HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive gone ?

A

Anartiste

Well-known member
The title says it all.

My LaCie hard drive refuses to mount on the desktop and Apple's DiskUtility can't detect it.

Of course, I have a backup of all the footage on another hard drive (and the project too), but the editing is nearly finished and contains plenty of render files (which have not been backed up for a while). I'm afraid to have to re-render the whole stuff, which will take centuries.

Plus: the backup disk is nearly full, meaning I won't be able to work on it.

Is there a software able to recover my missing disk ? Would DiskWarrior do the job ? If so, how ?
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

I asume you have tried different cables and another firewire port. ( I have had ports fry on me) Did the whole restart thing? Does the drive power up? All things to get into before the software route. And if the drive does not mount I do not think software will work for you. The only other thing to do is try another machine. Sorry to hear about it. Good luck.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

There have been times that DW has seen a drive that other utilities couldn't. No guarantees. You could also bring it to an Apple certified repair facility, which has utilities ordinary mortals don't. Worst case is send it to DriveSavers, which is great at recovering lost data but expensive and you'll still need a new drive.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

go for the DW. it worked for me.

any idea how you "lost" it?

after you get the software DW every two weeks on your main drive ( i don't do it on my media drives.) not sure why this works really, but apparently it is good housekeeping. my macs are pretty happy, so I think it works.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

did you already try Lacie tech support? they've been pretty good in the past with a couple of problems I had (neither problem was as severe as yours).
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

I'll vouch for Disk Warrior. I once drove to CompUSA to pick it up after an important drive wouldn't mount. After creating a start-up disc and running the utility the drive came back to life...phew.
It also saved my bosses machine and he thanked me endlessly for sending it down to him (I said, hey, you bought it :)

Guy Cochran
DVcreators.net
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Disk Warrior is useless. It doesn't detect the disk — which makes everything else impossible.

As for the drive itself, when I start it, I can hear the classic acceleration music, but then comes a klok! that stops the spinning. After five or six of these cycles, the disk stops spinning.

Sounds like a mechanical problem, doesn't it ? Someone told me it's because the disk is unable to reach its normal rotation speed — but the bastard was totally silent about the possible cure.

I'm gonna call LaCie (I think to remember they're a french company) and try to save what can be saved.

Thank you all for your support.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Remember: DriveSavers. Sounds like you're beyond worrying about the disk, and need to salvage the data. That's what they do.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

If warranty isn't an issue for you, try taking the drive out of the Lacie case and install it internally. Make sure the jumpers are set correctly and see what happens. The reason Disk Warrior doesn't see the drive is cause it is being connected via Firewire and Disk Warrior works only on drives installed internally. Once you have it in your machine run Apple's Disk Utility and make any repairs. Try using Disk Warrior too. If you don't need the data that is on the drive, try reformatting. But I think you do need the data on there right? Good luck.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

What?! I use DW on my external FW drive all the time. In old days, used it on external SCSI drives, too.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

[quote author=powerdog link=board=FCP;num=1106765667;start=0#9 date=01/27/05 at 23:50:27]What?! I use DW on my external FW drive all the time. In old days, used it on external SCSI drives, too.[/quote]

Maybe i have it configured wrong. But if you have it installed on your machine you can have it Rebuild all drives connected (ATA, Firewire, USB, SCSI, etc.) but as far as doing any diagnostics, for me it won't recognize drives not connected internally. Am I missing something?
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

how old is the drive?

i have had a lacie firewire drive do the exact same thing you are describing. i was about to give up hope. untel i decided to take the drive out of the case and install it into my computer. low and behold...the windows disk checker came up on startup, fixed a few errors and it was good again...major relief.

anyway, firewire drives are basicly just regular hard drives inside a case that has a firewire interface....if all else fails, try taking it out of the case and putting it in a computer...this will most def void a warenty so call lacie first to see what they can do.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

The warranty IS the problem. The disk is 3 month old.

I had thought about that solution, but restrained my desire to do that, thinking : what if this doesn't work ? Well, if this doesn't work, you're in deeper **** so don't do it.

Anyway, I managed to have a friend lend me a large hard drive, copied my back up files on it and went back to work. It tooks three hours to render the whole sequence (and even rendered some slow motion shots in fast motion — cybernetic mysteries... ???) but now I'm operational.

I suspect that the recovery of the disk will take some time (capitalistic bureaucracy has nothing to envy to the communist one...) but at least, I will not have lost several weeks waiting for my precious to come back.

I know this will sound obvious to most of you guys, who have professional habits, but I'll say it though : backing up is crucial. More : backing up the render files is crucial too.

As a matter of fact, next time, I'll try to work on a double disk basis, in RAID mode or in daily back up, I don't know yet. Considering the cheapness of hard drives today, I think it's worth it.

Thanks again all of you for the precious advices.

Take care.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

So this could lead us to a profitable debate on the subject :

What is your back up strategy ?
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Ian, are you booting DW from the CD or from an installed copy? Use the CD- ie, restart, holding down the "C" key.

Re backups: those who have Macs with Superdrives have no excuse. Drop in a DVD and burn, baby, burn.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

also a note on cheapness of drives. Just because it is cheap (ie. Maxtor) doesn't mean it is good. Same saying applies, "You get what you pay for." I've been using Seagates and building my own firewire enclosures and not having any problems. If the footage is that important don't waste time and $$ - get good gear so it don't go broke in the middle of stuff. But then again it is hard to say. I've heard stories from people that have messed up Seagates, but at least you know what kind of drives are used and that they are quality drives. What kind of drives do Lacie use?

As for the question of DW not working with my firewire drives: I've done the hold down C key and boot from CD thing. But I guess I should have made clear that in order to get the continuous protection and monitoring of drive performance that DW provides, it won't do it for FW drives when the program is run off your main drive.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

I understand, but since you were posting about a crisis situation, I thought you wanted to use DW in crisis mode. Hence the CD boot.

If it were mine, I'd be prepared to shop for a new drive. I have a feeling it's dead -- and I wouldn't trust it now anyway.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

I had a lacie D2 500 gig drive do the same crap - and it was only a couple months old!
I lost over 100 gigs of media that wasn't backed up... >:(
diskwarrior got some of the data back, but most of it was lost.
I had to spend hours redidging and reconnecting media to projects...

the dealer (dvshop in toronto) was cool and relaced the drive with no issues.
I bought an extra one and I now back up ALL media and keep the back up drive pysically disconnected (power and firewire) at all times.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

The only way to predict when it will happen is to figure out (a) how long it's been since you did a backup and (b) how much of a disaster it'll be if it dies. Longer and worse = high probability of death.
 
Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Re: HEEEEEEEEELP !!! aka "Where's my drive go

Anartiste, have you figured out your problem yet?
 
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