Anyone having problems with Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex external drives?

Just an update. Since updating to 10.8.2 my goflex works brilliantly. I also got an upgrade cable to plug it into firewire instead of USB 3.0 but it mounts in the 3.0 slot too.

Got a new USB3 cable from Seagate and that solwed the problem not beeing abble to mount the drive, I was supprised. The folder inside the box say "UPGRADE CABLE - USB 3.0". The new cable is in ONE solded part and not as before in 2 parts.

They also have upgrade cabels for Firewire 800 and eSATA - I was now also abble to upgrade to the new firmware....

Thanks Seagate, you restored your Brand +++++

I got mine working pretty good on my iMac including time machine backup.

But, I'm troubleshooting some performance issues and am seeing this console message every 10 seconds or so. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Jan 16 20:25:37 Macintosh-0022413c4b9d GoFlex Home Agent[145]: *** __NSAutoreleaseNoPool(): Object 0x160a020 of class NSCFString autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking

Thanks for the help.

Same problem with a Seagate 3TB Go Flex. It hasn't backed up anything with Time Machine for a couple of months--so I didn't bother with it. Attaching it to my iMac made the machine too sluggish to be usable. But now I see that the darn drive is apparently no longer formatted as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" or whatever. I'm wondering what the best way is of getting it formatted right.

Somewhere it says that reformatting will cause you to lose all of the backups that are now on the drive from the good old days when it was formatted as Mac OS etc. This is a lose-lose situation. And you say yours was a Mac drive to begin with?

I'm going to sell this baby for fifty bucks and pick up a 1TB WD Passport drive (with USB3.0) for $25 more. I've never had this kind of trouble with a WD Passport or Elements drive.

Is there any way to reformat the Seagate back to Mac OS Extended and in the process not lose backed- up files that were previously loaded onto it?

samuelfromkenosha wrote:

Is there any way to reformat the Seagate back to Mac OS Extended and in the process not lose backed- up files that were previously loaded onto it?

No,

I scouted Amazon for Thunderbolt drives and didn't see anything for less than $600. Does this adaptor really turn your 3.0, 2.0, Firewire drive into a Thunderbolt? I didn't realize that was possible. Sounds like a winner.

In that case, I may as well try to save what's on the drive and quit while I've got something. If I reformat back to Mac OS Extended, there's no guarantee it won't throw me out of that formatting again. Then we'd simply go through the same process again. I really expected the drive to be more stable--once you format it for Apple and lock it, that should be the once and only time.

"Does this adaptor really turn your 3.0, 2.0, Firewire drive into a Thunderbolt?"

Like most other connectors, you need a Thunderbolt device, Thunderbolt cable, and Thunderbolt port to get full Thunderbolt capability. The key is that the Thunderbolt uses the Mini DisplayPort connector.

See also:

http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20043524-263.html

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1424099#3

Here's a solution I found while looking for something completely different.

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/004752en?language=en_US

S.

samuelfromkenosha wrote:

I scouted Amazon for Thunderbolt drives and didn't see anything for less than $600. Does this adaptor really turn your 3.0, 2.0, Firewire drive into a Thunderbolt? I didn't realize that was possible. Sounds like a winner.

Look again.

I'm a new Mac owner who's finally got Time Machine working with my GoFlex Home. It was a battle and my solution was the last resort. I bought a Netgear ethernet switch (£10) and connect my network devices via that to bypass the BT Home Hub router. Since the BT router was installed a couple of weeks ago Time Machine lost connection to the GoFlex Home. It was absolutely fine on the previous router with the GoFlex Home and Mac plugged into it. I tried all sorts of other solutions, resetting User ID's on the GoFlex, updating the firmware, plugging it into a powerline plug, turning off firewalls, port forwarding etc. But nothing worked. Except the ethernet switch. That'll do for me.

My pathetic GoFlex 1TB drive will not eject most of the time, preventing my mac from shutting down. Most of the time I have to hold the power button to shut down. It also will not work as a backup with Carbon Copy Cloner. Sometimes I can eject it manually, but not often. I would love to ram that drive squarely up the +&^%&##@ of the manufacturer. Piece. Of. Crap.

Hi,

There is only one I can say about these drives they are s*&^^%$ my problem is I have 2 one is my itunes the other is my time machine they work fine until both drives are accessed at the sametime then they just disconnect with the error drive not properly ejected. There both 2tb usb 3 being used on an iMac late 2013(two days old) anyone got any ideas?

The USB dock never worked in my setup. Unwilling and unable to shell out the $$$ for a Thunderbolt dock, I opted for the Firewire 800 dock, which enables me to use the drive daily and without issue. If you have the $$$, go for the Thunderbolt dock. Otherwise, look for the cheaper FW800 dock. The USB 3.0 technology is extremely problematic with OS X and should be avoided. Happy hunting!

Recommendation to anyone who has bought a Seagate drive - RETURN IT!

I had one and it was a disaster. In 25 years as a Mac User, it's the only product I bought that billed itself as "Mac Friendly" that wasn't . No plug and play. No ease of use.

I returned my drive to Staples and bought a WD MyDrive and it worked from the minute I plugged it in and has worked flawlessly for several years now.

I don't think there are ANY true work-arounds for these miserable Seagate drives.