At least, I think that's the problem. My Lacie external HD was working fine until a little while ago when all of a sudden my Macbook wouldn't read it. It doesn't show up on the desktop or under devices. However, in system profiler, it shows up under the USB tab. So I don't know what's going on. I had this same issue several months ago and as I recall, I didn't do anything to fix it. It just started working again after some unplugging. So maybe this time it will go back to normal on its own, but in the mean time, is there any way I can try fixing it? Is it the Mac that's not reading it, or the HD that won't mount?

Try launching Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder inside Applications). The drive should show up in the list on the left side. if you can see it, select it and choose Repair. You can also choose Mount from the File menu.

I've had power supply problems with some of my LaCie drives which resulted in similar symptoms like you described.

lacie makes awesome drives with really good, solid reliable power supply's




not


if you're outside your warranty open the case and put the drive in another enclosure..7/10 times that straightens you right out

Try launching Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder inside Applications). The drive should show up in the list on the left side. if you can see it, select it and choose Repair. You can also choose Mount from the File menu.

I've had power supply problems with some of my LaCie drives which resulted in similar symptoms like you described.

Thanks, I'll try that out.


lacie makes awesome drives with really good, solid reliable power supply's




not


if you're outside your warranty open the case and put the drive in another enclosure..7/10 times that straightens you right out

Ha, well I only got it because it was on sale.
I think the warranty is for one year, maybe two. In any case I got it about 11 months and 20 days ago, so if I can't fix the problem soon, I'll be giving them a call.

I have a flakey FW drive and sometimes have to restart the computer for it to mount via FW400. Try a restart it may work.

Withholding my usual rather negative LaCie comments regarding some of their later hard drive hardware and power supplies, try shutting down you Mac, (don't just restart), disconnect ALL non required peripherals, reboot, power up the LaCie if needed and connect it with a good known appropriate connector/cable and see if it mounts or use the Disk Utility mount options if it doesn't.

I've been using LaCie external HD's with mixed success/problems - and they key is the older then a year or two power supplies are incredibly sensitive to the slightest bump or knock - if you drop it, forget it, its done. I had to replace that power supply 4 times AND had one drive loss serious enough I had to open it up and physically replace one of the 2 drives inside. The second, more expensive model has been a rock so I would say your experience may vary.

First follow some of the steps already mentioned above like mounting in Disk Utility, shutdown, reconnect cable, etc. If all this doesn't help, you should try a second power cable - even bring your drive to the store you bought it and trying one of their working cables - a new power supply (about $30-40). I think LaCie has upped their warranties to 3 years now so worth a check if you qualify for a free fix/replacement before buying anything.

Withholding my usual rather negative LaCie comments regarding some of their later hard drive hardware and power supplies, try shutting down you Mac, (don't just restart), disconnect ALL non required peripherals, reboot, power up the LaCie if needed and connect it with a good known appropriate connector/cable and see if it mounts or use the Disk Utility mount options if it doesn't.

What he said. Then if you do get it to mount, Use the donation ware Onyx to delete and rebuild the Spotlight Index. The rebuilding part (after a reboot) will take awhile, so walk away and let the computer do its thing.

I rebooted and that didn't work.
Now I'm trying the power source and USB connection from an identical Lacie drive, and still no go. In disk utility, the hardware line is showing up, but not the volume line. It won't let me choose Mount under File. And when it's plugged into the computer, the blue light on the drive keeps flickering. This would definitely be a Lacie problem then, and not an Apple problem?

When my LaCie failed, it had a constant flickering light and I could hear it constantly trying to spin the drives up and down, like it was stuck in a loop trying to access data. Switching the power cords worked for me, but it sounds like you already tried that and may be left to take it in and have it looked at.

From your description it sounds like the the file/data structure may have become corrupted since you mentioned it shows up as a physical drive in Disk Utililty but no volume info. If it allows, try to repair it in Disk Utility or use a better third party disk fixing/recovery program to try and save your data. Last time this happened to me, I had to reformat the drive in Disk Utility and it worked fine again BUT I lost the data on it (luckily was all backed up).

As a last resort, if the drive is out of warranty & comfortable taking it apart, swapping the drive into a different working case may help to get at your data.

When my LaCie failed, it had a constant flickering light and I could hear it constantly trying to spin the drives up and down, like it was stuck in a loop trying to access data. Switching the power cords worked for me, but it sounds like you already tried that and may be left to take it in and have it looked at.

From your description it sounds like the the file/data structure may have become corrupted since you mentioned it shows up as a physical drive in Disk Utililty but no volume info. If it allows, try to repair it in Disk Utility or use a better third party disk fixing/recovery program to try and save your data. Last time this happened to me, I had to reformat the drive in Disk Utility and it worked fine again BUT I lost the data on it (luckily was all backed up).

As a last resort, if the drive is out of warranty & comfortable taking it apart, swapping the drive into a different working case may help to get at your data.

Thanks for your help :)

Yeah it won't let me repair anything in Disk Utility. What are some good (free) third party programs?

I cannot think of any "free" Mac applications, and certainly none that I would trust, and from your posted problems I would doubt that even the excellent $100.00± Diskwarrior would help.

And unless you're into HD data recovery, I would suggest you spend your money wisely and follow some of the posted advice or just get hold of a good Mac tech who is competent and can solve your problem.

As things stand presently, you have too many variables going against you and you'll need help - assuming any of the data is actually worth recovering and/or saving.

Using any "free" type software - if it even exists, could end up being a big waste of time and also make any possible good data recovery impossible.

I bought a LaCie external USB drive years ago with the intention of taking out the drive and using it since buying that OEM drive by itself was more than the drive in the LaCie USB enclosure.
Well, taking the drive out wasn't as easy as I thought so I used the external drive the way it was for a while - not very successful mind you.
It woyld get incredibly hot - almost too hot to touch at times and then it was flaky in that it either required several attempts to mount or the transfer rate slowed down to a crawl.

Eventually I decided to open the case, take the drive out and install it in a regular external case.
No more problems.
I would suggest you do the same. USB cases are pretty inexpensive.
Even if this does not resolve your immediate problem and you have to reformat the drive, I think you'd ne much happier in the future.

Anyone want a LaCie USB case? Cheap !!!