Why external hard drive?

[rockinr0ll]

I recently got a new lap top and also made a purchase of the Mbox 2 Mini. I was told I should buy an external hard drive as well. How do I use the external hard drive and what is it for? Or is it only to back up files? Sorry I'm confused and just don't know if I should shell out the extra cash or not.



Thanks.

[jmitchell1532]

First off, this should be moved to the LE thread, as this is the HD thread.

That said, welcome to the DUC. An external hard drive is necessary because when recording audio, your system drive needs all of it's resources to read what is happening, as well as run the program. Trying to record to the system drive on top of that is asking way too much. An external hard drive is needed (especially with laptops) to take the burden off of the system drive, as well as to store your audio.

You need a firewire drive. USB drives aren't technically supported due to access speed.

When you start up PT, you can go to the "Setup" menu, click "disk allocation," and choose your external HD. This will record your session to that drive.

I set up mine with different folder for each session and such, to keep everything organized.

[rockinr0ll]

If anyone want to move this thread, by all means go ahead!

I was thinking about going with a eSata connection because I heard that would be fast.

Could anyone suggest me a good hard drive for around $100?

[Avid]

...moved to LE forum

[Jenk2k]

I run eSata on my session drive that has FW connections. I don't notice any difference. with a laptop i think fw has a more physically stable connector (like in case you bump it and bend it. eSata is probably easier to break but I think it's technically faster than FW. Either way is fine.

[albee1952]

Yes, eSATA should work just fine. I would hit newegg and similar and look for a drive case with an eSATA port(maybe even one of those desktop gizmos that you just stick the drive in the top). Your best bet will be a case with lots of metal(to act as heatsink) or something with a fan. I bought a large case for my DVD burner but you can get brackets to mount a 3.5" drive in a 5.25" case.

[flautista]

Am doing some test recording 16 tracks in MBOX PRO in the same Hard drive where system C is and is working at moment,buffer at 512
On XP system, I did also on Windows 7, 32bits works too,always in one internal hard drive, more than 30 minutes allready
Seagate momentum 250 gb x 7200 rpm
PT 8.0.1
laptop HP NW 9440
Next I'll do whith Windows 7 64 bits

[rqstudio]

You'll do just fine with an external stand-alone F/W drive. (I don't think Albee realized you were on a laptop.) Give it a cool name like Audio Drive, or something. Install PT on you're system drive "C" but when you create a session, save it to your new drive. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop but is recommended. In emergency's, like flying or something, I have had success with partitioning the internal drive and saving to the new partition. (Not recommended) Oh god, I didn't say that again did I?

[sw rec]

"Am doing some test recording 16 tracks in MBOX PRO in the same Hard drive where system C is and is working at moment"

Don't worry, it'll QUIT behaving when you least expect it.

[flautista]

Originally Posted by sw rec

"Am doing some test recording 16 tracks in MBOX PRO in the same Hard drive where system C is and is working at moment"

Don't worry, it'll QUIT behaving when you least expect it.

you mean is going to fail suddenly??
not happend in more than one hour, i repeat more than six times
only failed when I had 12gb free in Hard drive in smaller HD 100gb x 7200
whith 50% gb (50gb)free of the HD works perfect