Looking for replacement bare drive to fit LaCie d2 Extreme enclosure

I don't know if this is the correct place to post this question. If it is not, would some kind soul PLEASE direct me to the right forum?


I've had my LaCie d2 320GB drive for at least 3 years. A couple weeks ago, I noticed the drive was making the justly infamous "Click-O-Death." I ran both ProSoft's Drive Genius 3, v3.1.1 and Micromat's TechTool Pro 5 v5.0.7, both programs at latest spec. Both programs found a significant number of bad blocks, and both programs recommended getting a new drive (of course). Both utilities claim to have bad block reallocation capabilities, so I tried that with both TechTool and Drive Genius -- which took about an hour each time -- then did the disk scans again. Still had bad blocks (same number, too), so I backed up My LaCie drive with Time Machine (which I have since ditched for CCCloner), booted off the #1 Snow Leopard install disk (I'm obsessive), opened up Disk Utility from the install disk, and erased the LaCie drive, choosing the single-pass "write zeroes to disk" security option, which Apple says WILL reallocate all bad blocks. Ran TechTool and Drive Genius again… same result: lots of bad blocks, go get a new drive.


I didn’t expect the LaCie to last forever, especially as I used it as a “mule” to carry data around for other computers, and these days 320GB ain’t much -- my iMac has a 1TB internal SATA, and 2 external USB drives (not counting the LaCie) that total another 3TB -- so I was wondering: The LaCie is such a nice, sturdy drive enclosure for standard 3.5” drives, it has a 57W power supply, AND its interface card can accommodate FW400, FW800, and USB2 – can anyone recommend a 1TB to 2TB 3.5" drive I could drop in the LaCie enclosure?


Besides a drive recommendation, I'm sorry to say I haven't been able to open up the LaCie to get the drive out. I got the rear plate off, but there's a steel chassis like a Sherman tank inside the aluminum enclosure, and I haven't figured out how to get the chassis and its works, including the drive, out of there (it won't PULL out, lemme tellya!) , so I have no idea how the drive connects to the interface card that translates FireWire and USB into whatever the drive's connector, and therefore I don't know what kind of drive I need (SATA, ATA, whatever). I googled until I was Googly-eyed, but I could not find any useful info on the dead 350GB drive that inhabits the LaCie enclosure -- perhaps I was using the wrong search terms, but I could find nothing identifying the make and configuration of this drive. The LaCie site was of no help, either; here's the piddling amount of info I could glean from LaCie:


FEATURES

• FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 interfaces • Driver-free for Mac OS XMINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• FireWire 800 equipped computer (9-pin): Mac OS 10.2 or greater

• FireWire 400 equipped computer (6-pin) or iLink (4-pin): Mac OS 9.x, 10.x

• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 equipped computer: Mac OS 10.2.x or greater

• USB 1.1 equipped computer: Mac OS 9.x, 10.x

• minimum 64MB RAM


301146 320GB


2 x FireWire 800 (9-pin) ports;

1 x FireWire 400 (6-pin) port (compatible

with iLink, DV); 1 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0 (compatible with USB 1.1)

FW 800: up to 800Mbits/s (100MB/s);

FW 400: up to 400Mbits/s (50MB/s); USB 2.0: up to 480Mbits/s (60MB/s)

FW 800: up to 64MB/s;

FW 400: up to 42MB/s;

USB 2.0: up to 34MB/s 7200rpm <10ms 8MB minimum driver-free for Mac OS X


Once I figure out how to get the thing out of there I may know, but I'm hardly a wizard concerning drive interfaces (or much else!).


And this is my System's configuration:


Apple 27" iMac (late Fall '09) 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, 12 GB RAM


Thanks for your time.


Bart Brown

Posted on Jul 2, 2011 1:49 PM

Reply
9 replies

Jul 2, 2011 5:59 PM in response to Bartbrn

Often, the place they come apart is the opposite of where the cables enter.


If it has a front plate, sometimes those will pop on and off without screws. Look for places to insert a thin screwdriver, or try pressing down on the top of the front plate to free some "hooks" that might be holding the front plate in place.


LaCie is an established company. Their Tech Support should be able to tell you how it comes apart.

Jul 2, 2011 9:28 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

This is the culprit: The LaCie d2 Hard Drive EXTREME with Triple (count 'em!) Interface.

LaCie part number 301146U


Grant -- You had the answer -- I just wasn't pulling hard enough on the front facia, the entire entrails of the thing came out, all attached to the front (the end with the big blue button) cap.


The internal drive is a Seagate Barracuda 7200-RPM 320GB

Seagate Model ST3320820A Ultra ATA/100 320GB 7200.10

The Seagate drive was built July 30, 2004


It took me a while to get Seagate's Windows-centric "Find Your Own Answer and Don't Bother US!" self-"help" system to finally admit that, yes, they had actually built a Barracuda with MY model number and MY serial number, but NO, there were no dowloads, firmware or otherwise, for this ancient boat anchor.


So, my razor sharp mind jumps to the (I hope tenable) conclusion that what I need is an Ultra ATA/100 drive whose power capacity doesn't excedd that provided by a 57W power supply.


Am I correct?


Thanks for your help!


Bart Brown


PLEASE let me know if my assumption that a bare 3.5" Ultra ATA/100 drive is what I need.


Peace Out!

Jul 2, 2011 10:41 PM in response to Bartbrn

Bart,


Your instincts are dead on. We gut old external CD-ROM drives and make our own enclosures. We buy 40gig drives for $5 and use them as backup drives. We leave the cover off the external bay because the drive is only in the bay long enough to archive files and then store the drive off premises in case of fire.


One tip that will save you some grief. If you chose to leave the cover off for convenience in swapping out drives, add an extension to the four wire power plug and replace the interface ribbon with a longer ribbon. What happens is that you run the risk of working wires loose from the small PC board. We had that happen on two store bought drive enclosures. Taped the third one down, lesson learned.


Ji~m

Jul 3, 2011 11:34 PM in response to Bartbrn

"PLEASE let me know if my assumption that a bare 3.5" Ultra ATA/100 drive is what I need."


What you'll likely be looking for is an Ultra ATA-133 (IDE/EIDE or PATA) drive now, which is backward-compatible with the previous (slower) protocols. Selection is getting scarce, because most manufacturers are now focused on SATA drives. Hopefully, you can find a Seagate or Western Digital in a 1 TB capacity, without paying a disproportionately higher price - just for the scarcity factor. The better sale prices tend to be for SATA drives, which dominate the market.

Aug 21, 2011 10:44 AM in response to lf4tune

Larry --


Just as Jeff said: "Selection is getting scarce, because most manufacturers are now focused on SATA drives... The better sale prices tend to be for SATA drives, which dominate the market"


I found it would be cheaper to buy a complete external SATA drive -- enclosure, drive, the works -- than just a bare Ultra ATA-133 drive of TB-or-bigger size, so I trolled around on eBay, and found an identical-to-the-dead-drive 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM Ultra ATA 100 IDE for 30 bucks, which I just installed last night. Now if I could only remember where I put the rest of the enclosure...


Bart

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Looking for replacement bare drive to fit LaCie d2 Extreme enclosure

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.