Copying at 20Gb of files takes 8hrs - is this normal?

I just hooked up an external HDD to my iMac G4 800Mhz's USB port. It takes about 8hrs to have 20Gb of data copied over. Just like to know if this speed is normal. Thanks!

Could be since your USB is only version 1 which is 12mbps max which is not going to be achieved. It will actually be moving at a lower speed. You'd be better of transferring via ethernet at. Firewire would be better for the external drive. It's 400mbps.

ed724

ed724 said:

Could be since your USB is only version 1 which is 12mbps max which is not going to be achieved. It will actually be moving at a lower speed. You'd be better of transferring via ethernet at. Firewire would be better for the external drive. It's 400mbps.

ed724

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Thanks, ed724.
My external HDD supports firewire too but I can't get it connected via firewire. Nothing happens when I plug it in.

Yes, when using USB this is normal...as I too have the 800Mhz iMac (sigh)

As far as getting your Firewire to work have you tried connecting everything with the drive off, and then turning it on?

damontgo said:

Yes, when using USB this is normal...as I too have the 800Mhz iMac (sigh)

As far as getting your Firewire to work have you tried connecting everything with the drive off, and then turning it on?

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Hi Damontgo, thanks! For my Firewire, yes, I have tried the following:-
1) Plug-in with power off and then power up.
2) Plug-in with power on.
3) Plug-in with iMac off, then power up iMac.

nothing works. There is this '1394a' indicated at the firewire ports. Could this be a different version of firewire that the iMac cannot support? Thanks again.