MacBook disses FreeAgent

[marlene]

I bought an FreeAgent external drive for the MacBook, but it's not Mac formatted. And the Mac refuses to play with it.

It saw it when I plugged it in -- the FreeAgent icon's on the desktop -- and asked me if I wanted to use Time Machine with it. I said no, and then tried to copy a test file to the FreeAgent and the Mac said:

"The item [filename] could not be moved because "FreeAgent Drive" cannot be modified."

So does it want me to reformat the drive? Buy it a new drive, and this time make sure I get one that's already Mac formatted? The FreeAgent might be NTFS, which I think isn't compatible with Mac. If I weren't so lazy, I'd hook it up the PC and find out.

The new drive won't go to waste -- I wanted another one for the PC anyway -- so I won't get heartburn if I have to buy another one for the Mac. But ideally, I'd like to have an external drive that'll work on both Mac and PC. I do have an old one that does (I guess it's FAT32), but it makes Funny Noises so I don't want to rely on it even for backups.

UPDATE: Yep, the new drive is NTFS. I unplugged it from the Mac (which complained -- I guess I was supposed to throw it in the trash first?) and into the PC to check.

mxh

[Robin Springall]

How about just formatting it as a Mac drive, Marlene? (Erase it in Disk Utility and set it to Mac OS Extended, Journaled.) Should work.

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by Robin Springall

How about just formatting it as a Mac drive, Marlene? (Erase it in Disk Utility and set it to Mac OS Extended, Journaled.) Should work.

I bought a FreeAgent last year, and the iMac would not format it or deal with it at all.

There was a discussion about this drive’s disinclination to be formatted for an Intel Mac (or maybe a Leopard Mac; don’t remember), so I hooked it up to an old G4 (proving that hanging on to old junk is actually a good idea), and it reformatted it without complaint. Then the iMac was content, and I used it with Time Machine. But it turned out to be a lousy drive right out of the box, so it has been replaced by another drive (and another brand).

[marlene]

I could do. But I wonder if I'd still be able to read that drive on the PC, too. I do have software on the PC that reads and writes to Mac-formatted media, so I guess it would work ...

mxh

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by marlene

I bought an FreeAgent external drive for the MacBook, but it's not Mac formatted. And the Mac refuses to play with it.

I think I mentioned that in an earlier message where I was warning you against getting a FreeAgent for your Mac .

My solution, which is not available for you, was to connect the FreeAgent to an older (non-Intel) Mac, and reformat it there. Then the new Mac was happy with it.

UPDATE: Yep, the new drive is NTFS. I unplugged it from the Mac (which complained -- I guess I was supposed to throw it in the trash first?) and into the PC to check.

Yes — get used to doing that: to disconnect anything (thumb drive, camera cards, hard drives), first drag the icon to the trash, which turns into an eject symbol for the occasion. Then physically remove it. (If you forget, restarting the computer usually deletes the icon and fixes everything.)

[marlene]

Yes, I think you tried to steer me away from a FreeAgent. I was seduced by their 5-year warranty. <g>

A friend has an older Mac -- G4? -- don't know if those were Intel. If not, she could format the drive for me.

Yeah, I need to remember to throw things in the trash. I didn't think the Mac would squawk when I pulled the USB plug.

You know that row of icons across the bottom of the screen (what's that row called?? Looks like tchotchkes on a table.). I've got three questions marks in the row, for various aspects of Stuffit (yes, I bought Stuffit -- I found it real cheap on eBay, and it was an unused, legit version that I was able to register). How do I replace the question marks with icons?

mxh

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by marlene

You know that row of icons across the bottom of the screen (what's that row called?? Looks like tchotchkes on a table.).

The dock. I keep mine arranged vertically at the right side of my screen (but I have a big screen.)

I've got three questions marks in the row… How do I replace the question marks with icons?

Make sure StuffIt is not active, then drag the ? icons off the dock. They will explode and disappear.

Then go to Macintosh HD (or whatever you call it) > Applications > StuffIt and double-click to launch it. Its icon should immediately show up in the dock; if you click and hold that icon, you should see a pop-up menu (eventually) that lets you opt to keep the icon in the dock (and some other stuff).

If all that doesn’t work, there may be something wrong with StuffIt or its installation. Let’s see first if it works; if not, I will give you some more chapter and verse.

[marlene]

How can I make sure Stuffit's not active? How do I find a list of processes that are running?

mxh

[terrie]

Hey Marlene...I've been meaning to email you with this info but I keep getting sidetracked...

Take a look at the "Sneakernet & no sneakers needed" thread...I thought of you when I read this review and I figured you might find this gadget useful...'-}}

Terrie

[Howard Allen]

Marlene--

Just look at the Dock. If there's a little blue dot beneath the application icon, that means it's currently running (active). The question mark icons in the Dock are the result of deleting something (say, a file) that had previously been on the Dock (for example, you created a file, dragged a copy to the Dock, then later deleted the file). As Kathleen says, just drag the icon off the Dock and it will disappear in a puff of smoke.