I cloned my HD & now I can't eject or unmount it

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Level 1

18 points

I cloned my HD & now I can't eject or unmount it

My first post - though I read them often. OK, I am a newbie at cloning my PB hard drive - but I thought I was prepared w/ enough info to get me through it.. But.. This is what I did so far: I have a powerbook g4 1.25Ghz and wanted to clone my internal hard drive so I used carboncopy cloner, w/ a firewire 400 Lacie external drive 200GB (I have another ex HD but unplugged it before I did this) erased and partitioned it to prep it followed the simple directions w/ carboncopy and all went well as far as I can tell. No error messages or anything. When it was finished making the clone, I closed CCC and my computer was still on but I was doing something else at my other desk. I looked over because I heard the clone EX HD begin 'percalating' with activity. 'What?!' The EX HD wasn't supposed to be doing anything on its own - (so I thought).. I closed the two programs I had open (mail & web browser) on the PB turned my airport off to see if that would do anything. No it didn't. Please help as I really don't know what to do. Everytime I try and eject the cloned ex. drive (it is bootable) I cannot. It always says that it is in use and I should close applications or files.. and so I can't unmount the thing. I DID put the laptop to sleep -- and the EX HD drive got 'quiet' -- but when I wake my powerbook the clone EX HD gets back to whatever activity it was doing. HELP! I'm really new to cloning my HD and I can't get the clone to disconnect! This is probably (or rather, hopefully) a simple answer, but I just don't know how to do it. Any advice is MUCH appreciated. THANKS.

PowerBook G4 15" + 20" Cinema Display 800 FW EX HD 250GB, 5G video ipod 30GB Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Oct 20, 2006 10:33 PM

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Answer 1

NightBird Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 21, 2006 12:00 AM in response to NightBird

I will add to this now as to say that the EX HD finally quit after about a couple hours and I was able to eject the cloned drive. Why did it behave that way? I hesitate to plug in that EX HD now - I don't know what to expect. I'm sure somebody knows all about this stuff.. so if you take the time to respond, I thank you in advance. It's much appreciated. Regards.

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Answer 2

EddieC

Level 5

7,349 points

Oct 21, 2006 4:29 AM in response to NightBird

Hi NightBird

I think that Spotlight was indexing your external drive after the cloning procedure.

If you do not want Spotlight to index the drive in future then go to your System Preferences and add the drive to Spotlight's "Privacy" tab.

15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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Answer 3

NightBird Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 21, 2006 10:11 AM in response to EddieC

Eddie, I'm glad you responded -- I knew it was doing something in there - so it should be fine to mount again.. It is good to know that I really didn't create a new life form with a mind of its own when I cloned my hard drive as it sure was acting like I had.. Your answer is much appreciated. Thanks again.

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Answer 4

EddieC

Level 5

7,349 points

Oct 21, 2006 10:25 AM in response to NightBird

I don't see any reason why it would not be safe for you to use the drive.

The chances are that when the drive is mounted again Spotlight will start indexing it again unless you tell it to stop.

You can stop the indexing either the method I mentioned previously. However you can find more information about Spotlight indexing here, along with better methods of disabling it.

15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.7) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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Answer 5

NightBird Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 21, 2006 10:59 AM in response to EddieC

When I did mount the drive after reading your post, it did begin it's 'activity' again -- so I followed your instructions (add the cloned drive to privacy in spotlight) and you were right about what it was doing! Soon as I did that the drive quit all its business and now sits there like it used to before I made a clone on it. You rock Eddie!! Now, if I may ask the simpliest of all questions... and I have searched for the answer and probably have parts of it, but would like a clarification.. please.. How do you boot from this EX HD clone? Everyone knows this but me. It's always talked about in forums as though you already know.. Like, push the 'option' key.. and select the drive to boot from.. Something like that, but WHEN do you do this? These are the details I don't know.. thanks. 🙂 Regards, Elizabeth

PowerBook G4 15" + 20" Cinema Display 800 FW EX HD 250GB, 5G video ipod 30GB Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Answer 6

EddieC

Level 5

7,349 points

Oct 21, 2006 11:14 AM in response to NightBird

Yes, you are right - you do already have most of the parts to the answer of your question.

For clarity here's the whole procedure:

1. Make sure you have cloned your drive properly, using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!*, and had set the clone to be bootable in the relevant utlity's preferences.

2. With the external drive still connected via FireWire, restart the PowerBook.

3. Upon hearing the startup chime, press and hold down the 'option'/alt key until you see the Startup Manager.

4. Select the icon of the drive you want to boot up from.

5. Click the 'right arrow' icon to boot up from the drive you have chosen.

*SD! has an option to automatically reboot from the external drive after the cloning process.

15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.7) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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Answer 7

NightBird Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 21, 2006 11:39 AM in response to EddieC

Fantastic -- Now I have steps I can follow. I wrote them down & will give it a go. So (looking ahead) once I boot from the cloned drive how do I go back to normal using my internal drive? So I check out my cloned drive (I used CCC) use it for a while make sure it's alright, how to I switch at that point?

I want to get in and then get out.

Next week I'll be upgrading my plump little 80GB HD for a much larger one. Twice the size. And though it would have been good to back-up my hard disk (not just files) before- I have to do it now w/ a new drive coming.

Great help you've been! Regards.

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Answer 8

EddieC

Level 5

7,349 points

Oct 21, 2006 11:51 AM in response to NightBird

Once you are satisfied that the clone is working fine, repeat the sequence starting from step 2. However on this occasion choose your PowerBook's internal drive. When the PB has finished starting up you can then eject and disconnect the external drive.

Since you have now managed to perform a cloned backup you should make backing up a routine habit.

There are options like incremental or automated/scheduled backups which make backing up quick and easy to perform - as long as you do it.

Trust me when I say that backing up really helps to minimise fears about hard drive failures or data loss.

15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.7) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPod 4G & nano 2G, iPs, AEBS, AX

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Answer 9

NightBird Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 21, 2006 12:07 PM in response to EddieC

THANKS SO MUCH for all your answers!

I took notes..

And yes, I will be backing up my drive regularly now -- I had decided to use my Lacie EX HD as my backup drive. And will implement some kind of incremental backup schedule once I get that other drive installed.

You've been a big help, Eddie - thank you.

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