PRODUCT MANUAL G DOCK ev™ with Thunderbolt™ An expandable storage solution with two removable hard drives Welcome to Evolution Series g-technology.
G DOCK ev™ Table of Contents Table of Contents with Thunderbolt™ Welcome to Evolution Series Table of Contents Safety & General Use................................3 Safety Precautions.............................................4 Backup Your Data..............................................5 About Your Evolution Series....................6 Introduction........................................................7 What’s in the Box ..............................................8 System Requirements...........
G DOCK ev™ with Thunderbolt™ Safety & General Use • • Safety Precautions ..................................... p.4 Backup Your Data ..................................... p.
safety G DOCK ev™ Safety & General Use with Thunderbolt™ Safety Precautions G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt’s warranty may be void as a result of the failure to respect the precautions listed here. If you detect a problem with your drive, please contact our Technical Support department. If the product is returned with damage caused by improper handling, the warranty will be void and liability will rest with the user. Please read our Limited Warranty.
backup G DOCK ev™ Safety & General Use with Thunderbolt™ Backup Your Data The disk drives included with your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt (G-DOCK ev TB) device are delicate electronic instruments and are susceptible to damage due to excessive physical shock. Under no circumstances will G-Technology be held liable for the recovery or restoration of lost data. Any loss, corruption or destruction of data while using a G-Technology drive is the sole responsibility of the user.
About Your Evolution Series Introduction .................................................... p.7 • What’s in the Box ......................................... p.8 • System Requirements ................................ p.
introduction G DOCK ev™ About Your Evolution Series with Thunderbolt™ Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Evolution Series with Thunderbolt from G-Technology: A Thunderbolt storage solution consisting of a family of docking stations with interchangeable hard drive modules. The Evolution Series lets you capture, transfer, edit and distribute media files all with a single storage system.
in box G DOCK ev™ About Your Evolution Series with Thunderbolt™ What’s in the Box The following items are included in the box: • (1) G-DOCK ev storage solution with Thunderbolt connectivity • (2) G-DRIVE ev USB 3.0 hard drives • (2) USB 3.0 cables (compatible with USB 2.0) • (1) Thunderbolt cable • Power cord • AC power adapter • Quick Start Guide • 3 Year Limited Warranty If any items are missing, please contact G-Technology at www.g-technology.
G DOCK ev™ with Thunderbolt™ Overview of G-DOCK ev Storage System About G-DOCK ev Storage System .... p.10 • Overview of G-DOCK ev ......................... p.11 • G-DOCK ev Indicator LEDs ..................... p.
about gdock G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ About the G-DOCK ev Storage System G-DOCK ev TB storage solution is a two bay, swappable drive system designed to optimize the digital content workflow. It is RAID configurable and has a stylish aluminum design. The dual port dock features a Thunderbolt interface for fast data transfer of up to 10Gb/s. Out of the box, the dock has up to 2TB of configurable storage capacity.
overview gdock G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ Diagram of G-DOCK ev TB The images below highlight some of the features of your G-DOCK ev TB. There are two Dock Indicator LEDs on the front of the unit that will indicate when a RAID configuration needs attention or a drive is “Safe to Remove.” Read more in G-DOCK ev Indicator LEDs. On the rear of the unit is a Kensington™ Security Slot, two high speed Thunderbolt Ports, DC Power Port and a Soft-touch On/Off Switch.
gdock leds G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ G-DOCK ev Indicator LEDs There are two Dock Indicator LEDs on the front of the G-DOCK ev unit, located next to each drive bay. There are also Activity Lights on the G-DRIVE ev hard drives. All of these lights give visual indications about how the Evolution Series is performing. The G-Technology Assistant is needed to activate the G-DOCK Indicator LEDs. Learn more in G-Technology Assistant Utility.
raid led G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ RAID Error or Degradation If you have chosen to configure the G-DOCK ev into a RAID configuration, and there is a RAID error or a RAID slice is missing, a red light will come on to indicate an issue with the RAID configuration. If you have a RAID 1 configuration, and a G-DRIVE ev hard drive is ejected during data transfer, the Dock Indicator LED on that bay will glow orange to indicate that the RAID set is in a degraded state.
Overview of G-DRIVE ev About G-DRIVE ev Drives ....................... p.15 • G-DRIVE ev Activity Lights ..................... p.
about gdrive G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DRIVE ev with Thunderbolt™ About G-DRIVE ev The Evolution Series has a family of hard drives that operate as standalone devices or as modules for use in docking stations. Each G-DRIVE ev hard drive is enclosed in a stylish aluminum case. There is an Activity Light on the front of the ev Series hard drives, and a SATA Port and USB 3.0 Port on the back.
G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DRIVE ev with Thunderbolt™ About G-DRIVE ev Part of the Evolution Series, G-DRIVE ev is a flexible, rugged* USB 3.0 storage drive. It has a transfer rate of up to 136MB/s. G-DRIVE ev has a compact design with dual interfaces: USB 3.0 for use as a stand-alone drive, and a SATA connector for use with G-DOCK ev storage solutions. G-DRIVE ev is designed to meet the storage needs of the creative professional.
gdrive leds G DOCK ev™ Overview of G-DRIVE ev with Thunderbolt™ G-DRIVE ev Activity Lights There is an Activity Light on the front of each G-DRIVE ev drive. There are also Indicator LEDs on the G-DOCK ev unit. All of these lights give visual indications about how the Evolution Series is performing. Powering On When G-DOCK ev powers on, if a hard drive is already inserted, its Activity Light will flash briefly to let you know it is being accessed.
Getting Started Unpack and Setup .................................... p.19 • Power On the System ............................... p.20 • Disconnect the Dock .............................. p.
gdock setup G DOCK ev™ Getting Started with Thunderbolt™ Unpack and Setup The Evolution Series is easy to set up and install. This section explains how to unpack the G-DOCK ev unit, prepare the G-DRIVE ev hard drive, insert the ev hard drives, and power on the unit. Unpack the Box When you open the Evolution Series box, resting on top of the package, you will see a Thunderbolt cable, two USB 3.0 cables, power adapter and power cord.
gdock power G DOCK ev™ Getting Started with Thunderbolt™ Power On the System Before powering on G-DOCK ev, you will want to plug in the cables and insert the G-DRIVE ev hard drive modules into the two bays. It is important to follow these steps in the following order. Plug in Power Cord Connect the power adapter to the unit, and plug the other end into a surge protector or wall outlet. Attach the Thunderbolt cable G-DOCK ev attaches to your system via a Thunderbolt interface and cable.
G DOCK ev™ Getting Started with Thunderbolt™ Insert the Hard Drives You can insert two G-DRIVE ev hard drive modules into G-DOCK ev. To insert a drive, simply slide it into one of the dock bays. The Eject button beside each bay is recessed when there is no drive module inside. Once you insert a hard drive module, the Eject button pops out to indicate that the drive has been inserted and is locked. Turn On G-DOCK ev Once the hard drive modules are inserted, it is safe to power on G-DOCK ev.
disconnect G DOCK ev™ Getting Started with Thunderbolt™ Disconnect the Dock A great feature of Thunderbolt technology and G-DOCK ev is the ability to connect and disconnect the system while your computer is running. To prevent drive failures and/or data loss, it is important to follow the steps below when disconnecting or ‘unmounting’ the drive from your computer. 1.
. G DOCK ev™ with Thunderbolt™ Using Your G-DOCK ev G-Technology Assistant Utility .............. • G-Technology Assistant Menu .............. • G-Technology Assistant Notifications. • Use with Time Machine .......................... • p.24 p.25 p.27 p.
assist G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ G-Technology Assistant Utility To enhance your experience with G-DOCK ev and the Evolution Series, we have developed the G-Technology Assistant utility. The utility has two functions. One is to enable the Dock LEDs. The other is to provide notifications as you use the Evolution Series. The G-Technology Assistant is available for download from the G-Technology website at www.g-technology.com/support/.
assist menu G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ G-Technology Assistant Menu There are helpful menu items in the G-Technology Assistant utility. Once the G-Technology Assistant has been successfully installed, the icon will appear in your Menu Bar. By selecting the “G” icon, the G-Technology Assistant menu will appear. Unmount All Volumes: Unmounts G-Technology drives attached to the system. You will need to confirm your selection prior to unmounting the drives.
G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ Support: Links to the Support Section on the G-Technology website., www. g-technology.com/support. Preferences: Provides a variety of settings to customize your experience with G-Technology Assistant. Update is based on the G-Technology Assistant utility version. Quit: Quits the G-Technology Assistant utility. You can relaunch it from the Applications folder or by restarting your system. p.
assist notify G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ G-Technology Assistant Notifications The G-Technology Assistant uses the Mac OS Notifications feature to provide visual notifications and updates to you. Here are examples of these notifications. It is safe to remove an ev drive. An ev drive has been inserted. G-Technology Assistant also has menu items that match the Indicator LEDs of G-DOCK ev. Ev modules are “Safe to Eject” – mimics the green Dock LEDs.
time machine G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ Use with Time Machine™ The Evolution Series works perfectly and easily with Time Machine. Time Machine is an application that ships with your Mac and provides automatic backup for your files. The following steps will quickly set up G-DOCK ev with Time Machine. NOTE: G-DOCK ev must have G-DRIVE ev drives inserted to work with Time Machine. 1.
G DOCK ev™ Using Your G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt™ 3. In the dialog box that appears, select the G-DOCK ev. Click the Use Disk button. 4. Make sure the Time Machine switch is set to ON. You can set its options by clicking the Options button. Do this to choose volumes, folders or files you do NOT want to backup. G-DOCK ev will now back up your important files automatically with Time Machine. It’s that easy! p.
Configuring with Disk Utility Supported Media Configurations ...... p.31 • Set Up as JBOD .......................................... p.31 • About RAID Sets ......................................... p31 • Set Up in RAID 0 Mode ........................... p.32 • Delete RAID 0 Configuration ............... p.35 • Set Up in RAID 1 Mode ........................... p.36 • Delete RAID 1 Configuration ................ p.
raid configure G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ Supported Media Configurations The Evolution Series G-DOCK ev is user configurable and can be used in: • JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Drives) configuration, or • RAID 0 (Performance) stripped across two G-DRIVE ev Hard drives, or • RAID 1 (Protected) in which data is mirrored from one drive to the other. These configurations are initiated and managed by utilizing the Mac OS Disk Utility.
raid 0 setup G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ Set Up in RAID 0 Mode If you need faster disk access, larger capacity, or have more than one disk, you can create a striped RAID set, also called “RAID 0.” A striped RAID set is especially useful for large files, such as digital video and databases. To configure G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt into RAID 0 (Performance) mode, you need to launch the Mac OS Disk Utility found in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. 1.
G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ 3. Next you will need to “drag” the ev hard drive modules that you would like to include in the RAID set. Simply drag and drop the drives into the selection pane. 4. You are now ready to create your striped RAID set. Click the Create button and the system will begin to build the RAID set. 5. The RAID configuration process will delete all of the data on the selected disks. You will need to confirm the process before the RAID set is created.
G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ 7. The RAID configuration process is complete. You should now find a volume on your system with a RAID Set Name that you created. p.
raid 0 delete G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ Delete RAID 0 Configuration The RAID deletion process will remove the RAID 0 set and delete all of the data on the selected disks. To delete the RAID set, select it in the Disk Utility window, then click the Delete button. You will be asked to confirm the process before the RAID set is deleted. Once completed, you can reformat the drives as needed. p.
raid 1 setup G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ Set Up in RAID 1 Mode A mirrored RAID set, also called “RAID 1”, can help protect your data against disk failure. Your data is written to two or more disks at once. If one of the disks fails or is disconnected, your Mac can still access the data from the other disk(s). If you reconnect a disk you disconnected, the RAID set can rebuild it in the background so that it contains the latest data.
G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ 3. Next you will need to “drag” the ev hard drive modules that you would like to include in the RAID set. Simply drag and drop the drives into the selection pane. 4. You are now ready to create your mirrored RAID set. Click the Create button and the system will begin to build the RAID set. 5. The RAID configuration process will delete all of the data on the selected disks. You will need to confirm the process before the RAID set is created.
G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ 7. The RAID configuration process is complete. You should now find a volume on your system with a RAID Set Name that you created. p.
raid 1 delete G DOCK ev™ Configuring with Disk Utility with Thunderbolt™ Delete RAID 1 Configuration The RAID deletion process will remove the RAID 1 set and delete all of the data on the selected disks. To delete the RAID set, select it in the Disk Utility window, then click the Delete button. You will be asked to confirm the process before the RAID set is deleted. Once completed, you can reformat the drives as needed. p.
Maintenance for Your Drive Initialize Drive for Mac ............................ p.41 • Restore the Drive Icon ............................ p.44 • Reformat with Partitions ........................ p.
initialize G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ Initialize Drive for Mac G-DOCK ev and the ev Series hard drive modules were factory-formatted or ‘initialized’ for Mac OS. You can reinitialize if you would like to quickly erase the contents of the drive. Here are the steps. 1. First, open the Disk Utility program. This application is located on your hard drive under Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. The window below will appear.
format options G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ 4. Choose the Format option that you prefer. • Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Use this format if you intend to use the drive for Time Machine or to create a separate bootable installation of OS. • Mac OS Extended: Use this format for best performance and media storage. To select, click the Format pop-up and its option to Mac OS Extended. 5. Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window.
G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ WARNING: THIS NEXT STEP WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE. 6. Click the Erase button to continue. A progress bar in the lower right corner of the window will show the progress of the disk’s reformatting. 7. After the drive is reinitialized, you should automatically see the Time Machine dialog box. • Click the Use as Backup Disk button if you want to use the drive with Time Machine.
restore G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ Restore the Dock Icon If the G-DRIVE ev icon was erased during the configuration process (see the previous section), you can restore the icon with the following easy steps. NOTE: This process is not required for the operation of the G-DOCK ev or the G-DRIVE ev hard drive modules. However, it will make your drive’s appearance on the computer desktop look nicer and more accurate. 1. To get the G-Technology icon package, go to www.
G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ 4. Select the default G-DOCK ev or G-DRIVE ev icon on your desktop and press Command+I. This opens the Get Info window. (below left) 5. Select the default icon in the Get Info window. (below left) 6. Press Command+V to paste the custom G-DOCK ev or G-DRIVE ev hard drive module icon into the Get Info window. (below right) The icon for your DOCK ev or G-DRIVE ev has been restored and you can close the Get Info window.
partitions G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ Reformat with Partitions ‘Partitioning’ a hard drive is the process of dividing a hard drive into separate, discrete sections called ‘volumes’. Each volume works like a separate disk. You can create up to 16 different partitions on a hard drive in OS and each partition can be a different size and format. With hard drives getting bigger, it is useful to partition your hard drive so sections of its space can be used for different purposes.
G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ 2. Select the FireWire or USB icon – not the G-DRIVE ev drive icon – by clicking it in the left-side column. 3. Click on the Partition button in the main window. 4. Select the number of partitions you would like from the Volume Scheme menu. Below, we have selected ‘2 Partitions’ to create two partitions. p.
G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ 5. Click on the first partition in the Volume Scheme area. Your partition will be highlighted by a blue bounding box. • In the Name field, type a name for the partition. • From the Format menu, choose your desired disk format. If you will use your drive primarily on Mac OS, it is recommended to use Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). For info about formats, go here. • In the Size field, type in a size for the partition.
G DOCK ev™ Maintenance for Your Drive with Thunderbolt™ 8. Click on the Partition button to continue. A progress bar in the lower right corner of the window will show you the progress of the disk’s reformatting. 9. When partitioning is complete, the multiple partitions will be displayed in the lefthand panel of Disk Utility. (below left) 10. Quit the Disk Utility program. After reinitializing the drive, the custom icon for the G-Technology drive has been erased.
Support & Warranty • • • Technical Support ................................... p.51 Limited Warranty .................................... p.52 Copyright ................................................... p.
support G DOCK ev™ Support & Warranty with Thunderbolt™ Technical Support Thank you for purchasing the Evolution Series with Thunderbolt. If you have any comments or questions about this manual or the product, please let us know! G-Technology appreciates and values its customers, striving to give you the finest service and support. If you encounter any difficulties while installing or using the Evolution Series, please contact G-Technology Technical Support at: www.g-technology.
warranty G DOCK ev™ Support & Warranty with Thunderbolt™ Limited Warranty HGST, a Western Digital Company (“HGST”) Including G-Technology for External Hard Disk Drives What does this limited warranty cover? This Limited Warranty applies to new HGST products purchased from an authorized HGST dealer by the original purchaser for normal use and not for resale. HGST warrants that a covered product is free from defects in materials and workmanship, with the exceptions stated below.
G DOCK ev™ Support & Warranty with Thunderbolt™ What must you do? If you are having trouble with a product, before seeking limited warranty service, first follow the troubleshooting procedures that HGST or your reseller provides. To obtain limited warranty service, you must first obtain a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) and ship-to address by contacting G-Technology at http://www.g-technology.com/support. Please follow the instructions found on the website.
copyright G DOCK ev™ Support & Warranty with Thunderbolt™ CAPACITY DEFINITION AND DISCLAIMER For G-Technology products 1TB or greater: “One gigabyte (GB) is equal to one billion bytes and one terabyte (TB) equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes).
