Help!! External Firewire Problems

Hi All,
Please, please help me.
Ever since the purchase of my iMac G5, i have had major problems with the External Firewire. The first problems were similar to the current problems but i replaced both the hard drive and the enclosure. It would work, mount okay, then the next time not mount, on the occasions it did mount the finder froze up and i had to initialise a manual shutdown!
I formatted the new hard drive through disk utility on the Intel Mac on a level that would work on all mac,! allegedly!! I also have a 17" G4 iMac running 10.3.9, and as i still currently use both machines with the external drive and use it as a back-up, i did'nt want to limit it to the Intel system, just yet.
I currently have a 250Gb Samsung HDD 300 Ultra (2 partitions) encased in my new Icy Box Enclosure. But the problems persist, i have had a desperate drop out today, the Pram was reset, and it wants to intialize the drive as soon as it starts, i choose ignore and tried to repair through disk utility and recieve this message:
Verifying volume “disk1s10”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
Verifying volume “disk1s12”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Catalog file entry not found for extent
The volume needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
2 HFS volumes checked
2 volumes need repair
Can i resuce the data on these disks???, and is there a solution for the Intel Mounting issues, and stop the finder crashing!, I have also updated my firmware to the latest release.
Many thanks Martin

Hi Martin,
One thing I'm a bit confused about. You seem to call this an "Intel" iMac some of the time and a "G5 iMac" at other times. These are two quite different machines, need different OS software and so forth. I'm wondering whether you may have installed something that has caused it indigestion accordingly!
By way of example, the very latest release of TechToolPro (which I gather you have ordered) will work with both iMac G5 and iMac Intel computers, but earlier ones are G5 compatible only. DiskWarrior, also suggested in the thread, remains iMac PPC G5 only, and won't work on any Intel iMac.
One additional question. Have you had any other firewire devices attached apart from the problematic external when the problems have arisen? Problems with hubs, external burners or other drives, external iSights and the like, can sometimes be implicated in these sorts of issues, interupting data flow to the drive and resulting in corruption etc..
Cheers
Rod

Similar Messages

10.4.7 update and external firewire problems with HD corrupion

Dear all,
Advised by Jpfresno I started this new topic about Tiger 10.4.7 update.
I will repeat my post and what was happening 2 weeks ago:
“In 5 years 10.4.7 update was a tragedy for my Powerbook Ti 667. When I update from 10.4.6 to 10.4.7 my 300 GB firewire drive gets corrupted, after repairing it with DiskWarrior and after connecting it to my PowerBook my computer freezes and I must shut it down via powerbutton. Safari also crashes after the update.
I just erase my Hard Drive and after that install 10.4 and update with combo to 10.4.7. But I had the same problems: finder freezes with connected firewire devices and also safari when browsing. I spend a week trying to solve the problem but no luck.
Yesterday and with no firewire devices, 10.4.7 freeze and I have big trouble in order to started my powerbook!!! Even when i insert the 10.4 install DVD it did not detected my HD. Finally I get it to work and install 10.4 and combo update to 10.4.6 and everything works. My external firewire drive and safari. I already diagnose my HD with disk utility, TechTool and directories with Diskwarrior and everything is ok.
I clone my 10.4.6 to firewire, boot from it and everything is working. I let my external drive connected and finder does not freeze.
My conclusion is that the problem is 10.4.7 update. It only give me problems and I was getting crazy with it. 10.4.6 is working good and I do not advice anyone to update to 10.4.7.”
Last week after reinstalling 10.4.6 I started to have HD problems with my Powerbook 667. I did a surface scan with TechTool I it reported bad sector. Then I done a zero disk format but after a second surface scan TechTool also reported bad sector. Then I take the decision to replace my internal HD. I bought a Samsung 40GB Hard Drive and installed it on my PowerBook. Then I have done a clean installation of 10.4.6 with all applications that I need and clone it to my hard drive with Intego Personal Backup software. Everything works on 10.4.6. and external firewire drive.
After that everything is ok. But I decided to test if my problem derivates from 10.4.7 update or from previous HD corruption. Then I install 10.4.7 update on my Internal Hard Drive. Everything is working good but after connecting my external Hard Drive the finder started to freeze!!!!!!!!!. After that I tried cloning HD to external firewire with Intego personal Backup. Everything was working good but when it was finishing the backup process started to give errors!! I started panic. I interrupted the backup process but after and after restart I found something strange with 10.4.7. The system started up, I login but I could not started any application!!!??? All my application died!
Then I have done one more clean installation of tiger and 10.4.6 update.
My conclusions are that the 10.4.7 update causes all the problems that I have on my PowerBook, because I used the same methods and same software/hardware on 10.4.6 and did no have any problem.
This last two weeks were very difficult to me. I tough that these problems do not happen with Apple computers but I was wrong!!! It is very hard to me to deal with it. I always said to my friends that I never had problems with Apple computers. I accept that a hard drive died because the use of it but I can not accept that a system update cause me 2 weeks of hard problems and make me loose precious work information! I always love apple computers and Apple OS but now I am disappointed
If anyone can explain what happen or have a solution for those problems?
Thanks for the comprehension and collaboration.
Best Regards
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, alsvieira.
There are some things you did not check in all of your troubleshooting:
1. Run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that came the affected computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the AHT in troubleshooting.
2. re: FireWire troubleshooting: Here is some general troubleshooting advice that may help if problems return with your FireWire drive:1. Review the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire device".
2. If this problem occurred after installing a recent Mac OS X Update, and you are also unable to mount CDs, DVDs, or disk images perform the steps in this Mac OS X Hints article. This worked under Panther and may also work in certain situations under Tiger.
3. Power-on the FireWire drive before starting up (booting) your Mac.
4. Reset PRAM and NVRAM.
5. Resett the power-management chip in your Mac.
6. Try a different FireWire port. James Wiebe, CEO of WiebeTech, has published FireWire Port Failures in Host Computers and Peripheral Devices, a white paper providing backgroud information and technical analysis concerning the causes of failure for FireWire ports. This may provide additional diagnostic information.
7. Micromat TechTool Pro version 4 can test the FireWire bus in your computer: this tests the bus — not the ports — but if the problem is on the FireWire bus on the logic board, it should reveal it.
8. Check with the manufacturer of your FireWire drive or enclosure to see if any firware updates are available for such.
9. Hopefully, the partition map on the FireWire drive is not damaged. This can happen if the FireWire drive was not Ejected before being disconnected or powered off. If it still refuses to mount, you may need to employ data recovery tools or services: see my "Data Recovery" FAQ.Note that some of the information above is from the "FireWire Problems" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X.
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Help! Firewire problem!

I just bought a clamshell ibook on e-bay. I like these machines very much (they're tough and quirky), and in fact I have one already as a second machine, but the one thing I really missed was Firewire.
I went for collection in person, as it wasn't too far away. The previous owner is a nice lady who kept the machine in lovely condition. She'd never used the Firewire at all. While she had it, she'd run Jaguar on it, but had put OS 9 back on it to sell.
I plugged in the DVD drive and put a CD in it. It powered up and ejected its tray when required, but nothing appeared in the Finder (which appears to be all muddled up with the Desktop; I don't think I take to OS9). I tried the portable hard drive (which has a boot system of Tiger in it). The boot loader (boot and press Option) didn't seem to see it, and it didn't appear on the desktop.
On the other hand, nothing reported an error. I ran Apple Hardware Test. It reported no problems. Does the 'logic board' check test the IO as well? More to the point, I looked at the hardware profile, which reported a Firewire device present.
I guessed it seemed more like a driver problem than anything else, so I bought the machine (nervously). It's a lovely little machine, very clean and pretty, I only hope it isn't a lemon...
I had some vague assumption that some sort of System Extension might need to be loaded, but apparently the Firewire one is loaded.
I'd expect filing system/mass storage to work between OS9 and X, because 9 and X both support mass storage (otherwise all those flash drives wouldn't mention 'OS 9 and up' on the packaging) and use Mac OS Extended.
Things power up. The hardware test and system profiler report firewire devices, but nothing appears on the desktop, and the Disk-Utility-type things don't mention the firewire devices.
If it's a problem with the things I want to use being bus-powered that's infuriating. The DVD drive doesn't even have a power-supply, and the tiny hard drive has one somewhere which I've mislaid. I wanted something where I could just dig out the device I wanted to use and attach it, without fuss or extra power bricks or cables. I'd normally assume that there's enough bus power for one device at a time on the system's main port, though, just like USB.
The Help, isn't (starting from the vital point that things will appear on the desktop, and not being forthcoming about what happens when they don't). It did mention powering up the device when it was connected, which is why I started wondering about self-powered external devices.
Sigh. Macs Just Work. Except when they Just Don't.
I don't really intend to use OS9, but I feel I ought to make sure the firewire works before I even think about putting OS X on it.
Regards, Ruth

Replying to my own question in case this bites anybody else in the bum.
The problem was, as I suspected, that OS 9 needs more drivers than OS X does. This is murkified by the point that there is ****-all help about this available in OS 9 Mac Help, which does its best to suggest 'plug it in and it will mount', which suggests it has Mass Storage in the same way that OS X does. This isn't necessarily the case. In OS 9.0.4, which is what this clamshell came with out of the box, it needed drivers for any drives added, even fairly straightforward things like optical drives or (HFS+) hard drives.
Unfortunately, most of the help I could find did not clarify this, and when I mounted the drive I was trying to test on the USB port, OS 9.0.4 (a.k.a. 'junkware excuse for an OS, it's as bad as Windows 95, really it is') told me the drive wasn't formatted and did I want to initialise it, which wasn't what I wanted to hear, especially since I knew it was HFS+ formatted and had a Panther clone from the other clamshell on it.
I tried to run the firmware updater, but it told me it needed at least OS 9.1. At this point I was really tearing my hair out, but luckily a helpful gentleman from my local user group pointed out that Apple supplies an upgrade to 9.1 on the Web, presumably as legacyware for people trying to get OSX onto OSX-supporting OS9 machines.
The helpful gentleman said, upgrade to 9.1, upgrade the firmware, upgrade to 9.2 and you should probably be able to see your externals from that point.
I downloaded it, booted the problem clamshell from its install CD, ran the 9.1 upgrade and the firmware upgrade
(also downloaded from the web) without any problems, and to my surprise discovered that either 9.1 or the firmware upgrade had fixed the problem: I could now mount the DVD-Rom drive and the external HD on Firewire without any problems.
The boot loader on the Option key didn't seem to add the new firewire disc to the list of bootable discs; OTOH selecting it as a startup disc now worked.
Since the machine cloned-from was also a clamshell so I wasn't going to have any major compatibility problems (the only differences were bigger hard drive, more memory, and firewire), I booted from the external and checked everything worked, wiped the internal, and cloned from the external boot disc with Carbon Copy Cloner, then removed the external so it would boot from panther on the internal.
This worked as expected. I'm not sure why I had so many problems with the boot loader (holding down the option key at boot only seemed to show the internal disc), but I've now got a better clamshell with firewire, so if my mac mini breaks I can attach its hard drive (Firewire) to the clamshell, and I can use the clamshell to check my backup DVDs away from home, and I can attach the Topfield hard drive recorder under the telly to the clamshell's USB and spool programmes off it onto the firewire drive which has more space. So I've now got the things I wanted firewire for, and a better clamshell.
The helpful gentleman told me Mac OS 9.0 has far more in common with 8.6 than OS X, and the reason it can't see modern Mass Storage drives is that they came along since Mac OS 9 itself, and were only supported in 9.1. 9.1 actually does have more in common with OS X.
Regards, Ruth

Need help with firewire problem with white macbook to new MBP...

Hello...I purchased a new MBP 13.3 inch with retina display a week ago because my old white macbook from 2008 has a cracked screen, rendering it unusable. I would very much liek to get some files off of it and onto my new MBP or onto an external drive. I bought the firewire to thunderbolt apple adapter, but I then saw I need ANOTHER cord or adapter to go from the old macbook to the adapter. Is this doable? What is the best one to use? are they all the same and which one will fit the adapter and the right end fit my old Macbook? So confusing and it's been hard to try to find an answer online. I am assuming I can boot the old Macbvook into Target mode and transfer the data. Thanks for any help.

This is the other cable and adapter you'll need http://store.apple.com/us/product/H7990ZM/A/moshi-firewire-800-cable-with-firewi re-400-to-800-adapter?fnode=51
You may be able to fine it cheaper somewhere else though.

Firewire Problem When Using External Burner

Before I go into detail about my problem let me say that I contacted the manufacturers CS and they were unable to help (sent a new burner and I still had the same problem).
I finally got an external DVD burner, the lacie d2 with Lightscribe, and I plugged it in the firewire port, updated it with all the latest drivers and tried burning some cd's from an iTunes (7.1) playlist. It checked the media, started to burn the first song and and immediately went to finishing the disc burning without going through the other songs. But then it just hung there (the player started running, I could hear it, but when it froze after the 1st song he player just quieted down). I left it alone for awhile figuring it would eject the disc but nothing happened. I was unable to stop the process, quit iTunes or even eject the disc. Eventually I had to force quit and restart the computer.
I tried it using Toast but I got an error the first time and the second time I tried it froze on the burn screen. The funny thing is I'm able to burn when using the usb connection (it's really slow though, 1.0) and I'm able to rip cd's when connected via friewire but burning causes all types of problems.
The burner shows up on the system profile (vendor supported after updating with drivers), I've switched firewire cables, and used both ports on the iMac and the dvd burner, and after contacting Lacie they sent me a second burner but the problem persisted. I use a lacie external hard drive and never had a problem with it so I was wondering if anyone had an explanation or a similar problem. If not I was thinking of sending this second one back and trying the new Sony firewire dvd burners.
And one last thing, I got this because my superdrive gave up on me, although it's still recognized in the system profiler, it just doesn't start up if I put in a cd or dvd.
Please help as I'm at the end of my rope with this burner.
iMac G4 Flat Screen Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I'm curious if the internal superdrive's inaccessibility to the system and
the firewire port issues are related; or share a common thread in how
they may require one action to try and make them work.
Aside from that speculation, have you tried seeing what the Apple
Hardware Test (boot the computer from it) says in regard to this
matter and the details of any error codes it may generate? And
if you can run Disk Utility from the installer OSX disc#1 from the
external FireWire disc drive, to see if any maintenance can help
the system, that would be nice.
There also are third-party freeware disc burn utilities; and a few share-
ware ones that are quite good. They usually will work in problematic
situations where the hardware is OK and the basic OS X is, too; but
for some reason the external FW or internal replacement Superdrive
won't burn a disc or does it partially; or improperly. I've used my disc
burners so rarely I am not a great one to improvise here; but I did get
Burn 1.7u (v12) http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net and it does work well.
Can you boot the computer from any of the DVD - Firewire external
recorder/players you have or had? You should be able to boot the OSX
from the installer disc#1 from a good external; but some may not do it.
Was there any issue in the procedures you described before upgrading
the system to 10.4.9? How about Quicktime 7.1.5 or iTunes 7.1.1?

Audio/Firewire Problems with Mini, Please Help!

I just bought a brand new Mini from Amazon.com and am having some problems. First, when I plug computer speakers into the mini, the sound continues to come from the internal speaker and the mini ignores the speakers. In System Preferences, it doesn't even recognize that something is plugged into the machine.
Second, the Mini does not recognize my external, Firewire iSight camera. In System Profiler, it does not show anything connected to the port when the camera is connected.
The Mini is the latest rev running 10.4.11. Leopard upgrade disks should be in the mail soon.
Any ideas as to what is wrong? Should I just return to Amazon for a replacement? Thanks for your help!

Having just posted in a similar situation, pardon the cut and paste, but these are the first two (and easiest) things to try:
First reset parameter RAM - it's an area of non-volatile memory used for system settings and hardware configuration. It it gets corrupted, it can cause odd problems.
Reset PRAM
-Shut down the computer.
-Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in the next step but one.
-Turn on the computer.
-Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
-Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
-Release the keys.
Next, perform an SMC reset. The SMC is the device which controls system hardware and devices, so if there is a problem with hardware components not functioning, it could be that.
To reset the SMC on an Intel mini:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.

External Firewire ODD Problem

Hi~
My Mac mini (PPC) would not recognize external firewire DVD writer.
Trial I.
System profiler information about firewire of Mac mini shows:
Manufacturer - Unknown
Model - Unknown Device
In my other mac, iMac G5, the attached device information is:
Manufacturer - Exxxx
Model - GAxxxxx
Conclusion I: external firewire ODD can be recognized in the other Mac than Mac mini.
Trial II.
I attached other external firewire HDD to Mac mini and iMac G5.
Both recognized the device.
Conclusion II: Firewire bus of Mac mini is functional.
Mac mini information:
CPU: 1.25 PPC G4
RAM: 1GB
Is there any solution for this problem?
Thanks in advance~

yes there is a solution called patch burn
the application is free just go to
www.google.com and search for patchburn what patch burn does is it creates a new driver automaticly for any dvd burner or any cd-rom drive that is mac compatible but isn't detected correctly you can try this first and see what happens if this doesn't work then you may need to find a drive that is compatible

Trying to move film project between external firewire drives HELP!

i have a film project that i've been working on and all of the media files and the project file are on one external firewire drive. I want to move the film project to a different, smaller and more transportable firewire drive, however, when i use the media manager to make a copy of the project on the second external drive, when i try to open the new project, it uses only approximate outpoints of the clips in the sequence and all my editting work is pretty much lost. is there a way to preserve my editted outpoints? please help! thanks, jkkjnz

the clips all have names. 01_01 until 01_85 or so and 02_01 until 02_52 or so. when the cop of the project is finishing up, a series of error messages appear which say "an unknown error occured while trying to reconnect clip 02_12 [for example] to the copied file". Then, when i try to reconnect the media from the new project, it says specifically for some clips, "02_09 does not have enough media content to reconnect clip in Sequence 1" and then after a list of similar messages, it says "one or more files did not have enough media to reconnect some clips. some edited clip items have had their outpoints adjusted." grrrr...

I just added two external firewire drives and they keep going to sleep. I did not have this problem when USB. I have turned off "put disks to sleep" in power preference.

I just added two external firewire drives and they keep going to sleep. I did not have this problem when using USB external drives. I have turned off "put disks to sleep" in power preference.

It is not clear if these are the same drives, just connected
differently, or different drives?
One thing that may be happening is that the drives firmware
itself is putting it to sleep when inactive. Many drives on
the market have ths feature and it is turned on by default
and require a drive utility from the manufacturer to disable it.

Buslink External Drive 300 GB Firewire Problem

I purchased a Buslink 300 GB external drive that has both USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 connection. I use the drive to hold dv files that I have downloaded from my video camera. I formatted the drive for mac because the dv files are larger than the 4gb limit for FAT32. Everthing was fine using the firewire connection until I got to about 140 gb of data on the drive. No further files would copy to the drive. I now have to use the USB connection, and have gone up to 250GB without problem. I like the performance of the firewire connection better than the USB connection.
I formatted the external drive Mac OS Extended into one 279 GB partition. I found nothing on BUSLINK's web site about a driver, is there a fix for this? Is anyone using another external drive with firewire that will work properly to the limit of the drive?
Thank you
G5 Dual 2.3 Mac OS X (10.4.9) 3.5GB ram

I have 2 external firewire HDs - both worked prefectly until recently... I am getting Error -36... I have used the Disk Utility - no errors founds. Despite this conclusion, I decided to reformat them both.... and still getting the same error -36... any suggestions?

Problems Installing via an External Firewire DVD drive

Hi,
I'm trying to install Leopard from an external LaCie D2 (with LightScribe) DVD/DL drive via a Firewire cable.
I start the iMac (G5 20" SuperDrive is dead) via the "option" key, a screen with a choice between HD and Leopard Install DVD appears.
When I select the second option (install Leopard) I have the Apple Start Up screen (the grey screen with the dark grey Apple) but the spinning flower is missing. And the screen stays that way for minutes... Is it normal? Do I have to wait more? Is my iMac cursed?

Here's the problem:
1- the problem occurs when I boot, so the OS is "innocent"
2- when I load the start up menu (with the option key held down) I see both of the drives (HD and External Firewire DVD drive), so it can't be a "power" problem... (http://youtube.com/watch?v=MQs2n1vxpkw)
3- when I insert a DVD (movie for example), the drive reads it when connected via USB 2.0 and doesn't via Firewire, so the drive is unable to read (or reads slowly)? a Driver problem?
4- when I shutdown the iMac with the external drive connected via the USB port, the drive shuts down too, while it doesn't when it's connected via the FW one...

HELP! - Error 1309 - Can't copy file over 10gig to External firewire drive.

I know this is more of a hardware issue but I know that only other final cut users would be copying single files over 10gigs.
I have a G5 that I use for video production. Video Files can be large and to back them up I got an external hard drive ( Maxtor 1-touch 200gig) When I try to copy a file on to it that is 10gigs it give me a 1309 error. I have found that other people have had trouble copying files over 2gigs over to an external firewire drive. But I haven't found any answers. Can anyone offer any advice on how to solve this?
Thanks

If you don't want to format it for the mac, you are limited to file sizes under 2gb.
Another alternative is to hook a firewire drive to your Mac and then share it with your windows machines (the program SHAREPOINTS is useful for this).
The drive can then be formatted Mac OS Extended and, once shared, the PCs can access all files without size limitations.
good luck.
x

'Resource Busy' problem when installing OSX 10.5.4 from external firewire

Hi,
I'm giving my old powerbook to a friend and would like to wipe it and reinstall 10.5 on the system. The catch is that the internal DVD player is fried.
I have an external firewire dvd player than I use to install.
The installer boots up properly, but when I go into disk utility to erase or repartion the drive, I receive a "resource busy" error.
The hard drive shows up in the left window, but the hard drive volume does not. I do not have the ability to mount or unmount the volume for that drive.
How can I gain access to the drive to repartition (or erase) the volume, so I can do a clean install?
Please advise,
and thanks.
-S

Never had that issue. If you can boot from the ext DVD player, then you should be able to mount/unmount the int HD's volume. You might try on another computer or use another computer, hooking up the PB in target disk mode.

Problem with external FireWire drive

Two weeks ago I purchased a 1 tb Iomega ultra drive with FireWire 800/Firewire 400/USB 2/ESATA to use for back ups. I plugged it in the Firewire 800 port of my iMac. It worked fine until early this morning. I noticed there was a problem first because it was taking forever to log off or restart the computer with the drive connected and second that Time Machine had stopped doing backups a few hours previously and the drive was no longer recognized by OSX. I can plug it into a USB 2 port and it works fine. I have two Lacie drives daisy chained from the same Firewire 800 port - so the port is just fine. Thus it appears that the problem is with the Firewire 800 connection on the Iomega drive. Time Machine works with USB but I bought the drive for its flexibility. In future I might want use it as a bootable drive plus Firewire 800 is faster than USB 2. Any idea if this could be a software problem? I hate to return this drive since a) I would need to securely erase it first; b) I would have no time machine backup until I received a replacement (though I am doing less frequent conventional backups on 3 other drives (ie subsets of my files since none of the other drives are large enough for a single time machine backup plus I like redundancy); c) it is a pain to pack up and return.
So my question is: should I bother or just live with USB 2 and hope that the FireWire problem does not mean the drive is a piece of junk and should not be trusted for anything?

I called the store where I bought the drive and was told I have up to 30 days to return it. So I tried plugging it into the firewire 800 daisy chain (at the end) and now it's working again. So I will watch it closely over the next few days to see if this happens again within the 30 day return period. Also by registering online at the Iomega website, I now have 3 year warranty.
Also from reading other threads about firewire issues, it appears that intermittent firewire problems may be more prevalent than I would expect (based on previous experience with a variety of firewire drives from many vendors).

Strange Firewire Problem (please help!)

I had two external firewire hard drives that worked fine but were full up on space, and so I bought another, a WD MyBook Premium, which has firewire/usb connectivity (in theory).
Again, the two older drives (a Lacie and a Maxtor) were working fine, daisy chained.
I attach the new MyBook and format it OS Journaled, and... my firewire devices all stop being recognized. In other words, I can attach any of the three devices to my computer via firewire and they won't show up on my desktop, nor be detected by diskwarrior or disk utility.
However, the two that have USB connectivity (Maxtor and MyBook) show up when connected via USB.
My firewire port is working, I connected another device to it and it was recognized.
But the firewire drives are not working on other computers either.
I am reformatting the MyBook in MS-DOS right now... hoping that will do something. I have zapped and restarted and tried a lot of crazy tricks...
At this point:
What happened?
Is there anything I can do?
I'll take any input...
Also, if my firewire LaCie is disabled by this strange happening... is there any way for me to retrieve the (priceless) data that is on it?
Thank You Very Much

Hi Catnip.
When you format mybook, are you hook it by itself or you daisy chain it with other two?
my guess is that there is a voltage current overload that might crippled the Firewire chips on those device.
On your macbook, try to reset your PRAM and PMU to refresh your firewire port.
Do you have another mac? If you do, try to connect Lacie and other two (one by one) and see if they able to mount.
If the firewire port really toast as I guess, you can repair it to their respective support center (I did claim for my Lacie DVD burner, and they fixed it real good), but they might not responsible with your data.
Or you can open Lacie enclosure and swap it to maxtor enclosure, connect it using usb port and back up everything from there.
ps: check jumper setting on maxtor hd, and change the one from lacie if it is differ (if those HD are SATA, then you don't have to worry).
Good Luck.

Help!! External Firewire Problems

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