No external drive will work via Firewire

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No external drive will work via Firewire

I am having a heck of a time trying to get either a brand new Lacie d2 Quadra OR a G-Tech G-Drive (both 2TB desktop models) to work on my iMac via the Firewire port. Mac is running 10.7.3, 2.8ghz Intel Core Duo.

Both drives are brand new out of the box.

When I connected them using Firewire they look like they mount, but they are unusable. They won't unmount if I try to reformat. Get error messages if I try to reformat, verify or disk repair. Messages say something about not being able to read some information. Keep in mind there's nothing on the drives. I have tried getting them to work with Time Machine with no luck. A few times it would backup for several hours only to give an error message and crash. Something is clearly wrong when I use Firewire.

But when I connect using USB? Voila! No problems at all. Repair, formatting, storage, etc. all work fine.

What the heck is it with Firewire? I am dealing with slow transfer speeds for now, but I'd really like to have them connected via Firewire and off my USB ports.

I have read lots and lots of similar issues, but am unable to find something resembling a solution.

I have zapped the PRAM and permission module to no avail. Not sure what else can be done.

Glen

Posted on Mar 13, 2012 8:22 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

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209,547 points

Mar 13, 2012 8:33 PM in response to gsansone

Have you tested the drives with another Mac?

Have you tested them with a different cable?

Are they bus-powered or wall-powered?

Are you connecting them directly to a built-in port, or to a hub?

If your Mac has more than one FireWire port, have you tested them all?

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Answer 2

gsansone Author

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Mar 13, 2012 9:07 PM in response to Linc Davis

Tested? I just took them out of the box within the past few days.

Yes on the cables, even though the cables, too, are brand new.

Wall powered.

Directly to the back of the iMac

Mac has 2 Firewire ports, same result with either drive.

I had some sporadic success with the Lacie but it never lasted for more than a few hours. For instance, it would boot up and mount, but could never finish a backup without errors.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Mar 13, 2012 9:19 PM in response to gsansone

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:

Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)

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Answer 4

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Mar 13, 2012 9:26 PM in response to gsansone

I had some sporadic success with the Lacie but it never lasted for more than a few hours. For instance, it would boot up and mount, but could never finish a backup without errors.

If you're using the SilverKeeper software that came with the LaCie disk, reformat the disk and use SuperDuper or CarbonCopy Cloner

Or Time Machine.

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Answer 5

gsansone Author

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Mar 14, 2012 5:06 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc:

I followed your directions and am currently in Safe Mode right now. I am testing my G-Drive with the Firewire (400) port. So far so good. Disk mounted successfully, I even partitioned and formatted again with no hiccups. I am now running a Time Machine backup to see if that process fails.

Stay tuned.

Very strange that it's working flawlessly so far....(fingers crossed)....

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Answer 6

gsansone Author

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Mar 14, 2012 5:30 AM in response to gsansone

Time Machine just said "Indexing Volume" for about 20 min and never started writing the backup. I killed it, not sure if it wasn't writing because I am in Safe Mode or not....

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