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 |
Q: Are there other USB devices connected to the same port or hub?
A: Disconnect any other USB devices and see if the drive's performance increases.
Q: Is the drive connected to a USB 1.0 port on your computer or hub?
A: If your drive is connected to a USB 1.0 port or hub, this is normal. A Hi-Speed USB 2.0 device can only operate at USB 2.0 performance levels when it is connected directly to a USB 2.0 port or hub. Otherwise, the USB 2.0 device will operate at the slower USB transfer rates. Consider buying a USB 2.0 PCI Express Card (for desktop computers) or an ExpressCard 34 (for laptops) to allow your computer to achieve full USB 2.0 transfer speeds.
Q: Does your computer or operating system support eSATA or FireWire 800?
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: What do I do if I lose my USB 2.0, eSATA, or FireWire cable?
A: You can purchase a replacement cable from www.lacie.com/accessories/.
Q: Did you get an "Error -50" message while copying to a FAT 32 volume?
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:
? < > / \ :
Check your files and folders to ensure that these types of characters are not being used.
The easiest solution is to check for incompatible characters in file names, change them, then resume file transferring.
If this is a recurrent problem or you can't find the files with incompatible characters, consider reformatting the drive to NTFS (Windows users) or HFS+ (Mac users). See Formatting and Partitioning.
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.
Q: Are both ends of the interface cable firmly attached?
A: Check both ends of the interface cable and make sure that they are fully seated in their respective ports. Try disconnecting the cable, waiting 10 seconds, and then reconnecting it, or trying a different interface cable. If the drive is still not recognized, restart your computer and try again. Still not working? Read on.
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 your drive mounting on the operating system?
A: Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility). If the drive is listed in the left-hand column, check your Finder preferences to see why it's not being displayed on the desktop. If that is not helpful, you may need to format your drive. See Formatting and Partitioning.
Q: Does your computer's configuration meet the minimum system requirements for use with this drive?
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: Did you follow the correct installation steps for the specific interface and operating system?
A: Review the installation steps in Getting Connected. Check if you've misunderstood or omitted a step or followed instructions for a different configuration (such as interface or operating system).
Still not working? There may be a hardware defect or other problem. Time to contact www.lacie.com/support/.
Q: Are both ends of the interface cable firmly attached?
A: Check both ends of the interface cable and make sure that they are fully seated in their respective ports. Try disconnecting the cable, waiting 10 seconds, and then reconnecting it, or trying a different interface cable. If the drive is still not recognized, restart your computer and try again. Still not working? Read on.
Q: Is the drive listed in Device Manager?
A: All LaCie drives appear in at least one place in Device Manager.
To access Device Manager, click on Start and select Run from the menu. In Windows Vista, the 'Run' option doesn't appear by default, so press [Windows-button] and [R] on your keyboard.
Enter the command: devmgmt.msc
Click OK and the Device Manager program will open. For troubleshooting, look in the Disk Drives section. It might be necessary to click on + on the left side.
If you're not sure if your drive is listed, unplug it, then reconnect it. The entry that changes is your LaCie drive.
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/.
Q: Is your operating system Windows XP and the disk size is greater than 2TB?
A: Windows XP does not support disks larger than 2TB. Please refer to the note for Windows users in Formatting Instructions.