I'm using a Lacie 1TB Big Disk Extreme for storing video and it's been acting funny for the past week. It wants to start up and you can hear it begin to spin and then it intermittently starts and stops. Then after it starts up the little blue light just blinks. Anyone had this issue?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Lacie Drive starting/stopping intermittently
- Thread starter cliffwjenkins
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I (my father) had a lacie big disk 500 gb, it started, then the blue light came, but then it wouldn't connect to mac or pc. I putted it away as junk. Now 2 years later I picked it up again to see whether the hard disks inside were still working (yes, in my case it were 2 hard drives in some kind of raid setting (raid is making several hard disks one, which will make your computer faster)).
I placed them in another casing, and they were recognized by my mac, but the information wasn't readable (therefore I thought it is in raid, because I thought one kind of raid split your information up, so you will only see halve of your file: no file). But they both still worked. But not in the old lacie casing.
I don't now if your casing is damaged (in which case you should buy a new one) or that your hard disk is dead (because mostly when your hard disk is making funny (not funny) sounds, it's most likely it's gonna dye (haha, I mean die).
I'm having to much spare time, so I wrote this lifestory, hopefully it will help you. At least it filled my time.
I placed them in another casing, and they were recognized by my mac, but the information wasn't readable (therefore I thought it is in raid, because I thought one kind of raid split your information up, so you will only see halve of your file: no file). But they both still worked. But not in the old lacie casing.
I don't now if your casing is damaged (in which case you should buy a new one) or that your hard disk is dead (because mostly when your hard disk is making funny (not funny) sounds, it's most likely it's gonna dye (haha, I mean die).
I'm having to much spare time, so I wrote this lifestory, hopefully it will help you. At least it filled my time.
Not damaged
Thanks for the advice. The casing is not damaged (at least that I know of). It has rested on my desk at work and should not have been touched. The issue started about two weeks ago and the drive again would begin spinning then drop out. Start again a little longer and then drop. I do hear the other drive spinning up and it is doing fine but it doesn't have the initiation information to communicate with the computer apparently.
Thanks for the advice. The casing is not damaged (at least that I know of). It has rested on my desk at work and should not have been touched. The issue started about two weeks ago and the drive again would begin spinning then drop out. Start again a little longer and then drop. I do hear the other drive spinning up and it is doing fine but it doesn't have the initiation information to communicate with the computer apparently.
I understand that your case isn't damaged But what I meant, was that the hardware (which is a part from the case) that is communicating between your computer and your harddrives is damaged. And I said "case" because that piece of hardware is "smelted" on your case, it's part of your case. But good luck. Maybe Lacie helpdesk can help you.
But what I meant, was that the hardware (which is a part from the case) that is communicating between your computer and your harddrives is damaged. And I said "case" because that piece of hardware is "smelted" on your case, it's part of your case. But good luck. Maybe Lacie helpdesk can help you.Ok
Ah ha...I was taking your post literally. Lacie thinks it's a power issue. I'll do their test and see what happens. They suggested connecting a similar or more powerful power source from another drive to it to see if that helped. I have my doubts.
Cheers and thanks again.
cliff
Ah ha...I was taking your post literally. Lacie thinks it's a power issue. I'll do their test and see what happens. They suggested connecting a similar or more powerful power source from another drive to it to see if that helped. I have my doubts.
Cheers and thanks again.
cliff
Recommendations?
Do you recommend another drive that has the necessary performance to work with video?
Do you recommend another drive that has the necessary performance to work with video?
Good News!
Well I'm usually skeptical of the help that companies offer for service but this time they were right! It is a power supply issue. I plugged the drive into a comparable one that I have at home and the thing started right up.
FYI!
Well I'm usually skeptical of the help that companies offer for service but this time they were right! It is a power supply issue. I plugged the drive into a comparable one that I have at home and the thing started right up.
FYI!
Quick Trick
I don't know why this sometime works, but if you have another LaCie drive, try using the power cord from another drive on the original. Just make sure to check that the volts/amps are the same first. For some reason, this has made LaCie drives spin up and connect to my mac in the past.
I don't know why this sometime works, but if you have another LaCie drive, try using the power cord from another drive on the original. Just make sure to check that the volts/amps are the same first. For some reason, this has made LaCie drives spin up and connect to my mac in the past.
My disk was spinning then stopping then spinning again - as suggested above i tried the power cord from another drive of the same spec. All's good. So worth a try before ditching the drive. Cheers
I was about to say check the power supply!
We had that issue from time to time at work.. we have drives all over the place and from occasion a power brick for a 1 TB Lacie will get swapped with one for a 4 tb drive.. The drive with the lesser powered power supply brick wouldnt work.
To clear up this issue at home I used my labeler and labeled each power supply, and also the hard drive.
Another tip, sometimes on the external hard drive it will list the power requrements, such as 120v @ 1.5 A, or maybe 120v @ 3 A.. if I get power supplies mixed up I check the drive to see what it says, and/or I compare the readings on the powersupplies... doing this I've learned G-Raid PSU's work on Lacie drives, and vice versa (if the power requirements match)
We had that issue from time to time at work.. we have drives all over the place and from occasion a power brick for a 1 TB Lacie will get swapped with one for a 4 tb drive.. The drive with the lesser powered power supply brick wouldnt work.
To clear up this issue at home I used my labeler and labeled each power supply, and also the hard drive.
Another tip, sometimes on the external hard drive it will list the power requrements, such as 120v @ 1.5 A, or maybe 120v @ 3 A.. if I get power supplies mixed up I check the drive to see what it says, and/or I compare the readings on the powersupplies... doing this I've learned G-Raid PSU's work on Lacie drives, and vice versa (if the power requirements match)