GoFlex, GoFlex Desk, GoFlex Pro, GoFlex Slim, & GoFlex Turbo

[luke d.]

"...this is a common issue with all drive when used with a Mac--hence the reason Apple has a page addressing this very issue... This is just a short coming of the Mac OS."

Way to pass the buck, Seagate.  I've got four external drives and yours is the only one with this problem.  I don't think Apple is to blame here.

[colorwave]

Yes, if it affected all or most drives I would easily buy into this argument.  The fact that it is only one model of drive that is having problems seems to point the blame towards Seagate and not Apple.  If there was some sort of workaround required on the part of Seagate to deal with a shortcoming of the OS, why is it not possible to do the same with this particular drive?  Something does not add up.

[Paulster]

I just got one of these 2Tb drives last night and immediately thought it was strange that I kept getting the eject disk properly message every few minutes, but I was doing something else and didn't notice that the drive was disconnecting itself.

I have a 17" Macbook Pro with OSX 10.6.5 or 10.6.6 what ever is the most current as it was just updated a week or so ago. I currently have 6 Seagate external drives connected to this laptop. YES 6! Two via the USB ports, one via Firewire, and the other three via a USB hub. The only drive that has ever given me an issue is this new one which I tried connecting by USB and Firewire with the same result.

I'm sorry Seagate support, but your answer that this is a Mac OSX issue is B.S. This is directly related to either the firmware or jumper settings on these drives. I have 5 other external Seagate drives running on the same machine and none of these have ever displayed this issue.

Please review the firmware and release an update ASAP.

The other issue with this whole thing is why would they program the drive to sleep if it is in the middle of a read/write task? Duh! Obviously this isn't a OSX issue, because my screen saver doesn't kick in while I'm in the middle of typing an email, or watching a movie, etc.

[interestica]

I'm having the exact same issue with a 3GB GoFlex drive on Mac OSX.

The drive used to work without issue on my MacPro (10.6.5)....but has recently been dropping out, and I'd have to reconnect it.  Now, it drops out shortly after reconnecting.

I've connected the same drive to my MacBook Pro (10.6.6) and it's working fine right now.....

So, it may be worth an update for some to see if it makes a difference....  (Though, i was resistant...I'm not a fan of this App Store stuff)

I really want to like these drives...but Seagate, you're making it quite difficult.

[corrupteddata]

I've given up on this drive with my Mac. Even with the Seagate diagnostics "patch", it doesn't seem to work right. The drive spins up about every two minutes with a slight popping noise. I've also noticed my mac now hangs briefly about every two minutes (awesome when watching videos). I don't know if they are related but I'm running out of time to return the drive and support is worthless.

I found a WD Elements 2TB drive for $86 on Amazon and it has good reviews with Mac and Time Machine. I just ordered it and hopefully this will be the end of it.

So I'm now wiping the Seagate drive and wondering how to uninstall all the crud that was suggested by support. I believe I only got the Seagate Diagnostics to install. How does one uninstall it? Just drag the app to trash? Will that remove the other crud that runs in the background?

Thanks.

[nsomnac]

I got this drive initiallly thinking I could be a bit 'future proof' by getting the USB 3.0 version of this drive. However I was having this same problem. I'd connect the drive to my MacBook and after about 3 hours; even with Time Machine disabled; it would freeze Finder until I forcefully ejected the drive by just unplugging from the USB port. If you go look at Console - it's has all sorts of connection timeout errors on the drive. I've tried ALL the solutions on this thread. None work.

I DID however find the solution - which leads me to believe the problem is either a poor implementation of the USB 3.0 downgrade to USB 2.0 spec or Apple's USB 2.0 implementation getting confused by this adapter.  I found on another forum - with a different Seagate drive, a similar problem, and the solution was to replace the drive adapter with the USB 2 version.

So I took a chance and purchased the FreeAgent® GoFlex™ Desk Desktop Adapter — FireWire® 800/USB 2.0 STAE105.  I got mine for about $25 from Amazon. After I ordered it, I saw them in my local Staples for about $15.

After swapping the USB 3.0 adapter for the USB 2.0/FW 800 adapter - this drive is rock solid.  You don't need the stinking sleep software or anything.  It just works perfect.  So my advice - if you have a Mac - stick to the USB 2.0/Firewire version or get the adapter as an accessory and hang on to the USB one until there's actually a USB 3.0 adapter on a Mac.

As I don't have any other USB 3.0 devices, I can't really confirm if this is a problem is really with the Apple end or the Seagate end. Maybe someone else on the forum who has a different USB 3.0 drive can confirm operability.

[derektom]

I have purchased 6 Seagate GoFlex drives (some for work and some for personal use). 4 of them are 2TB and 2 are 3TB. I have 2 of the FW800/USB2 adapaters. On at least one of the 2TB GoFlex drives WITH the FW800/USB2 adapter and using the FW800 interace, I am having the EXACT same problem as 'corrupteddata' describes above. Every 2 minutes or so, the drive will spin down and unmount and I get the Mac OS X warning. Last night I had the 2TB and 3TB GoFlex drives both connected on the FW800 bus to my iMac 27". I was doing a backup to the 3TB drive using Chronosync. Every 2 minutes I was getting the Mac OS X warnings when the 2TB drive kept unmounting itself, all the while the backup continued to the 3TB drive on the same FW800 bus.

There is obviously a problem with the firmware of some of the Seagate GoFlex drives.

If this were a Mac OS X issue we would see this problem with ALL drive models from ALL drive makers. But we don't. Some Seagate GoFlex drives don't have this problem at all.

Can Seagate come out with a solid and definitive fix for this?

[AlanM]

Have you set it to Never sleep?

Use this - Seagate Diagnostics (3MB)

Download it, install it, set the sleep period.

[colorwave]

Alan-

Unless I'm blind, there is no sleep setting capability with the Mac version of the Seagate Diagnostic software you just mentioned.  It only tests the drive and allows you to turn of the lights.  Perhaps you are confusing it with the PC version?

What I was recommended earlier is the Seagate Sleep Override Utility for Mac, which did nothing for my problem, just like the Apple software designed to keep drives spinning (a terrible workaround, even if it worked, which it doesn't, in this case).

I still think it is a firmware/driver problem with these drives that Seagate is not acknowledging.

[AlanM]

colorwave,

Sorry about that, yes, I think you're right.

Tell you what - please try this one on the PC and take it back to the Mac to see if that helps.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=drive-settings&vgnextoid=d548712f10e5e210Vgn...