iPad Swapping To New External Hard Drive

[Fatyank]

I am currently using a WD 500gb external hard drive that I’ve had for about 8 years. I want to move up to a 2TB drive and have a few in mind but I have a few questions. As a side note I do not own a laptop/desktop of any kind. My devices are a iPad Pro 12.9 3rd gen and an iPhone 7Plus. Both are running the latest iOS 13.
1. What is the difference between solid state and non solid state drives?
2. Will I have to format a new drive so it can be read by my iPad? If so how do I do this without a desktop/laptop?
3. I want to transfer/copy all my files/photos etc from the old drive to the new one. Will I be able to copy to my IPad then back to the new drive?
4. My iPad reads my old drive and I have cloud backup for everything but I want a second backup. How would I do that after the initial copying of my old files?
One more question. What is the proper way to unmount an external drive from the iPad?

 

[Zdigital2015]

I am currently using a WD 500gb external hard drive that I’ve had for about 8 years. I want to move up to a 2TB drive and have a few in mind but I have a few questions. As a side note I do not own a laptop/desktop of any kind. My devices are a iPad Pro 12.9 3rd gen and an iPhone 7Plus. Both are running the latest iOS 13.
1. What is the difference between solid state and non solid state drives?
2. Will I have to format a new drive so it can be read by my iPad? If so how do I do this without a desktop/laptop?
3. I want to transfer/copy all my files/photos etc from the old drive to the new one. Will I be able to copy to my IPad then back to the new drive?
4. My iPad reads my old drive and I have cloud backup for everything but I want a second backup. How would I do that after the initial copying of my old files?
One more question. What is the proper way to unmount an external drive from the iPad?

1. Solid state is much faster and will last longer if you use an external drive frequently. If it will not be hooked up frequently, then a mechanical HDD may work fine. Your iPad Pro supports very fast transfers, so you will want an SSD for fast data transfers. I would buy one 2TB HDD and one 2TB SSD.
2. iPadOS 13 supports FAT, exFAT, HFS+ and even APFS, I believe. Most drives purchased at retail are formatted with exFAT. You should not need to reformat the drive at all. In iOS, there is not way to reformat a drive, regardless.
3. You may be able to copy from one drive to another by hooking up a USB C hub/dock to the iPad, hooking both drives to the hub and using Files.app.
4. Currently there is no backup or diff applications that I know of to help you keep that stuff in sync...you might take a look at Documents by Readdle. An application may be around the corner or someone may come up with something via a Shortcut, but I don’t have any insight.
5. After the progress spinner stops (top right of the iPad screen), you simply unplug the USB drive. There is no “Eject” like there is in macOS.

Good luck!

 

[HDFan]

See:

USB 2.0 External Drive Transfer Speeds

So I have worn my fingers to nubs trying to Google-fu this issue, but it seems like I am the only one concerned with this issue. I have been using a Sandisk Extreme SSD, the little one with 550MB/s transfer speed. Transferring FROM the drive comes quite close to that: 400-500 MB/s, what you...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[AutomaticApple]

See:

USB 2.0 External Drive Transfer Speeds

So I have worn my fingers to nubs trying to Google-fu this issue, but it seems like I am the only one concerned with this issue. I have been using a Sandisk Extreme SSD, the little one with 550MB/s transfer speed. Transferring FROM the drive comes quite close to that: 400-500 MB/s, what you...

forums.macrumors.com

Ah, very nice! Thank you!

 

[Fatyank]

1. Solid state is much faster and will last longer if you use an external drive frequently. If it will not be hooked up frequently, then a mechanical HDD may work fine. Your iPad Pro supports very fast transfers, so you will want an SSD for fast data transfers. I would buy one 2TB HDD and one 2TB SSD.
2. iPadOS 13 supports FAT, exFAT, HFS+ and even APFS, I believe. Most drives purchased at retail are formatted with exFAT. You should not need to reformat the drive at all. In iOS, there is not way to reformat a drive, regardless.
3. You may be able to copy from one drive to another by hooking up a USB C hub/dock to the iPad, hooking both drives to the hub and using Files.app.
4. Currently there is no backup or diff applications that I know of to help you keep that stuff in sync...you might take a look at Documents by Readdle. An application may be around the corner or someone may come up with something via a Shortcut, but I don’t have any insight.
5. After the progress spinner stops (top right of the iPad screen), you simply unplug the USB drive. There is no “Eject” like there is in macOS.

Good luck!

Thank you for this great info. Right now I've copied and pasted my files from Documents (Readdle) to my external drive (old one). I've been using Documents for awhile now. Coming from Android devices, I miss a good file management system. I'm still debating which external drive to get. Photos already on hard drive. Everything else backed up in cloud.
You suggested getting 2 drives. What is the reasoning for that? I will carry my drive with me daily.
One thing I have not figured out how to do is find out how much storage is available/used on my hard drive. I find cloud storage, iiPad storage, One Drive etc but not my external drive.

 

[muzzy996]

My guess is the 2 drive suggestion is merely for having a backup of your files. You mentioned having your 500gb drive for the past 8 years which I must admit caused alarm in my mind too - having no other information to go by the impression given is you’ve only placed your files on that single 500gb drive.

I currently have a 2nd gen iPad Pro and have a few Sandisk Extreme SSD’s. They’re pricey but if it were me that’s what I’d go with due to the speed (regardless of the current issues with asynchronous transfer speeds. Access times are always faster than a spinning hard drive, there’s no risk of failure of moving parts and the drives are very light and compact.

Files app is another story though. It leaves a lot to be desired such as the ability to work with contents of the camera roll, the lack of detailed list views and sorting options etc. We’re still miles away from getting true file management support as far as I’m concerned but things are slowly getting better. There’s still going to be the need to run various file management apps from third parties to get different features.

 

[Fatyank]

My guess is the 2 drive suggestion is merely for having a backup of your files. You mentioned having your 500gb drive for the past 8 years which I must admit caused alarm in my mind too - having no other information to go by the impression given is you’ve only placed your files on that single 500gb drive.

I currently have a 2nd gen iPad Pro and have a few Sandisk Extreme SSD’s. They’re pricey but if it were me that’s what I’d go with due to the speed (regardless of the current issues with asynchronous transfer speeds. Access times are always faster than a spinning hard drive, there’s no risk of failure of moving parts and the drives are very light and compact.

Files app is another story though. It leaves a lot to be desired such as the ability to work with contents of the camera roll, the lack of detailed list views and sorting options etc. We’re still miles away from getting true file management support as far as I’m concerned but things are slowly getting better. There’s still going to be the need to run various file management apps from third parties to get different features.

Thanks. I'm going to purchase a SanDisk 2tb extreme drive. They're on sale now for almost 50% off. You're correct about the old drive. I need to save my files from it before it dies.
I have a 3rd Gen iPad Pro 12.9. I'm going to use the SanDisk to have with me daily so I might get a hdd to leave at home as a second backup even though I have cloud storage.
I don't have a PC/Laptop or any such animal. I decided a few years ago that for my needs, a tablet and phone is good. I had A Samsung Galaxy Pro 12 inch tablet that died an untimely death about 3 years ago so I migrated to iPad.
Do you know how to find the storage used /available on an external hard drive using the iPad pro? Mine is a WD Passport 500 gb.
Any suggestions on a basic USB C hub to move data from one external to the other without having to copy to Ipad then move to different external drive?
Were you pin the Android Central forum before? Muzzy996 sounds familiar.

 

[muzzy996]

Thanks. I'm going to purchase a SanDisk 2tb extreme drive. They're on sale now for almost 50% off. You're correct about the old drive. I need to save my files from it before it dies.
I have a 3rd Gen iPad Pro 12.9. I'm going to use the SanDisk to have with me daily so I might get a hdd to leave at home as a second backup even though I have cloud storage.
I don't have a PC/Laptop or any such animal. I decided a few years ago that for my needs, a tablet and phone is good. I had A Samsung Galaxy Pro 12 inch tablet that died an untimely death about 3 years ago so I migrated to iPad.
Do you know how to find the storage used /available on an external hard drive using the iPad pro? Mine is a WD Passport 500 gb.
Any suggestions on a basic USB C hub to move data from one external to the other without having to copy to Ipad then move to different external drive?
Were you pin the Android Central forum before? Muzzy996 sounds familiar.

Yup that’s me from Android Central and I remember you as well.

At this time I am not aware of a way to see drive info on an iPad. To be honest file management is still a hot mess as far as I’m concerned. I’ve got 3 file managers on my iPP right now - Files, Documents by Readdle and File Browser Biz and all of them have shortcomings. Files is the only one I can see my Sandisk Extreme on and even there I can’t tell any info about the drive itself.

Hopefully someone else knows of an app that can do it but for now I’m at a loss.

Edit: The one thing I notice is if one is in Files and currently browsing "On My iPad" folder one can see the available free space on the iPad itself displayed on the bottom of the window. When browsing on an external drive that information is not displayed. Long pressing in the root folder of a drive gives an Info option but no information on storage usage or space is given. Makes me think that such info isn't available because the Files app is not scanning and computing it to begin with.

 

[Fatyank]

Needed to update after a very frustrating 4 days. I ordered and received my SanDisk Extreme 2TB SSD. Also purchased a Anker USB-C multi port hub. Connected everything up. Hub to IPP, my old WD 500gb hardrive, the new SanDisk 2TB hardrive to the hub. I proceeded to copy files from old to new with no issue. Got to my photos folder which contains about 20,000ish photos. Some of them are in their own folders inside the Photos folder. Everything was transferring fine although it was a bit slow. IPP battery got to 1% so I stopped the operation. unplugged the hub and recharged the IPP. The next morning I reconnected and got ready to continue the transfer of photos. Opened the Photos folder on the SanDisk drive and it showed, after about 5 minutes of loading, 0 Items in the folder. After an exhaustive search I found the photo files in Recently Deleted. I then started the process of placing them back in the Photos folder. When I did this I got a pop up window saying the files already exsist do I want to replace them. Now I’m totally confused and not real happy. I go back to Photos folder and it shows zero items.
Today I took my drives to my office to finish transfer on our Windows PC. When I opened my Extreme drive, Photos file it shows all the previously transferred files there. I completed the transfer of photos and a few more folders. I then checked to see if everything was there and it was (while connected to PC). I once again connected the SanDisk to my IPP and after about 3 or 4 minutes it finally shows up in Files app. This time after another few minutes waiting for it to load, it showed absolutely nothing, Zero. zilch , nadda. I reconnect to the PC and all the files, folders are there. I checked the properties of the SanDisk and it showed 1.5TB still free which is right.
I have absolutely no clue how to fix this. I reconnected my old WD drive and it opens up in about 30 seconds and all file,folders are there.
Can anyone help? Sent email to SanDisk support about issue. Ive always had good luck with SanDisk before

 

[Fatyank]

SUCCESS!!! I was about to give up on my Extreme Drive (SanDisk support still has not gotten back to me). Muzzy996 I reread your post about the file apps you use. I too have Files, Documents by Readdle. I decided to try File Browser Biz. Magic! Exactly what I needed. Apparently the built-in files app can not read my Extreme Drive or I’m missing something in configuration. Either way FB is perfect for what I need. ALL files and photos are showing up. I’m able to create new subfolders to consolidate my photos in the Photos (root) folder I created. I got spoiled with Android file management so it’s nice to have an app that is closer to what I was used to. I tried to pull up my Extreme using Documents by Readdle but can’t seem to get it to work. Are you able to see your extreme drive in Readdle?
Again, thank you for your help.