Yes, you're right -- it takes quite some time to copy 8GB. And with that in mind, considering it was going so slowly before (through the hub), it was probably working then, too, but taking a day or two to do the file.
I did two successful complete erase, then copy (not smart) backups, then I reformatted the drive as two partitions (I only have an 80 GB drive in the mini) so I have a 100 and a 200, then did an erase then copy backup to the 100, and that went fine also. I've scheduled a smart backup for 5:30 AM every morning, and hopefully that'll be the end of my worries.
I thank you very much for your *wonderful* support. I'll be writing a review, and I will point you at it when it is up.