Somewhere along the line my MAC OS X running version 10.6.8 stopped supporting Firewire 800. When I connect my LaCie remote disks the MAC seems not to see them. Since I have two separate LaCie disks and have tried several cables, I think I can eliminate LaCie and the cable as being the problem. I am up-to-date on LaCie's downloads. Does Apple have a fix for this?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
Reinstall:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
You also might try Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC). Or you can take it in for service in case it's a hardware issue.
Do you can connect other devices to the FW 800 ?
If not you need to reset the FW ports.
Reset the iMac's SMC > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
4. Release the power button.
5. Attach the computers power cable.
6. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Reset the PRAM > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
If the above resets also fail to get the FireWire Port working, then you need to recontact Apple Support or your local Apple Service Provider and make arrangements to have the iMac serviced.
Thanks, but reinstalling OS X and Snow Leopard did not correct the problem. I'm still out of business.
Thanks, but resetting SMC and PRAM didn't change anything. I'm still out of business.
May be I have not understud the matter.
Can you connect other drives to the FW 800 ?
Or the HD to a different Mac ?
May be the HD is broken.
What I have to work with are two LaCie drives (identical with 400 and 800 Firewire, USB and power, but different vintages). My iMAC can see neither of them connected via Firewire 800. Unfortunately I cannot correlate OS versions with operability either because I haven't been using the LaCie drives much in the last year.
Yesterday I bought a 400-800 conversion cable to try connecting from LaCie's 400 port. No dice. This is a serious problem because I use the LaCie drives for Final Cut Pro files and now I cannot get to them on one of the drives because its USB 2.0 port is physically broken.
I don't have access to another Mac with OS X 10.6.8 at the moment either. If I take my LaCie drives to an Apple store, do you think they might be willing to see if they show up on another iMAC HD with the same OS level?
OS X 10.6.8 incompatibility with Firewire 800 or LaCie Firewire 800?
