User profile for user: old and tired
old and tired Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

La Cie External Hard Drive - corruption issues

Hello Everyone - My G4 cube is still going; however, the back-up LaCie Hard Drive that I daisy chained to my original hard drive - which had also been

daisy chained to a new hard drive in the cube, seems corrupted. Yep, my F.A. Porsche - FireWire 400 - LaCie Hard Drive is not visible on the desk top.

Although I can see it listed under FireWire in the About this Mac section. I tried to use disk utilites and this is all I got:


**/dev/disk2s1

**Phase1 - Read FAT

Unable to read FAT (input/output error)

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 non HFS volume checked

1 volume could not be repaired because of an error


We had several power outages in the fall. Could this have done something to the LaCie? I started to notice that it did not always show up on the desk top.

Then when I tried to view my documents or back up pictures on the LaCie it would take forever to open. Then one day it stopped showing up on my

desk top. I checked the LaCie website. They recommend that I reformat the drive, but I would have to recover the data first. How does one recover the data? or do I have to take it to some Apple store or computer place to recover the data for me ? It's just personal photos, etc. nothing really important.

Is this backed up information gone forever ? Anyone else had problems with LaCie drives ? This was supposed to be my back-up. I had only a few

original digital images on it that I wanted to retrieve. Any suggestions ?

g4 cube 2000 (PowerMac G4) 450 MHz, 832 MB SDRAM / DVD-ROM, Mac OS X (10.4.11), iTunes 9.0.1 (9)

Posted on Dec 8, 2011 2:55 PM

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7 replies
User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
250,259 points

Dec 8, 2011 3:56 PM in response to old and tired

LaCie drives are quite famous for the Power Supplies giving out, & other problems, might try that...


http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php//t-158158.html


http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f65/lacie-hard-drive-not-showing-on-deskt op-528103.html


As far as data recovery it can be costly, SW to do it yourself is $110 & up, professional data recovery generally $500 & up.

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User profile for user: old and tired
old and tired Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Dec 9, 2011 8:38 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the reply. I just don't feel it's worth it for me to do the data recovery. I'm just a little curiousas to why the error message was telling me that it was unable to read the FAT. I did read some of the links and tried to unplug everything and turn off everything as suggested. I still end up in the same situation with the external drive not showing up on the desktop.


I was able to look at the specifics for my external drive (LACIE) under disk utility. When I highlighted the

LACIE: it shows under Mount Point: not mounted, Format: MS-DOS File System (FAT 32).


I think one of my family members with a new SONY burner possibly tried to burn some photos off of my external drive. Is it possible that the files had been converted to PC files ? I don't have a PC and do not use third party devices with PC compatability with my computer. Is it possible that this happened ?


This external drive is three years old. Is it possible that it was always formatted as MS-DOS ? It doesn't make sense to me. I've been looking at other discussions with other people that had questions regarding FAT 32 and inability for external drive being recognized. It seems that all these people have access to PCs in their house and are transferring data off their external drives in between their MACs and PCs. Can't we all just get along ?

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User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
250,259 points

Dec 9, 2011 9:43 AM in response to old and tired

Is it possible that the files had been converted to PC files ?

Sort of, but not a problem in & of itself, the Drive is PC format & likely came that way, most do but can be reformatted for HFS+ instead of FAT32.


It seems that all these people have access to PCs in their house and are transferring data off their external drives in between their MACs and PCs.

That's one reason people leave them at FAT32 format, both Macs & PCs can read/write them.


When I highlighted the LACIE: it shows under Mount Point: not mounted

At that point are you able to click on the Repair Disk button, (not Repair Permissions).

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User profile for user: old and tired
old and tired Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Dec 10, 2011 11:42 AM in response to BDAqua

Before your latest reply, I would have said yes. I had been able to click on the Repair Disk button.

And I got that error message that I listed in the first post, about ..."unable to read FAT"..."1 non HFS volume checked"...etc.


I actually did all or some of the prior suggestions...ejected Lacie from disk utility...turn off...unplug everything...wait 15 minutes...replug everything...turn back on.


I walked away for several hours, and then I actually saw the LACIE on the desktop. I got impatient and tried to

click it open. I couldn't wait the next 5 minutes, so I tried to close out of that operation. Then I tried to open disk utility...the grey wheel kept spinning and it seemed to take longer than it had in the past while it said...

"gathering disk information". I got impatient with waiting for that and tried to close out of that operation.

I think I was having a hard time stopping the process so I hit the emergency "restart button" on the

under side of the cube. Probably the final death knell for my external drive. The result of my own impatience.


I tried to shut down my machine several times since, unplug the external drive, turn it off for 15 minutes, reconnect it, but it's no longer visible... anywhere. My own fault.


I'll just leave it plugged in and on

I guess for awhile. Sometimes it reappears for no reason. Thanks for your input. I think I fried it.

I'll be careful next time, if I buy another back up external drive. Maybe I'll store the information that I want to keep and "eject it" from disk utility, turn it off, unplug and then hide it in a cabinet somewhere for future reference.

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La Cie External Hard Drive - corruption issues

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