Lacie 6Big Thunderbolt 3 RAID (Help)

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Level 1

10 points

Lacie 6Big Thunderbolt 3 RAID (Help)

Hi there,

Has anyone else out there had trouble mounting their Lacie 6Big (or 12Big) via Thunderbolt 3? I have a feeling I might be the only one otherwise I'd be seeing more posts about it.

Here's my problem. I recently purchased an iMac Pro and Lacie 6Big RAID. I can successfully mount the RAID via the supplied TB3 cable through the USB3.1 connection on the 6Big but have no such luck when using the TB3 connection.

I tried the following Troubleshooting:

- The 6Big mounts via USB3.1, the array is fully operational but no where near TB3 speed

- Tried mounting the 6Big via TB3 on my MacBook Pro, no luck but interesting the MBP receives charge from the 6Big which suggests that the cable and the actual TB3 ports are working

- I can daisy chain a USB-C drive through the TB3 port on the 6Big and mount that drive on my desktop, once again showing that the TB3 ports on the 6Big are working.

I'm currently in the process of initializing the entire array, this is going to take about 30hours so I thought I'd ask the community if they've ever experienced similar issues with any Thunderbolt 3 RAID.

Thanks

Scott

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, 2 TBT3)

Posted on Jun 17, 2018 8:12 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

The_SHED_ Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 21, 2018 4:30 AM in response to zee34

This morning I had a breakthrough! Before I boxed up the 6Big ready to return I decided to give it one last go on my MBP to rule out the IMP altogether. When installing the Lacie RAID manager software the macOS security window popped up saying that something in the software wanted access to the outside world, normally I don't give permission for software to randomly send info from my computer but this time I click "allow" and would you believe it the 6Big connected over TB3!!!

I immediately jumped on my IMP and reinstalled the RAID manager this time allowing the software to call home and success, TB3 in all it's glory!

I have no idea what is in the RAID manager that when you don't allow it to call home turns off the TB3 ports, remember that the 6Big worked totally fine when connected over USB3.1.

I suggest reinstalling the Lacie RAID manager (from the website) and having the Security & Privacy window open in System Preferences and "allowing" it to make connections to the outside and see how you go.

Please let me know if you have any success.

Cheers,

Scott

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Answer 2

TomWheel

Level 2

406 points

Jun 19, 2018 8:48 AM in response to The_SHED_

I don't have a LaCie 6Big Raid attached to my iMac Pro, but I suspect that your problem in not being able to use the 6Big on your iMac Pro is that Lacie has not issued a driver that will work with the iMac Pro. I have a Promise Pegasus3 R6 Thunderbolt 3 raid attached to my iMac Pro which I purchased at the same time as my iMac Pro in late December 2017. For six months I had an open ticket with Promise because the Pegasus3 would eject external USB3 hard drives when the iMac Pro was awakened from sleep and I could not boot into Windows 10 (installed under bootcamp) with the Pegasus3 attached. Windows 10 would hang at the startup logo. Both problems were finally rectified a few weeks ago when Promise finally released a new driver for the Pegasus3. I spent six months pulling my hair our because of a driver that would not work with the iMac Pro. I would suggest setting up a support ticket with Lacie on this problem. Good luck!

Tom

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Answer 3

The_SHED_ Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 19, 2018 5:35 PM in response to TomWheel

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your reply. If this was the case I'm sure there would be more people reporting the problem. I think my 6Big has a faulty TB3 port.

I'm buying a new TB3 cable today to eliminate the cable but if that doesn't work the 6Big is going back to where it came from. I'll be exchanging it for a Pegasus or QNAP.

I reached out to Lacie support via email 5 days ago and haven't heard anything from them...thankfully I haven't started working from the drives yet. This kind of downtime would have been devastating.

Cheers

Scott

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Answer 4

TomWheel

Level 2

406 points

Jun 19, 2018 6:19 PM in response to The_SHED_

Scott,

During the entire six months that I could not get my Pegasus3 to work properly with my iMac Pro, I thought the same thing you did, i.e. that if there was a driver problem surely others would be reporting the problem. However, even though I posted the issue on several forums over several months not one single other person reported issues with a Pegasus3 and an iMac Pro. However, when Promise finally released a new driver and I installed it on my iMac Pro all the issues instantly disappeared. I do hope you get a decent response from Lacie that will help you resolve the issue.

Tom

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Answer 5

zee34

Level 1

12 points

Jun 21, 2018 3:36 AM in response to TomWheel

I am having exactly the same issues on my iMac Pro with Lacie 6Big, just purchased. Only USB connection works, but even that - the speed is 40MB/s. Support did not help, they suggested to send me a new cable, but I don't think that's the fix. I can see the device being connected in the System Report under thunderbolt. The port (upstream) shows 'device connected' but the port below that (I guess it is the 'downstream' port) 'device not connected'. Still couldn't figure out if this is the drivers or Lacie port issue. I think I will return it, supposed to be a reliable piece of hardware.

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Answer 6

Jul 4, 2018 10:08 AM in response to renderfarmerstudios

Ok, it worked. For anyone who is trying this, you need to allow "Marvell Semiconductor Inc". Two weeks ago I accidentally allowed an older entry and it crashed my whole system, so be carefull what you allow. But for the Lacie it is Marvell.

Here is the support page for this: http://knowledge.lacie.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/007815en

Cheers!

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