I just got this drive and was hoping to use it cross platform i.e mac OS X & linux (debian 4.0 & sabayon 3.4-both 64bit). I formatted the drive ext3 the drive mounts through the usb ok:

usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 1-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
scsi6 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 3
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
input: Western Digital External HDD as /class/input/input4
input: USB HID v1.11 Device [Western Digital External HDD] on usb-0000:00:02.1-5 Vendor: WD Model: 3200AAJS Externa Rev: 107a
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 04
SCSI device sdb: 625142448 512-byte hdwr sectors (320073 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 11 00 00 00
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sdb: 625142448 512-byte hdwr sectors (320073 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 11 00 00 00
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
sdb: sdb1
sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sdb
usb-storage: device scan complete
kjournald starting. Commit interval 5 seconds
EXT3 FS on sdb1, internal journal
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.

When I try using the firewire connection though nothing happens-no automounting and dmesg gives this:

ieee1394: Node changed: 0-01:1023 -> 0-00:1023
ieee1394: Node suspended: ID:BUS[0-00:1023] UID[00d04b411507034f] usb 1-5: USB disconnect, address

I'm not sure why 1394 isn't working I have a portable lacie firewire drive (formatted hfs+) that does automount ro.

Any ideas appreciated.

I'd also like to know if it's normal to lose 20GB from formatting the drive. It was a 320GB drive and after formatting it's now 298GB. Is there a better fs for this external drive? Thanks!

I'm not too sure about your firewire problem. Strange. Does it work on any OS at all, or does a particular one give you trouble?

Yes, it's normal for a hard drive to have less space than it advertises. Basically, there's something like 10% of the disk that is unusable. So if you bought a 100 GB hard drive, you'd only get about 90 GB of usable storage space.

ext3 is a really good file system and should get the job done. If you decide you don't like it, reiserfs is also very good.

Good luck!

-Jordan

Thanks for the reply. I re-installed ExtFSManager http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...group_id=64713
which has worked for me before-installed on my powerbook with OS 10.3 and it doesn't see the drive at all unless I plug it in through the usb connection. So I guess the firewire is defective or doesn't work with ext3 (not probable) Now I have to take this drive back or contact WD's tech support. Thanks again!

No problem at all.

Taking the drive back sounds like a good idea. I've heard numerous times that ports that aren't USB (firewire, eSATA) turn out to be defective on external hard drives. Of course those are relatively new technologies, so all the bugs may not be worked out yet. I'm not sure.

-Jordan