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IV. Using Hot-Swap Functionality
Introduction
The SeriTek/6G2+2 host adapter provides advanced hot-swap functionality for external drives
that includes flexibility similar to that of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire. The user
simply dismounts the hard disk from the desktop and then removes the hard disk from the
FirmTek SeriTek/5PM or miniSwap/ES enclosure. To mount a hard disk, simply insert the
hard disk into the FirmTek enclosure. The easy to use, hot swap system provided with
FirmTek enclosures provides the optimal compatibility with the SeriTek/6G2+2.
Hot-Swap Guidelines
•
Do not eject or dismount a hard disk that is being used as the boot drive.
•
Do not remove drives mounted directly on the internal PCIe card while the computer is on.
•
Do not disconnect or remove drives while transferring data.
•
Save your work and close associated applications before removing the external hard drive
(applications need to be closed since they may keep temporary working files open on the
external hard drive).
•
Always unmount the volumes (eject or drag the volumes to trash) associated with an
external hard drive before removing it.
•
Remove or power down every drive associated with a particular RAID volume before
reintroducing them to the system. For example, do not remove just two drives of a four
drive RAID volume and reinsert them. All four drives must be removed and then
reinserted.
•
As a general rule, power down the external hard drives after powering down the Macintosh
computer. Power on the external enclosure before powering on the Macintosh computer.
•
If a drive attached to the SeriTek/6G2+2 is used as a boot disk for a Mac Pro model, hot
swap is not available. The Apple System Preferences: Startup Disk setting is used to
select the boot disk. To reactivate the hot swap feature, boot from an internal hard disk.
Hot-Swap Procedure
Connecting External Hard Drive(s)
If your Macintosh computer is not yet powered on, power on the external enclosure then
power on the computer. If the Macintosh computer is already powered on, users can connect
the external hard drive(s) without powering down the computer first.
Removing External Hard Drive(s)
Caution
: To prevent loss of data, save your work and close associated applications
before removing the external hard drive (applications need to be closed since they may
keep temporary working files open on the external hard drive). Always unmount the volumes
(eject or drag the volumes to trash) associated with an external hard drive before removing it.
Eject or drag all of the volumes associated with the hard drive(s) before disconnecting or
removing them.
Improperly Removing External Hard Drive(s)
If you do not properly unmount volumes before removing the associated hard drive(s), a
“Device Removal” dialog box will appear (See Figure 12). This dialog box shows up as a
reminder to unmount volumes properly before disconnecting or removing external hard
drives. Failure to properly unmount volumes before disconnecting external hard drives may
result in lost data.
