Ryan Nielsen wrote:
I would like to use a couple of 250GB Western Digitals to backup
data. I set up a Debian machine (I have 4 others for other
purposes), to use as a backup server. I am having difficulties with
the drives. I tried two Maxtors previous and have swapped them out
thinking it was a bad set of drives. I get various different errors
copying files to these hard drives. I have tried different
partitioning schemes, rsync instead of cp, and a few other methods,
but I still get some form of error when I get into the process of
copying.
My only success has been with Knoppix. I used Knoppix and was able
to copy and rsync just fine to these disks. I would like to use
Debian, and not have to install another version of Debian or Linux.
What I am getting at is, is there any problem with having a big
partition or HD on a Debian system, or anything else someone might
know? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You didn't say what hardware you are running on.
I hate WD drives because there are (ignoring CS) three configuration
settings you _will_ want.
a. Drive is master, no slave
b. Drive is master, slave present
c. Drive is slave.
It will not work (on many systems) if you have it configured as a.
when there's a slave present. It will not work (on many systems) if
you have it configured as b. when there is no slave. There is info
about this on WD's website.
I will confess I've not tried c. with no master.
Some time ago I had a 120 Gbyte WD that I discovered was LBA48. My
Athlon system (1.4 Ghz CPU) needed a BIOS upgrade to support this
drive. I don't recall trying it on an older system: I don't think I'd
bother plugging in a 250 Gb drive in an older system.
What does work for me is an external USB enclosure. They are
hot-pluggable and so ideal for backup devices. They're outside the
case and so don't contribute to case-warming. They have an external
power supply and so don't add to the drain on the system's ps.
btw I have a USB2 enclosure with a 40 Gbyte laptop drive in it. Two of
them fit comfortably in my shirt pocket. Very handy for a portable
Debian mirror. Should be good for installing off too.