How do you troubleshoot your hardware

[MacGiver]

I have a MBP SR since recently (1 week). I bought a external HD (Lacie Porshe 160GB USD/FW400). Until today i was connecting it via the FW400 and everything was fine. Today i used the USB to connect it to my WXP laptop to transfer some file on my MBP. Once done i disconnect it from my WXP laptop plugged back the FW400 and it is not working anymore (the HD runs endlessly not being recongnized anymore by my MBP). So i decide to use the USB and connect it to the right hand USD port. Here it worked fine...then i try again with FW400 it takes some time and works...i disconnect and try again but this time same thing running endllessly but does not work. I decide to go back to the USB cable and this time plug it on the left hand side and now i have a noise from the HD like BIP BIP BIP non stop...conclusion: it only works with the right hand side USB...FW400 does not recongnize the HD anymore and left USB is bipping...so what's wrong? the HD or the MBP HW? Consequently i would like to troubeshoot my USB ports and FW...

Thanks for your help.
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[EvilDoc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.12) T-Mobile Dash)

This sounds silly to ask but are you ejecting the drive before you disconnect it?

 

[MacGiver]

sometime i do sometim i dont...n the WXP i almost never do...on the mac i do...what is the connection...honestly i do not beleive it can damage the D...i have never ejected an HD on XP and they al still owrk...the Lacie which is told to be a good brand sound very fragie to me...when i move it it makes noise...i.e when i move it upside down...i have othr old one like 40GB no name they sound very robus...i can move and there is no weird noise at all...

Please let me know what is your point as you do not realy answer my question

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

...honestly i do not beleive it can damage the D...i have never ejected an HD on XP and they al still owrk...the Lacie which is told to be a good brand sound very fragie to me...

You don't have to believe it, but it's true. You MUST eject your hard drive on the operating system first. I always thought it was just a warning, bla bla bla before too.

However, after having a few drives go bad after continually doing this I've learned my lesson.

Also, LaCie's are not "a good brand" with hard drives. From the reports I've seen, they have among the highest failure rates on the market.

Moral of the story; listen to the machine when it tells you to eject the drive first, or else don't be surprised when it starts acting flaky. Comprendre mon ami?

 

[MacGiver]

yep got it amigo...so what do you recmmend as a good HD brand...what's the best as an external HD with FW400 and ultra-portabe meaning without power cable...and a good looking/designed HD
Also where have you see those high failure rate on Lacie's, do you have a tests links? if true i'll take it back and get a refund.

Merci
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