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

[bermtl]

Hi all,

I've had the usb 3.0 drive for about a month and had the same freezing problem. I first tried to download and install the latest firware but the drive was still freezing from time to time. Then I purchased a usb2/firewire800 base (about 10 days ago) and since then the drive functions as it is supposed to.

Just so you know : I have a 2009 macbook pro 13' and the drive is plugged in with the firewire cable.

Anyway, it is my last purchase EVER of a seagate product, and I'll pass the word among my friends ! 

[AlanM]

Well, the thing is, USB 3.0 and Macs don't get along all that well. It's not just Seagate drives, it's the entire interface.

[MKBulldog]

I just bought a GoFlex Desk last week to act as my Time Machine and I had the same problem, but my computer hung up on the blue screen and would not boot with the drive plugged in.  Unplug the drive and the computer would boot.  I drug the software that came with the drive to the trash as Seagate recommended and reformatted the drive with Disk Utilities and the computer would boot and the hard drive would register and read/write and work with Time Machine but would never sleep and would never spin down.  Seagate had said all I needed to do was drag the application to the trash, but finally I went on a hunt and through the preferences folder, application support folder, etc in the Library and found all Seagate files I could and trashed them and now the disk does sleep when the computer sleeps and does seem to working with Time Machine.  The only odd thing left is that even though it sleeps when the computer sleeps, when I turn the computer off, the drive spins back up and spin continuously.  When I get to my office the next morning and go to turn the computer on, the drive is still spinning.  Don't what to do about that.  Seems to make the energy savings my university wants be recommending everyone turn off their computer at the end of the day somewhat moot.  Anybody have that problem of spinning back up after turning the computer off?  And if so, did you find a solution?  BTW my GoFlex Desk came with the USB3 with a USB3 to USB2 cable.  I see in some of these posts that switching to a Firewire base helped.  Can any of you that have done so comment on whether it helped with the remaining problem I have.  I do agree it has been a frustrating endeavor getting this to work.  I have a little Toshiba portable HD that worked straight away.  Kind of wished I had just gotten another, just thought a desktop HD might be more reliable for my back up. 

[nicspa]

@Alan, if this is a known issue, and the box for this drive clearly states for PC and MAC, then the Firewire800/USB 2.0 Desktop Adapter should also be included in the box.

I can't speak for others, but I was definitely annoyed that I had to purchase an extra Seagate item just to make the drive work with my MAC.

[dreamvx]

I finally bought the Fireware800/USB2.0 adapter today. I hope it works and I will update you all later.

I still feel being scammed! Sorry but no more Seagate product for me in the future.

[jnberger]

Hey everyone, I just thought I'd add my two bits as I had a similar problem that I have resolved. I have a 2 month old 2tb goflex drive that worked fine on my mac. Suddenly it stopped appearing. So I opened up diskutility and the drive showed up but couldn't be mounted (it was grayed out). Anyhow I tried to repair the drive and it said it was successfully repaired but it still wouldn't mount. The error was "invalid content in journal". So I did a little googling and found this cnet article http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10329628-263.html 

That fixed my problem and now my drive is working fine again (for now...) Good luck! Oh and I know lots of people are griping about seagate, I don't really have much of a problem with the company, but geez does it have to be such a pain to set up a user name? I'm just trying to help the children!

[dreamvx]

Update: After using the Fireware800/USB2.0 adapter for about two days, the problems seem to be gone. Thanks those who found this solution and shared with us, although I would think that Seagate should be the one who admits the problem and recalls the USB3.0 adapter for pure Mac users.

Anyway, I think it just lost another customer forever.

[driveit]

False AlanM,

'... well the thing is...'  your company's product is falsely labeled.  Your packaging indicates it works with Macs, which it does not when it is powered by the provided USB 3.0 dock/adaptor.  

At a minimum, your company could provide correct product information.  As it stands, many customers now have to purchase another power adaptor, which they mistakenly assumed they were getting when they made the first buy.

Others who haven't had the patience to dig through this ridiculous thread of email will simply write it off as a loss and never buy a Seagate drive again.

If Seagate is interested in keeping customers, they might consider exchanging the USB 3.0 dock for a 2.0/Firewire dock.

Regardless this has been a tremendous waste of time for hundreds if not thousands of us.  You too I imagine.  Think about working for another company that displays a touch of integrity.

[MKBulldog]

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Well, the thing is, USB 3.0 and Macs don't get along all that well. It's not just Seagate drives, it's the entire interface.

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If that is true, I wish the packaging info would have reflected that.  Being a veterinarian and not a computer person who keeps up with the computer literature, I saw a trusted name that said their product worked with a Mac and purchased it.  

As it turns out, most of my problems were with the accompanying software.  Having deleted all of the software including all the little things it squirreled away in the library and system, my iMac now boots fine, the drive is working with the USB3 base and the USB3 to USB2 cord except that it won't spin down when I turn off the computer.  It spins down and goes to sleep when the computer goes to sleep, TimeMachine seems to be accessing it and backing up as scheduled, but when I turn the computer off, the drive will spin all night long unless I unplug the power cord.  Then I have to remember to plug it back in, which I frequently forget to do since it is my backup drive for TimeMachine for insurance in case of disaster.  I don't actually access anything on the drive unless I am looking through TimeMachine for something, which is almost never, hence I rarely note whether it is functioning or not until disaster happens.  Does anyone have a solution for not spinning down when the computer is turned off?  Does the firewire base allow the drive to spin down when the computer is shut off?

[dreamvx]

@MKBulldog, I have been using the Firewire base and the drive span down automatically when the computer was shut down or went to sleep.