WiebeTech DesktopGB+ User manual

D e s k t o p G B + U s e r M a n u a l - 1 -
DesktopGB+
User Manual
Revised July 2, 2007
Thanks for purchasing DesktopGB+!
1) SOFTWARE DRIVERS.
FIREWIRE USAGE:
•FireWire usage with Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.1, OS9.2, or Mac OSX. You do
not need to install any drivers.
•FireWire usage with Mac OS 8.6 through Mac OS 9.0.4. Third party FireWire drivers are
available from InTech, FWB, Charismac and other companies.
USB USAGE:
•USB 1.1 usage with Windows 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS 9.2 or Mac OSX. You do not
need to install any drivers from the CD.
•USB 1.1 usage with Windows 98SE, ME. You will need to install drivers from the CD.
•USB usage with Mac OS 8.6 through Mac OS 9.0.4. Your machine may have a compatible
driver already installed. If your drive is recognized by your computer and functions properly, do not
install any drivers. If your drive is not recognized by your computer, you will need to install the
appropriate driver from the CD.
•USB 2.0 usage. The USB 1.1 guidelines apply; you will also need to attach to a USB2.0 host port
AND install USB 2.0 host controller drivers, which are provided by the host controller vendor. As of
this date (May, 2002) these are rare. OrangeMicro sells a USB2.0 compatible host controller for
the Mac. Adaptec and other vendors sell Windows compatible USB2.0 host controllers.
2) DRIVE FORMATTING. Our drives are shipped preformatted with FAT-32 for compatibility reasons.
However, reformatting a drive is occasionally necessary. Formatting is also required for new drives installed
in the enclosure by the user. The following rules apply for unformatted drives:
•WiebeTech installed drives are preformatted with DOS. DOS is readable by virtually all
operating systems, including Mac OS 9 and X, and all recent versions of Windows (98SE, ME, 2K,
XP). (DOS is called FAT32 on Windows). All you need to do is power the unit up and plug it in via
FireWire or USB. Win98SE and WinME will require that the disk drive be checked as “removable”
before it will be seen on the desktop. This is done by navigating to the disk drives settings window
in the device manager. See below for instructions.
•Macintosh usage under OS 8.6 – OS 9.2.2. When an unformatted drive is attached to either a
FireWire or USB port on the Mac, the Mac OS will ask you if you want to format the drive. Respond
by supplying a volume name and by selecting the formatting methodology. HFS+ (Macintosh
Extended) will provide the highest possible performance on the Mac; DOS format will provide cross
platform compatibility. Warning: the Mac OS occasionally will not reliably place a DOS format onto
the disk drive, especially for capacities of 80GB and higher. This is determined by observing the
indicated capacity after the format is complete. A reformat utility is available from the Mac OS
under “Special Erase Disk”. This allows reformatting of the drive.
•Macintosh usage under OS X. OS X will also ask to format the unformatted drive when it is first
attached to the computer. OS X also includes a disk utility appropriately entitled: “Disk Utility”.
This utility has several different features, including a drive integrity tester, a formatter and a drive
erase menu. As of this date (April, 2003) OSX does not mount PC formatted drives over 127GB
•Warning: OS X has occasionally shown extremely slow mount and access times for FireWire
drives which are formatted with DOS format. If this happens to you, you may wish to reformat the
drive to HFS+. Alternatively, contact WiebeTech for technical support.

WiebeTech LLC
D e s k t o p G B + U s e r M a n u a l - 2 -
•Windows 98SE, ME. Windows will find and load the default driver automatically. Upon first
access to the drive, Windows will ask to format the drive. You may need to check the “removable
drive” in the disk drive settings in order to allow Windows to mount the drive on the desktop in
Win98SE and WinME. This checkbox is found in the device manager. (Right Click on My
ComputerLeft Click on PropertiesLeft Click on Disk ManagerClick on Disk DrivesClick on
your new driveClick on SettingsCheck removableClosereboot when instructed.)
•Windows 2000. A similar process is necessary for win2K, if the drive is unformatted. Right Click
on My ComputerLeft Click on ManageLeft Click on Disk Management. The drive should now
appear in a list on the right hand side of the window. If a red bar circle appears, Right Click on it
and select write a signature. Then right click on the “unallocated” box and create a partition.
•Windows XP. If the drive is already formatted, it will automatically be available under “My
Computer” in XP. In order to format an unformatted drive under XP, you will need to be logged in
as administrator to your computer. The FireWire drive needs to be powered up and attached to
your computer. The task bar will show the presence of the FireWire drive through a small green
arrow remove icon in the lower right hand portion of your screen. Once these requirements are
met, you are ready to format the drive, as follows: Click START. Click CONTROL PANEL.
Click PERFORMANCE AND MAINTENANCE. Click ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS. Double
Click COMPUTER MANAGEMENT. Click DISK MANAGEMENT. If your new disk is un-
initialized, it will appear as red circle bar within the list of disk drives. Right click on the red circle
bar and select INITIALIZE DISK. Initialization just takes a few seconds. Once your disk has
been initialized, it will appear as “Unallocated” within the drive descriptor list. Right click over the
box that says “Unallocated” and select NEW PARTITION. Follow the steps which Windows
provides for creating a new partition. Select either FAT32 or NTFS format at the appropriate time.
FAT32 is appropriate for exchange with other Windows computers and with Macs. NTFS is
appropriate if you will use the disk drive only with Win2K and WinXP systems. Select the volume
label of your choice. Choose QUICK FORMAT if you are in a hurry. Allow the drive to finish
formatting. Click COMPUTER MANAGEMENT closed (red X). Click ADMINISTRATIVE
TOOLS closed. Your new drive will now be available for use. It will appear under MY
COMPUTER, under sub heading of HARD DISK DRIVES. It may be accessed like any other drive.
3) MACINTOSH DRIVE USE – GAINING HIGHER PERFORMANCE. If you plan to use
the drive exclusively on a Macintosh, you may wish to reformat it to HFS or HFS+. PERFORMANCE OF
THE DRIVE WILL BE FASTER USING HFS+ instead of DOS format. WiebeTech strongly recommends
reformatting the drive using the “Partition” tab of the disk utility in OSX.
4) FIREWIRE BOOTING (MAC). Many Apple users want to know if FireWire drives are bootable.
The answer is yes on most Macs. But, there are exceptions. In particular, Blue and White G3 machines
and also the certain early G4 machines are not FireWire bootable. Other machines may require a
ROM/BIOS update. Apple’s knowledge base on their website offers definitive information. Your Apple
computer may require such an update; check their website at www.apple.com/firewire.
FIREWIRE BOOTING (PC). Windows XP claims to support this feature. An additional
requirement is that the computer manufacturer (for instance, Dell or Compaq) must provide BIOS level
support for FireWire booting. Please contact WiebeTech if you are able to FireWire boot your drive on a PC;
we’d like to know more.
5) DRIVE INSTALLATION. For users who need to install a 3.5 inch hard drive inside DesktopGB+.
•Remove the two screws from the rear end of the unit.
•Slide off the metal enclosure lid.
•Drive must be jumpered as a Master (or in certain cases, Cable Select). Consult the
instructions for your drive. DesktopGB+ will not read from drives configured as Slave. Some drives
have two Master settings, one with slave present and one with no Slave present. Try the “Master
with NO Slave Present” setting first. Certain drives, especially Western Digital, may require the
drive to be jumpered to “Cable Select” when the “Master” setting does not work. Western Digital
ships their drives jumpered in this manner.
•The 3.5 inch hard drive is oriented inside the case with the connectors on the bottom.
•Connect the hard drive to the ribbon cable. Ensure that the ribbon cable is firmly seated.
•Connect the hard drive to the four conductor power cable. This connector can be very “stiff” the
first time it is attached. Make sure the power connector is firmly seated.
•Carefully seat the hard drive inside the case and attach with four screws from the bottom.

WiebeTech LLC
D e s k t o p G B + U s e r M a n u a l - 3 -
•Replace the metal enclosure body, sliding it back in place. Adjust the data cable and power cable
as necessary.
•Replace the two screws on the read end of the drive.
•Place DesktopGB+ in its vertical mounting stand (or lay flat on your desk utilizing the rubber feet
which are supplied with your unit), attach the DC power plug (ensure it is in the center, off
position), and attach the FireWire cable to your favorite computer.
•Your drive is ready to use.
6) FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT.“This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired
operation.”
Many FireWire cables are poorly shielded and as a result are very powerful emitters of Radio Frequency
Interference (RFI). In the event that you experience Radio Frequency Interference, you may take the
following steps to resolve the problem:
•Use a FireWire cable with RFI reducing ferrites on each end.
•Use a power supply with an RFI reducing ferrite approximately 5 inches from the
DC plug.
Emission ferrites are available from Radio Shack, with a part number of 273-105.
For technical support please contact [e-mail]
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 6
Step 5
Step 4