Finder crashes with External Drive on Sleep Mode

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Finder crashes with External Drive on Sleep Mode

I purchased my new iMac 21,5" less than a week ago, and I haven't had a problem with it except for one that it's been bugging me a lot.

I have a LaCie 1TB Quadra d2 external drive that I use to store footage (since it's HD, the filesize won't fit in my 500TB internal hard drive), but I noticed that sometimes when LaCie external drive enters in Sleep Mode, the Finder freezes and the only two ways around this, is to force reboot, because the Finder won't answer and won't open again, or unplugging the external drive without ejecting him first, which it's not safe for me to do, because I'm afraid of hurting the device, and the files in it are pretty important.

This happens almost everytime, especially after a long time on sleep mode. I usually leave Final Cut Pro transferring files all night (since it takes a long time) so I kinda need the sleep mode, but when I wake up, Finder and Final Cut Pro won't answer.

I updated to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on day one. Is there a way to fix this? Is it normal? I read somewhere that some users were having trouble with external drives on Sleep Mode, but I can't seem to find any further information about this problem.

Thanks!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 21,5", 2.5 GHZ Intel Core i5

Posted on Jul 18, 2011 10:13 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

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Jul 18, 2011 10:25 AM in response to borislopez

Boot in safe mode and see whether you can reproduce the problem.

Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode

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Answer 2

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 1:13 PM in response to Linc Davis

Ok, so I ran safe mode, and when it goes to Sleep Mode, the Finder didn't crash (I can navigate through and open new windows), but it won't recognise the external device or let me eject it safely. No matter what I do, when the external drive goes to rest, it dissappears from the connected devices and can't "wake it up".

Clues?

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

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Jul 18, 2011 1:40 PM in response to borislopez

That sounds like a problem with the drive enclosure. Not all external drives can spin down safely. Unless La Cie tech support has a better suggestion, you should disable hard disk sleep in the Energy Saver preference pane.

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Answer 4

Jul 18, 2011 4:35 PM in response to borislopez

I've got a MacBook Pro 13.3" that's a little over a month old, with a LaCie 1TB LaCie d2 Quadra with USB 3.0, #301542U and I'm suffering the same problems and a few others with it. I've got a partition on it set up as my Time Machine backup drive. I've turned off the Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible in the Energy Saver preferences but I'm still having the sleep problem with it. According to the LaCie Manual:

By default, your drive will enter Eco Mode after 30 minutes of inactivity in order to conserve energy. To exit Eco Mode, simply access data on the drive and the disk will automatically restart. You can manage this feature using LaCie Desktop Manager. Click the Eco tab.

The LaCie Desktop Manager (in my case) only takes me to the Energy Saver Preferences in OS X to adjust the time there. Turning off Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible doesn't seem to make any difference, the drive still goes to sleep after 30 minutes. However, after 15 minutes the drive seems to wake back up, but then during the next 15 minutes goes comatose (no power light). Sometimes it will go through multiples of these sleep wake cycles without going into a coma, but eventually it does go into a coma. This happens in between hourly Time Machine backups.

After locking up Finder, Disk Utility and Time Machine multiple times trying to access the drive in this state I figured out that I could cycle the power switch to regain use of it (with a Finder warning of course) but this will only lead to file corruption eventually and I shouldn't have to resort to this. I've also dismounted it, expecting it to turn off and instead it goes into an extended spin down cycle (rapidly flashing light) and never turns off (or goes to sleep or what ever it's supposed to do) and once again requires turning the power switch off.

This is just too unpredictible and unrelable for me and as soon as I get the opportunity to do a 7 pass erase I'll be returning to the place of purchase. Based on the reviews of other external hard drives a drive from another company doesn't look to be much better of a prospect so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

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Jul 18, 2011 5:17 PM in response to Allen Barnella

It would probably be OK if you uninstall the vendor crapware.

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Answer 6

Jul 18, 2011 5:26 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

It would probably be OK if you uninstall the vendor crapware.

I forgot to mention that I only installed LaCie's Desktop Manager for long enough to see if I could change the sleep setting and then promptly uninstalled it. No change in sleep behavior before, during or after,

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Answer 7

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 6:16 PM in response to Allen Barnella

Allen,

I have the same drive model, and it's exactly how you say. I can't seem to disable Sleep Mode either from the Energy Saver Preferences. If I turn it off, it still goes inactive after a while. The only way to stop the freezing is, like you said, turning the power switch off but I wouldn't have to do this.

At first, I thought that it was because I had formatted the disk to work in a PC (NTFS), but even after I formatted to HFS+, erasing all the vendor ware, the problem remains the same.

I'm worried that this is a Snow Leopard thing though, because it didn't happen to me in a PC, and I read somewhere that some users were experiencing this as a system bug.

I already sent a message to LaCie Online Support, but I doubt they give me a helpful answer. If someone knows more about this problem, I would really appreciate it, I wanna make sure if it's a Snow Leopard or a LaCie problem.

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Answer 8

Jul 18, 2011 6:28 PM in response to borislopez

I started right off the bat by formatting it as HFS+ and have since reformatted with the same results. I've also got an old LaCie D2 Firewire 400 only drive (2003) and it has always worked perfectly with my old G4 iMac. It powers on/off with the iMac and allows the system to sleep it when necessary. Never a problem and it still works. I thought about contacting LaCie but didn't really want to set up an account and register the hard drive just to get a response that probably wounldn't be very helpful.

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Answer 9

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 6:32 PM in response to Allen Barnella

What's your OS?

It would be really upsetting if I made a mistake purchasing this drive model, **** LaCie.

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Answer 10

Jul 18, 2011 6:36 PM in response to borislopez

borislopez wrote:

What's your OS?

It would be really upsetting if I made a mistake purchasing this drive model, **** LaCie.

On my MacBook Pro with the new LaCie I'm running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard.

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Answer 11

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 6:38 PM in response to Allen Barnella

Have you tried that LaCie model on a PC or other than Snow Leopard?

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Answer 12

Jul 18, 2011 6:42 PM in response to borislopez

borislopez wrote:

Have you tried that LaCie model on a PC or other than Snow Leopard?

No I haven't.

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Answer 13

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 6:57 PM in response to borislopez

Is your drive connected through Firewire 800?

I found a topic that describes exactly my problem (which is really annoying when you're editing) but sadly doesn't give any clues about the source of the problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2468282?threadID=2468282

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Answer 14

Jul 18, 2011 7:40 PM in response to borislopez

borislopez wrote:

Is your drive connected through Firewire 800?

I found a topic that describes exactly my problem (which is really annoying when you're editing) but sadly doesn't give any clues about the source of the problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2468282?threadID=2468282

Yes, Firewire 800. That thread does sound like our problem. I think that part of the reason this is happening may be because companies like LaCie are using green drives in these enclosures and as such I think the sleep function is built into the drive.

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Answer 15

borislopez Author

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Jul 18, 2011 8:26 PM in response to borislopez

Great, now when I turn the LaCie on, it does appear in the desktop, but it won't show in the Devices list on Finder. That's it, I'm backing up my stuff.

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