Thunderbolt problem

I bought a portable thunderbolt HD to expand my storage but could not connect to it. I wanted fast transfers and don't have USB3.
Took the drive back and got a refund but not happy that thunderbolt is not working correctly (w Mavericks). I can connect to a display using thunderbolt, so some of it is operational. Store person couldn't get laptop to talk to drive either so it could be a more serious problem.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
I have 2011 MBP.

It's a pity you didn't specify the model more precisely -- there were changes across the 2011 models so it's hard to guess. Assuming it's an early-2011 model, possibly the drive is designed solely for TB2? Or perhaps part of the port is malfunctioning (seems unlikely, but we can't rule anything out at this stage). Do you know anyone with another Thunderbolt accessory you could try (the monitor isn't useful since it connects by MiniDisplayPort).

Another thought: are you up-to-date on firmware?

I think it’s early (Feb) 2011:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro8,3
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B27
SMC Version (system): 1.70f3
Thunderbolt Bus:
Vendor Name: Apple Inc.
Device Name: MacBook Pro
UID: 0x0001000A1D8277A0
Firmware Version: 13.0-2.8
Domain UUID: 72CD0832-07E7-C45C-A259-DF9D9F916CCB
Port:
Status: No device connected
Link Status: 0x101
Receptacle: 1
Port Micro Firmware Version: 1.2.1

I have tried with two drives (both the same) and was unable to use either.

What hard drive and caddy did you purchase?

256Gb SSD:
Available: 113.33 GB (113,330,724,864 bytes)
Capacity: 250.14 GB (250,140,434,432 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: Journaled HFS+
Writable: Yes
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk0s2
Volume UUID: 86077636-8BC1-3109-B756-44C44EF24ACA
Physical Drive:
Media Name: APPLE SSD TS256C Media
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: SATA
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

not sure what you mean by caddy.

What have you placed the SSD in - an external case (caddy) or optical drive slot?

Hi harryb2448
My 17" MBP was supplied with SSD in place of HDD

You said a portable TB hard drive. Is this an external drive in a caddy or external drive housing?

Ah, now I'm beginning to understand the "caddy" bit. Sorry for appearing dumb!
It was a LaCie 2TB Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Hard Drive (external).
LaCie 2TB Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Hard Drive - Apple Store (UK)
Roger

Does it work connected by USB?

It worked off USB but, as my MBP only has USB2, I didn't think it worth it for the slower data speeds.

Agreed just wanted to see if the disk was functional.

Have you tried a different thunderbolt drive. The drive enclosure of thunderbolt cable could've been faulty

I tried two drives, both the same type, each with their own cable.
On the second occasion, I connected to a monitor using thunderbolt and that worked.

You'll want to check with LaCie about this. Two different LaCie TB drives not connecting to the TB port would suggest that either both drives have bad TB cables or ports (this seems unlikely) or that the drives aren't supported in this early version of Thunderbolt without some kind of driver.

Here is more about the TB and TB2 issue chas m raised:-


TB1 vs TB2 Supply & Demand - MacRumors Forums

Many thanks.
I'll contact LaCie