OT: G-Drive Raid doesn't show up any more

I had a G Drive a while back that suddenly stopped showing up on the desktop.
I returned it and got a G Raid. It worked fine for 4 days and tonight it decided to not show up as well.
It shows in Disk Utility but i can't Verify or Repair. I get this message: Filesystem verify or repair failed.

Am I doing something wrong when I unmount my drives?
I usually Quit FCP and click the eject button....

ANy suggestions?
Any similar issues with G Tech brand?
Should I get another type of drive?

Thanks

G-Tech drives have been considered less than ideal for a while now, but four days is pretty pathetic. My last G-Raid had some issues two days after initial purchase, but after doing a format, Disk Utility repair and DiskWarrior rebuild on it, it hasn't had a problem. I have four other G-Raids that have had zero issues. It doesn't mean you couldn't have received a lemon, but it does make me suspect something wrong with your setup.

By virtue of being a RAID0, of course, those drives are always going to have a substantially higher risk factor.


www.derekmok.com

That's what I suspect too....
Two drives that last 4 days each!!!!

I've had issues I believe with the port on my MBP... The drives sometimes don't show as if the port was bad... But could this "kill" 2 drives?!

So Derek how do you save your work? Meaning I am now very paranoid. Do you back up everything on a 2nd and 3rd drive?

> I've had issues I believe with the port on my MBP... The drives sometimes
> don't show as if the port was bad... But could this "kill" 2 drives?!

Oh yeah. I haven't seen it for a while, but in my earliest days of using FireWire drives, one device affected all the others. At our film school, we had Sony DSR-20 decks with auto-power-off functions that couldn't be disabled, and whenever they turned off, they'd fry any and all FireWire 400 drives that were connected at the same time. That was fixable by DiskWarrior, but it also taught me that it's all for one, one for all on a FireWire bus.

> So Derek how do you save your work? Meaning I am now very paranoid. Do
> you back up everything on a 2nd and 3rd drive?

I do it the old-fashioned way. When I have timecoded tapes, and not too many of them, I batch-captured everything. I do project-file backups every two to three hours. Anything shorter than that, Autosave would cover.

With too much media, or now in the tapeless age, I backup camera masters and converted clips to three copies including the active copy. In terms of file management, my projects tend to be narrative-type -- as in, one big batch of footage comes in and that's it for the next few months. In that scenario, backups are enough. The only things that get changed daily in my projects tend to be the project file and movie files (which are easily re-created with project files intact), so I can use RAID0s and JBODs with impunity. My OCD backup routine covers me.

If you work the kind of project where large files are captured, imported, renewed or produced all the time (eg. documentary, reality, FX and graphics), you need a RAID5 setup with redundancy, plus regular backups to separate non-active drives. Losing just 20 minutes of work in those scenarios can be crippling. Storage space is so cheap these days that there's no good reason not to. And Murphy's Law applies -- when you're ready for meltdowns, they won't happen. But when you're not, they'll come.


www.derekmok.com

First...contact the G-Raid company Support (don't even know who owns them anymore), get that mounted, get your stuff off of there, get them to replace it because there's obviously something wrong with it, then when you get the replacement, post it on ebay as NEW and get rid of it. "G-Raids are less than ideal" is an understatement. They stink.

I don't see much tape anymore. My work files are given to me from a Ki Pro via FW800. I personally use a CalDigit VR (RAID 1) for a work drive and back everything up to a NewerTech Guardian Maximus. Looking at buying an LTO 5 Tape Backup system for that final layer of protection. Doing more research.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

derekmok Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> [...] so I
> can use RAID0s and JBODs with impunity.
>

JBODs?....

> you need a RAID5 setup with redundancy,
>

is this really cheap?


> Storage space is so cheap these days
>

grafixjoe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I personally
> use a CalDigit VR (RAID 1) for a work drive and
> back everything up to a NewerTech Guardian
> Maximus. Looking at buying an LTO 5 Tape Backup
> system for that final layer of protection. Doing
> more research.


Thx!

So I took my drive to work today.
At first it behaved like it did on my MBP last night: not showing on the desktop. Visible in Disk Utility but the Verify and Repair buttons were greyed out.
Then I clicked Eject from the same Disk Uitlity window and nothing seemed to happen until a minute or so later the drive showed up on the desktop.
Needless to say that it was like seeing a new born popping out so I jumped on my other drive and backed up the media.

Now I wonder if using the drives with a MBP could be an issue?....

Derek and Grafixjoe, do you think it's ok to post as new topic to see if others experienced this issue?

actually this is a known problem
[forums.creativecow.net]

Nope...never an issue on my 17" Macbook Pro with / CalDigit VR. It shows up every time...period. The only drive units I have ever had problems with mounting were G-RAIDs and LaCie D2s...and they are out of my life forever

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Alright I need to check out the price on these CalDigit VR.
Can't live with that pressure of "is it going to mount or is it not?"

Thx

This is what I have:

[www.bhphotovideo.com]

$100.00 off right now!! You can swap sleds for larger drive units. VERY DEPENDABLE FOR ME.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

This is nice.
Also came across this Caldigit VR mini, 1TB plus free 500Gb drive and free case for $279....
[www.caldigit.com]

Got to take drive issues with a grain of salt. I use G-Tech and have for years with no issues. Same with lots of people. If and when there is an issue with a drive, and there usually will be with ALL drives no matter what brand, a call to support will often solve it. If support does not come through then THATS an issue. Not the drive.

Michael Horton
-------------------

Sorry Mike...beg to differ. G-Tech was on point with Customer Service. My unit kept failing / would not mount. They had to send a new unit...that again failed a few months later. There is no "3 strike rule" in my book when it comes to drives - I don't have the bandwidth for that. Sure all drives will fail eventually...it getting the ones that fail LESS FREQUENTLY that I recommend.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I've always been a big G-Tech fan until I purchased the G-Raid mini. So happy to have this great little drive I could put into my backpack and take on the road to edit. Worked great for 3 months and now it's failing regularly and losing footage, backed-up of course but still a pain. Perfect timing with a week long mobile gig coming up. I'm going to have to grab a CalDigit VR mini for this one. Anybody have experience with the VR Mini's?

Nope. I don't use bus powered drives for anything except transporting files.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I believe the min's come with a power supply too. You can definitely get more bang for the buck on the VR's but I'm really liking the size of the VR mini.

A lot of bus powered drives come with power supplies. It's the size that worries me. There is not a lot of air flow through the cabinet on those tiny drives and heat = death for hard drives. I'll stick to the VRs...for now (SSD RAIDs are interesting me lately...).

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Yep SSD RAID sounds good to me! Have you seen the VR next to a VR Mini? Is there much difference in size? Really the small size is what is drawing me towards the purchase but if there really isn't much of a difference I could see going towards the VR. Gotta make the buy Monday for this gig starting next Sunday.