Brand New Seagate 1TB External HD slower than an old 500GB. Why?

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Brand New Seagate 1TB External HD slower than an old 500GB. Why?

Hello,

l just bought a brand new Seagate External HD "Backup Plus" 1TB, to connect with my old iMac 10.4.11.

Again: 10.4.11!!

I have repeated that because after explaining which type of computer l was to use, both Seagate and the famous computer retailer where l've bought it, told me that they were compatible!

Turns out instead that, well... it was NOT apparently.

Neither re-formatting the Drive and installaing of the Software could be possible... So: stuck.

I have found a way around it: in fact on the re-formatting process (through the Utility Disk), instead of selecting 'MS-DOS File System' (which was required), l have selected 'Mac Os Extended (Journaled)' - just to see what could happen.

Lucky enough It seemd to work (?) - no idea about what or why, anyways now l was able to drag files inside, plug it, unplug it and verything... it seemd to work.

But here comes something quite strange:

When l dragged the files into the Driver they initially seemed a little 'slow'... :S

So l thought to try to compare it with another External Hard Driver to see what difference could come up...

I have dragged the same file, into my Brand New 1TB drive, and my stuffed & creepy old Verbatim 500GB at the same time. The result was:, the brand new 1TB Seagate took well DOUBLE the time than the stuffed old Verbatim 500GB one, to get the files in!! Wiered!

So here l am not shure if all this is normal or somewhere there is something 'funny', so l was looking to ask if someone could tell me about it.

So, why is i that my brand new 1 TB empty HD is much slower than my old completely full 500GB one?

Is it because 1TB is bigger than 500GB and it requires double work (dispite the fact that they have a much different age)?

Is it because the new one has been sort of 'cracked'?

Is it maybe bacause the new one comes with USB3 (backwords compatible)?

Is it for other reasons?

Just, why?

I am not shure is what l have got here is worthwhile keeping, because it seems a little strange.

Thank you to being so kind to let me know 🙂

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 18, 2013 9:46 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 18, 2013 11:11 AM in response to And1001

A couple of reasons this might be slower, one the specs for the drive do call for OS X 10.6 or higher. While it is unlikely that running it on 10.4 is slowing it down it is possible,

Second, and I think the more likely reason, the software that Seagate installs on the drive to make it a 'Backup Plus' is probably slowing things down. Any reason you purchased this drive and not just a plain USB external drive? If you are looking to use it for backups?

Before you get to involved with the drive I suggest you try to return it and get a plain external drive. If that is not possible ( and I don;t see why it wouldn;t be) try reformatting the drive again but do not put any of the Seagate software back on it just leave it as a plain drive.

If you want to use it for backups you can use Apple's Time Machine on it.

regards

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Answer 2

And1001 Author

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Sep 18, 2013 11:41 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Hi Frank l am really greatefull for your reply.

Going back to your questipns:

. "Any reason you purchased this drive and not just a plain USB external drive?"

Well l have been researching for weeks, everywhere and anywhere for somebody whom could tell me which exact external HD could be perfectly compatible with my 10.4.11. But nobody have been able to clearely tell me anything - just generical answers (like "maybe try one with this feature").

Desperate and tired of looking everywhere l have tried to follow Seafegate's suggestion: they said it could work perfectly.

I did not have a precise plan for it. I just needed an external drive asap. Full stop.

. "looking to use it for backups?"

Yes, l just merely need to back up my files. Nothing fancy.

. "Try to reformat it agaon but do not put any of the Seagate softwares inside. Leave it as a plain Drive"

I am not too shure about that.

I don't know if l've got those skills toh.

Can you please tell me how to do that?

When first plugged in, inside the drive thete was a few Folders & Files (ehich l don't know what they was about) - then, when l have formatted it, they disappeared.

I supose, one of them was the Software, but how do l get back to that stage. Or, do l have to go back thete?

Bottom line: what do l actually have to do (l do not gave the most remote clue).

Last point.

If l keep this drive (instead of retuning it), will it might catch some troubles along the line? Will it be still safe enough to rely on it properely?

Many mant thanks for your reply :)

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Answer 3

Sep 18, 2013 12:10 PM in response to And1001

I'm a bit backed up now to be able to go into this in depth plus it has been a long time since I've used Tiger (10.4) and I'd hate to tell you something that is not right for your system so…

First I think if you can you should return this drive. It seems to be overly complicated for what you are looking for.

Second I'll ask the hosts to move this to the 10.4 community. Hopefully there you will get folk who are more familiar with the OS and can recommend a backup program procedure geared for the OS.

regards

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Answer 4

And1001 Author

Level 1

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Sep 18, 2013 3:06 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Hey Frank,

No warries buddy, you've been a star!

I thank you infinitely for your help anyways...

All the very best!!

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Answer 5

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Sep 18, 2013 5:13 PM in response to And1001

Just because it is a new drive, doesn't mean it will be faster than old drive. One has to look at the specs for the drive.

We need to know the model number and manufacture for each drive. If you can povide links to both dirves.

What mac are you using?

What type of port have you connected the drive to?

to better test performce, stop all apps. copy a large file 200meg or greater to one drive when this stop copy to the second drive. Time with a wall clock with second hand.

Is the performance good enough for your?

What iMac do you have?

Report system info

Blue apple > about this Mac

click on more info

click on hardware

do not copy your serial number

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Answer 6

And1001 Author

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Sep 27, 2013 1:34 AM in response to rccharles

Hi and thank you for your reply.

http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/standard/backup -plus/

the older Drive is too old l can't find links. It's a Verbatim 500 GB Dektop HD (2007)

I am using an iMac OS X 10.4.11 (2004)

I connect them into the normal USB port l have: I am not shure if they are 2 or ealse.

I have done what you mentioned - l have timed them to transfer 300MB:

Seagate - 30 seconds

Verbatim - 14 seconds

This are my mac specs.

Machine Name: iMac G5

Machine Model: PowerMac12,1

CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)

Number Of CPUs: 1

CPU Speed: 1.9 GHz

L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB

Memory: 1 GB

Bus Speed: 633 MHz

Boot ROM Version: 5.2.6f1

Thakn you for your reply. A

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

238,997 points

Sep 27, 2013 11:19 AM in response to And1001

Hello, I can think of one possibility...

Not enough RAM, a bigger drive will need more RAM for Disk Caches, & 1 GB is barely enough for the OS.

Yours can take 2.5 GB, which I highly recommend...

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=233&type=Memory

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_g5_1.9_17.html

And actually, a Firewire 400 drive would not only be faster than USB2 & use less RAM, it'd be bootable also...

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

Open Activity Monitor in Applications>Utilities, select All Processes & sort on CPU%, any indications there?

How much free RAM & free Disk space do you have also, click on the Memory & Disk Usage Tabs.

Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

In the Memory tab of Activity Monitor, are there a lot of Pageouts?

Also, is Spotlight indexing the new drive?

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Answer 8

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

Sep 27, 2013 8:07 PM in response to BDAqua

Did you reformat the drive? If your not going to use on Windows, the mac format would be best I'd say.

Data Sheet

PORTABLE DRIVE

http://www.seagate.com/files/www-content/product-content/backup-plus-fam/back-up -plus-portable-drive/en-us/docs/backup-plus-portable-ds1756-2-1306us.pdf

Inside the Box

Seagate Backup Plus drive

18-inch USB 3.0 cable

Seagate Dashboard pre-loaded on drive

Quick start guide

NTFS driver for Mac pre-loaded on drive

For even more flexibility, with the

Seagate Backup Plus design, you can upgrade from the included USB 3.0 interface to

Thunderbolt technology or FireWire 800 with the available additional adapter

I did find this stuff on their datashee. I'd hardly call it a data sheet. I did contain the number of drives you could stack on a pallet. It didn't contain any performance numbers.👿

No performance numbers are a big red flag to me. I think they are being fast and loose by not providing real specs in their data sheet.

could try firewire cable.

http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/standard/backup -plus/

or return it & get an OWC external harddrive.

Robert

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