Mac user to Windows

[mike16877]

Hi,

I am an HD2 user usually running my system on a dual Mac but my computer is in the repair shop and has been for about 4 weeks.

I had an old PC lying around P4 (AMD/Athlon 900mhz processor) running XP and I thought I would install the system in to that and see how I would get on.

I was totally expecting this not to work or have at least a mountain of problems but it all went far smoother than I thought it would. I have not crashed the system once even running Ableton Live and Project 5 at the same time in rewire mode OS9 crashed and froze a plenty.

OK, Im impressed and am seriously thinking about a permanent switch to PC because I am tired of forking out so much for MACs (4 times now, twice in the last year 1 due to my machine not being compatible with HD cards a total cost of $9000approx in 4 years) Im recording away using only the one C drive and not a problem in sight V Cool..... Not a permanent solution I know. The only gripe is that response time is a little slow. To be expected really from a 900mhz pc with 300 mb ram and running a rewire application at the same time.

Thanks for reading a bit of the background. Heres a couple of queries if anyone could answer.


1. I cant get the PC to recognise my SCSI drive. The card is installed, the software is in but nothing shows up at all.

2. I have another PC which is a bit more powerful and has better hadrdware but this machine is used everday in my office and dont want to take any big chances with it. But I would like to re-install the operating system (XP) on that one without erasing all the information and programs I have on the machine. Can I do this?

3. If I move to PC Im definitely ditching SCSI. Its always been a pain in the ass and I am certain I dont ned to be using scsi thesedays. Im thinking Firewire. Is this a viable option on a PC, or should I consider USB storage?

4,. I have Mac Opener. Can I use this to retrieve the sessions from my scsi drive

5. I detect a few bugs (PT 6.1). The tool keys keep changing. Alt suddenly becomes Ctrl?. and the scroll wheel on my mouse sometimes works, its random theres no obvious pattern so cant be more specific. Anyone have this problem.

6. I have Nero burning CD software. It wont burn any CD´s. It says my drive is not compatible. But I think its looking at the scsi drive somehow?. A message pops up and says the software is only compatible with Plextor drives??





Thanx

(ps post edited in case it looked like a Mac vs Pc thing....Not my intention.

[da BaSsTaRd!]

1. I cant get the PC to recognise my SCSI drive. The card is installed, the software is in but nothing shows up at all.

i'm surprised XP didn't recognize it immediately. try running the "find new hardware" wizard and if that doesn't work, go to the manufacturer's website and download a driver.

2. I have another PC which is a bit more powerful and has better hadrdware but this machine is used everday in my office and dont want to take any big chances with it. But I would like to re-install the operating system (XP) on that one without erasing all the information and programs I have on the machine. Can I do this?

your best bet is to backup all your personal data onto the other machine. easily done over ethernet. you should have all your program installers on CD. its really a good idea to start with a clean install of XP for best results with PT. i would backup all my personal files, don't worry about the programs (assuming you do have the install CDs), format the system drive and start from scratch. install your programs on the old machine and use that for the office.

3. If I move to PC Im definitely ditching SCSI. Its always been a pain in the ass and I am certain I dont ned to be using scsi thesedays. Im thinking Firewire. Is this a viable option on a PC, or should I consider USB storage?

firewire absolutely works great on PC. i have 3 f/w drives including a mac-formatted ipod.

4. I have Mac Opener. Can I use this to retrieve the sessions from my scsi drive

you should be able to use mac-opener. i use it, but i don't have any scsi drives. if it doesn't work, there's a similar program called macdrive that rail recommends, so it must work well.

5. I detect a few bugs (PT 6.1). The tool keys keep changing. Alt suddenly becomes Ctrl?. and the scroll wheel on my mouse sometimes works, its random theres no obvious pattern so cant be more specific. Anyone have this problem.

those aren't bugs. the tools change if you hit the scroll wheel button on your mouse, and the ctrl/alt buttons are swapped in PT for the pc version for some reason. its just something you have to get used to. as far as the scroll wheel working, i haven't quite figured that one out. i have the same problem. i think you may have to have place your cursor in a track to make that happen (or some crazy nonsense like that).

6. I have Nero burning CD software. It wont burn any CD´s. It says my drive is not compatible. But I think its looking at the scsi drive somehow?. A message pops up and says the software is only compatible with Plextor drives??

is this a version that came with a plextor drive? sometimes the free burning software they throw in with a cd burner purchase is limited to the drive it came with.

[mike16877]

Thankyou for taking the time to respond. Very much appreciated.

I installed the ATTO SCSI software that came with Pro Tools. A message also popped up saying new hardware detected and ready for use. I see the C drive, floppy drive and the CD drive. Do I need specific drivers for that as well: Would kind of make sense I guess. Bear in mind the Glyph drive is a MAC formatted drive. Could this be why I cant see the drive on the PC?


I know that doing a clean installation is best. But can I install XP without losing any data. I may seem a bit of an idiot but I really dont know how to back up email in my outlook express.

Do I need special software to BAck up the contents of one machine to another?

Thanx I am a little

[da BaSsTaRd!]

i don't know much about scsi. i'm assuming its an external drive. the only thing i can suggest is to go here and try to get an answer: http://www.attotech.com/software/

a clean install is definitely the best. to back up stuff from one computer to another, create a shared folder on one machine and copy/paste everything you want to backup from the other machine to the shared folder on the first machine through the LAN. if you don't have a network hub, you can buy a crossover cable (ethernet cable with 2 wires crossed) and just connect this to each computer without the need for a hub. they'll recognize each other as being on the same network. no special software needed. its easier than downloading off the internet...

as far as backing up outlook express, your need to find your mail folder. go to tools > options > maintenance > store folder (i'm doing this from memory, so it might not be exact), then check what folder it is. it will probably look something like this:

C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{E9E837E5-C311-4D8B-9362-64F2F60EAD9B}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

go find this folder and copy it to the shared folder on the other machine. then, on the other machine, go to the store folder settings in outlook express and change it to that folder that you just copied. next time you open outlook express, your email should come up same as before on the other machine.

[mike16877]

Ok, thanks again for taking the time to answer.

Cheers

[steve at Your Heaven]

The Glyph drive Mac formatted is not likely going to work until it is formatted as fat32 or ntfs. Don't do it until you've transferred files, ALL DATA WILL BE LOST IN A FORMAT.

I have not had problems 'upgrading' to xp from previous versions, which saves lots of work, but still BACK UP EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU DO THIS (if not sure, just back up the whole hard drive to something before you upgrade - you should do backups of system and everything once a week or so anyway, depending on use).

[mike16877]

The Glyph drive Mac formatted is not likely going to work until it is formatted as fat32 or ntfs. Don't do it until you've transferred files, ALL DATA WILL BE LOST IN A FORMAT.

But the problem is I cant format the drive. It has sessions that are still to be finished on it and I need to transfer them to the pc somehow.. I cant even back that up as my Mac is out of service and I think it will be for sometime.

I stayed up until 6am this morning trying to install a second ide drive (for audio) and getting the PC to acknowledge the SCSI drive. I couldnt get any joy from either drive. installing a second brand new drive is quite a job on a PC what with investigating the BIOS and so on which I dont have a clue about and the installation manual for the second drive is so complicated.

If Mac opener is intended for opening Mac files on a mac formatted drive, why would I have to format the drive first? Or would it work if the files were transferred to CD rom?

Any tips on installing a regular IDE drive?


thanx

[da BaSsTaRd!]

installing a second ide drive is a really simple process. no need to go into bios. just hook it up and make sure the jumpers are correct for master/slave. start windows and windows XP should recognize it immediately and ask you if you want to format it.

WARNING!! if your HFS scsi is connected, make sure its not prompting you to format that or you will lose all your sessions on it.

i don't know why macopener isn't recognizing the scsi drive. i think it may have to do with the scsi end of things, not the fact that its HFS. windows needs to recognize that the drive is attached to the system.

try this: go to start > control panel > administrative tools > computer management and click on disk management on the left pane. does the scsi drive show up at all? if it does, then windows sees it and its a problem with macopener. if the drive is not shown, then the problem is with the scsi connection.

if it turns out to be a macopener problem, there's a similar thing called macdrive that you could try.
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/

looks like there's a demo. you might be able to get your files off the scsi drive without even buying the program...

[nikki-k]

Hi! Sorry I cannot help with the SCSI problem; I have been IDE happy, and my ATTO card has been sitting unopened since purchase.

Second IDE drive. What make/model drive? What drives exist currently (Hard Drives, ZIP, CD, DVD, etc) on the IDE Controllers?

I would say every PC Motherboard has at least 2 IDE controllers, Primary and Secondary, but I would be shown one with only one shortly after Assuming yours has 2: IF the Primary IDE Controller has only the one (system) drive on it, be sure it is set as Master via the Jumper(s) on it. If unsure, get the make/model number, hit the Maker's website, and verify. IF the Secondary IDE Controller has a CD, DVD, or other similar removable type media drive on it, then attache the NEW Second Drive you mentioned to the Primary IDE Controller. If the ribbon cable connected to the Drive currently on the Primary IDE Controller has only ONE connector for drives, a new cable will need to be purchased (several dollars, VERY common, avail any computer store, Best Buy, Circ City, etc). Be sure it has a connector for Motherboard Side, and two more for each drive. Replace the original, single drive capable ribbon cable with the new one. Existing hard drive (system) should be connected to the last connector, and the NEW drive connected to the connector just prior to that on the ribbon cable. Be sure the NEW drive you are installing has jumpers set to Slave.

IF there is NO drive on the Secondary IDE Controller, then attach to that, set as Master.

If the new drive is placed on the same IDE Controller as a DVD, CD, etc drive, it will have it's rate slowed to that device's speed (ie, ATA66 I think). In addition, MOST IDE Ribbon Cables have little tabs/protrusions along the edge, so as to prevent the cable from being attached wrong (as far as pin 1-> pin 1 goes). Although most do, some dont. If the one you have does not, the red stripe on the ribbon cable should align with Pin 1 on the Hard Drive. If not marked, general rule of thumb is that Pin 1 on MOST hard drives is closest to the power connector.

As a side note, there are newer motherboards utilizing the ICH5 chip, and onboard SATA/PATA controllers (ie, Promise,etc). This chip does not use the PCI Buss, and my personal experience has shown the full 128 discrete, voiced tracks easily run from ONE IDE drive (7200rpm, ATA100 or better). High numbers of dense edits may reduce this a little, and I am going to be investigating the higher spec SATA drives soon, as well as a minimal SATA RAID utilizing onboard ICH5/Promise controller. My motherboard of choice is the ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe. The onboard ethernet controller does not use the PCI Buss on that board either, and use of it has not interfered at all with any running Sessions so far for me. Other motherboards with similar specs are out there. Figured I would mention in case you decide to stay PC and upgrade your system.

Any other problems, feel free to ask. Sorry I don't know anything about SCSI and Mac transfers like you have. Have you tried calling Digi?

[mike16877]

Thanks so much for the help. I have given up on the scsi drive and feel I could be tempting fate and then have myself a disaster. I will just wait until I can get my Mac back, finish the sessions and then decide if Im switching to PC.

The ide drive I just bought to use as a second drive could be faulty. Everything I have tried doesnt work although the last 2 posts have some suggestions I will try.

Thanks again


PS
The system is still solid as a rock. Not a single crash......