Can't eject hard drive with FCPX open

Question

Can't eject hard drive with FCPX open

I have seen similar posts, but nothing that seems exactly like the issue I'm having.

If I have FCPX open then connect an external hard drive, FCPX picks up on it and lists it in the Event Library and in Projects. In this example, the HD I connected has an events and projects folder at the root level, so FCPX reads the info on those. However, in this instance, I only connected the HD so I could see if some specific files were on the HD, totally unrelated to FCPX. After doing what I needed to do on the HD (again, nothing that I did had anything to do with FCPX, or any other application besides Finder for that matter) I try to eject it, but get the message that FCPX is using it and so I can't eject until I quit FCPX.

Is there any way to eject the HD from FCPX? Unmount it from the Event and Project libraries? This is always a nuisance, to have to quit an application simply to eject a hard drive is maddening, but a work-around that is simple enough. Where this issue crosses the line is that if I have an export in progress (in this case, burning a simple, but long DVD) I can't quit FCPX without having to start that process all over again.

This seems like a terrible bug in FCPX that should never have existed. Any help would be very much appreciated!

Final Cut Pro X, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jun 7, 2013 11:31 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,986 points

Jun 7, 2013 11:38 AM in response to cudigitalmedia

I'm not clear, are there events or projects on the drive or not?

Reply

Answer 2

Jun 7, 2013 11:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

There are events and projects on the drive. But FCPX is not using them in this situation, only displaying them in the Event and Project libraries.

Reply

Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,986 points

Jun 7, 2013 11:49 AM in response to cudigitalmedia

If it's displaying them, it's using them. The application has opened the database files CurrentVersion.fcpevent and CurrentVersion.fcpproject.

Reply

Answer 4

Jun 7, 2013 11:52 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

I see. Is this a bug Apple plans on addressing any time soon? Is there any use to this function?

Reply

Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,986 points

Jun 7, 2013 12:00 PM in response to cudigitalmedia

Because these are two, separate relational databases if you opened a project you would have to go through it and for every project, every timeline version you create, find and open every event that might have media in any project. To avoid that the application simples opens all projects and events it sees. One way around this is to keep projects and events you don't want the application to work with in separate folders or in sparse images or sparse bundles.

Reply

Answer 6

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Jun 7, 2013 12:01 PM in response to cudigitalmedia

I don't believe this is a bug as it is normal app behavior to keep all disks mounted when there are resources on the disk that are being used by the application.

However, if you feel this is not correct behavior, give Apple your feedback:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html

MtD

Reply

Answer 7

mjbamigo

Level 1

0 points

Sep 17, 2013 10:37 PM in response to cudigitalmedia

I agree that this behavior isn't a "bug" per se, but it is a major annoiance that there isn't an Eject button for drives. I tend to come back from shoots with multiple drives and also have a few RAID boxes I rotate between for different clients. It's impossible to switch without shutting down FCPX and I have a finite number of fast ports on the computer.

Adobe Lightroom, which handles "media" in a similar way is much more graceful when it comes to cards and drives coming and going. It manages all the same organizational functionality and a great deal more without holding the system captive. This, combined with FCPX's tendency to not eject certain Nikon-formatted cards (I use a D800 regularly) has me rebooting the program continuously every day.

A strategy worth considering on every drive or RAID that has FCPX material, is to set up a folder structure like this:

Final Cut Events

Final Cut Events Inactive

Final Cut Projects

Final Cut Projects Inactive

Then move materials out to the inactive folders if they aren't currently in use. At least then you won't have FCPX bog into "loading..." unconciousness when a drive shows up. It was recommended to me by a friendly person at Apple (during that brief time window when you get customer service for an Apple product).

Reply

Answer 8

Tman123

Level 1

6 points

Mar 5, 2014 8:43 AM in response to mjbamigo

I agree, if I insert a drive into my macpro to see what is on the drive and fcpx is open, the only way for me to eject that drive safley is to quit fcpx. God forbid I am exporting a 2 hour movie.

Reply

Answer 9

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,986 points

Mar 5, 2014 9:06 AM in response to Tman123

What version are you using?

Reply

Answer 10

Tman123

Level 1

6 points

Mar 5, 2014 9:15 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

10.0.9

Reply

Answer 11

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,986 points

Mar 5, 2014 10:42 AM in response to Tman123

That version uses project and event library folders at the hard drive root level. It accesses them as soon as soon as the drive is mounted and the application reads them. FCP then loads them into the application. The drive is now in use by the application so it cannot be ejected. This is not the case with the current media management structure.

Reply