LaCie 1 TB Hard drive

[MKL]

My LaCie HD is acting strange! On A Mac OS X 10.4.11. First opens showing 360 folders(its 2/3 full) but if I try to save anything to it, it hides most of the folders and says there are only 135, only all my folders from A-C. If I eject and try again, the folders are there until I try to create a new folder or save anything.
Does anyone have any ideas??
THANKS
MK

 

[chscag]

What file system is your LaCie using?

Regards.

 

[MKL]

Hello,
I don't use a file system, I just drag folders to the drive to save them. They are all in the LaCie in alphabetical order. Thanks so much for helping!

 

[hughvane]

What chscag is asking is for clarification of detail. You say "LaCie ......" but not if it's internal or external. LaCie is usually external, and you appear to confirm that by saying "If I eject .....".

With the LaCie connected and switched on, open Disk Utility from your computer, highlight the external drive name (the second of the two), and Get Info. Look for File System. What does it identify?

Next: with the LaCie still connected and switched on, repair permissions, preferably using OnyX Titanium Software (version 1.8.6). Run maintenance scripts also.

Report back on any progress or developments.

 

[MKL]

Sorry, yes it is an external. The file system indicated is Mac OS Extended. The "repair permissions" is ghosted so I assume you are saying I should download the OnyX Titanium and do a repair permissions and run maintenance scripts too. This is obviously a stretch for me. I am on a Mac for simplicity.I am a photographer specializing in spherical panoramas which consume a lot of HD space. This is the first time I have ever had such a problem. I am also thinking about the safety of my storage....sounds like I should have 2 HDs??
Thanks!
mk

 

[MKL]

I downloaded OnyX and did a disk repair and the maintenance. Then I opened the LaCie and tried to make a new folder. It worked for a brief moment, I saw the new untitled folder, but then it disappeared....this is new again!

 

[chscag]

I downloaded OnyX and did a disk repair and the maintenance. Then I opened the LaCie and tried to make a new folder. It worked for a brief moment, I saw the new untitled folder, but then it disappeared....this is new again!

It appears your LaCie external drive may be dying. If you have any files or folders that you need, copy them to another drive as a safety backup. The reason I asked what file system you were using is that I thought perhaps it was formatted to FAT-32 which restricts the number of files\folder under the root.

However, since the drive is formatted to HFS+ there shouldn't be a problem with file\folder limits. That leads me to believe the drive itself is having problems. Make a backup as soon as possible.

Regards.

 

[chas_m]

IIRC, the LaCie 1TB "Big Disk" is actually two 500GB drives strapped together (under the case). If that is the case, this could explain the OP's odd problem.

Transferring the files on this LaCie to another drive for safety is a good idea and the first thing I would do.

The second would be to purchase and run either Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro on the suspect drive to get some idea of what's happening.

 

[MKL]

Thanks so much for all the feedback....I will back up ASAP!!(and perhaps try the second suggestion if I am feeling brave)
mk