How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

I have 2 Glyph GT050Q drives, one 1TB and one 500GB. The 1TB drive appears to be a newer model as the box & graphics on the drive are a bit different. But I'd expect to see identical info under "About This Mac".

Under hardware -> Firewire, I see:

Oxford ATA Device 00 Unit (this is the 1TB drive)
ATA Device 00 Unit (this is the 500GB drive) *note: no Oxford

My concern is that shouldn't both drives say Oxford? The Oxford chip is what makes these drives so good & why Avid approves them, right? Is there another way I can check this?

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

Try to record to them. I thought Glyph ONLY used Oxford chipsets. Either they work or they don't:rolleyes:

BTW, if you are working with a Mac Pro, using internal SATA drives for recording will give much better performance. All my FW drives only get used for backup/archive and transfers:D

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

Maybe I should've been more clear. Is a chipset something that can be removed? Or could I just have a Glyph shell with no-frills guts?

The drive is new but it just comes in a box... nothing tamper proof.

Is there any way for me to ensure there's an Oxford chipset in this thing?

----

And my set up is in my sig. No Mac Pro.

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

DOH! Sorry I missed that. I'm still confused. As I said, I was under the impression that all Glyph drives use a TI chipset, and would be approved. Normally, the chipset is not something that would be replaceable, unless someone replaced the firewire bridge with some generic circuit(I have seen some on eBay). If the drive is new, I wouldn't worry. And all of them use standard "off the shelf" drives inside, so if one crashes, its usually simple to replace the drive(and maybe install a larger capacity in the process).

Speaking of iMacs, there are videos on youtube showing how to swap the optical drive for a second internal hard drive. Optical drives can be run from USB(I have 3 external DVD burners in my room).

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

Right. Glyph prides itself on being ready for audio and especially Pro Tools. They always use an approved Oxford chipset so it's not something you should need to worry about.

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

That's the thing. I did get this on eBay. And though it was listed as new, the box wasn't sealed in a way that the drive couldn't have been minipulated & put back in the box.

With the other drive clearly saying Oxford under About This Mac, I'd expect to see that for this one as well. Why would it not say Oxford?

Maybe I'm paranoid because I had to return 2 used drives to B&H that arrived defective and with someone's music on both. With a well known store sending me drives without even erasing the files, I can't put anything past a private seller. I'd feel better if there was a way to know for certain.

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

I don't think the string you are fixating about independently proves the drive uses an Oxford chipset, its just a string programmed into the device. I guess Glyph did not program it exactly the same on all their models. With my G-tech drives that use oxford chipsets, they have not even bothered to do that the same string just says "OEM".

The Firewire chipset is on a PCB inside the enclosure. Somebody would have to open the enclosure take out the PCB replace it with another one that just happens to fit. Nobody is going to do that. The most likely possible scams to look would probalby a) paid for drive never arrives b) drive arrives but is dead or flaky or c) somebody taking a no-name Chinese external FW case and sticks a fake Glyph label on it. If this really looks like and is labeled as a Glyph drive and shows up in the disk utility as a Glyph then that is what it is. And it will have an Oxford chipset.

Darryl

Re: How to identify chipset in external hard drive?
 

It definitely shows up in the disk utility as a Glyph. Unless it gives me problems, I'll roll with it.

Thanks