Drobo Mini & SuperDuper
 

Hello,


I have created a special SuperDuper partition on my new Drobo Mini and performed an initial backup. However I now realize that I might not be able to boot from my Drobo Mini. I understand from previous posts that Thunderbolt will not work, and that USB only *might*. (These are the only two kinds of connectivity ports on a Drobo Mini.)

Option-rebooting my MBA with the Drobo already up and running fails to show the clone volume. Are there further steps I can take or is this a lost cause?


Thank you,
Eric

Thunderbolt can work if the Mac supports Thunderbolt, Eric.

So - does the partition show up as a bootable volume when you look in the Startup Disk Preference Pane?

Hi Dave,

I should have thought of checking that. Well, strangely enough, the SuperDuper Drobo partition does show up as a bootable volume in the System Preferences, but when I select it and restart the screen remains blank for a little while—as though it's searching for the partition—then the computer boots from the internal hard drive. I also tried option-rebooting and waiting for a full minute to see if it just takes a while to register the Drobo partition, no go.

Still stuck, then.

Eric

OK.

Power off your Mac. Disconnect the Drobo. Get the Mac to the Option+power on menu.

Once there, connect the Drobo by Thunderbolt and see if it shows up.

Always amazed how promptly you respond Dave.

Powered off my MBA.
Disconnected the Thunderbolt: the green lights go right off on the Drobo.
Option+Power On menu
Reconnected the Thunderbolt: the green lights come right back on.
The volume doesn't show up—I gave it two minutes this time.


Eric

Same thing happens if you do it with USB?

Problem solved. USB works. The set-up is ideal actually since I can back up faster on Thunderbolt from my main computer, and boot the clone from my back up computers that only have USB anyway.

Is it odd to you that Thunderbolt fails to "catch" on start-up? For some reason I thought I'd understood that from previous posts, that's moot to my immediate needs though. Just curious.


Very many thanks again Dave.
Eric

Yes, it's odd to me, but the Drobo mini *and* thunderbolt are still pretty green...

I'll bring this up with Drobo support and post back if I learn anything.


Eric

Update:

Drobo support is trying to figure this one out: so far they've had me update firmware on my Drobo Mini and verify/repair the SuperDuper partition. Since the firmware update, though, my 2012 MacBook Air no longer boots the clone off USB either. USB still works on my 2009 MacBook Pro and MacBook. Slightly ominous, but for my use this set-up is still acceptable.


Eric

Interesting, especially since USB has been pretty reliable across drives, given it's "simpler". Is the copy from the 2012 MBA? Because if it shows up in Option+boot, the issue may be an OS version that's not compatible with the new Air, as opposed to a firmware issue.

The SuperDuper copy was made a few days ago from scratch on a reformatted partition from the MBA 2012—I even "erased free space" for good measure.

The USB reboot problem on the MBA occurs on both ports (tested multiple times), and the same USB cable reboots successfully on the older computers. So it isn't a physical connectivity issue.


And I'm retesting every few days just to eliminate flukes. I'll update with any news.
Eric

FYI. I have a Drobo 5D. I have Time Machine backing up to a sparse bundle on the Drobo. When I'm booted to the recovery partition, the Drobo is not seen if I try to recover from Time Machine backup. It's just an interesting fact. I have not tried connecting the Drobo with USB to check that interface.

If I ever need to perform a full recovery (unlikely) I have a dedicated Time Machine volume to in addition to the one on Drobo. With a second Mac, I could also copy the sparse bundle from Drobo to another drive and use that to restore.

You may want to install Mountain Lion and SuperDuper! to a thumbdrive, as just-in-case boot and restore media.

Update: Drobo technical support has informed me of the following:

"At this time there is no booting off of the DroboMini. We are currently working on this but as of right now there is no booting off of the Drobo5D or the DroboMini."

Good thing to know if you are considering purchasing one of those.

As mentioned the problem occurs only on my mid-2012 MacBook Air (and on a friend's identical model). I *am* able to boot my SuperDuper Drobo partition via USB on two separate 2009 MacBooks. So at least I am covered in case of catastrophic failure.

FYI: Drobo technical support is hit-or-miss in my experience. They follow up on your queries very well, but are often uninformed about the latest issues with their own products. (Much like their Knowledge Base, woefully confusing at least for issues concerning my Drobo Mini.)