[iCode]

Hi, I've got a problem with an external drive (IcyBox IB-350UE USB/FW enclosure and a Seagate 7200.8 200 GB drive) I got a couple of weeks ago. I'm running an iBook with OS X 10.4.2.

The problem is that if the computer has gone sleeping, when I wake it and try to access the external drive, it spins up, but then Finder freezes totally, I can't even force it to restart, and the only way to get out of it is to disconnect the drive. Finder then announces that the drive wasn't properly disconnected.

Even though Finder freezes, other apps work as usual (except if I tried to open a file on the external drive with some application, that app would freeze, too).

I've tried to disallow sleeping of hard drives from System Preferences, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Does anyone have a solution for this, please?

[FFL]

a few details might help

are you connecting with USB or FW?

what is the format of the drive?

I'm betting it's FAT-32. If so, reformat it as HFS+ using Disk Utility.

[iCode]

Originally Posted by FFL a few details might help are you connecting with USB or FW? what is the format of the drive? I'm betting it's FAT-32. If so, reformat it as HFS+ using Disk Utility.

I'm connecting it with FW, and it's formatted as HFS+.

[NaplesX]

Fix permissions on your machine. This will cure any number of woes.

This may have to do with indexing and Spotlight. So go to http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macg...less/index.php this utility will disable indexing on specific drives.

Incidentally, turning off indexing and Spotlight will speed up most computers running 10.4.

[iCode]

Okay, I think the problem was in the enclosure's firewire controller, after a firmware update it seems to work properly.