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

[fernwooddad]

I'm only posting this because I have wasted many hours trying to copy large files to Goflex drives (a 3tb and a 4tb) with all kinds of problems. You may want to look in the apple forums for more info on this.  I bought the Goflex 3tb and 4tb labled as Mac & PC compatible (USB 3.0, 2.0 compatible) and the problem is the Seagate Mac USB drivers. 

The fix is to delete the Seagate driver (which is a "kernel" file - use "find file' - google it - or a similar program to find the driver in your system) and let Mac recognize the drive using it's own USB drivers.  Or better yet, ignore the "mac install" file on the drive when you first hook it up and use Mac's disk utility to reformat to Mac OS Jounraled thus bypassing the Seagate driver issue.  Either that or get the firewire/USB 2.0 adaptor (about $45).  Apparently the firewire driver works, the problem is with the USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 compatibility on a Mac that is USB 2.0 only.  The Seagate driver forces the drive to sleep at the wrong time and will not wake.  I've tried to copy lage files and sometimes I can copy 50gb without problem, other times it will stall immediately (the status window is still up, but no files are moving), and I can't stop it, or shutdown.  Have to do a forced shutdown manually.  They will tell you that they fixed this but that is incorrect. 

Poor job on Seagate's part in not developing compatible drivers!

[Adsy]

I have just found this fix, and have noted that no one from Seagate has responded. Seagate, this is something you need to fix as soon as possible or at least include in your documentation.  I have a FreeAgent GoFlex Desk STAC2000303 and this fix worked perfectly. 

1. Download Find Any File
2. Search "Seagate" and delete all files found
3. Empty Trash
4. Eject Drive and unplug USB
5. Reboot Mac
6. Plug USB back in

You wont have the indicator lights at the bottom of the drive indicating capacity anylonger, but everything should work now.

Seagate.. please fix this.

[AskTheLeaf]

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fernwooddad wrote:

I'm only posting this because I have wasted many hours trying to copy large files to Goflex drives (a 3tb and a 4tb) with all kinds of problems. You may want to look in the apple forums for more info on this.  I bought the Goflex 3tb and 4tb labled as Mac & PC compatible (USB 3.0, 2.0 compatible) and the problem is the Seagate Mac USB drivers. 

The fix is to delete the Seagate driver (which is a "kernel" file - use "find file' - google it - or a similar program to find the driver in your system) and let Mac recognize the drive using it's own USB drivers.  Or better yet, ignore the "mac install" file on the drive when you first hook it up and use Mac's disk utility to reformat to Mac OS Jounraled thus bypassing the Seagate driver issue.  Either that or get the firewire/USB 2.0 adaptor (about $45).  Apparently the firewire driver works, the problem is with the USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 compatibility on a Mac that is USB 2.0 only.  The Seagate driver forces the drive to sleep at the wrong time and will not wake.  I've tried to copy lage files and sometimes I can copy 50gb without problem, other times it will stall immediately (the status window is still up, but no files are moving), and I can't stop it, or shutdown.  Have to do a forced shutdown manually.  They will tell you that they fixed this but that is incorrect. 

Poor job on Seagate's part in not developing compatible drivers!

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We have released a software update that contains an updated driver and addresses the sleep issues for the GoFlex drives on Mac OS. Please download and install it from here:

http://www.seagate.com/support/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/goflex-pro-for-mac/goflex-m...

Let us know if you need further help.

[Adsy]

The update has fixed the sleep problem mostly... but ..Still having issues in that Finder crashes, iMac has to be hard reset as it doesn't respond sometimes. The power light on the drive is off, but the capacity indicator light is on. I have to eject the drive, unplug the USB and then plug it back in again for both the power and capacity indicator lights to function. iMac is a 21.5 inch Mid 2011,  2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 (11D50b) So the fix is better.. but still unstable and unpredictable. Seagate?

[ellfire]

Hello.  For some time I have had the issue that, whenever my Mac sleeps, I get the message that my GoFlex desk drive was not properly ejected.  I saw this with both the FW 800 adapter and the stock USB 2.0 adapter.  Originally, I did not have he Seagate software installed.  I installed the newest version that you linked to and am still getting this error message.  If this cannot be solved shortly, I'm afraid I will need to return to Western Digital external drives.  Please help!

[fernwooddad]

Nope, your update does not work.  After installation (last night 4/11/12) I let the system sit for a while and checked before bed.  Everything was sleeping nicely.  When I got up the next day I woke up my mac and both drives were not accessible.  Time machine failed and neither drive could be opened (woken up) - it locked up my system forcing a hard restart.  This is a joke!  Doesn't anyone at Seagate own a Mac where they can see that these drives are incompatible!

I'll save you a little time - I have an older "Seagate for Mac" with the firewire dock.  When using one of these drives with the firewire dock it works flawlessly.  THE PROBLEM IS WITH YOUR USB 3.0 DOCK.

Lastly, please don'tr direct me to your updated diagnostics link or macinstaller.  I've spent 2 month getting the same poor advice from you.  I've used all the latest updated ones.  It just doesn't work

[tdplant]

Adsy -

Thanks so so much! I can't tell you how many hours I have wasted, and I wish I had seen this before I returned my 3TB to Costco yesterday. This seems to be the solution. Seagate, please spare your Mac users headaches by making these drives Mac compatible out of the box.

[tdplant]

Thanks, but this fix didn't work for me. I took Adsy's advice and deleted the Seagate files. Working like a charm so far.

[penman]

Hi all,

It really is time Seagate stepped in and fixed this problem.  At the moment, the GoFlex Desk drives are NOT Mac compatible.  The link to a possible fix, which appears earlier in this thread is not working either.

I started to delete the files as advised in an earlier posting, but due to the number of files involved and their locations, I gave up after deleting just the following:

com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore.pkg.bom

com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore.pkg.plist

Seagate Storage Driver.kext

The good news is that this has solved the problem, I didn't even need to restart the computer.  The capacity indicator lights now don't work and although that isn't satisfactory, I can at least do backups.  I suspect it is only necessary to delete the last one of those 3 files - maybe someone can try that and confirm.

The drive has now been working fine for 2 days.  I have successfully backed up the computer (MacBook Pro) using Time Machine and copied large volumes of files to the drive using Finder.  Previously, the drive never lasted longer than about an hour before freezing, and I never managed to complete a backup, even in several tries.

SEAGATE - please respond to this posting and let us know when a fix will be available.  Also, would it be possible for you to release a notice to your dealers, telling them that these drives are not currently Mac compatible.  This will avoid customers wasting their time and money and will save you having to deal with the resulting complaints.  I can't tell you how much time and frustration this has cost me.  It is also annoying that your support people don't seem to be aware of the problem.  I was told to return the drive, which I did and was provided with a new one.  Needless to say, this one has the same fault.  I believe (as stated above) that the problem lies with the Seagate USB 2/3 driver, there is no problem with the actual drive hardware.

Kind regards to all.

[MandiP]

The "find a file" program was awesome! After spending all day deleting everything that was created on my Mac during the exact time that I knew I installed the hard drive, I can finally see the hard drive on it again!  Way to go fellow Mac'ers!