new mac mini setup

[Gwyn ap Harri]

Hi, I've been using PCs for my proTools set up, but I couldn't resist the mac mini for my home mbox setup.

I'm going to share my 19" tft and peripherals by using some kind of switch - can anyone help on this matter? do I need a usb keyboard? my monitor has DVI as well as VGA. my system speakers have two inputs, so i think that'll be ok. the rest of my peripherals are usb, so I'm planning on getting a HUGE usb hub type thing, that I can plug in/out, or a switch... any suggestions?

The big question I've got is I obviously need an external drive to share data and to plug into my mac mini.

USB? Firewire 400 or firewire 800??? and are those 2.5" ones any good (powered by USB, put in your pocket?)

Or do I just use garageband........

Gwyn
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[yOkO]

i´ll go for the garage with the 2.5¨thing

[yin7yang64]

I use the IOGear MiniView to switch the keyboard and mouse between my PowerMac and PowerBook in my home studio. It'll also switch a single display, too.

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/gcs1712.html

I'd stick with a FireWire external drive, though. You don't want to be trying to pipe audio data through a crowded USB bandwidth. Best solution might be a speedy drive that's both USB and FireWire equipped. I've always found more flexibility is a good thing in the computer world: I'm always having to come up with workarounds. A lot of my sessions travel back and forth to work on a portable FireWire drive. It's been a great asset when clients have last minutes changes.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-.../2.5-Notebook/

[DaleC]

I have been curious to know how a Mini would do with an Mbox.

By all means use a Firewire drive but having the USB option as well may be good.
IOgear has a page for the Mac Mini actually.
You do need a USB keyboard or a USB/PS2 adaptor but I would recommend a Logitech keyboard that has both the Mac and Windows buttons on it.
Also, make sure you have at least 512 MB RAM to run LE.

[yavuzj]

I use Raritan Switchman USB with my MAC Mini.
It has 4 port USB2.0 Hub as well as seperate USB mouse and KB connections. It also helps me share my Dell LCD Tv between my Dell 2350 and Mac Mini. I think it is the ONLY KVM switch with USB2.0 hub.
The whole setup works well with my 002R.

[Gwyn ap Harri]

Thanks for the advice!

I've ordered a maxtor 300GB one touch II external with both usb & firewire, and a raritan switchman.

So, formatting wise, I use the FAT32 format do I? Are there any issues I should look out for sharing data between Mac & PC?

Thanks again

[yavuzj]

You can do it two ways.

• 1. Use MacDrive and format your drives HFS+
• 2. Use FAT 32.

Using FAT 32 is a bit tricky if you use Windows for formatting.
Windows can only format 32 GB or smaller FAT 32 partitions.
THe bigger ones need to be NTFS.
You either have to create 8 or 9 32GB FAT 32 partitions, (which may sound silly)
or buy a program like Partitionmagic Pro.
I would use a program like PartitionMagic and format the drive FAT32.
MacDrive may be problematic at times eventhough it works excellent if you know what you are doing.

[Gwyn ap Harri]

oh, I thought it would be easier than this?

So does partition magic stitch these separate partitions together?

Does Mac Drive slow things down? Can I use my mac to format the drive in FAT32 with a bigger partition?

What do you guys do?

Thanks, Gwyn

[yavuzj]

oh, I thought it would be easier than this?

I know what you mean.

So does partition magic stitch these separate partitions together?

No, it is just possible to create and format bigger partitions with PMagic.
Windows can also format big partitions but not in FAT32. Just NTFS.
If you want FAT32 you have to go 32GB or smaller or let PMagic format it for you.
3rd option would be to find a Windows 98 FDisk utility diskette and use that to format FAT32 bigger than 32Gb.

Does Mac Drive slow things down? Can I use my mac to format the drive in FAT32 with a bigger partition?

No,. Once you get it working it is transparent.
I have lost 24Gb of files with it once.
I do not want to scare you but if things go wrong, you CAN loose data.
I would backup everything before using MACDrive.
Other than that, once you get it working it is transparent to the user.

What do you guys do?

I have a networked FW400 Lacie d2 for just file sharing over the network.
I use another Lacie d2 USB2.0 just for recording and audio samples.
I do not go back and forth between my MAC and PC though.

[Gwyn ap Harri]

I got the raritan switch, and set it up. It switches fine, but my screen seems really dull ie white is grey. it looks like this straight from my VGA adapter, but not my DVI output.

And now when I plug my DVI into my mac, I can't get the screen to display.

Argh!

Any advice, anyone????

Gwyn

I use Raritan Switchman USB with my MAC Mini.
It has 4 port USB2.0 Hub as well as seperate USB mouse and KB connections. It also helps me share my Dell LCD Tv between my Dell 2350 and Mac Mini. I think it is the ONLY KVM switch with USB2.0 hub.
The whole setup works well with my 002R.