Acomdata HD250FPMM-72 User Manual Download Page 1

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mini Pal

User’s Guide

Summary of Contents for HD250FPMM-72

Page 1: ...mini Pal User s Guide ...

Page 2: ...l Specifications 22 PART II SETTING UP MINI PAL Connecting the mini Pal to your Mac mini 26 Connecting mini Pal to Computers other than Mac mini 29 Naming Your mini Pal 30 Re Formatting mini Pal 31 Formatting mini Pal in Windows XP or 2000 33 Formatting mini Pal in Windows 98SE or Me 34 Formatting mini Pal in Mac OS X 35 Formatting mini Pal in Mac OS 9 36 How to Safely Turn Off and Disconnect mini...

Page 3: ... About FireWire USB 2 0 76 FireWire 400 76 About USB 2 0 77 Maintaining Your mini Pal Safeguarding Your Data 78 Backup Your Data 78 Defragmenting and Optimizing a Hard Drive 78 Examining and Repairing a Hard Drive 79 Protect Your Data from Viruses 80 Cleaning the mini Pal Case 80 Troubleshooting 81 Troubleshooting for Mac users 82 Troubleshooting for PC Users 84 Frequently Asked Questions 86 Gloss...

Page 4: ...PART I MEET MINI PAL MUCH MORE ...

Page 5: ...free and your product is registered immediately 2 Free unlimited online technical support 3 You get your own personalized support page where you can download software updates access all online support services view all of your registered AcomData products manage your personal profile 4 Arranging product returns is faster and easier if you registered online Mail in Registration You may also registe...

Page 6: ...he device to rain or use it in damp or wet conditions Never place containers of liquids on the device This can damage the device and increase the risk of electric shock short circuiting fire or personal injury If the device has a three prong plug never plug the device into a two prong outlet Do not use the device in temperatures outside the range of 5 C 35 C Do not use a third party AC adapter pow...

Page 7: ...ates are available at http docs info apple com article html artnum 75288 System Requirements for PC Minimum 233 MHz Pentium processor or equivalent Celeron AMD etc Windows XP 2000 Me or 98SE Available data port s 6 pin FireWire port for operation of hard drive and FireWire hub USB 2 0 port for operation of the USB 2 0 hub PushButton Backup requires 128 MB of RAM Windows 98SE users You ll need Wind...

Page 8: ... storage needs GND 12V 5V A B GND 12V 5V A B POWER SWITCH You can turn the mini Pal on only when needed to save electricity POWER PORT The included AC adapter plugs in here USB 2 0 HUB This is where you can connect your printer scanner and other USB devices USB 2 0 TYPE B PORT Used to connect mini Pal to your computer FIREWIRE PORTS Use one port to connect mini Pal to your computer Use the remaini...

Page 9: ... can be used to connect other USB devices additional USB cables sold separately See Connecting USB Peripherals for details On Bus Power Some low powered USB and FireWire peripherals have the option of being bus powered This means they do not need to be plugged into an AC outlet they can get the power they need via a USB or FireWire connection mini Pal s USB 2 0 hub can supply up to 2 5 Watts of po...

Page 10: ...cates vs Backups There are three types of backup operations available with Retrospect Express Duplicates Backups and Archives The Archive operation is not discussed in this guide For information on Archives see the Help menu in Retrospect Express By default PushButton Backup performs Duplicates However after you set up PushButton Backup you can change the Button Backup script to run Backups or Arc...

Page 11: ...uggable you would either have to shut down your computer every time you wanted to turn mini Pal on or off or you would have to leave the mini Pal running all day unnecessarily You can also connect or disconnect mini Pal while your computer is run ning making portability easier and faster See How to Safely Turn Off and Disconnect mini Pal for details Even if mini Pal is turned off as long as it is ...

Page 12: ...C CE UL Performance Interface transfer rate max FireWire 400 400 Mbps USB 2 0 480 Mbps Data buffer cache Drives with less than 250 GB capacities 2 MB Drives with 250 GB capacities 8 MB Rotational speed 7200 RPM Latency average 4 17 ms Seek time read typical 8 9 ms Error rate non recoverable 1 in 10E14 bits Power Requirement 5VDC 5 12VDC 5 Startup current max 1 55 A 12 V 0 35 A 5V Idle 8 1 W Extern...

Page 13: ...PART II SETTING UP MINI PAL ...

Page 14: ...t you pre fer either set your Mac mini onto the mini Pal as shown or place the mini Pal onto your Mac mini Align the two devices so that they are squarely stacked together The large grippy rubber pad at the bottom of both devices will keep them firmly planted 2 The pins of the small AC adapter plug are off set so that the plug can be inserted only one way Orient the plug correctly and insert the p...

Page 15: ...OR DEVICE OTHER THAN A MAC MINI ONTO A MINI PAL About cable length The supplied USB and FireWire cables were made specifically for connecting mini Pal to a Mac mini If you plan to connect your mini Pal to a computer other than a Mac mini you may need to purchase longer cables in order to properly place the mini Pal where you would like on your desktop FireWire user with laptops If you want to conn...

Page 16: ...A HARD DISK ERASES ALL DATA STORED ON THE DISK BEFORE YOU FORMAT THE MINI PAL BE SURE TO SAVE A COPY OF ANY FILES YOU WISH TO KEEP TO ANOTHER STORAGE DEVICE Your AcomData mini Pal was formatted at the factory with the FAT32 file sys tem This makes mini Pal both Mac and PC compatible right out of the box and allows you to share files between platforms If you plan to use your mini Pal only on a Mac ...

Page 17: ...i Pal in Windows XP or 2000 1 Disable any anti virus software you may have running in the background 2 Double click on My Computer Explorer In the My Computer Explorer win dow you should see the icon letter for the mini Pal labeled External If you are not sure which icon represents the mini Pal unmount and turn off the mini Pal to see which one of the icons disappears Then turn on the mini Pal and...

Page 18: ...ular hard drive main tenance If you do not wish to run Scandisk at this time close the Format window Formatting mini Pal in Mac OS X 1 Disable any anti virus software you may have running in the background 2 Launch the Disk Utility application Applications folder Utilities folder Disk Utility The Disk Utility window will open with a small window at left and a larger window with a series of tabs at...

Page 19: ... 8 Go to Control Panels Startup Disk and select the computer s startup disk Restart the computer How to Safely Turn Off and Disconnect mini Pal NEVER TURN OFF A HARD DRIVE WITHOUT UNMOUNTING IT FIRST YOU MAY LOSE DATA OR DAMAGE THE DRIVE The Importance of Mounting and Unmounting A hard drive requires two types of connections to talk to a computer a physical connection which is made using the inter...

Page 20: ... off Whether you are using a Mac or PC When you shut down your computer mini Pal will unmount automatically After your computer has turned off you can turn off mini Pal and disconnect the cables Connecting Peripherals The vast majority of computer peripherals today printers scanners external storage devices digital cameras digital camcorders MP3 players modems mice keyboards audio equipment etc ha...

Page 21: ...If you want to connect more than four USB devices to your mini Pal you can plug a USB hub into one of the USB type A ports on your mini Pal and then plug additional devices into the hub mini Pal s USB ports can be used in any order Some USB devices such as some scanners and Flash card readers can be bus powered This means they do not need to be plugged into an AC outlet they can get their power vi...

Page 22: ...evices If you connect mini Pal to a FireWire 800 port on your computer mini Pal and all connected FireWire devices will still operate at FireWire 400 speeds Furthermore you will need a 9 pin to 6 pin FireWire cable sold separately FireWire devices with only one FireWire 1394 port such as digital camcorders will necessarily be placed last in a daisy chain FireWire 800 devices connected to mini Pal ...

Page 23: ...PART III PUSHBUTTON BACKUP ...

Page 24: ...splash screen appears click Continue FIGURE 1 PushButton Backup for Mac Software Installation Mac OS X v 10 4 Tiger Users If the Retrospect Express bundled with your mini Pal is earlier than version 6 0 212 you will need to update it After you install the version bundled with your Drive go to www acomdata com Customer Support Total Product Support Portable Hard Drives to obtain the software update...

Page 25: ...E 2 Installing AcomData PushButton Manager 1 In the AcomData PushButton Backup CD window double click the DMBtMgr_Install icon 2 You will see the message displayed in Figure 3 Click Continue Once the DMBtMgr file has been copied a new window containing the copied file will open Double click the DMBtMgr icon in that window 3 The Authenticate window will appear with the message Install Retrospect Ex...

Page 26: ...nse code on the window Click OK 4 Next the display will ask you to register your copy of Retrospect Express Click Register Now and complete the registration form that appears 5 The Retrospect Button Backup wiz ard should appear Figure 5 If it does not press the PushButton In the Retrospect Button Backup wizard click Next You will be taken through three easy steps to setup the script FIGURE 5 7 Onc...

Page 27: ...nch automatically perform an incremental Duplicate operation and then quit FIGURE 7 6 Step 1 Figure 6 Retrospect Button Backup will ask you to select the vol ume drive you want to backup from a list of available volumes Make your selection e g your startup disk and click Next 7 Step 2 Figure 7 the wizard will ask what types of files you want to backup Make your selection Click Next 8 Step 3 the wi...

Page 28: ...You will see an alert FIGURE 9 FIGURE 10 Customizing the Button Backup Script This section shows you how to change the Button Backup script to perform Backups rather than Duplicates For an explanation of the differences see Duplicates vs Backups If you change the Button Backup script to perform another type of operation the old script will be overwritten and no longer available 1 If Retrospect Exp...

Page 29: ...p Set Creation win dow Figure 15 next page select FIGURE 13 FIGURE 14 asking Really forget Script Click OK 6 In the Scripts win dow click New You will see a new window asking Use EasyScript to prepare backup strategy Click No EasyScript is used for the creation of sched uled backups and is not compatible with PushButton Backup 7 A new window will appear asking you what kind of script you want to c...

Page 30: ...p set type pull down menu 13 If you wish to set up a password that will be required every time you per form a backup click the Secure but ton and follow the instructions When you re done you will be taken back to the Backup Set Creation window 14 In the Name field type in a name for this Backup Set The default name is Backup Set A You can use the default name or create your own The name you use wi...

Page 31: ... Backup Backup Close the Scripts window The script is now ready to use 21 Press the PushButton on the mini Pal If this is the first time performing this Backup operation Retrospect Express will ask you to select a disk for the Backup Set A window will appear with a list of available drives If the listing simply says Removable Disk expand the selection by clicking on the arrow to the left of the li...

Page 32: ...g the AcomData PushButton Manager Otherwise restart the computer and Retrospect Express will be ready to use For information on how to use Retrospect Express see the Help menu in Retrospect Express PushButton Backup for PC Software Installation While we highly recommend using the PushButton it is possible to run back ups directly from the Retrospect Express user interface If you want to run back u...

Page 33: ...n should still be up If you do not see the Retrospect Express start screen but the CD is still in the CD drive go to My Computer and double click on the CD drive icon The Retrospect Express start screen will appear If the CD is not in the drive insert it The CD will launch and the Retrospect Express start screen will appear automatically 1 In the Retrospect Express start screen click on Install Ac...

Page 34: ...ress the PushButton Retrospect Express will launch automatically run an incre mental Duplicate operation and then quit FIGURE 21 FIGURE 22 Setting up PushButton Backup 1 Press the PushButton on the mini Pal Retrospect Express will launch In the Welcome to Retrospect window Figure 20 the license code field will display the cor rect license code You do not need to enter a license code Click OK 2 Nex...

Page 35: ... within that drive Then in the Defining Subvolume window click Define In the Volume Selection window click one of the defined folders to select it or hold the Control key while you click to select multiple folders To remove a drive or folder select it in the Volume Selection window and click Forget in the toolbar FIGURE 24 FIGURE 25 Customizing the Button Backup Script This section shows you how t...

Page 36: ...pect uses the catalog to keep FIGURE 27 FIGURE 28 6 To add additional folders or drives as described in the previous step click Add in the Sources window After you finish adding folders and drives click OK 7 In the Backup Retrospect Button Backup window click Destinations To cre ate a new location in the Backup Set Selection window click Create New to launch the Create New Backup Set wizard 8 In t...

Page 37: ... 19 After making sure that the backup script is correct click OK to save your changes 20 To use your new script quit Retrospect Express and press the PushButton on your mini Pal FIGURE 31 track of the files in the Backup Set 14 Click Finish to close the Backup Set Creation wizard 15 Select the Backup Set in the Destination selection window and click OK 16 Select the Backup Set in the Retrospect Bu...

Page 38: ...APPENDIX ...

Page 39: ...ogy developed by Apple Computer and Texas Instruments The first FireWire standard was approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE in 1995 The official name for FireWire 400 is IEEE 1394a Interface transfer rates up to 400 Mbps 50 MB s FireWire 400 can transmit data at up to 400 Megabits per second which is equivalent to 50 Megabytes per second FireWire supports both isoch...

Page 40: ...timization repair erased file recovery and more Generally speaking it s a good idea to examine a disk for damage at least once a month Some maintenance and repair operations can take quite some time so it is wise to schedule these operations for those times when you don t need to Maintaining Your mini Pal Safeguarding Your Data A hard drive is a very sophisticated and sensitive device that require...

Page 41: ...o the computer while the software performs these operations Protect Your Data from Viruses One of the greatest threats to your data comes from viruses These nasty sounding creatures are insidious programs created by malefactors Some viruses are designed to render your computer inoperable others will erase files The worst part is you may not be aware that your system has been infected until it s to...

Page 42: ...ight have become corrupted in which case it needs to be repaired Use a disk utility to repair the disk Periodic testing of a hard drive is recommended to keep it in good working order Troubleshooting for Mac users The power will not go on when I plug in the mini Pal A Make sure your connections are secure My computer does not recognize the mini Pal A First make sure the connections are secure Seco...

Page 43: ...s A First in order to reach USB 2 0 speeds your mini Pal must be connected to a USB 2 0 port on your computer If the connection only supports USB 1 1 any USB devices connected to mini Pal will operate at USB 1 1 speeds Second 480 Mbps is the maximum speed that USB 2 0 devices can reach Actual data transfer rates will vary depending on a number of factors includ ing available CPU resources and the ...

Page 44: ...Can I use mini Pal on two computers at the same time A Actually yes It is possible to connect mini Pal s FireWire interface to one computer and the USB 2 0 interface to another computer mini Pal s hard drive and any FireWire devices attached to mini Pal will be available to the computer using the FireWire connection Any USB devices attached to mini Pal will be available to the computer using the U...

Page 45: ...store the entire disk from your mini Pal See the Help menu in Retrospect Express for more information Q What is the cache buffer size of my mini Pal A mini Pals under 250 GB have 2MB buffers mini Pals that are 250 GB or larger have 8MB buffers Q Can you use mini Pal as a startup disk A mini Pal cannot be used as a startup disk However if you use your mini Pal as a backup device and you use the Bac...

Page 46: ...a does not provide data recovery services Q If I have more than one mini Pal connected to the same computer can I use the PushButton Backup function on each mini Pal A While you can connect more than one mini Pal to a computer you can only use the PushButton on the first mini Pal you installed However if the Button Backup Script is set to run Backups and you need additional storage capacity for yo...

Page 47: ...ive itself but it is possible for a single drive to contain more than one volume or for a volume to span more than one drive Glossary Bit The smallest unit of digital data In binary code a bit is represented logically as a either a 1 or a 0 Buffer RAM cache that temporarily stores data so it can be delivered to a device as it is needed Hard drives use RAM cache for faster transfers Data that is re...

Page 48: ...so the above limitation or exclusions may not apply to you This warranty gives you specific rights you may have other rights which vary from state to state One Year Limited Warranty AcomData warrants this product the Product against defects in material or work manship as follows 1 LABOR For a period of one 1 year from the original date of purchase from AcomData or its local representative supplier...

Page 49: ...u in arranging for service Please read the One Year Limited Warranty for terms and conditions What you need in order to obtain warranty service 1 A copy of the bill of sale from the purchase of your AcomData product 2 A Returned Merchandise Authorization RMA number that is assigned to your product by your TSS An RMA can only be generated if the prod uct has been registered online at www acomdata c...

Page 50: ...comData assumes no liability resulting from errors or omissions in this document or from the use of the information contained herein AcomData reserves the right to make changes or revisions in the product design or the product manual without reservation and without obligation to notify any person of such revisions and changes FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION FCC RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATE...

Page 51: ...mini Pal User s Guide ...

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