lakelover Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 According to Iomega docs, their external drive is not compatible with Linux (or perhaps it is their software). I see others using the Iomega external HD with Linux. Iomega docs also advise against partitioning the drive. Does anybody have advice on how I might be able to use the Iomega for back-ups and a recommendation for a good Linux back up program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Would you post a link to their doc's for reveiw? Basically, I have found that almost all of the hardware I have ever used has not been listed as "compatiple with linux"an dit all works just fine. (excluding winmodems) Microsoft is the industry giant and frowns upon anyone making a big deal out of any other os. For sure, the omega software is for ms windows only, but if it is a standard usb device, then of course it will work with linux. As far as partitioning, perhaps omega still installs a folder with windows stuff on the drive for ease of use in windows. Partitioning would destroy that data. So check it out. Make a copy of it and put it back after partitioning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakelover Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 The docs I refer to are on the installation CD. Here's what it says about partitioning: Partitioning Iomega does not recommend or support multiple partitioning of Iomega HD external hard drives. I couldn't fine the reference I thought I had read about Linux incompatibility. However, I talked with their support and was told that, yes, Iomega external, USB, hard drive can be used with Linux but that their software does not support it. I asked if I could partition the drive so that I can backup WinXP on one partition and Linux on the other. Again, he said yes. He asked it Mandrake supported NTFS, and if so, then both windows and linux could be backed up in different folders. So, what's the best way to manage the Iomega HD, to that I can back up both WinXP and Mandriva? By the way, Iomega has the best support service I've encountered. They have a "live chat" service 24hr/day, 7 days/week. I've used it a few times and it's excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 I would not back up both onto an ntfs partition. I would use ntfs for windows and ext3 for linux. So, I would recommend at least 2 partitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakelover Posted May 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 (edited) Okay, I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes. One more thing: What's the best/good Linux backup program? I just partitioned the Iomega and found the backup program in the MCC, and everything works fine. Thanks for your help. Edited May 30, 2005 by lakelover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 If its just an external USB2 or Firewire drive than i can guarantee you 99.99% that it will work. you'd probably be able to partition it fine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 I can guarantee you it will work, especially if you have a 2.6 kernel. I work quite closely with Iomega - they are quite commited to making sure their stuff works on Mac and Linux. I've tested almost all their storage products on Linux and they're all worked (even Rev) - but for some you must have a 2.6 kernel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jza Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I got a problem related to the management of USB more than the use of my iomega drive. Issue comes when I am working with a iomega drive and I un-plug the usb. When I come back and plug it back, it detect it as sdb instead of sda and it doesnt mount it. a) Is there 'safe way' to unplug and plug bag usb devices without making it change direction. B) In case something similar happen how can I manage the usb so it will go back to sda and restart the cycle. PD: My solution was to restart linux and it worked fine after that but... eww... restart :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellis Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 Issue comes when I am working with a iomega drive and I un-plug the usb. When I come back and plug it back, it detect it as sdb instead of sda and it doesnt mount it. I had a similar problem with my USB key, and it was because I was not unmounting it correctly before removing it. Perhaps this is the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jza Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I had a similar problem with my USB key, and it was because I was not unmounting it correctly before removing it. Perhaps this is the same? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, my question is if once you have this problem is it possible to correct this without the need of restarting. Can I re-start the deamon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solarian Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 Do you mean restart the usb-storage daemon? You can, just type this as root: rmmod usb-storage But I think you'll then need to replug the usb device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 I got a problem related to the management of USB more than the use of my iomega drive. Issue comes when I am working with a iomega drive and I un-plug the usb. When I come back and plug it back, it detect it as sdb instead of sda and it doesnt mount it. a) Is there 'safe way' to unplug and plug bag usb devices without making it change direction. B) In case something similar happen how can I manage the usb so it will go back to sda and restart the cycle. PD: My solution was to restart linux and it worked fine after that but... eww... restart :o <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In most cases, all you will have to do is add an entry for the drive to your fstab (/etc/fstab). Once this is done, Linux will usually reference the drive to the right place. In the current age of udev and the like these occurences are rare though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpatrick Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 Like SoulSe said, with the current 2.6 kernels, udev and HAL, this problem is pretty much solved. LE2005 was the first mandriva distro to use HAL and was a huge improvement over mdk10.1 for automounting and autodetecting usb storage devices being connected and disconnected. For anyone having problems with usb storage devices, I recommend an upgrade to LE2005. Re partitioning an external usb hard drive, I would be careful with that. I tried doing that in mandrake 10.0 with a maxtor usb drive and it totally screwed up the partition table. I had to use Acronis Partition Expert in windows to straighten the thing out after harddrake got done with it and it wasn't pretty. Others have had no problems at all but I haven't used harddrake on the thing since. If you have some windows partitioning tools like acronis or partition magic, you might want to use them in windows to repartition the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steppenwolf1984 Posted July 14, 2005 Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 According to Iomega docs, their external drive is not compatible with Linux (or perhaps it is their software). I see others using the Iomega external HD with Linux. Iomega docs also advise against partitioning the drive. Does anybody have advice on how I might be able to use the Iomega for back-ups and a recommendation for a good Linux back up program? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I spent a few months USB free cause I read an errata page that said my via chipset and linux and usb were no goes. Playing with options like Force nopcia, and renaming my usb iomega burner to sr0, suddenly opened up a world of usb fuctionality for cdburner , flash memory , you name it. All I remember is mucking around with Draktools for hardware and boot options when it happened. Wish I took notes, but Ive been able to get them up and running on subsequent installs...usually tied to remaming the usb iomega cdrw... chalk one up for trial and error and obssessive mucking about. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jza Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Like SoulSe said, with the current 2.6 kernels, udev and HAL, this problem is pretty much solved. LE2005 was the first mandriva distro to use HAL and was a huge improvement over mdk10.1 for automounting and autodetecting usb storage devices being connected and disconnected. For anyone having problems with usb storage devices, I recommend an upgrade to LE2005. I just upgrade to LE2005 but I am not sure if my upgrade was complete since I read on the boot messages the line: using udev instead of devfs!!!!! At the same time I dont see any messages regarding to HAL even thought I have libhal rpms. How do I configure LE to use HAL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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