Mac mini M1 - Not able to mount LaCie 5Big Thunderbolt storage

Hello all,

I'm facing exactly the same issue with the same setup (MacMini M1 as well as LaCie 5Big TB2 with an Apple adapter to TB3).

I guess we have to wait for an update from LaCie/Seagate to get this fixed. Unfortunately, their support is quite a mess.. I've opened two tickets (Mid Nov and around 12/01) with no answer or even a response yet.

I'm glad for every help and support the internet can provide ;)

Stay healthy

Writing this on Feb 15th - 2021. I have been in exactly the same situation since mid-Nov 2020 when I got my M1 (M1 MM, Big Sur 11.2; correct apple adapter for TB 2<-->3). I have opened multiple tickets with Lacie; I actually spoke to a level 1 support tech @Lacie about it who promised me a level II tech would call - and has not in 3 weeks and I've filed more tickets. So, I too, can confirm that LaCie's support is a mess and is totally un-responsive. The ONLY reason I'm getting by is that I have it attached to my MacPro and can access it via networking - but, of course a little slower.

jc

April 8 - 2021. 5 few days ago I received a notice that LaCie had issued an update to the LaCie RAID manger that would work under Big Sur 11.2.3. Today, April 8th, I set aside the afternoon to download and install the RAID driver and physically move my 5BIG from my Intel Mac Pro 6,1 (2013) Thunderbolt-2 to my Mac Mini M1 (16GB ram/2TB storage). So this is LaCie Raid Manager 2.9.3.207. This time the install under Big Sur went fine - I had to approve the software's source with Privacy as expected and this time it went okay. The drive was recognized and I could read and write to it. However, it's performance is seriously impacted. On my Intel MacPro (TrashCan 6,1 Thunderbolt 2) I get at least, 400/400 MB/sec by any measure (transfer a really big video file and stopwatch it, Blackmagic, etc) - but on moving the drive to the M1 my speeds are roughly write 55MB/sec; read 270 MB/sec...there is some variability but this is the essence of it - not much better than a USB2 drive and on par with a FW 800.

So this is a serious problem. This drive, while readable, is useless for ay serious photographic/video work.

I spent some hours on the phone with tech support today and they do not have an answer for this. I swapped every TB2 cable and Apple adapter I have* - so it's not a cable or adapter issue. It's a driver issue - entangled with caches/buffers/optimization and all that.

*I have 3 Apple TB 2<-->3 dongles I have 2M and half-metre cables from different manufacturers - I counter-swapped, and all these work fine on the TrashCan - and when connected on the clearest/simplest path on the M1 Mac - much less performance.

Two questions

1. what numbers are you seeing*
2. How do we mount a claim on this.

*the reason I am asking this is if your 5Big (whatever) is performing differently than mine - I have done 2 failed drive swaps over the years and although I have replaced with IronWolf, maybe I have introduced something incompatible or less optimized. Nonetheless, the LaCie Techs cannot discern this and the drive currently does do 400+/400+ on the Intel and 55/270 on the M1.

I do not relish dumping this drive system - but it is useless on the new future of Macs. The LaCie tech sort-of admitted to this but has no solution and so we must apply some pressure.

Nest Steps. BTW - I am sure this applies to 6Big and 12Big as well....so this is not a small community that has had their hardware back-watered very prematurely.

jc - April 8-2021

Actually this is a LaCie issue that is dragging on longer than it should. Compare LaCie/Seagate’s and G-Technology/WD’s response to the problem vs Promise Technology’s response. Promise Technology has already release a downloadable fix by the end of Dec 2020. LaCie/Seagate can only add to their support page the follow notice. Not compatible!!! While G-Tech/WD is pretty much ignoring the problem until the general public figures a work around.

My take is that these companies didn’t work hard enough to get their systems aligned with Apple’s M1 and Big Sur.

NordicLightPhoto wrote:

The question is, is anyone else experiencing this issue?

LaCie is notorious for bad connection problems. When I found this out I immediatly returned mine.

Hopefully Apple will be able to help with this, even though the issue is actually with the drive.

NordicLightPhoto wrote:

As Apple is promoting the LaCie products in their web-store, you may expect that they test connection before launching a new product.

I don't think they carry every model. OP would need to verify this first.

Jack_et_al wrote:

Compare LaCie/Seagate’s and G-Technology/WD’s response to the problem vs Promise Technology’s response.

Do you work for Promise Technology?

I ask because most of what you wrote is simply not factual and only opinion.

Version 15.8.108 of the NTFS Paragon Driver is officially supported on both Intel and Apple silicon (M1) based Macs.

I use several Seagate and G-Tech drives with my M1. They work perfectly fine once formatted correctly via the M1.

LaCie drives are a whole other matter. I will never waste my time buying another LaCie drive.

I am a data scientist for a pharmaceutical company. It appears you maybe an outlier considering you are the ONLY one that is not having an issue with the RAID DAS solutions. Your experience is an outlier from what the general public has had. I am guessing you have not done your homework. Try going to the LaCie support page. The OFFICIAL statement is that Apple M1 IS NOT COMPATIBLE. You can not use the Thunderbolt 3 I/O. They are “working” on it. You can only use the USB-C I/O with the Apple M1 powered computers and it will run at a much slower speed. Their advertising states USB-C 10Gbps but when you dig into support page it is actually USB-C 5Gbps. Now try going to Promise Tech or Areca you will notice that those RIAD DAS solutions have fixes/solutions that mitigate the Apple M1/Big Sur issues.

Your statement of “I have use several Seagate and GTech drives...” is irrelevant considering the rest of the general public have had the same problem. We are not using regular drives. We are using high performance RAID DAS solutions. The driver you reference does not resolve the issue. Try using the Thunderbolt 3 I/O on the 6Big/12Big or GTech G-Speeds it will not mount on the M1 powered Macs running Big Sur.

FYI....LaCie does not make hard drives. Seagate owns LaCie and makes the hard drives. Try looking at the support page that you downloaded the driver you reference. Also WD owns G-Tech and makes the hard drives.

Jack_et_al wrote:

Your statement of “I have use several Seagate and GTech drives...” is irrelevant considering the rest of the general public have had the same problem.

Not true. I work with hundreds of other people who have never reported any issues. How presumptuous of you to speak for the "rest of the general public". Your experience may be yours, but please don't speak for what I have personally observed. The OP owns a LaCie drive. I have already stated that I would never buy another LaCie drive.