ioSafe Solo G3 6TB 3.5 Inch External Hard Drive User Manual

User Manual

ioSafe P/N: A8-7110-0000 Rev 1.0

• Fanless Airflow Design
• Data Recovery Service (DRS)
• No-hassle Warranty

Built to protect and backup data:

• Backup for Primary Hard Drive
  Protect against primary drive failure or corruption

• Fire Damage
  Up to 1550°F per ASTM E-119, 30 minutes

• Floods & Water Damage
  10-foot depth, 72 hours, salt or freshwater

• Theft
  Kensington® Lock Slot and Floor Bolt Down and Padlock Capable Design

Welcome

Thank you for purchasing the ioSafe® Solo G3 ­ our third generation of Solo series desktop drive. Designed to backup your primary hard drive from failure and accidental deletion as well as protect against data loss due to natural disasters such as fires and floods. For years, ioSafe has set the standard for disaster-proof hardware. The ioSafe Solo G3 delivers an unprecedented combination of security and natural disaster protection at the price and near- silent noise levels for our home and home office customers.
Your ioSafe Solo G3 is covered for one (1) year standard under ioSafe’s No- HassleTM Warranty and Data Recovery Service (DRS). The standard warranty term is one (1) year and covers the repair or replacement of the Solo G3 if the unit breaks for any reason. The Data Recovery Service (DRS) must be activated on our website by the original owner. Visit www.iosafe.com for more details on the warranty and DRS.
The ioSafe Solo G3 has been rigorously tested to protect the data contained in the device to meet the following specifications:
Fire Protection: Protects data against loss from the fire up to 1550°F per ASTM E-119, 30 minutes.
Water Immersion : Protects data against loss from full immersion in fresh or salt water for up to a 10′ depth up to 3 days in salt or fresh water.
Theft: Kensington Lock Slot compatible ­ metal lock slot construction. Floor mount bolts down and padlock capable design.
NOTE: Please read this User Manual and retain it for future reference.
Copyrights
©2012, 2022 CRU Data Security Group LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Trademarks
CRU®, ioSafe®, and No-HassleTM (collectively, the “Trademarks”) are trademarks owned by CDSG and are protected under trademark law. All other trademarks mentioned or appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
Radio Frequency Interference Statement This product complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. this device may not cause harmful interference, and
2. this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

WARNING: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance may void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television equipment reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
• Increase the separation between equipment and receiver
• Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help
• Use a shielded and properly grounded I/O cable and power cable to ensure compliance of this unit to the specified limits of the rules

CE Compliance For Europe

Marking by the CE symbol indicates compliance of this system to the applicable Council Directives of the European Union, including the EMC Directive (2004/108/EC) and the Low Voltage Directive (2006/95/EC). A “Declaration of Conformity” in accordance with the applicable directives has been made and is on file at ioSafe, Inc.
Changes
The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this document to assure its accuracy, no liability resulting from errors or omissions in the document, or from the use of the information contained herein is assumed. The publisher reserves the right to make changes or revisions without reservation and without obligation to notify any person of such revisions and changes.

Package Contents

Included in the package:
A. ioSafe Solo G3
B. USB 3.0 cable (compatible with USB 2.0)
C. AC Power Brick
D. AC Power Adapters (US, UK, EU, AU)
E. Quick Start Guide (not shown)
F. DRS Activation Card (not shown)

Specifications

Dimensions (Inches) ……………………………………………….. 5.0″W x 7.1″H x 11.0″L
Weight (Lb.) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 15 lbs
Interface Transfer Rate
USB 3.0 ………………………………………………………………… up to 5 Gbps
Ambient Temperature
Operating………………………………………………………………… 32°F – 95°F
Shipping ……………………………………………………………….. 32°F – 135°F
Non-operating …………………………….32°F to 1550°F with no data loss
Humidity
Operating (non-condensing) ………………………………………… 5% – 80%
Shipping (non-condensing) …………………………………………………. 90%
Non-operating Water Submersion ………. Up to 72 hours @ 10′ depth Complete submersion, fresh or salt water with no data loss

Theft:
Kensington Lock Slot compatible ­ metal lock slot construction. Floor mount bolts down and padlock capable.

System Requirements

Supported OS/interface connection:
Mac OS 10.3 or later ………………………………………………………. USB 3.0, USB 2.0
Windows 11 / 10 / 8.1 …………………………………………………… USB 3.0, USB 2.0
Note: For MS Windows Server and Linux OS we suggest using the SoloPro which has firmware more conducive to those operating systems.
The ioSafe Solo G3 can be purchased and formatted either for Windows or MAC OS. A majority of the Solo G3s sold are natively formatted for Windows with the “NTFS” drive format. Since Windows and Mac file systems do not function between each other if you are trying to use a drive formatted for Windows on a MAC it will need to be reformatted to work properly. See page 16 – Formatting the USB 3.0 ioSafe Solo G3 for Mac OS.
Precautions
Please read the precautions listed below. Failure to do so may result in damage to the device and loss of data. All drives covered under ioSafe’s Data Recovery Service (DRS) would qualify for data recovery for any reason under our general terms and conditions for the service. See our website for more details.

• THE TERM “BACKUP” MEANS TO MAKE A REDUNDANT “COPY” OF YOUR DATA ­ NOT TO SIMPLY “MOVE” YOUR DATA FROM ONE DEVICE TO ANOTHER.

• 3-2-1 Backup! We strongly recommend that you keep at least 3 copies of all your data
  on multiple devices. In addition to a primary copy of your data (your working directory), at least one copy of your data should sit on a fireproof waterproof hard drive, like the ioSafe Solo series, or be offsite at a second location. The ioSafe Solo G3 is a great backup device that can help protect data onsite. No matter what the data storage device, keeping redundant copies of your irreplaceable data will improve your chances of data recovery.

• Avoid bumping, jarring, or dropping the ioSafe Solo G3 while connected to a computer and in use. Mechanical hard disk drives (HDD) are more susceptible to damage while they’re operating. Inside a mechanical hard disk drive is a spinning disk and small read/write drive head that “flies” on a cushion of air above the disk. If the drive head hits the spinning disk, data loss can occur. Solid State Drives (SSD) have no moving parts so are less susceptible to shock. If you require that the drivers continue to operate while being dropped or during vibration (as a present while in an operating vehicle), we highly recommend the safe products that incorporate an SSD for the ultimate in drop and shock protection.

• Do not disconnect any cables while the ioSafe Solo G3 is powered on without first stopping or ejecting the device through the operating system software interface. Disconnecting any drive during a read/write event can cause logical corruption on the drive, both SSD and HDD drives, which can sometimes result in data loss.

• Use proper surge and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to guard your computer system against abrupt outages and voltage spikes during brownouts and lightning storms.

About USB

Actual connection performance depends on many factors including CPU, file system overhead, number of attached devices, and more. Given these and other factors, in day-to-day use, you can expect maximum, sustained transfer rates to be less than the theoretical rates maximum rates possible with the connection.
USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1. This means you can generally connect newer devices to older devices. However, interface transfer rates are limited by the interface with a lower speed.
NOTE: The cable supplied with your system has been optimized for performance. Longer cables may not work or only work intermittently.

Securing the ioSafe Solo G3

Kensington® Security Slot
For drive security, the ioSafe Solo G3 is equipped with a Kensington security slot, which supports a standard Kensington security cable (sold separately). For more information on the Kensington security slot and available products, visit www.kensington.com. Alternatively, the ioSafe Solo G3 is designed to be floor mounted or padlock compatible as well.

Backup and Encryption Software

• Backup Software
  Upon proper activation of your Data Recovery Service, qualified users can download:
  Apple® Mac® TimeMachine®– Mac-specific drives are already formatted with Mac- compatible GUID Partition Table (GPT) formatting. If not, reformatting may be required. Simple instructions are online in the support and FAQ sections at iosafe.com or on page 14 for Mac users who have purchased an NTFS formatted drive and wish to format the drive for a Mac.

Connecting the ioSafe Solo G3

1. Connect USB Cable. Use the supplied USB 3.0/2.0 cable to connect the Solo G3 to a computer port.

2. Connect Power Supply. Select the correct country-specific adapter plug and attach it to the power brick. Plug the cord into the back of the safe and the other end to a power source (surge protector recommended)

3. Power On. Turn on the power switch on the back of the unit.

4. Verify that the Drive Mounts. Before storing data on the safe Solo G3, the drive must be “mounted” (physically connected and recognized by the OS) to the computer operating system.
   For Windows PC, once the ioSafe Solo G3 is connected, you will see a blue light on the drive and the drive should mount in a few moments. A new drive icon/letter will appear on the desktop or in My Computer/Windows Explorer.
   For Mac, once the ioSafe Solo G3 for Mac is powered on the operating system should mount the drive in a few moments. A new drive icon will appear on the Desktop and in the Finder. The ioSafe Solo G3 not specifically “for Mac” should be reformatted for the Mac OS (See page 16 – Formatting the ioSafe Solo G3 for Mac OS).

5. The ioSafe Solo G3 is ready to use. Save or drag and drop files to the drive as you would to any other drive attached to your computer.

6. Or select the ioSafe Solo G3 as the backup target for any automated backup target program (like Time Machine for Mac)

7. You are free to use whatever backup software you choose, and any commercially available application should work. We recommend Mac users utilize Time Machine which comes standard on the new Mac OS.

Formatting for Mac OSX (High Sierra)

The ioSafe Solo G3 not specifically labeled as “for Mac” is likely formatted NTFS (for Windows) and may not be immediately recognized by Mac. You may get an alert message which reads: “You have inserted a disk containing no volumes …” or “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer” Click the ignore button and follow the steps below.
(NOTE:** Any information currently on the disk will be deleted.)

1. Power up your ioSafe, plug it into your Mac and wait for it to show up on the desktop.
2. Click Go on a Finder window, and select Utilities.
3. Open up the Disk Utility application located within the “Utilities” folder.
4. Click the View drop-down arrow in the top left of the Disk Utility window and select “Show All Devices”.
5. You will see all drives listed in the left pane. The ioSafe should be listed under “External Devices”.
6. Click to highlight the main partition of the ioSafe media.
7. You should see the button tools across the top of Disk Utility, select the “Erase” option to open the Erase Wizard.
8. Give the Name of the drive you would like.
9. Under the “Format” select OS X Extended (Journaled)
10. Under “Scheme” Select GUID Partition Map.
11. Then click the “Erase” button and it will then get through the formatting process of your ioSafe.

The partitioning process should take less than 30 seconds. Once complete, the device will mount on your desktop with the name you provided.

Formatting for older Mac OSX (El Capitan OS)

The ioSafe Solo G3 not specifically labeled as “for Mac” is likely formatted NTFS (for Windows) and may not be immediately recognized by Mac. You may get an alert message which reads: “You have inserted a disk containing no volumes …” or “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer” Click the ignore button and follow the steps below.
(NOTE:** Any information currently on the disk will be deleted.)

1. Remove all external Hard Drives including Flash Drives.
2. Power up your ioSafe, plug it into your Mac and wait for it to show up on the desktop.
3. Click Go on a Finder window, and select Utilities.
4. Open up the Disk Utility application located within the “Utilities” folder.
5. You will see all drives listed in the left pane. The ioSafe should be listed under “External Devices”.
6. Click to highlight the main partition of the ioSafe media.
7. You should see the button tools across the top of Disk Utility, select the “Erase” option to open the Erase Wizard.
8. Give the Name of the drive you would like.
9. Under the “Format” select OS X Extended (Journaled)
10. Under “Scheme” Select GUID Partition Map.
11. Then click the “Erase” button and it will then get through the formatting process of your ioSafe.

The partitioning process should take less than 30 seconds. Once complete, the device will mount on your desktop with the name you provided.

Formatting for older Mac OSX (Yosemite and older)

The ioSafe Solo G3 not specifically labeled as “for Mac” is likely formatted NTFS (for Windows) and may not be immediately recognized by Mac. You may get an alert message which reads: “You have inserted a disk containing no volumes …” or “The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer” Click the ignore button and follow the steps below.
(NOTE:** Any information currently on the disk will be deleted.)

1. Remove all external Hard Drives including Flash Drives.
2. Power up your ioSafe G3, plug it into your Mac and wait for it to show up on the desktop.
3. Click Go on a Finder window, and select Utilities.
4. Open up the Disk Utility application located within the “Utilities” folder.
5. You will see all drives listed in the left pane. The ioSafe should be listed under “External Devices”.
6. Click to highlight the main partition of the ioSafe media.
7. You should see the button tools across the top of Disk Utility, and select the “Partition” option.
8. Click on the drop-down menu where it says “Volume Scheme” and select “1 Partition”.
9. Click on the “Options” button, select the “GUID Partition Table” option and click “OK”.
10. Click in the field that allows you to name the volume and type in the value you prefer.
11. Verify the volume format is set to “Mac OS Extended (journaled).
12. Click “Apply” and then click “Partition” to start the formatting process

The partitioning process should take around a minute. Once complete, the device will mount on your desktop with the name you provided.

Data Recovery Service (DRS)

The ioSafe Solo G3 comes with one (1) year of Data Recovery Service standard upon proper activation by the original end user. Various options to extend DRS coverage and manufacturer warranty up to 5 years are available at www.iosafe.com Click on “Support” and then “DRS Product Registration”
Benefits of the Data Recovery Service:
Data Recovery Service ­ Both ioSafe + 3rd Party Forensic Recovery Services, onsite technical support if requested. Limitations Apply. See DRS terms and conditions for more details.
“No Hassle Warranty” ­ if it breaks for any reason while covered under any DRS, ioSafe will repair or replace the ioSafe product free of charge. All domestic shipping is paid for by ioSafe.
Backup installation and support – phone and remote access support
Cancel at any time ­ no obligation, no commitment
ioSafe Data Recovery Service Terms and Conditions
As applicable during the DRS period, the Company or its contracted partner will assist the original purchaser for one “data recovery event” without the requirement to pay a deductible. Additional attempts beyond the first “data recovery event” will require a deductible of $500 for the second “data recovery event”, $1000 for the third “data recovery event” and $2000 for any additional “data recovery events.” For the DRS Basic or original ioSafe DRS plan (products sold prior to 2012), the DRS plan applies to the original owner for the safe product. For the DRS Pro plan, data recovery services will be performed on the registered safe product for the original owner and to one registered computer of the original ioSafe owner attached to the ioSafe product. The Company will attempt to restore the lost data by employing one or more of the following ways at ioSafe’s sole discretion:
The Company or its contracted partner will provide phone or email-based support to assist in recovering the data, or

1.  The Company will pay for the disaster-exposed product to be shipped back to the Company’s headquarters for data recovery. If data recovery is successful, a replacement  product will be loaded with the original data and shipped back to the original user, or
2. At the discretion of the Company, if the data recovery by the Company is not successful, the Company will pay up to the total amount shown in the table below for the specific product to a third-party disk recovery service and/or onsite technical support of the Company’s choice to extract the data. Any data extracted will be loaded on a replacement product and shipped back to the original user. The Company has the right to use a factory refurbished product as the replacement ioSafe branded product.  Data recovery services for any attached server or computer will cover the costs of data recovery only up to the total limits below if applicable and will not cover replacement costs for the non- ioSafe branded server or computer.

Limits of Coverage in US Dollars per terabyte of data capacity of ioSafe product

The Company’s good faith attempts to restore and recover the data in accordance with these terms and conditions shall be the purchaser’s sole and exclusive remedy and the sole and exclusive obligation of ioSafe with respect to the DRS and the Company shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever due to loss of data or otherwise. The Company cannot and does not guarantee that any data will be recoverable and it cannot and does not guarantee which data files are on the product or the attached computer if applicable. Data restoration or recovery shall be strictly limited to whatever files are restorable or recoverable and not what the purchaser believes to exist on the product or attached computer if applicable. The DRS is valid only upon verified, activation on the ioSafe.com website in addition to valid registration for ioSafe branded products with proper serial numbers and activation codes for products owned by the original purchaser only. The DRS is not transferable to a third party without the prior written signed consent of an ioSafe, Inc. executive based in the United States of America.

Data Recovery Procedure

If the ioSafe G3 faces possible data loss for any reason, you should immediately call the ioSafe Disaster Response Team at 1-530-820-3090 option 3. You can also send an email to disastersupport@iosafe.com. ioSafe can determine the best actions to take to protect your valuable information. In some cases, a self-recovery can be performed and provide you with immediate access to your information. In other cases, ioSafe may request that the product be returned to the factory for data recovery. In any case, contacting us is the first step.
The general steps for disaster recovery are:

1. Email disastersupport@iosafe.com with your serial number, product type, and date of purchase.
2. If you can not email, call the ioSafe Disaster Support Team at 1-530-820-3090 option 3.
3. Report disaster event, and obtain return shipping address/instructions
4. Follow ioSafe team instructions on proper packaging.
5. ioSafe will recover all data which is recoverable according to the terms of the Data Recovery Service Terms and Conditions.
6. ioSafe will then place any recovered data on a replacement ioSafe device
7. ioSafe will ship the replacement ioSafe device back to the original user
8. Once the primary server/computer is repaired or replaced, the original user should restore the primary drive data with the safe backup data

ioSafe No-Hassle Warranty
If the ioSafe Solo G3 breaks during the warranty period, for any reason, we will repair or replace it. Yes, even if you break it on purpose.
The standard term for the warranty is one (1) year from the date of purchase. Monthly or yearly extended terms for No-Hassle Warranty services may be available upon activation. See the website or contact customerservice@iosafe.com for help. ioSafe reserves the right to have its representative inspect any product or part to honor any claim, and to receive a purchase receipt or other proof of original purchase before warranty service is performed.
This warranty is limited to the terms stated herein. All expressed and implied warranties including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are excluded, except as stated above. ioSafe disclaims all liabilities for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use of this product or arising out of any breach of this warranty. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may have other rights as well, which will vary from state to state.
ioSafe Contact Information

Customer and Technical Support
Phone: 1-530-820-3090 Option 2
Email: customersupport@iosafe.com
Data Recovery Services
Phone: 1-530-820-3090 Option 3
Email: disastersupport@iosafe.com

References

• Data Protection and Storage: Fireproof, Waterproof, Disasterproof - ioSafe
• Data Protection and Storage: Fireproof, Waterproof, Disasterproof - ioSafe
• Computer Products & Accessories: Locks & Docks | Kensington

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