LaCie drive not showing up? How to save your data

LaCie drives are popular with photographers, video editors and designers, which means the files on them are often someone’s working life. When a LaCie stops appearing on your Mac or PC, the cause can be as simple as a failed power adapter or as serious as a head crash inside the disk. A few careful checks will tell you which side of that line you are on, and knowing when to stop matters as much as knowing what to try.

Start with what your LaCie is doing

Note what happens when you plug it in, because the symptoms point to different faults.

• No light, no sound: often a power problem, either the adapter, the cable or the electronics inside the enclosure.
• Light on, but no drive on the desktop: could be the cable, the USB or Thunderbolt bridge board, or the disk itself.
• Shows in Disk Utility but greyed out, or Windows asks to format it: the drive is alive but the file system is damaged, or the disk cannot read part of it.
• Clicking, beeping or a repeated spin up and down: most likely a mechanical failure. Unplug it straight away.
• Mounts, then disappears, or freezes when you open a folder: often a failing disk struggling with bad areas.

Safe checks you can do yourself

These do not write anything to the drive. Try them once, and stop if you hear any unusual noise.

1. Change the cable. Portable LaCie drives rely on one cable for both data and power, and worn cables are a common cause of drives dropping out. Use a good USB-C or Thunderbolt cable of the right type, as they are not all the same.
2. Plug directly into the computer. Remove hubs, docks and adapters. A portable drive that spins up weakly on a hub may work when connected directly.
3. Try a second computer. That rules out drivers, ports and operating system problems.
4. Check the power adapter on desktop models. Drives such as the d2 and 2big use an external power supply. If you have a replacement, check that the voltage, current rating and polarity all match the label before using it. A wrong adapter can damage the drive’s electronics and put the data at greater risk.
5. Look in Disk Utility or Disk Management. Check whether the drive is listed at all, and whether it shows its correct capacity. Do not press Erase, Initialise or Format.

Model by model: what commonly goes wrong

LaCie Rugged

The orange bumper gives some protection, but it is not a promise that the disk will survive every knock. Most Rugged models contain a 2.5-inch mechanical disk, and a drop while it is running can damage the heads. Clicking or a failure to spin up after a fall usually means it needs clean room work. The USB connector can also take damage from a drive falling while plugged in. If so, the disk inside may be fine, but take care: some LaCie models use encryption, so moving the disk to another enclosure is not always a simple fix. Rugged SSD models have no moving parts, so they fail in different ways, usually electronically.

LaCie d2

The d2 is a desktop drive with a larger 3.5-inch disk and a separate power adapter. A dead adapter or a bridge board fault can make it look as if the whole drive has died, when the disk may be healthy. It is still worth being careful, since a disk that has been running for years in a warm enclosure can also be worn out.

LaCie 2big, 5big and other multi-disk models

These hold more than one disk, usually in a RAID arrangement. How much danger your data is in depends on the setup.

• RAID 0 (speed): data is split across the disks, so losing one disk makes the whole volume unavailable. Both disks are needed for a recovery. See our page on RAID 0 data recovery.
• RAID 1 (safety): each disk holds a copy of the data. One failed disk should leave the volume readable, but do not assume the remaining disk is healthy, because both disks are usually the same age.

If a multi-disk LaCie has failed, label each disk with its bay position before anything else moves, and do not reset the enclosure or change the RAID mode. Changing the mode can start a process that wipes the disks. Also avoid putting the disks in a different unit to see if they will mount, as that may offer to initialise them.

What not to do

• Do not format or initialise the drive when your computer offers to, even if you plan to recover the files afterwards.
• Do not keep power cycling it. Each attempt can do more damage to a failing disk.
• Do not run First Aid or CHKDSK repeatedly on a drive that is making noises or disappearing. These tools write to the disk and put stress on weak areas.
• Do not open the disk itself. Dust on the platters can cause permanent damage.
• Do not use a recovery program on a drive that clicks. Long scans can turn a recoverable fault into an unrecoverable one.

Working on a project with a deadline?

If the drive holds a current shoot or an edit, look for other copies before anything else. Camera cards that have not yet been reformatted may still hold the original footage, so put them aside and do not reuse them. Project files or proxies may exist on the computer you were editing with, and clients or colleagues may hold exports. Keep the failed LaCie switched off while you check.

What to do next

If the simple checks do not bring it back, leave the drive unplugged and get it looked at. Our LaCie data recovery page explains the service, and you can request a quote online.

LaCie drive not working?

Call Data Retrieval on 020 7064 4996. We offer a free assessment with no obligation, so you will know where you stand before any work is done.