Prev: Security update 2010-03 released
Next: How do I prevent the "Are you sure you want to open it?" message
From: Nick Naym on 15 Apr 2010 13:16
In article C7E93A2A.5888F%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid, Nick Naym
at nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid wrote on 4/12/10 8:59 PM:

> In article 1jgvz5p.nugtip1frcihpN%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz, David Empson at
> dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz wrote on 4/12/10 8:33 PM:
>
>> Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> In article 1jgvq97.1f6lwb71t7788N%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz, David Empson at
>>> dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz wrote on 4/12/10 5:00 PM:
>>>
>>>> Look in Finder > Preferences > General.
>>>>
>>>> There are separate settings for whether to display "Hard disks"
>>>> (internal) and "Exteral disks" on the desktop. (Also "CDs, DVDs, and
>>>> iPods", and "Connected servers".)
>>>
>>>
>>> Ah! _Now_ I understand what Andreas meant when he said it was the (new)
>>> Finder default in SL!
>>>
>>> (Nick grumbles to self: "Nick, you're an idiot!")
>>>
>>> Thanks for the clarification, David. (Ummm...do you have any thoughts
>>> regarding my disappearing Seagate/Icy Dock?)
>>
>> If it was me, I would be trying several combinations of the devices and
>> cables to see which configurations don't work.
>>
>> I'm inclined to suspect some kind of fault with one or two of the
>> devices you have connected, which is causing them to conflict with each
>> other.
>>
>> A full dump of what you see in System Profiler > Firewire for a "good"
>> and "bad" configuration (with details on the order in which everything
>> is connected) might provide some hints.
>
>
>
> Well, it appears that I have isolated the problem quicker than I had
> expected. My first choice in testing out various configurations was the
> simplest: to detach the LaCie drives, leaving only the Seagate/Icy Dock.
> When I did that and rebooted, the Seagate/Icy Dock again did _not_ show up
> on my Desktop nor in Disk Utility, and appeared to System Profiler as an
> Unknown Device. So, it looks like there's something wrong with the drive,
> the enclosure, or the cable. Inasmuch as I swapped the cable with one of the
> LaCie cables, I think I can rule that out. Beyond that, I don't know how to
> isolate the problem any further.
>
>

I spoke with Icy Dock re: the possibility that the enclosure is defective or
has failed. They indicated that they would be willing to test the product if
I sent it to them, and, if found to be "broken," to repair/replace it under
warranty.

This brings me to the other possibility: that the Icy Dock enclosure turns
out to be "healthy," and the Seagate drive has failed. I haven't called
Seagate, but, based on what I've read in the various forums, I get the
impression that it would be somewhat more difficult to get them to honor
their warranty. Beyond that, however, would be the need to send the drive to
them for examination/testing. This would present a problem for me, as I have
a lot of personal information stored in various, disparate folders on the
drive. For obvious security reasons, I'd therefore be extremely reluctant to
send the drive to them. So, I'd like to know:

1. Is there any way that I can gain access to the drive's files for the
purpose of deleting them. (My impression is "No, there isn't.")

2. If not, is there any way to non-destructively and securely erase the
entire drive prior to sending it to them?

3. More generally (and for future operations), is there a _convenient_ way
to _effectively_ password-protect (or apply some other, effective security
measure) a drive, so that it can be easily accessed by the user in normal
use but prevent anyone else from gaining access to the data stored on it?
(I'm aware of FileVault, but don't know how effective it is, how much of an
operational obstacle it creates for the user to use his/her computer once
applied, nor how practical it is in terms of the additional hard-drive space
required to implement it (viz., my Home folder is quite large, and if
FileVault requires additional space equivalent to the size of the Home
folder itself, that would have a significant drive-capacity impact).)




--
iMac (27", 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD) � OS X (10.6.3)

From: nospam on 15 Apr 2010 13:32
In article <C7ECC21A.5956F%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>,
Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> 1. Is there any way that I can gain access to the drive's files for the
> purpose of deleting them. (My impression is "No, there isn't.")

put it in a different enclosure. it's unlikely the drive is causing
problems on the firewire chain.

does it work if it's the only device on the chain?

> 2. If not, is there any way to non-destructively and securely erase the
> entire drive prior to sending it to them?

if you put it in a different enclosure you should be able to access it.

> 3. More generally (and for future operations), is there a _convenient_ way
> to _effectively_ password-protect (or apply some other, effective security
> measure) a drive, so that it can be easily accessed by the user in normal
> use but prevent anyone else from gaining access to the data stored on it?

encrypted enclosures or encrypted .dmg files.

> (I'm aware of FileVault, but don't know how effective it is, how much of an
> operational obstacle it creates for the user to use his/her computer once
> applied, nor how practical it is in terms of the additional hard-drive space
> required to implement it (viz., my Home folder is quite large, and if
> FileVault requires additional space equivalent to the size of the Home
> folder itself, that would have a significant drive-capacity impact).)

filevault is not a good solution for the reasons you cite. it also
means time machine won't work until you log out which means you don't
get hourly snapshots, or none at all if you don't log out.
From: Nick Naym on 15 Apr 2010 13:43
In article 150420101032216817%nospam(a)nospam.invalid, nospam at
nospam(a)nospam.invalid wrote on 4/15/10 1:32 PM:

> In article <C7ECC21A.5956F%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>,
> Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>> 1. Is there any way that I can gain access to the drive's files for the
>> purpose of deleting them. (My impression is "No, there isn't.")
>
> put it in a different enclosure.

I don't have one, nor access to one.


> it's unlikely the drive is causing
> problems on the firewire chain.
>

Really? Why? I mean, I spoke to Icy Dock, as well as LaCie (since the chain
contained LaCie drives, and the problem occurred after I inserted a second
LaCie in the chain), and neither of the techs could definitively point to
the drive nor the enclosure.


> does it work if it's the only device on the chain?
>

I explained that in my previous post: Nope.

>> 2. If not, is there any way to non-destructively and securely erase the
>> entire drive prior to sending it to them?
>
> if you put it in a different enclosure you should be able to access it.
>
>> 3. More generally (and for future operations), is there a _convenient_ way
>> to _effectively_ password-protect (or apply some other, effective security
>> measure) a drive, so that it can be easily accessed by the user in normal
>> use but prevent anyone else from gaining access to the data stored on it?
>
> encrypted enclosures

What are they?


> or encrypted .dmg files.
>

So, every time I want to use my iMac I'd need to mount and open an image
file?

>> (I'm aware of FileVault, but don't know how effective it is, how much of an
>> operational obstacle it creates for the user to use his/her computer once
>> applied, nor how practical it is in terms of the additional hard-drive space
>> required to implement it (viz., my Home folder is quite large, and if
>> FileVault requires additional space equivalent to the size of the Home
>> folder itself, that would have a significant drive-capacity impact).)
>
> filevault is not a good solution for the reasons you cite. it also
> means time machine won't work until you log out which means you don't
> get hourly snapshots, or none at all if you don't log out.

Well, that rules out FileVault.

--
iMac (27", 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD) � OS X (10.6.3)

From: nospam on 15 Apr 2010 13:54
In article <C7ECC879.59578%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>,
Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> >> 1. Is there any way that I can gain access to the drive's files for the
> >> purpose of deleting them. (My impression is "No, there isn't.")
> >
> > put it in a different enclosure.
>
> I don't have one, nor access to one.

buy one. even a cheap usb enclosure would be sufficient to access the
files, but if that works it means the drive isn't the problem so
there's no need to send the drive back to seagate.

> > it's unlikely the drive is causing
> > problems on the firewire chain.
>
> Really? Why? I mean, I spoke to Icy Dock, as well as LaCie (since the chain
> contained LaCie drives, and the problem occurred after I inserted a second
> LaCie in the chain), and neither of the techs could definitively point to
> the drive nor the enclosure.

because the drive is behind the firewire bridge. you could try a
different drive mechanism with the same bridge and see if there are
still problems.

> > encrypted enclosures
>
> What are they?

they are the same as a regular enclosure but you need to insert a
hardware key or punch in a pin code. without that, the drive cannot be
read. if you remove the drive and put it in a normal enclosure it will
not be readable either. of course, if you lose the key, you can't read
it either.

> > or encrypted .dmg files.
>
> So, every time I want to use my iMac I'd need to mount and open an image
> file?

right, but you only need to put the confidential files on it, not
necessarily everything.
From: Nick Naym on 15 Apr 2010 23:01
In article 150420101054517834%nospam(a)nospam.invalid, nospam at
nospam(a)nospam.invalid wrote on 4/15/10 1:54 PM:

> In article <C7ECC879.59578%nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid>,
> Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>>>> 1. Is there any way that I can gain access to the drive's files for the
>>>> purpose of deleting them. (My impression is "No, there isn't.")
>>>
>>> put it in a different enclosure.
>>
>> I don't have one, nor access to one.
>
> buy one. even a cheap usb enclosure would be sufficient to access the
> files, but if that works it means the drive isn't the problem so
> there's no need to send the drive back to seagate.
>
>>> it's unlikely the drive is causing
>>> problems on the firewire chain.
>>
>> Really? Why? I mean, I spoke to Icy Dock, as well as LaCie (since the chain
>> contained LaCie drives, and the problem occurred after I inserted a second
>> LaCie in the chain), and neither of the techs could definitively point to
>> the drive nor the enclosure.
>
> because the drive is behind the firewire bridge.

? I don't understand how that implies that the drive is "healthy."



> you could try a
> different drive mechanism with the same bridge and see if there are
> still problems.
>
>>> encrypted enclosures
>>
>> What are they?
>
> they are the same as a regular enclosure but you need to insert a
> hardware key or punch in a pin code. without that, the drive cannot be
> read. if you remove the drive and put it in a normal enclosure it will
> not be readable either. of course, if you lose the key, you can't read
> it either.
>
>>> or encrypted .dmg files.
>>
>> So, every time I want to use my iMac I'd need to mount and open an image
>> file?
>
> right, but you only need to put the confidential files on it, not
> necessarily everything.

--
iMac (27", 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD) � OS X (10.6.3)

 |  Next  |  Last
Pages: 1 2 3
Prev: Security update 2010-03 released
Next: How do I prevent the "Are you sure you want to open it?" message