Lacie goes off and beeps

Kurt,

I have an Iomega triple interface 250 GB external that I used with my 17 inch iMac flat panel G4 via the FW 400 connection. I still use it with that iMac and it's always worked as expected. I passed this setup on to my son.

I've now got a new 21.5 inch iMac and have an OWC Mercury Elite triple interface external to go with it. I've connected it via FW 800 and use it for SuperDuper and Time Machine backups. It seems to work as expected. I've never had any weird disconnects of unexpected sounds from it. I've also never tried using it with either the FW 400 port or the USB 2 port. I have my external partitioned into two partitions, one for TM and one for SD. Once in a very great while, I've had to turn the external off and then back on to get it to mount, but this has been very very rare.

This new iMac and OWC Mercury external are my first experiences with FW 800 and things seem to work quite well.

Regards,
Steve M.

That's interesting too. Someday I need to try USB 2 just to see how it compares to FW 800. Most of the Mac users seem to swear by FW 800 as being faster. But there has always seemed to be a few problems that would crop up with FW. Remember a few years ago it seemed that there were occasional reports of users who developed FW problems when they left FW peripherals connected during system updates? Or at least that was an explanation that was tossed out to explain some of the resultant FW problems.

Of course now, with so many of us using Time Machine and SuperDuper or CCC, we've always got a FW drive connected so maybe this old problem has been corrected.

Also FW cables are somewhat difficult to find, sometimes quite bulky and often expensive. The FW 800 cable that came with my OWC is one of those heavy weight braided metal cables encased in thick translucent plastic and it's very stiff. Some of these are so stiff that they place some tension in one direction or another on the plug and socket and may result in a suboptimal connection. I almost broke down and ordered an expensive replacement through Amazon until I remembered to look in my old Iomega box and found a brand new light weight FW 800 cable that came with my old external drive! And that's what I'm using now.

Regards,
Steve M.

Hopefully we'll get some other input on FW 800 experiences.

I will add this, that 5 or so years ago when I bought my Iomega triple interface I had to return the first drive for an exchange because of very flaky performance through the FW 400 connection. My second Iomega worked and still works just fine.

Regards,
Steve M.

Hi Kurt,

I think we have the same Macs. 2.4Ghz 20" iMac8,1

With one LaCie external that has FW800, I still used the FW400 port without trouble. Another LaCie external only has FW400 capability.

Then I decided to connect both, the older one with the 400 and the other with the 800.
But with the 800 I sometimes observed volumes (it is multi partitioned) not mounting or failing to dismount. Not always but sometimes. At least no beeps or stopping. Concerned by this I have gone back to accessing it with the 400 where it works faultlessly.
It is a little disappointing, to have a FW800 port which I don't trust enough to use. I have not done any testing, just offering anecdotal observation.

I wonder if the FW800 port is delivering enough power.

Message was edited by: roam

I can use both externals at the same time but I don't have a FW interface camera to run that test.

I have returned to using the 800 just to test again if it is more stable than my first impressions. Seems to be holding up OK, and the other 400 drive is accessible and working properly as well, so I will keep this arrangement happening.

That you find that your 400 is unavailable when your 800 is in use, sounds problematic.
Have you used Apple Hardware test, or Tech Tool Deluxe to see what either say about the Firewire 800 port?