LaCie Problems (Page 2): to use the Seagate recovery software the computer needs to be able to see the HD. Mine is not even getting recognized.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

to use the Seagate recovery software the computer needs to be able to see the HD. Mine is not even getting recognized.

davejann Loc: Portland Oregon

RMM wrote:

Professional data recovery services are expensive.... (show quote)

Somewhere on every hard drive is MTBF (mean time between failures). It is really not a question of if but rather when. Just like the folks who make them and those who buy them, they are all going to die someday.

My back up are kept on mirrored RAID arrays, my thinking being that it would be less likely that both would fail at the same time and the array will repopulate itself when it finds a new drive. Dave

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

thanks dave but it looks like you did not read my original message because I stated that this was less than a month old, which would mean there would be no need to check the MTBF since one would expect something like a HD to last a good deal longer than a month.

davejann Loc: Portland Oregon

Lucian wrote:

thanks dave but it looks like you did not read my original message because I stated that this was less than a month old, which would mean there would be no need to check the MTBF since one would expect something like a HD to last a good deal longer than a month.

Lucian, I did read it. Mean suggest that some will last longer and other shorter times. Your are keeping the mean from being very long-sorry. Dave

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Lucian wrote:

to use the Seagate recovery software the computer needs to be able to see the HD. Mine is not even getting recognized.

The diagnostic software may be able to see what the operating system doesn't. The OS expects to see some stuff on the beginning of the drive. The diagnostic software just wants to see the drive.

George Walker Loc: Sedona, Arizona (Arizona Native)

Hi Wood
I just bought a la Cea as well. I pugged it into my MacBookPro 15" in the front USB slot. Notice that the icon didn't show up. Unplugged it and plugged into the next slot back. The icon then showed on the screen. Also if you go to the finder (little square face, bottom left of Dock) it will show up there, just click on it.
Hope that helps
Geo

Woodeye

I'm not clear on what you mean by "installing internally."

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

RMM...

Hmmm,I shall have to look into this then. However if the computer does not even get into start up mode from being turned off, that is, the first thing you see when turning it on is the blue screen saying no HD detected, because it is the ONLY HD in the computer (It's internal) so has the operating software and everything else on it, then how do you get to the recovery software if there is no operating system being detected by the laptop?

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Lucian wrote:

RMM...

Hmmm,I shall have to look into this then. However if the computer does not even get into start up mode from being turned off, that is, the first thing you see when turning it on is the blue screen saying no HD detected, because it is the ONLY HD in the computer (It's internal) so has the operating software and everything else on it, then how do you get to the recovery software if there is no operating system being detected by the laptop?

Diagnostic software, or Hirens Boot CD, usually gets downloaded (on a working computer, obviously) and written to floppy or CD. You go into Setup mode on your computer and tell it to boot off the floppy or CD first, i.e., ahead of the hard drive. The floppy or CD has enough smarts to boot up and offer a few choices. If the drive can be found, even though it's not bootable, then you can run diagnostics and/or repairs. Some of these utilities come with a DOS boot loaded, some with a "Mini" Windows, and some are Linux based. in any case, they have enough software to support whatever applications need to be run.

Woodeye

I tried that, with no success. The Disk Utility doesn't recognize the LaCie external drive at all. I've done them one at a time, alternated power sources, etc. All to no avail...

Woodeye

The computer is functioning just fine. It's the blinking LaCie drives that aren't!

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Disk Utility is not very smart. As you yourself noted, it works on devices the operating system has already detected. There are software programs that work at a lower level.

Have you tried the various suggestions of swapping power units and trying to access the drives one at a time?

Quickflash Loc: Loganville, Ga

I have an imac and an external drive. Occasionally, my drive won't show up, or "mount". If you have not tried this yet, shut down the computer, turn off the drive. Unplug the power from the AC to the computer and to the drive. Physically disconnect the drive from the imac. Wait a full minute, reconnect and start over. It always works for me, so I hope it does for you.

Stevemeister Loc: Angus, Ontario, Canada

Woodeye wrote:

I'm not clear on what you mean by "installing internally."

I mean, remove them from the external cases and install them inside the computer. It bypasses any case or power supply issues. I did this with mine, and found the drive was fine, the case was toast. I then bought a new case and installed it in there.

Did both drives fail at the same time?