External Drives:Is it possible to I.D drive manufacturer?

[jmlachance]

There's been some posts/conversations recently about G-Tech, LaCie and other ext drives.
Is it possible to tell which brand of drive is in the enclosure without opening it?
I tried with Disk Utility and System Preferences and although it lists a lot of specs, it doesn't give the manufacturer of the drive. Maybe there's an app for that?

[SINC]

Hmm, that is odd. Disk Utility on my MBP running Mountain Lion certainly does show the manufacturer. Note it details my OWC SSD top left and below and highlighted is my 'Verbatim' brand external with a Samsung HD within the enclosure. I don't understand why your version of Disk Utility does not give you the same info. Have you checked the 'Show Details' box, below centre left?

[John Clay]

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SINC
	Hmm, that is odd. Disk Utility on my MBP running Mountain Lion certainly does show the manufacturer. Note it details my OWC SSD top left and below and highlighted is my 'Verbatim' brand external with a Samsung HD within the enclosure. I don't understand why your version of Disk Utility does not give you the same info. Have you checked the 'Show Details' box, below centre left?

It has nothing to do with the version of Disk Utility, or the "Show Details" button.

Different chipsets allow you to program differing information, so the manufacturer can control what is shown to the end user. Some don't care, some rebrand with their own info (LaCie, for example).

To answer the OP's question, there is no way to find out the manufacturer of a drive if it doesn't appear in Disk Utility or System Profiler, short of taking it apart. You could search around online, but the internal drives may differ between production lots, making any information you find online of limited usefulness.

[IllusionX]

my lacie porsche 2.5" came with seagate drive.
my lacie neil poulton 3.5" came with a hitachi drive.

both of them show the model number in disk utility..

[jmlachance]

	Quote:			Originally Posted by IllusionX
	my lacie porsche 2.5" came with seagate drive. my lacie neil poulton 3.5" came with a hitachi drive. both of them show the model number in disk utility..

Interesting..
I have 3 LaCie disk but in Disk Utility> Information, all I get get is: Generic.

Does it tell you the manufacturer or just a model #?

[IllusionX]

does this answer your question?

i guess it depends on the lacie drive, as they would use different chip in different drives..