[H-GEN] External USB HDDs.
Carl Adams
52midnight at gmail.com
Thu Dec 16 18:44:01 EST 2010
My first is a Western Digital 1TB 'My Book Essential'. Comes with USB
cable and wall-wart for power. As purchased it presents two interfaces,
one the actual storage device, the other a 'fake CD' with custom software
for the auto-backup function that is Windows-specific. This dual interface
appears to be a 'feature' of other such devices, and is both useless for
Lx and a nuisance (having a second unwanted device). The software is
contained in a subdirectory in the drive storage space - another nuisance.
Fortunately, WD has available a downloadable utility for disabling it, but
it only runs under Windows. Thanks to a friend's kindness (I don't have
and M$ meself) I was able to download and run this. The fake CD
disappeared, I reformatted the whole thing as a single ext3 partition, and
it's been fast (enough) and reliable ever since.
The second is an HP 320GB 'Simple Save'. Self-powered off the USB port,
but you'll need a powered USB hub (not the passive sort) if you don't plug
in direct to the computer. Same 'fake CD' arrangement, but no disable
facility that I've found, and the forums suggest it's not available, and
HP has no interest in the Lx community. So far it's performed well, but
the 'M$-centricity' and lack of support has decided me against HP for any
future purchases.
Having spent engineering years in Singapore back when it made 80% of the
world's HDDs, I developed some personal preferences that may be
out-of-date, but WD has always been a favourite followed by Seagate (used
to be Shugart before Al sold out), all others take your pick.
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