MacNN quotes Oxford Semiconductor regarding the data-loss problems associated with Mac OS X 10.3 and some external Firewire drives.
According to the company, it affects drives with OXUF922 Firewire Drives which contain the 1.03 software revision or less. Therefore, it is recommended that all users upgrade to v1.05 which should be available from your drive manufacturer. Data loss is most likely to occur at startup and shutdown, so it is recommended that users hot-plug/unplug their Firewire drives from their systems while their system is booted (Be sure to 'Eject' your Drive before unplugging).
Related Driver Links:
LaCie: 1.05 Driver
OWC/MacSales: 1.05 Driver
FirewireDirect: 1.05 Driver
EZQuest: 1.05 Driver
Update: Apple has posted an update to their Firewire 800 statement that the firmware updates will resolve the data loss issues and provides links to manufacturer updates.
- Apple and Oxford Semiconductor have confirmed that firmware version 1.05 resolves the data loss issue experienced by some FW800 users.