Seagate Duet FAQ

General questions about the Seagate Duet drive and software
 

I deleted a file from the Amazon Drive, why is it no longer on my Seagate Duet drive?

The Seagate Duet software maintains a 2 way sync of the data on your Seagate Duet drive, and Amazon Drive.  If you delete or modify a file in one location, the file will also be deleted or modified in the other location.

If you delete a file on the Amazon Drive, you should see that file in the Trash section.  You can access the Trash section by clicking on the trashcan icon on the left side of the Amazon Drive web UI.

If you delete a file on your Seagate Duet drive, it may go to either the Recycle Bin or the Trash of your computer depending on your computer’s settings.

 

Why are some files and folders showing up in the cloud that are not on my Seagate Duet drive?

Amazon Drive differs from your computer’s operating system in that it does not have the option to hide files.  If you were to turn on hidden files in your computer’s operating system, you should see the same files you see in the Amazon Drive.

Warning: Most hidden files are hidden for a specific reason.  Please exercise caution when moving, renaming, or deleting hidden files.

 

Why aren't all my files syncing from my Amazon Drive account to my Seagate Duet?

There are a few things you can check if files on your Amazon Drive aren't being synced to your Seagate Duet. 

The files must be in the Seagate Duet folder of your Amazon Drive account.  You are free to store files outside of this folder, but the Seagate Duet software will only sync content from within this folder.

Sometimes it is possible to upload a file to Amazon Drive that has a filename with a character in it that your Operating System does not support.  For example, colons cannot be used in the file name of a file on a Mac or PC, so the Seagate Duet software would be unable to download a file from Amazon drive with a colon in the name.  Photos or other files that have their name automatically generated are especially susceptible to this issue.  A simple solution is to remove the punctuation from the filename and see if that resolves the issue.

 

How do I safely remove the drive from my computer?

You will not be able to use your operating system’s typical safe removal process while the Seagate Duet drive is communicating with Amazon Drive.  For this reason, an eject button has been built into the Seagate Duet software.  

Open the Seagate Duet interface by clicking on the Seagate Duet icon on the bottom right of your PC, or the top right of your Mac.  You should see an eject button next to your Seagate Duet drive.  Once you click on the eject button, it will disappear within a few seconds at which point it is safe to unplug the drive.

 

Can the drive be used as a regular drive or will it always sync with an Amazon Drive account?

Data on the drive will only be synced if the Seagate Duet application is installed and running, and the USB drive has been linked to an Amazon Drive account through the software.

 

Is there a file size limit of what can be synced?

● No file 50GB or larger can be synced using Seagate Duet software

● No file over 2GB can be uploaded via the Amazon Drive web interface

 

If I use the Duet drive on both Mac and Windows computers, will the files sync to the same Amazon Drive folder?

Yes. If the drive is formatted exFAT (default) then both Mac and Windows can write to the drive.

Whether it’s connected to one or the other, the files will synchronize with the same Amazon Drive folder as long as the Seagate Duet software is installed.

 

Can I run a Time Machine backup to the Seagate Duet drive?

Time Machine requires the drive to be in a HFS+ format while the Seagate Duet software requires the drive to be in an exFAT format.  Apple also suggests using a dedicated Time Machine drive for your Time Machine backups.  For these reasons it is not suggested you try to use your Seagate Duet drive for your Time Machine backup.

 

Why can’t I set up permissions for files and folders on the Seagate Duet drive?

The Seagate Duet drive needs to be in an exFAT format to function correctly.  The exFAT format is not capable of storing the control metadata needed to implement file or folder permissions.  This is why when transferring data to the Seagate Duet drive, you will sometimes receive a message saying “Are you sure you want to copy this file without its properties?”.  The file will be transferred to the drive without issue, but will lose all previous permission settings.

 
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