If you are having problems with your LaCie product, consult the table below for a list of available resources.
Order | Source | Description | Location |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Quick Install Guide | Concise steps to follow for getting your product up and running | Either a printed leaflet or accessory box and included in the product box, or download PDF from the product page |
2 | Support Pages | Includes interactive troubleshooting topics for most common problems | www.lacie.com/support/, select your product, then click the “Troubleshooting” tab |
3 | User Manual | Includes common troubleshooting topics | See Troubleshooting Topics below |
4 | Customer Support | Create an account on lacie.com, register your product, and fill out a support ticket | Create an account here: www.lacie.com/us/mystuff/login.htm?logout&rtn=mystuff |
A: RAID failure has resulted from disk failure. Depending on the RAID mode, it could be that one or more drives have failed. Data has most likely been lost. Contact LaCie technical support to replace the failed drives.
A: Your 4big is in a protected RAID mode (10, 5, or 5+spare) and one of the drives has failed. Data loss has not occurred. Contact LaCie technical support to replace the failed drive.
Q: Is the cooling fan functioning?
A: When you turn on the product, the fan will spin at top speed for four seconds. You should be able to hear it by putting your ear near the heat exhaust ports on the rear of the product. If you hear nothing, contact LaCie technical support.
Q: Is the ambient temperature too high?
A: Make sure the rear heat exhaust ports are unobstructed, and keep the product away from any heat source.
A: The product was overheating and has automatically turned off to protect your data. Make sure the fan is functioning (see above) and that the room temperature is not too high before restarting your product (turn it off and then on).
A: If your drive is connected to a USB 2.0 port or hub, this is normal. A SuperSpeed USB 3.0 device can only operate at USB 3.0 performance levels when it is connected directly to a USB 3.0 port or hub. Otherwise, the USB 3.0 device will operate at the slower USB transfer rates. Consider buying a USB 3.0 PCI Express Card (for desktop computers) or an ExpressCard 34 (for laptops) to allow your computer to achieve full USB 3.0 transfer speeds.
Q: USB 3.0 connection: Have you installed USB 3.0 drivers on your computer?
A: Check to see that the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 drivers for both your host bus adapter and device have been installed correctly. If in doubt, uninstall the drivers and re-install them.
Q: USB 3.0 connection: Does your computer or operating system support SuperSpeed USB 3.0?
A: Please refer to the product packaging or consult the product support web page at www.lacie.com/support/ to check the minimum system requirements.
Q: Is your computer's internal hard drive limiting transfer speeds?
A: If your computer has a low-performance internal hard drive (typically a notebook or netbook computer), it will limit the transfer speed since the internal drive's transfer speed will be significantly less than that of the LaCie hard drive.
Q: Did you get an "Error -50" message while copying to the storage?
A: When copying files or folders from a computer to a FAT 32 volume, certain characters cannot be copied. These characters include, but are not limited to:
? < > / \ :
Since it does not offer optimal performance, LaCie does not recommend using the FAT 32 file system with your product. See Formatting and Partitioning for help in choosing a file system. Additionally, Time Machine is only compatible with disks formatted in HFS+ or HFS+ (Journaled). Reformat the drive for Time Machine compatibility.
Q: Did it happen when the computer was coming out of sleep mode?
A: Simply ignore this message. The drive will remount to the desktop. LaCie drives conserve power by spinning down when you set your computer to sleep mode, and when the computer is awoken from sleep, it may not give the drive enough time to spin-up from its sleep mode.
A: Disk space will not be reclaimed until the file is completely erased. To remove the files forever, empty your trash/recycle bin.
Q: Why is the volume capacity less than advertised on my storage?
A: After formatting, the available capacity of a drive will show less than advertised on the box. The difference is based upon how capacity is viewed by the operating system. For example, a hard drive that can store 500,000,000,000 bytes is divided by 1,000,000,000 to equal 500GB. This is the actual capacity listed on the manufacturer’s box. The operating system uses slightly different math, dividing 500,000,000,000 by 1,073,741,824 to equal 466GB.
Q: Is your Finder configured not to show hard drives on the desktop?
A: Go to your Finder and check if Preferences > General tab > Show these items on the desktop: and then Hard Disks is selected. If not, go on to the next topic.
Q: Is the drive listed in Device Manager but not in my Finder?
A: Make sure you formatted your product correctly. Refer to Formatting and Partitioning for information.
Q: Did you follow the correct installation steps?
A:
Q: Are both ends of the USB 3.0 cable securely attached?
A:
Q: Is the power supply connected?
A: Make sure that the power supply is connected to a functioning power outlet or power strip, and that the power button on the 4big and the power strip (if applicable) is turned on.
Q: Is the drive listed in Device Manager but not in My Computer/Computer?
A: Make sure you formatted your product correctly. Refer to Formatting and Partitioning for information.
Q: Does your disk not appear at all?
A: Proceed to physical troubleshooting topics above.
Q: Is your drive listed next to an unusual icon?
A: Windows Device Manager can usually provide information about failures in accessories. It does not display the exact cause, or a solution, but it can assist in troubleshooting most problems.
A problematic device can be found by its unusual icon. Instead of the normal icon based on the type of device, it is instead an exclamation point, question mark, or an X.
Right-click this icon, then choose Properties. The General tab will show why the device is not working.
Still not working? There may be a hardware defect or other problem. Time to contact www.lacie.com/support/.