Disk compatibility

[dnanian]

Many users ask us what disks are compatible with SuperDuper! -- and while I have a list of brands and a discussion in the User's Guide that goes into some detail, I can't buy and test everything (sorry!).

In this thread, feel free to list your own experiences with disks, including boot compatibility, things you had to do to get the drive to work (e.g. most are shipped partitioned for Windows, and you'll have to repartition them for the Mac), speed, etc.

Note that, added to the list in the still-working-on-the-new-version User's Guide are (and remember -- FireWire is always preferred, although you can usually start up with a USB drive on an Intel -- not Power PC -- Mac):

• Apricorn
• G-Tech G-Drive
• Drobo

Finally, as I've said elsewhere, I don't generally recommend MyBook drives. They cannot be used as startup devices on Power PC based Macs, and -- at least in our internal -- have been more prone to trouble/failures.

Have at it!

[Jo*]

I use the following external HD:

One Technologies COMBO (FireWire 400 & USB 2.0) | 250 GB

in conjunction with a PowerBook 17" 1.67 GHz on Mac OS X 10.4.11

Works without any flaws using SD! and is boot compatible.

Jo*

[TMay]

I currently have two external Firewire cases from Other World Computing (OWC, macsales.com) both of which have Oxford bridges and work flawlessly with SuperDuper and several different Macs.

One small portable case has the Oxford 911, while the larger two-disk "Elite" case has the Oxford 912. (I use this case in "two disk" mode, not as RAID, though it can be configured that way as well.) The first case is FW 400; the second is both 400 and 800.

I would heartily recommend OWC. I have bought many of their drives, four of their external FW cases, and have always had excellent service/help from them. They know Macs.

P.S. As an afterthought, both of these cases will successfully boot OS 9, if you need to, along with OS X of course.

[Gorisan]

My setup

Enclosure: Vantec Nextar 3 (SATA to USB,FIREWIRE,eSATA)
Hard Drive: WD 500GB

I have two of these units, zero problems so far. (I have only tried firewire)
Boots just fine!

[ChrisA]

Hiya,

I used the following Iomega drives:

Iomega Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7200RPM 500GB (NOTE: USB Drives don't work as bootable drives with a PowerPC Mac)
MacBook (Intel Dual Core - Leopard)
Created a full backup partition (image) and booted from it via USB no problems.

Iomega UltraMax 1GB Firewire & USB
Fine with MacMini (Tiger) and MacBook (Leopard) using Firewire I have not tried using the USB side of it.

Iomega MiniMax 500GB Firewire & USB
Used to upgrade the MacMini from Tiger to Leopard using Firewire. It boots from the image and can access the files OK but Apple's Migration Assistant didn't work. It came up with a "Network timeout error" which I tried to get around but in the end I manually re-installed the apps and copied over the data files as it was quicker to do that than try to find a resolution. I don't know if this was something to do with Superduper! or the Migration Assistant.

Other than that I've had no problems.

[dnanian]

Just want to emphasize again for our Power PC customers: USB drives will not work as startup drives for Power PC Macs.

[diegz]

Hi, by MyBook drives, do you mean Western Digital External Hard Drives in conjuction with PowerPC? What about Intel Imac's, will it boot?

Update:

Found this by dnanian:

"USB will work with Intel Macs (but not Power PC). The WD FW drives seem to not be able boot Power PC Macs, but will work with Intel as well"

Gonna buy it now...

[Budgie]

Hi
All drives listed are boot-able via SD, external and use Fire Wire only, with zero issues.
-----------------
PPC: 10.4.11
x 2 Newmotion Technology 150GB

Lacie:
x4 500GB Drives (server)
--------------

Lacie Group SA:

INTEL (White): 10.4.11
x2 500GB Drives

INTEL (Alluminium): 10.5.5
x2 500GB Drives
--------------

[Ricky]

I've had good experience with the Newer Tech (OWC) MiniStack (with Oxford chipset). I've used one for years as external backup for an iMac (Power PC), and have successfully tested it for booting and restoring to the iMac, via FireWire. I added a second MiniStack, and it's been solid too. They stack on each other.

[dnanian]

I really cannot recommend the MyBook drives. And they will not work as startup drives for Power PC Macs.

[Gerry Yu]

dnanian,

I use WD my passport 250 GB to superduper backup (1) my intel iMac 17" and (2) my MBP intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz without any problems whatsoever. They both boot up perfectly as well. (This WD drive has USB only)

Hence, I just bought another WD My passport studio 250 GB and backed up my intel MBP. It is also problem free with perfect boot up. (This has both Firewire 400 and USB)

I really like your Superduper product and use it exclusively for my backups. I tried time machine but do not use it any more.

Gerry Yu

[SDyes]

Originally Posted by dnanian

I really cannot recommend the MyBook drives. And they will not work as startup drives for Power PC Macs.

Strange, I have, for two-three years now, "smart-updating" a bootable clone of a PowerPC iMac G5 to an external WD MyBook USB/Firewire400 drive, dedicated for this purpose.
Using Firewire on a PPC of course, the booted clone has sometimes been running for weeks with no problem. It's most of the time powered off though.

This MyBook drive was purchased 2005/06, maybe newer ones have problems.
I'm still with SuperDuper! 2.1.4 and Mac OS X 10.4.10 on the iMac G5.

(Since 2005, I have/had totally 5 Western Digital MyBooks USB/Firewire400 for media. 2 died of pretty heavy use and more-than-average fragmented, I believe.)

[dnanian]

Not that strange: there must be some models that work. But their knowledge base pretty clearly indicates incompatibility with Power PC (Open Firmware) units... and that's been confirmed by me, too. But, I obviously haven't tested every drive.

[padmavyuha]

I might have missed it searching the threads here, but I'm getting an external HDD that's eSATA/USB2, and I want to know whether there's any problem with SD cloning to the drive via the eSATA interface? That would make for a fast clone, and then I can always boot from USB (I'm using a MBP with an eSATA expresscard).

- padmavyuha

[dnanian]

Shouldn't be a problem assuming the drive is properly partitioned.