Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

dninja · 2006-10-17 21:00:12

I'm thinking of getting an external drive to use for backups and I've been recommended a Maxtor OneTouch III (http://www.morecomputers.co.uk/textra.asp?pn=T14G300.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of them and further, can the one touch bet made to work under linux?

toxic · 2006-10-17 21:20:36

Sure, I'm using one similar to the one posted, and it works fine for me. It's just an USB harddrie anyway so you can easily mount it like any harddrive. Either mount manually with "mount -t vfat device_dir" or add an entry to your /etc/fstab.

dninja · 2006-10-17 21:30:34

What about the button? Can you get it to fire off an event which could be tied to a script?

toxic · 2006-10-17 21:34:10

dninja wrote:

What about the button? Can you get it to fire off an event which could be tied to a script?

I'm assuming that we're talking about the HD's power-button. Yes, upon pressing the button the HD will send a "I'm here" message through the USB cable, this in turn can be matched against a UDEV event. From there you can specify a script to run.

chrismortimore · 2006-10-17 22:08:58

toxic wrote:

I'm assuming that we're talking about the HD's power-button. Yes, upon pressing the button the HD will send a "I'm here" message through the USB cable, this in turn can be matched against a UDEV event. From there you can specify a script to run.

I think it's more a reference to the onetouch backup button, the main feature of the drive.

In my opinion, you're much better off getting a generic hard drive caddy. With these "backup solutions", you generally pay through the teeth for the software, and the hardware of it compared to a generic caddy is very similar. I have a ViPower USB2.0 3.5" IDE caddy that works wonders, and cost me about £20.

dninja · 2006-10-17 22:37:18

chrismortimore wrote:

toxic wrote:
I'm assuming that we're talking about the HD's power-button. Yes, upon pressing the button the HD will send a "I'm here" message through the USB cable, this in turn can be matched against a UDEV event. From there you can specify a script to run.
I think it's more a reference to the onetouch backup button, the main feature of the drive.

ye I was

In my opinion, you're much better off getting a generic hard drive caddy. With these "backup solutions", you generally pay through the teeth for the software, and the hardware of it compared to a generic caddy is very similar. I have a ViPower USB2.0 3.5" IDE caddy that works wonders, and cost me about £20.

I probably will just get a caddy but I was curious about this. I'm hoping to wangle a good deal through a client and they recommended this one so it may work out the same price.

chrismortimore · 2006-10-18 10:32:58

dninja wrote:

I probably will just get a caddy but I was curious about this. I'm hoping to wangle a good deal through a client and they recommended this one so it may work out the same price.

Even if it worked out as the same price, I'd favour the caddy over the onetouch. This thread I just found kind of highlights why (although it does refer to the onetouch 2): http://lists.samba.org/archive/linux/20 … 13123.html
While the onetouch has all the fancy features, they probably won't work in Linux, and may even hinder usage (like the "drivelock" mentioned in that thread). My philosophy about hardware: If you don't want [insert feature], don't get it, it'll probably just get in the way.

iphitus · 2006-10-18 12:27:18

chrismortimore wrote:

dninja wrote:
I probably will just get a caddy but I was curious about this. I'm hoping to wangle a good deal through a client and they recommended this one so it may work out the same price.
Even if it worked out as the same price, I'd favour the caddy over the onetouch. This thread I just found kind of highlights why (although it does refer to the onetouch 2): http://lists.samba.org/archive/linux/20 … 13123.html
While the onetouch has all the fancy features, they probably won't work in Linux, and may even hinder usage (like the "drivelock" mentioned in that thread). My philosophy about hardware: If you don't want [insert feature], don't get it, it'll probably just get in the way.

that thread's useless. as for the encryption, it's software based, and linux has its own software encryption schemes which work on any drive. read what that guy says about drive lock, he says he has no clue if the maxtor uses that, and I doubt it does -- they'd most likely ship it with it off even if it did. all the features there are software, so they wont get in the way.

James

chrismortimore · 2006-10-18 14:04:44

iphitus wrote:

that thread's useless.

A little harsh I think, but fair enough.

iphitus wrote:

as for the encryption, it's software based, and linux has its own software encryption schemes which work on any drive.

I know. Out of curiousity, where did this come from? So far, encryption is yet to be mentioned.

iphitus wrote:

read what that guy says about drive lock, he says he has no clue if the maxtor uses that, and I doubt it does -- they'd most likely ship it with it off even if it did. all the features there are software

While Maxtor may not use the already implimented drive lock command, they must have some hardware in the box/drive that keeps the drive locked and the password stored, otherwise simply moving the drive to another machine would render it unlocked (which apparently doesn't happen, from what I've read). Agree?

iphitus wrote:

so they wont get in the way.

I read somewhere of someones onetouch (albeit a onetouch 2) that locked itself randomly, not something I'd want to risk. Maxtor claimed it was caused by a hardware fault, not a software fault.

dninja · 2006-10-18 14:11:09

I kind of agree with chrismortimore in that the less features there are, the less things there are to go wrong or to get in the way.

The article was from over 12 months ago so it highlights something to watchout for but I bet the technology used has changed since then.

As I can get this from a friendly source if I did go for it then I would arrange to be able to return it if it didn't work.

I will be encrypting the data but using linux stuff, probably dm-crypt as recommended to me in another thread.

iphitus · 2006-10-18 23:22:46

chrismortimore wrote:

iphitus wrote:
as for the encryption, it's software based, and linux has its own software encryption schemes which work on any drive.
I know. Out of curiousity, where did this come from? So far, encryption is yet to be mentioned.

but that's the thing, that's what it uses. it would use software encryption to password protect it. you need the password to decrypt it and read it. that's how all the protection schemes on external hard drives work that i've seen, including an older onetouch, and my own lacie.

iphitus wrote:
read what that guy says about drive lock, he says he has no clue if the maxtor uses that, and I doubt it does -- they'd most likely ship it with it off even if it did. all the features there are software
While Maxtor may not use the already implimented drive lock command, they must have some hardware in the box/drive that keeps the drive locked and the password stored, otherwise simply moving the drive to another machine would render it unlocked (which apparently doesn't happen, from what I've read). Agree?

software encryption is that method.

iphitus wrote:
so they wont get in the way.
I read somewhere of someones onetouch (albeit a onetouch 2) that locked itself randomly, not something I'd want to risk. Maxtor claimed it was caused by a hardware fault, not a software fault.

link? my mate's got a onetouch, works fine. what they use for a drive lock is irrelevant; it's shipped turned off out of the box. And even if it is a hardware/drive based mechanism, computer hardware does not spontaneously automagically enable it.
As for that other guy having it 'lock randomly' -- no, the drive probably died, there's no forseeable reason for it to lock randomly.

James

chrismortimore · 2006-10-19 15:20:36

iphitus wrote:

but that's the thing, that's what it uses. it would use software encryption to password protect it. you need the password to decrypt it and read it. that's how all the protection schemes on external hard drives work that i've seen, including an older onetouch, and my own lacie.

I'm certain I read somewhere that the software provided with the drive provides the password protection and software encryption as two separate things. Thats what got my brains pondering on how they do it, because it seems moronic to provide the same thing as two separate (and independant) things.

iphitus wrote:

link? my mate's got a onetouch, works fine. what they use for a drive lock is irrelevant; it's shipped turned off out of the box. And even if it is a hardware/drive based mechanism, computer hardware does not spontaneously automagically enable it.

Electronics are fickle things, a bit of dust on the wrong place, things go "ping" and the hellmouth opens up inside your little box of joy... (I saw Sarah Michelle Geller on the front cover of a magazine today at the shops, it's got Buffy into my brain. But the less said about that, the better...)

iphitus wrote:

As for that other guy having it 'lock randomly' -- no, the drive probably died, there's no forseeable reason for it to lock randomly.

Apparently the drive was spinning, making nice sounds, and showing up under "My Computer" as a locked drive. In my experience, when a drive breaks, it goes up in a puff of smoke and starts making really really horrible noises.

I'll try and find the link. I thought (as soon as I closed firefox) that I should have kept a note of it. And I don't keep browser history, so it's google time...

chrismortimore · 2006-10-19 15:45:24

Found it: http://www.dphoto.us/forum/archive/inde … -4539.html
It's actually a one touch 2, don't know if that makes a difference.

Also found this in my travels: Massive link
With particular reference to this bit:

Maxtor takes security a step further with it's DriveLock system - embedded firmware that can lock down the entire Mini with a single password. The firmware stays active even if the drive is taken out of the Mini case and installed directly in a PC or notebook.

Don't know how reliable the source is though. And this refers to the "Mini" version, don't know if that makes a difference.

iphitus · 2006-10-19 16:26:45

chrismortimore wrote:

Apparently the drive was spinning, making nice sounds, and showing up under "My Computer" as a locked drive. In my experience, when a drive breaks, it goes up in a puff of smoke and starts making really really horrible noises.
I'll try and find the link. I thought (as soon as I closed firefox) that I should have kept a note of it. And I don't keep browser history, so it's google time...

my last external died of a head crash, sounded fine, but the drive contained was bust but that's what happens when a dog knocks it off the desk.

James

chrismortimore · 2006-10-19 16:34:47

iphitus wrote:

my last external died of a head crash, sounded fine, but the drive contained was bust but that's what happens when a dog knocks it off the desk.

My last external overheated and didn't have the sense to try and save itself, made a horrible grind, and stopped. At least you have a dog to blame, mine was just a bad drive

dninja · 2006-10-26 20:56:49

I ended up getting a really good deal on a 500gb external instead, just a drive in a cady so I'll never find out if the backup button would have worked.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-10-17 21:00:12

Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#2 2006-10-17 21:20:36

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#3 2006-10-17 21:30:34

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#4 2006-10-17 21:34:10

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#5 2006-10-17 22:08:58

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#6 2006-10-17 22:37:18

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#7 2006-10-18 10:32:58

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#8 2006-10-18 12:27:18

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#9 2006-10-18 14:04:44

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#10 2006-10-18 14:11:09

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#11 2006-10-18 23:22:46

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#12 2006-10-19 15:20:36

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#13 2006-10-19 15:45:24

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#14 2006-10-19 16:26:45

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#15 2006-10-19 16:34:47

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

#16 2006-10-26 20:56:49

Re: Maxtor OneTouch III and linux

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