Macpower & tytech Alumni Installation and operating instructions

User Manual

& Installation Guide

External Storage Enclosure for

2.5” Hard Drives

Alumni | Graduate

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS -1-

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION - 1 -

ICON KEY -1-

THE GRADUATE -1-

AVAILABLE INTERFACES -1-

FEATURES -2-

OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION (OVP) - 2-

LOW VOLTAGE DETECTION (LVD) - 2-

INVERSE-POLARITY PROTECTION -2-

AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF THE INTERFACE -2-

LED INDICATOR (DOUBLE COLORED LED) - 2-

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -3-

PC REQUIREMENTS -3-

MAC REQUIREMENTS -3-

PACKAGE CONTENTS -3-

CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLING THE HDD - 4 -

PREPARING THE ENCLOSURE -4-

HARD DRIVE ASSEMBLY -5-

CHAPTER 3 - SYSTEM SET UP - 6 -

CONNECTION TO YOUR COMPUTER -6-

BUS POWER OPERATION -6-

INSTALLATION ON A PC

(MICROSOFT WINDOWS) - 7-

WIN2000 OR WINXP WITH A USB OR FIREWIRE

CONNECTION -7-

WIN2000 OR WINXP WITH A SERIALATA

CONNECTION -7-

WIN98SE WITH A FIREWIRE CONNECTION -7-

WIN98/SE WITH A USB CONNECTION -7-

UNPLUG PROCEDURE -7-

INSTALLATION ON A MACINTOSH

(APPLE MAC OS) - 8-

MAC OS 9.X OR MAC OS 10.X WITH A FIREWIRE

OR USB CONNECTION -8-

MAC OS 10.2 OR 10.3 WITH A FIREWIRE 800 OR

USB 2.0 CONNECTION -8-

UNPLUG PROCEDURE -8-

PARTITIONING &FORMATTING -9-

PC RUNNING WIN98/SE OR WINME - 9-

PC RUNNING WIN2000 OR WINXP - 10 -

MAC OS - 11 -

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS -12 -

ABOUT THIS MANUAL -12 -

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Icon Key

Throughout this manual you will see icons on the left margin

that denote either Notes or Special Remarks as outlined below:

General Notes and Tips

Remarks for PC users and Microsoft Windows OS

Remarks for Mac users and Apple Macintosh OS

The Graduate

'Alumni Graduate', the new look in the aluminum enclosures

series for 2.5" hard drives. Slim, compact and versatile, this

unit fits in every pocket. Optional power adapter available for

non bus powered hosts and PCMCIAcards.

Product Dimensions: 12.5cm x 7.8cm x 1.8cm

4.92” x 3.07” x 0.71”

Available Interfaces

•Firewire 1394a

•Firewire 1394a & USB 2.0

•Firewire 1394a & Firewire 800 & USB 2.0

•Serial ATA & USB 2.0

If the red LED is

blinking and not ON

permanently, there

is no problem with

your unit. This only

indicates the spin

up of your drive or a

temporary spike or

slump in the power

consumption and

does not harm your

drive or device at all.

The product can be

used normally.

If you see a

permanent shining

green and red LED,

add/use a power

adapter for

additional power

supply and try again.

Features mentioned

in this manual may

vary between

different models.

Features

Over Voltage Protection (OVP) with a limit of 10% before shut

down (max 30V). Protection for device or Hard Drive damage,

caused by sudden voltage spikes in the power supply and

wrong or faulty power adapter.

Indication: Green LED off, Red LED on

Low Voltage Detection (LVD) indicating insufficient power

supply. Add a power adapter! Other possible causes are either

a sudden voltage slump in the power supply or a faulty power

adapter.

Indication: Green LED on, Red LED on

Inverse-Polarity Protection to prevent any damage to the

device or Hard Drive caused by using a wrong adapter.

Correct: internal+, external-

Automatic Detection of the Interface for Combo Interface

Units, which means that there is no mechanical switch required.

The first cable detached will be the one used by the system

until unplugged. If a second cable is plugged in, it will not affect

the system at all and can be used as soon as the main cable is

unplugged.

LED indicator (double colored LED)

Green LED Red LED

Status ON, working normal ON OFF

Status ON, low power (LVD) ON ON

Status ON, over voltage (OVP) OFF ON

Status OFF (or faulty PCB/LED) OFF OFF

* Green LED flickers on data access

USB driver for

Win98/SE only

available for the s2

and 1394a/USB2.0

version.

Mac OS 8.6 users

should use USB

extension 1.41 or

Firewire extension

2.6 and later, to be

able to use USB 1.1

or 1394a.

Package Content

may vary,

depending on

vendor & version.

System Requirements

PC Requirements

•Minimum Intel Processor II 350MHz, 64MB RAM

•USB 1.1 equipped PC; WinME, Win2000, WinXP

•USB 2.0 equipped PC; WinME, Win2000, WinXP

•1394a equipped PC; Win98SE, WinME, Win2000, WinXP

•1394b equipped PC; Win2000, WinXP

•Serial ATA equipped PC; Win2000, WinXP

Mac Requirements

•Minimum Apple G3 processor (G4 for 1394b), 64MB RAM

•USB 1.1 equipped Mac; Mac OS 9.1, 9.2, 10.1.5, 10.2, 10.3

•USB 2.0 equipped Mac; Mac OS 10.2, 10.3

•1394a equipped Mac; Mac OS 9.1, 9.2, 10.1.5, 10.2, 10.3

•1394b equipped Mac; Mac OS 10.2, 10.3

•Serial ATA drives not supported on Mac OS!

Package Contents

•Graduate

•Optional External Power Adapter

Input 100-240V, Output 5V/2A

•Carrying Case

•Interface Cable

•Screw Package and Screw Driver

•Driver CD

(s2 and 1394a/USB2.0 Graduate only)

Your unit might

come with an

installed hard drive.

Before opening

such an enclosure,

please read the

warranty and any

other notes from

your vendor

carefully before

doing so, as this

might void your

warranty.

Chapter 2 - Installing the HDD

Preparing the Enclosure

Remove the 2 screws for the back panel (not mounted if factory

new), remove the cover and pull out the bridge board.

The hard drive

jumper settings

should be master.

Be careful not to

damage any pins or

components.

Hard Drive Assembly

Connect the hard drive and mount the 4 screws on the back of

the bridge board. Slide it back into the enclosure but pay

special attention to the back of the board and do not use force.

Mount the 2 screws for the back panel and connect the

interface cable plus power adapter (if required).

4-pin Firewire ports,

Serial ATA and

PCMCIA cards are

non bus-powered!

You will have to use

an additional power

adapter!

If you buy a spare

power adapter for

your working place

or at home, make

sure the output and

polarity is identical

with the power

adapter supplied!

Most problems

occur due to driver

problems on the

Host Card side!

Chapter 3 - System Set Up

Connection to your Computer

A few tips on how to connect your external storage enclosure:

•Make sure your PCI Host Card is installed correctly

•Double check that the Host Card driver is up to date

•If required, update your Operating System or BIOS

•Only one interface at the time can be used

•Only one computer at the time can access the drive

•To use one drive on several computers, it can be shared

through one computer on the network (1394 network,

company network)

•Firewire can be daisy chained

•All devices in a daisy chain have to be switched on to

permit the hub/daisy chain function

•Do not cover the Enclosure and leave enough room around

it for the drive to cool down

•Do not expose the product to water or humid conditions

•If possible, arrange the cables so they do not cross each

other

•Always check for visible damage and defects of power and

interface cables before using it

•We recommend using the cables and adapter supplied with

your product

Bus Power Operation

Bus power is supported for devices with 6 and 9-pin Firewire

connectors, as well as USB. Your port on the host side has to

provide sufficient bus power to enable this function.

If the supplied bus power is limited or insufficient, an external

power adapter or additional USB/PS2 power cable is required.

To reduce the power consumption, you can use a shorter cable

(20-30cm) or choose a drive with lower RPM speed (4200RPM)

and lower power consumption (0.5A).

If the system

doesn’t recognize

the drive, turn on

the power first,

before connecting

the USB/Firewire

cable.

Win98 does not

support Firewire,

you need to

upgrade your OS to

Win98SE or higher.

The Graduate 800+

does not support

Win98/SE, you

need to upgrade

your OS to WinME

or higher.

For safe removal of

your drive and to

assure that no data

is lost, always

follow the unplug

procedure. If not, an

error message will

show up.

Installation on a PC (Microsoft Windows)

Win2000 or WinXP with a USB or Firewire connection:

•Turn on your Computer and start Windows

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•Let Windows search and install the driver automatically

•Open “My Computer” to see your external hard drive **

Win2000 or WinXP with a Serial ATA connection:

•Turn on your Computer and start Windows

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•Let Windows search and install the driver automatically

•Open “My Computer” to see your external hard drive **

Win98SE with a Firewire connection:

•Turn on your Computer and start Windows

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•Let Windows search and install the driver automatically

•Open “My Computer” to see your external hard drive **

Win98/SE with a USB connection:

•Turn on your Computer and start Windows

•Insert the driver CD into your CD-ROM

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•Follow the onscreen instructions and install the drivers

•Open “My Computer” to see your external hard drive **

Unplug Procedure:

•Click on the taskbar icon for external hardware

•Choose your external hard drive and confirm to remove it

** For factory new drives and formatting, see “Partitioning &

Formatting”

If the system

doesn’t recognize

the drive, turn on

the power first,

before connecting

the USB/Firewire

cable.

For Mac OS 8.6,

the USB extension

has to be at least

v1.41.

For Mac OS 8.6,

the Firewire

extension has to be

at least v2.6.

For save removal of

your drive and to

assure that no data

is lost, always

follow the unplug

procedure. If not, an

error message will

show up.

Installation on a Macintosh (Apple Mac OS)

Mac OS 9.x or Mac OS 10.x with a Firewire or USB

connection:

•Turn on your computer and start Mac OS

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•No driver installation required

•The external drive will mount and show up on your

desktop**

Mac OS 10.2 or 10.3 with a Firewire 800 or USB 2.0

connection:

•Turn on your computer and start Mac OS

•Connect the Graduate and turn it on

•No driver installation required

•The external drive will mount and show up on your

desktop**

Unplug Procedure:

•Drag the external hard drive icon into the trash bin

•Turn off your device

** For factory new drives and formatting, see “Partitioning &

Formatting”

You can choose to

create several

partitions but be

aware that if you

want to change this

at a later point, it’s

required to format

the drive again or

use 3rd party

software.

Win98/SE and

WinME do not

recognize NTFS

formatted drives, so

if you want to use

your drive on those

platforms, we

recommend you to

use FAT32 instead.

If you use this

device to backup

your data using a

3rd party software

running MS-DOS,

we recommend you

to format the drive

using FAT32.

Partitioning & Formatting

Be aware that this will destroy all your existing data on the drive,

so make sure you have a backup! This step is usually only

required the first time you install a factory new hard drive, if you

change the format or want to erase all data on your drive.

PC running Win98/SE or WinME:

MS-DOS command “fdisk” (press Enter to confirm)

•Type “fdisk” and press Enter

•Select ”Y” and press Enter

•Enter "5” to change the drive

•Select the drive you want to format

•Choose “1” and follow the onscreen instructions

Mac OS does not

recognize NTFS

formatted drives, to

use your device on

both platforms, we

recommend you

using FAT32.

If you use Win2000

or WinXP and

FAT32, the biggest

single partition you

can create will be

32GB. To create

larger partitions,

you need to use the

DOS command

under Win98SE or

WinME or change

to NTFS format.

If you can not see

the drive, make

sure the jumper

settings of your

hard drive are

correct, the drivers

are installed and the

power is turned on!

PC running Win2000 or WinXP:

Disk Management Program

•Right click on “My Computer” and choose “Manage”

•Select “Disk Management”

•Choose the drive you want to format and right click on it for

further commands (Choose New Partition)

•Follow the Partition Wizard

If you want to use

your drive on a PC

running Microsoft

Windows as well as

on your Mac, we

recommend you to

use a PC to format

the drive. Choose

FAT32 when

formatting and do

not change

anything on the

partition or format

on your Mac,

otherwise the PC

will not be able to

recognize the drive

anymore.

If you can not see

the drive, make

sure the jumper

settings of your

hard drive are

correct, there are

no extension

conflicts and the

power is turned on!

Mac OS:

Mac OS9.2 and earlier, does not support creating partitions on

an external drive. To do that, you would need to purchase

additional 3rd party software. Initializing is no problem on all

Operating Systems.

For Mac OS X, use the Disk Utility to format and create

partitions on your external disk.

•Select “Disk Utilities” in the utilities folder

•Choose your external drive and format it according to your

requirement

Please read your

warranty carefully,

as this may vary

between different

vendors!

Technical Questions:

For RMA and other questions, please contact your vendor or

check out their online support area!

About this Manual:

This manual covers all interfaces and combinations for the

Graduate Enclosure. Images and descriptions might therefore

slightly vary between this manual and the actual product you

have.

The information contained in this manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. Macpower Peripherals

Ltd. assumes no responsibility for any errors contained in this manual. Macpower Peripherals Ltd.

reserves the right to make changes in the specifications and/or design of the above mentioned product

without prior notice. The diagrams contained in this manual may also not fully represent the product that

you are using and are there for illustration purposes only. Macpower Peripherals Ltd. assumes no

responsibility for any differences between the product mentioned in this manual and the product you

may have.

Macpower & Tytech Alumni Installation and operating instructions