5. Tech Tips
page 43
LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme with Triple Interface
User’s Manual
5. Tech Tips
5.1 File System Formats
5.1.1. Mac Users
Mac OS 10.x Users:
The LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme with Triple Interface is pre-
formatted as a Mac OS Extended volume. You may customize the
drive by reformatting and/or partitioning the drive with separate
file system formats. For optimal peformance in Mac OS
environments, format and partition the drive as one large Mac OS
Extended volume.
Mac OS Extended (HFS+)
Mac OS Extended refers to the file system used by Mac OS 8.1
and later. HFS+ represents an optimization of the older HFS file
system by using hard disk space more efficiently. With HFS+, you
are no longer limited by block size.
MS-DOS File System (FAT 32)
This is the Microsoft file system, more typically known as
FAT 32. This is the file system to use if you are going to
be using your LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme with Triple
Interface between Macs and Windows operating
systems.
Mac OS Standard
(
HFS)
Mac OS Standard refers to the file system used by Mac OS 8.0
and earlier. Only use this file system if you are creating a volume
smaller than 32MB, using a Mac with a 680X0 processor or
creating a file structure that will be need to be used by Macs
running Mac OS 8.0 or earlier.
UNIX File System
This is the file system based on UNIX, and is preferrable for users developing UNIX-based applications within Mac OS 10.x.
Unless you have a specific reason to use the UNIX File System, you should instead format your drive using Mac OS Extended
(HFS+), because it provides Mac users with a more familiar operating experience.
Important Info:
If you will be sharing the hard drive
between Mac and Windows operating environments,
you will want to follow these guidelines:
Mac OS 9.x -
• Works reliably with FAT 32 partitions less than 32GB
Mac OS X prefers that all paritions be the same format,
therefore only the first FAT 32 partition is guaranteed to
mount.
Mac OS 10.1.x -
• Works reliably with FAT 32 partitions less than 32GB
Mac OS 10.2.x -
• Works reliably with FAT 32 partitions less than
128GB
• Does not mount FAT 32 partitions greater than 128GB
Mac OS 10.3.x -
• Mounts any FAT 32 drive of any size
• Mounts NTFS volumes as READ-only
Tech Note:
Mac OS 10.3.x Users - Mac OS Extended
(Journaled) Under Panther, Apple introduced journaling
to the Mac OS Extended file system, which helps protect
the file systems on Mac OS volumes. When journaling is
enabled, file system transactions are maintained and
recorded continuously in a separate file, called a
journal.
In the event of an unplanned shutdown, the OS uses the
journal to restore the file system. Journaling is also
backward compatible, and all volumes with journaling
enabled can be fully used by computers not running
Mac OS 10.3.x.
For more information, please visit Apple’s Web site.
