Lacie external hard drive problem

bonch · bonch #1 (**permalink**)

08-02-2009, 09:36 PM

I have a Lacie 2 tb Extreme Triple firewire 800 hard drive that my computer no longer sees. Nothing sees it, including Disk Utility, so I can't use Diskwarrior. If I do Apple/About this Mac/More infoI see it listed as an Unknown Device under Firewire. That's the only sign that it exists.

The power supply is working because it turns on & I can even hear the drive spinning; I also used a friend's identical power supply, but it still didn't show up. Nor did it show up with the Firewire 400 or USB cables. Finally, it also didn't show up on our other Mac.

Computers are Macbook Pro 2.5 Ghz dual core & Mac Pro 2.26 8-core.

The hard drive is under warranty & I contacted Lacie about it & received an RMA #. The problem is that I have two years of hi-res image files on this HD that I do not want to lose. The key images are backed up elsewhere, but the main files are not. If I send it to Lacie, they will likely just replace the drive & I'll lose those files. My tech guy suggests that problem Lacie drives can sometimes be read by putting them in a new case, which I'd like to try. But to open the case, I have to break the seal, which voids the warranty. Lacie are being nasty about this, and won't let me try this last-ditch attempt to save my data. They say if the seal's broken, no warranty.

The data's more important than the warranty, so I'm prepared to do this (and never buy Lacie again). But does anyone have any other solutions?

Kevriano · Kevriano #2 (**permalink**)

08-03-2009, 06:17 AM

This may seem mental, but put it in the freezer for half an hour and then try booting it up. It may give you enough life to recover what you need. It worked for my WD drive before it died.
You could try this:

TestDisk & PhotoRec (OS X) 6.3 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker

or

Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery 4.0 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker

The second one allows you to try and recover stuff to see if it's possible before paying, and this may be enough to kick the drive into life for a short period.
Lacie aren't really being helpful are they, but all companies state that they cannot guarantee data of course.

Good luck, hope you get it sorted.

Kevriano #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 02, 2006 Location: Crawley, England Posts: 4,560 Mac Specs: 20" Intel iMac 2.4 Ghz/3G Ram/320HD, Snow Leopard. PBook G4, 1.5Ghz/1.5 Ram/250 HD, Leopard 10.5.6.	08-03-2009, 06:17 AM This may seem mental, but put it in the freezer for half an hour and then try booting it up. It may give you enough life to recover what you need. It worked for my WD drive before it died. You could try this: TestDisk & PhotoRec (OS X) 6.3 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker or Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery 4.0 software download - Mac OS X - VersionTracker The second one allows you to try and recover stuff to see if it's possible before paying, and this may be enough to kick the drive into life for a short period. Lacie aren't really being helpful are they, but all companies state that they cannot guarantee data of course. Good luck, hope you get it sorted. Try my custom Mac Forums Search Engine: Mac Forums Google Search Please use the reputation system if you consider any help given useful (it's the little ✓/✘ on the left <---)
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bonch #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 02, 2009 Posts: 1	08-02-2009, 09:36 PM I have a Lacie 2 tb Extreme Triple firewire 800 hard drive that my computer no longer sees. Nothing sees it, including Disk Utility, so I can't use Diskwarrior. If I do Apple/About this Mac/More infoI see it listed as an Unknown Device under Firewire. That's the only sign that it exists. The power supply is working because it turns on & I can even hear the drive spinning; I also used a friend's identical power supply, but it still didn't show up. Nor did it show up with the Firewire 400 or USB cables. Finally, it also didn't show up on our other Mac. Computers are Macbook Pro 2.5 Ghz dual core & Mac Pro 2.26 8-core. The hard drive is under warranty & I contacted Lacie about it & received an RMA #. The problem is that I have two years of hi-res image files on this HD that I do not want to lose. The key images are backed up elsewhere, but the main files are not. If I send it to Lacie, they will likely just replace the drive & I'll lose those files. My tech guy suggests that problem Lacie drives can sometimes be read by putting them in a new case, which I'd like to try. But to open the case, I have to break the seal, which voids the warranty. Lacie are being nasty about this, and won't let me try this last-ditch attempt to save my data. They say if the seal's broken, no warranty. The data's more important than the warranty, so I'm prepared to do this (and never buy Lacie again). But does anyone have any other solutions?
	QUOTE Thanks

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