mounting USB disk question

R

rpm4fsu

Bit poster
I am running Parallels Build 3170 on a mac book pro. My installs and upgrades have been with out problems and it just works as advertised.

My question is more; am I doing this right.

I have a USB disk formatted in FAT32 which I can see on the Mac desktop.

I start up parallesl and it come up as expected and no errors.

To mount the USB drive I have to go to Devices/USB and click on "usb to ata/atapi bridge"

I get a Mac window that says "The device you removed was not properly put away. Data might have been lost......". If I click ok or just wait the message goes away and the disk is mounted and I can read/write from/to the disk.

To disconnect the disk I just go to Devices/USB and unclick "usb to ata/atapi bridge" and after a minute it will appear back on my Mac desktop.

1) Am I mounting the USB disk correctly? If no what do you suggest.

2) If I had multiple disk how would I be able to determine which disk goes with which "usb to ata/atapi bridge".


Thanks for your help.

Robert
 
Before you make Parallels control the USB device, you need to "Eject" it from OS X so you don't lose data. That's what that message is telling you in OS X. Unsafe ejections from any OS has the potential to corrupt your data.

Both Windows and OS X have features to let you safely eject or unmount devices before you turn them off or unplug them from that system. For more information you should read the help files regarding ejecting or mounting/unmounting USB devices, in each opertating system you use, so you can minimalize the chance of corrupted data on your devices.
 
I have some further questions on this.

My configuration:
MBP 15"/2GHz/CDuo/2GB RAM/160GBHDD
Bootcamp 1.1.2 - XP Pro VL - 768MB RAM/50GB HHD (Partition)

I use PDM to access my BootCamp partition. I have not installed any OS's directly with PDM. I have USB set to "Autoconnect" in PDM where as any device attached to the Mac are usable in PDM - theoretically :-)

Question:

1. Does the USB device you want to use in PDM have to be connected to the Mac before you start up PDM?

Situation:

If I have my external (windows formatted) HDD attached to my Mac before I start PDM, then I start PDM, then I get an error that there are more than one Windows partition. Then I have to eject the HDD to get PDM to start up. However, because the device was not installed in a USB port prior to me starting it, when I go to start it under Devices/USB, I get the error that it is already in use by another application. What am I doing wrong here? I have found that the only way to mount that external HDD is to eject it from the Mac (and leave it connected to the USB port), then start it in PDM. Is this the correct way to do all USB devices?


2. How to you EJECT an external BT device FIRST in order to use it in Parallels without getting the message that you removed a device without ejecting it?

Situation:

Because I could not get the BT to work (at the time) I went out and bought a D-Link 120 and tried to install it in the Parallels XP. Again, because the device was not installed in a USB port prior to me starting PDM, when I go to start it under Devices/USB, I get the error that it is already in use by another application. A USB BT device is different from an external HDD because it does not show up on the desktop of the Mac to be ejected. What do I do?
 
"1. Does the USB device you want to use in PDM have to be connected to the Mac before you start up PDM?"
===

No. In fact with any hard drives, they should be turned off before starting PDM. If you can't turn it off conveniently, you may be able to fix the error message about "in use" by opening Disk Utility in OS X and unmounting and/or ejecting any signs of the USB device.

I have seen others here with bluetooth problems like you are reporting,. I don't know if it helps, but just don't turn those devices on until you have your VM loaded.



"2. How to you EJECT an external BT device FIRST in order to use it in Parallels without getting the message that you removed a device without ejecting it?"
===

By turning it off? I don't know anything about bluetooth since I don't use it. But I would think turning it off would eject it from OS X. Once your VM is activated and booting, doesn't turning it on then work for you?



"Again, because the device was not installed in a USB port prior to me starting PDM, when I go to start it under Devices/USB, I get the error that it is already in use by another application. A USB BT device is different from an external HDD because it does not show up on the desktop of the Mac to be ejected. What do I do?["
===

If you have any ejectable devices hooked up and on, turn them off and then start Parallels. Then try to connect your bluetooth device. Does it work? Once the VM is booting, you should be able to turn on these devices, before the VM is fullly loaded, and Parallels will capture it so it does not get reprted in OS X.

I only experienced a problem with the "in use" error once, and I fixed it by going into Disk Utility and ejecting the USB device entry under which my external hard drive partitions would appear if they were turned on, which they weren't. And still, OS X had captured the device and would not let it go automatically. And so I had to eject it as well using Disk Utility.
 
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