An Introduction: Deciphering Problems in an Increasingly Complex World
Like any aspiring computer techie, I eagerly look forward to learning of today’s latest and greatest gadgets, how each tiny component in a computer functions, but most importantly how to make it work for our good. For us, it’s easy to comprehend with our unrelenting interest leading the way — hear about a given product, research it all you can, and finally have a chance to use it. Maybe the drive will carry us to even improve the product. It’s an exciting three-step process. As governed by time, products become more and more complex and as a result, there is an increasing demand for knowledge and understanding of the product being used. Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves too much — not everyone is the prototypical budding neighborhood tech specialist. With products becoming more feature-filled, it is well to conceive that these products become more of an obstacle to use. For everyone, from users all the way to the manufacturers, it’s vital to keep in mind the key.
Simplicity.
When uttering that word in the context of computers and technology, perhaps one image comes to mind — one company, whose motto to "Think Different," ironically simplified their business approach and the products they release. For me (and certainly for many others, I hope), Apple Inc. came to mind. While their products do not boast the high-tech glowing case fans, or the ultra-modern look, they’ve kept it simple. And perhaps that’s what makes them so successful. Products can be feature-filled, but to consumers who may not have the aptitude or the extensive background as the makers might, simplicity is paramount.
Simplicity. Again: simplicity.
Problems with Complexities in a Simple Task
A couple of days ago, I was tasked with a short film project. After filming the conference, I was asked to edit, and prepare the product. Editing the film is a multi-faceted process. From a normal mini-DV camcorder, you must import it, line it up on the time progression, actually edit it, render, save, and convert the final product. So I imported it, opened up Apple’s Final Cut Pro, and started lining it up and editing the footage. About four minutes in, the system halts. All my files are saved, but the mouse that now resembles a colorful wheel (equivalent to the Windows’ sandglass timer) was stuck in place while focused in Final Cut. Using the Force-Quit command does not force it to quit. After rebooting the workstation, I consulted the system administrator, who faulted the crashes on the "aging" nature of the PowerMac dual-G5′s. Somehow, I didn’t buy that but then again, I’m not the expert. I worked for another hour. After I get on a roll and forget to save for over thirty minutes, the inevitable strikes home — the colorful wheel spun freely as I watched growingly irritated.
Fortunately, just then another "aging" PowerMac opened up. Since the previous user seemed to have no problem using the workstation for over two hours, I decide to hop on over. However, the footage was saved on the original computer’s local hard drive. Because of the way the computers were secured and the size of the file, I could not use file transfer over the internet. So naturally, the first instinct is to grab onto an external hard drive and transfer the files from one computer to another. That’s as easy. Right?
Not really. Because I lent my 80GB USB external hard drive out, my only option was two 160GB Firewire self-built hard drive, one of which emitted the clicking sound of hard drive death when powered up. I power the working hard drive up and connect it to the Firewire port. OS X picks up on it and it shows all the files saved on that hard drive. Great. So I tried to create a directory in the hard drive. There were no available options to do so. Weird. I tried dragging the 13 GB .fcp (Final Cut Pro) work directory onto the hard drive root. "Error – unable to write to hard drive."
My first instinct was to check file permission settings. Maybe the original owner, from whom I borrowed the drives, had strict permissions set to it. No dice. After fiddling around with it, I discovered that, like most hard drives formatted in Windows XP, the drive was formatted in NTFS. For those unfamiliar, NT OS was developed by Microsoft and its file system, NTFS, is used exclusively in Microsoft operating systems. NTFS was developed to succeed the cross-platform universal file system, FAT32. If the drive is not formatted in FAT32, it is natively impossible to edit files on a Mac.
A Simple Solution: Connect one to the Other
After fiddling around for a while, a thought came to mind. All this talk of getting around the NTFS-FAT32 barrier, all this thought going into forcing the system to read the hard drive — it’s too complicated. No sooner had the concept of the crossover cable come to mind — just connect the two workstations and drag and drop. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a crossover cable, but I did have another, much faster data transfer cable in hand.
IEEE 1394, AKA, Firewire.
Having done a bit of research, Mac OS X has a software component called Target Disc Mode built into their operating system. This essentially allows a master computer to read the subordinate computer as a mass storage drive. In short, all but the connection from the Firewire ends to the hard drive cease in the subordinate system. The steps were quite clear and I went through them step by step.
Save all the necessary documents, then shut down the subordinate/client workstation. Connect the Firewire cables, then boot up the client system. As the system boots up, hold down the ‘T‘ key until a screensaver-like display appears. After running through these moves unsuccessfully at first, I determined that the Firewire ports on the chassis must be used as opposed to a Firewire hub. Using the chassis Firewire port, the master computer recognized the two local hard drives as a "mass storage drive." I simply dragged and dropped the file I needed to transfer, a 13GB .fcp extension file. Because of the nature and architecture of the Firewire transfer, the files were transferred in well under thirty minutes.
Again, going back to the theme here — simplicity is key. I could have spent hours and a possible migraine finding a way to transfer the files using a storage media. Instead, the simplest solution was to simply connect the two computers using a simple cable. Don’t bother with the complexities involved with over-the-network file sharing. Just use a simple cable. It’s safe, it’s fast, and it’s easy.
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