Hi Joe What are the signs of imminent demise? Whether good advice or not I read somewhere that having HD spin down when idle (energy savings settings) was not good for drives. On a Powerbook this may be offset by drawing less power and extending battery operating time but otherwise it involves spinning up and down frequently. I also found that I would have delays while the disk spun up again. So I turned that option off.
Firewire can be flaky in some respects and drives that no longer mount can be perfectly OK - but the firewire bus needs resetting. Turn off mac and disconnect from power socket for 5-10m - whilst also disconnecting FW device. Have also read that resetting pram and nv ram can help in this respect. I would go for firewire drive again though because one can boot from it (on pre Intel Macs) But if the drives are dead can you not fit another in the enclosure? This would be cheaper than a new unit. Not having running when not needed - well that sounds like a way to longer life. ;-) Moving them when running seems like a gamble. May be better to plug brick in and then power to drive - (simply guessing here). all the best Brian -- Mac UK is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Mac UK list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/mac-uk.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:mac-uk@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-uk%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
