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News Archive for: Wednesday January 17th, 2007 (Later added items first) Goto Current News Page
Systems | CPU Upgrades | Video | IDE | Firewire | SCSI | Audio | Tips/Apps/Networking | FAQ
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| Problems with Disk Utility use with Express/34 card's External SATA drives |
| (from a reader mail, updated with more info/notes.)
"
I have a wiebetech expresscard 34 dual port eSata card for my MacBook Pro Core2 Duo that does not seem to allow Disk Utility or Disk Warrior 4 the ability to unmount and clean up the hard drives that are attached via the card. I've written wiebetech about the problem as it seems the software running the expresscard is interfering with diagnostics and repair of the drive. (where there any addon drivers/software installed for the Expresscard?-Mike) I wonder if others have had the same problem or if someone has a solution?
(I asked if he was able to manually unmount the drives from the desktop and if he tried booting from the DW CD or an OS X Disc w/Disk Utility and run the utility from the discs (CD or DVD).-Mike)
I've found the simplest solution. I simply rebooted in safe mode and ran disk warrior 4 from my hard drive. That worked.
I think running it from the CD will work but I don't have it yet. It
takes 3 weeks via mail. The hard disks mounted in safe mode. I can unmount them in normal boot but that means the expresscard software is unmounted and disk warrior and disk utility cannot find them.
The other problem I've found is that a clone of the software Disk
Warrior 4 cannot be made on an intel machine yet, so, I've no choice but to wait for the CDs from Alsoft to run diagnostics.
(He later wrote regarding drivers/addon software for the card)
I had to install the drivers from WiebeTech to run the expresscard....
MacBook Pro C2D - 2 gigs ram. 100GB 7200 Hitachi drive internal,
two 500GB Seagate 7200.10s in OWC dual drive kit connected to the Expresscard 34 SATA controller.
-D. Harrington
"
If the driver/software install was the cause (sounds like it from the comment on safe mode working) then booting from a DW or OS X CD should also work (as the 3rd party driver/software wouldn't be loaded). As a FYI on the Tiger system here I also set Spotlight to not index my external drives. (Spotlight normally will immediately start indexing any drive you connect. I don't care for that personally and even disabled it on the boot drive.)
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| Mac Mini (intel cpu) Repair has a silver lining |
"
I saw your mention of users upgrading their Mac Mini from Core Solo
to Core Duo. (and Core 2 Duo swaps also)
We recently had a Core Solo Mini go dead on us, likely a bad logic
board. Brought it to an Apple store for repair. Instead, they did a
complete machine swap for a Core Duo. Went from a Solo 1.5GHz to Duo 1.8GHz and from a 60GB HD to 80GB HD. The reasoning per the Apple store was a parts shortage. We were given the option to wait and keep our machine, vs the immediate upgrade. No data to worry about on the old HD so a very easy choice.
So if users are lucky enough (???) to have their Solo Mini go belly-
up, they might get a nice upgrade.
-Mitch
"
Nice bonus, although I'm not sure how frequently this sort of exchange (to faster model) would happen. In the past there were also some cases where orders of a Mini got a speed-bumped model (the 'silent upgrade', just before an official model change/update).
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| Rate Your CPU Upgrade Reports Database Updated |
| The Rate Your CPU Upgrade database has been updated with 1 new report this morning. Total to date: 10,286. Here's a summary of the latest addition (search database by upgrade brand, mac model, etc. for a complete listing of all user reports on matching criteria (latest reports first).
- FastMac G4 1.4-1.5GHz (running at 1.467GHz) in (QuickSilver) G4/AGP (rated 8)
(Full reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades compared to stock CPUs, including real world apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked at the CPU upgrades page. OC/CPU module articles are on the Systems page.)
You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, send a review with your experience (performance/stability/installation, etc.), Mac Model/Upgrade brand info and overall rating (1= worst to 10=best). Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand).
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