Hardware Heaven-firewire HD install at DVinfo.net

David Hurdon · February 26th, 2003, 05:51 PM

I know, it's not a place one visits regularly, but I went there today. I've been editing a piece from nearly four hours of tape, and hoped I could manage my 60 GB video drive to do the job, likely to be about two hours. It became obvious that I couldn't without painful workarounds so I thought I'd put another internal drive in (to make 3). When I realized I had no open bay for it I started thinking firewire external. At noon I bought a LaCie 120 GB firewire drive. Then I had lunch and a nap. Believe it or not the subsequent installation was flawless, the format to NTFS likewise. To cap it off I found I could use the second input on the back of the drive to bring up my firewire network, which I've been accessing through my Audigy Platinum sound card break-out box, now plugged to the LaCie. I can't recall the last time any install went so perfectly. After the install I ran the Canopus raptest.exe to check the read/write speed of the external drive. It was faster both ways than my Maxtor Diamond Plus 7200 rpm internal video drive which has served me perfectly for almost a year. I dumped 30 GB from it to the new drive in no time at all and now have all the room I need to carry on without having to move the project from its happy home. I realize one should wait for a question before giving an answer but sometimes it's helpful to hear that what you wonder about actually works. Or maybe I just want to spread the joy. By the way I'm running WIN2K SP2 on a P4-1.8.

Don Bloom · February 26th, 2003, 06:17 PM

Ain't firewire great!?!?
I have 2 on my system a 40 Acom and an 80 Maxtor and I love 'em. I can switch them over to my laptop also. I have an old Pll that serves me well but doesn't have enough room and the firewire solution has worked great.
Don

Rob Lohman · February 27th, 2003, 06:22 PM

Great to hear, and yes, you are welcome to post "this went well"
stories! People even learn from these!!

Thanks.

Christopher Go · February 27th, 2003, 08:44 PM

Good to hear, I always wondered about those devices and now I won't be so hesitant to check them out. Thank you.

Don Bloom · February 27th, 2003, 09:50 PM

Just make sure that it's a 7200rpm drive. The 5400 will work, but the 7200 works better.

February 26th, 2003, 05:51 PM	#1
David Hurdon Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 484	Hardware Heaven-firewire HD install I know, it's not a place one visits regularly, but I went there today. I've been editing a piece from nearly four hours of tape, and hoped I could manage my 60 GB video drive to do the job, likely to be about two hours. It became obvious that I couldn't without painful workarounds so I thought I'd put another internal drive in (to make 3). When I realized I had no open bay for it I started thinking firewire external. At noon I bought a LaCie 120 GB firewire drive. Then I had lunch and a nap. Believe it or not the subsequent installation was flawless, the format to NTFS likewise. To cap it off I found I could use the second input on the back of the drive to bring up my firewire network, which I've been accessing through my Audigy Platinum sound card break-out box, now plugged to the LaCie. I can't recall the last time any install went so perfectly. After the install I ran the Canopus raptest.exe to check the read/write speed of the external drive. It was faster both ways than my Maxtor Diamond Plus 7200 rpm internal video drive which has served me perfectly for almost a year. I dumped 30 GB from it to the new drive in no time at all and now have all the room I need to carry on without having to move the project from its happy home. I realize one should wait for a question before giving an answer but sometimes it's helpful to hear that what you wonder about actually works. Or maybe I just want to spread the joy. By the way I'm running WIN2K SP2 on a P4-1.8. __________________ Site:http://www.faceliftmarketing.ca Blog:http://www.websitevideo.blogspot.com

February 27th, 2003, 06:22 PM	#3
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Great to hear, and yes, you are welcome to post "this went well" stories! People even learn from these!! Thanks. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 26th, 2003, 06:17 PM	#2
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Ain't firewire great!?!? I have 2 on my system a 40 Acom and an 80 Maxtor and I love 'em. I can switch them over to my laptop also. I have an old Pll that serves me well but doesn't have enough room and the firewire solution has worked great. Don

February 27th, 2003, 08:44 PM	#4
Christopher Go Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 429	Good to hear, I always wondered about those devices and now I won't be so hesitant to check them out. Thank you.

February 27th, 2003, 09:50 PM	#5
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Just make sure that it's a 7200rpm drive. The 5400 will work, but the 7200 works better.