancer:

Sorry. The drive is probably formatted NTFS which you Mac can't read. I am not familiar with the drive and since I don't have it in front of me it is difficult for me to advise you. I suggest that you call Iomega tech support again and ask them. If the rep you get tells you that they can help ask to talk to their supervisor. If the drive is advertised as being Mac compatible they should offer support to Mac users.

😉 cornelius

Cornelius, many thanks for the advice. The drive is indeed formatted NTFS. I am going to try taking a stronger line with Iomega. Unfortunately I am in the UK and the support is a general Europe one so contact is online - not very satisfactory. Here's hoping.

morrisdancer

morrisdancer:

Here's hoping.

Please keep us updated.

😉 cornelius

Cornelius

My Prestige drive is up and running! No response from Iomega, so I phoned the department store where it was purchased and they talked me through finding the Terminal and keying in the command string to reformat. It appears also have copied the entire original drive so I should be all set to upgrade the OS. May I ask you, can I move directly from 10.3.9 to 10.4.3? 10.4 is the only level my current setup will support and I can't get the in between steps.

Thanks again for your help.

Morrisdancer

I'm an idiot - the reformatting did not of course copy the whole original drive, I looked at the wrong thing and will have to do the work myself! But the operation worked.

morrisdancer

morrisdancer:

Glad you were able to get it formatted.

Yes, you can go directly from Panther to Tiger. You may use the Archive and Install option, if you choose. Once you have installed Tiger, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select the drive with the new Installation (manufacturer ID) and Repair Disk Permissions. Quit DU. Download and install Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo update (PPC). Go to Apple Menu > Software Update and install all updates. Then Repair Disk Permissions as previously.

In terms of the backup you can make a bootable clone using SuperDuper.

Please do post back with further questions or comments.

Good luck.

😉 cornelius

hi morrisdancer,

having same issue as you with trying to format my iomega external harddrive. I don't either have the Partition tab anywhere in disk utility. Any chance you could post the steps here of how you resolved the issue?

many thanks in advance.

Hello ainolondon

Sorry for delay - hadn't looked at forum for a while. I have a note of the instructions but can't remember exactly what I did! In Utility, Disk Utility will show what you have got. At some point I had to rename the external hard drive.
The instructions I got were to select Terminal. I think it was in terminal that I typed in the reformatting instruction after my personal name: diskutil erasedisk "Journaled HFS+" (disk name) /dev/disk2. I have gone back to look and there's nothing there to remind me so I couldn't swear to having actually typed in diskutil erasedisk, but the upper case J is important.

Hope it helps. Sorry to be less than one hundred per cent helpful. Good luck.

Morrisdancer