Lacie SSD won't unmount, can't backup Mac

[countryside]

Hi,

I cannot get my Lacie to eject or unmount from my MacBook... it typically freezes the whole computer when I plug it in.

I need to unmount it so that I can erase it and reformat to hopefully fix it... I also need to run first aid.. but I literally can not do anything with it. Any ideas? I tried doing first aid in recovery mode, didn't work.

Thanks,

 

[DeltaMac]

Do you really need to run first aid before trying to erase it?
What happens if you just try to erase it, without trying first aid?

If you need first aid to attempt a file recovery -- do you have access to another Mac?

Another tip that might work - plug in the LaCie, and don't try anything (don't open your Disk Utility, or anything else that might access that drive). Give it a few minutes. Does it ever begin to work on its own, even if quite slowly?

 

[countryside]

Do you really need to run first aid before trying to erase it?
What happens if you just try to erase it, without trying first aid?

If you need first aid to attempt a file recovery -- do you have access to another Mac?

Another tip that might work - plug in the LaCie, and don't try anything (don't open your Disk Utility, or anything else that might access that drive). Give it a few minutes. Does it ever begin to work on its own, even if quite slowly?

Hi, I do not need to do first aid to erase it, but I assumed that it may help since I get an error every time I try to erase that my mac CANNOT unmount Lacie. I even tried a force unmount in Terminal.

I do have access to another Mac, thank you for the idea. I will go try that.

Also, if that doesn't work, I will try leaving it plugged into my Mac for a longer amount of time to see if things work.

Thanks again for all the troubleshooting ideas. I am open to anything at this point. Let me know if you have more ideas.

 

[countryside]

Sadly, no luck. I tried recovery mode, first aid, and erasing on the other MacBook... and it never works. I really hate to loose the $150 bucks I paid for this hard drive.

 

[lukesturr]

Typically if a hard drive freezes a computer when it is plugged in, that means the drive is corrupted or damaged.

If diskutil in terminal can't format it, even in recovery mode , there's a good chance it's done for.

 

[chscag]

Sadly, no luck. I tried recovery mode, first aid, and erasing on the other MacBook... and it never works. I really hate to loose the $150 bucks I paid for this hard drive.

LaCie warranties vary depending on which drive you have. Give them a call and see if your drive is still covered. If it is, request a RMA and have them replace the drive.

 

[dwig]

Grabbing at straws but...
...the title refers to backing up your Mac and that got me thinking. Have you been using this drive with Time Machine?? Even if you are running Time Machine set to write to a different drive TM could have its fingers in the pie. The fact that your attempts with another Mac failed suggests that there is little hope the following will work, but...

You might try:

1. shutdown you mac
2. disconnect the ailing LaCie drive
3. reboot the mac
4. disable TM
5. restart the mac
6. Open DiskUtility
7. attached the LaCie drive

Another last ditch try would be to attempt to reformat it using a Windows machine. If, by chance, this does work reformat the drive to exFAT on the Windows machine so that the Mac can handle it better than it can NTFS.

 

[macsound1]

I'm also thinking if it freezes your machine it could be a bad cable that's causing a short.
Is this TB or USB or something with a detachable cable? Or is it permanently attached.

 

[countryside]

Do you really need to run first aid before trying to erase it?
What happens if you just try to erase it, without trying first aid?

If you need first aid to attempt a file recovery -- do you have access to another Mac?

Another tip that might work - plug in the LaCie, and don't try anything (don't open your Disk Utility, or anything else that might access that drive). Give it a few minutes. Does it ever begin to work on its own, even if quite slowly?

Typically if a hard drive freezes a computer when it is plugged in, that means the drive is corrupted or damaged.

If diskutil in terminal can't format it, even in recovery mode , there's a good chance it's done for.

Grabbing at straws but...
...the title refers to backing up your Mac and that got me thinking. Have you been using this drive with Time Machine?? Even if you are running Time Machine set to write to a different drive TM could have its fingers in the pie. The fact that your attempts with another Mac failed suggests that there is little hope the following will work, but...

You might try:

1. shutdown you mac
2. disconnect the ailing LaCie drive
3. reboot the mac
4. disable TM
5. restart the mac
6. Open DiskUtility
7. attached the LaCie drive

Another last ditch try would be to attempt to reformat it using a Windows machine. If, by chance, this does work reformat the drive to exFAT on the Windows machine so that the Mac can handle it better than it can NTFS.

I'm also thinking if it freezes your machine it could be a bad cable that's causing a short.
Is this TB or USB or something with a detachable cable? Or is it permanently attached.

LaCie warranties vary depending on which drive you have. Give them a call and see if your drive is still covered. If it is, request a RMA and have them replace the drive.

Thank you everyone for all of the help. I exhausted all efforts and methods yall gave me. I appreciate all the help.

I ended up reaching out to LaCie on the off chance that they would send me a new drive. They agreed to do just that. Hopefully, this new one works better. I am gonna read up on best practices for caring for these devices.

The support lady was even nice enough to make sure they ship me a new model not refurbished.

 

[BrianBaughn]

That's great!

One thing that hasn't been eliminated is the possibility there's something wrong with the housing's electronics.