Home Forums Peripherals & Multimedia Peripherals New disc overheats, return?

The brand new Lacie D2 ($200) overheats, consistently: Still 100% ok across board . but with this one problem.


https://imgur.com/a/jC70HyX

A cheaper ( $120) Seagate, same TB - 8 TB, just fine.... Return the Lacie, if I can? (though mercy of BH, threw away packaging thinking no way would even consider returning.... oh well) 10 days left to try....

The overheating is an indication that the LaCie enclosure does not provide adequate cooling. A Google labs study several years ago found that overheating drives are less of a problem than conventional wisdom thinks. That said, I would return the drive and buy another model with better cooling. Note: fan cooling isn’t necessary, or even desirable, if the enclosure has an adequate heat sink. When you look for a replacement check out something like this from OWC.

With the advent of non-heat generating SSDs, it would probably pay to check whether a given enclosure has actually got a heat sink.

My OWC Elite Pro Mini, which is a good few years old already, is simply air cooled.

Hmmm... I see that the current version of my enclosure has got a heat sink.

I wonder if OWC had problems with complaints from users who bought my version and put HDDs in them rather than SSDs?

Joe, thanks BH, said no, you threw away the packaging, (even though only 20 days into 30 window). no no packaging...

I do have email for senior rep. so maybe he can help.. if stuck with this drive, which I got to last.. 5-6 years or more... ($200) then what think will happen using this drive over the years? Could be ok?..

I would l prefer (based on your confirmation here), get money back, and just the Seagate, with was not quite have price $120 at Costco, which is doing fine... though be slower with go to 3.2 C port ok....

OWC hold onto link, but even more... but ... think that over.. first see get $ back.. 50/50

The Elite Pro Mini enclosure IS A HEAT SINK. The aluminum chassis is an excellent conductor of heat and has sufficient area to dissipate the heat generated by the drive into the atmosphere at normal room temperature. They did add additional cooling fins to the bottom of the Elite Pro mini a couple of years ago, but the three I have (all started out with HDs but now two have SSDs and one upgraded with a 2 TB HD) have never shown in signs of overheating.

The Elite Pro is big enough to have sufficient cooling without added fins.

I have a couple of external Samsung SSDs that are encased in plastic and those puppies run hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold in my hand during peak I/O so I am not sure they run any cooler than HDs. In any case, they do not run hot enough to raise any heat alarms with DriveDX. I think those added fins were primarily to support higher capacity, 7200 rpm HDs. My 2 TB drive is 5400 rpm, which may account for its performance in my older model Mercury Elite Pro Mini enclosures.

The cooling fins were added back after having been removed, and 7200 RPM HDDs predated the finless EPMs.
My first EPM had fins and got hot to the touch, but not excessively so, with a 7200 RPM HDD inside. (At one point it had a 5400 RPM drive inside, but that was way too many years ago for me to remember.)
My current EPM hasn't got fins and got pretty hot with a 7200 RPM HDD inside, but barely gets even warm with a SSD inside.

Even in my limited experience with OWC, I've run across a pattern of their starting out with a well designed product and modifying it down the road to lower its cost without particularly thinking the modifications all the way through, and diminishing its quality in the process, and I'll guess that the removal of the fins was an example thereof.

It could be okay. As I said, Google labs testing, indicated heat was not as big a factor in drive failure as had previously been assumed. (If a drive is going to run hot, I would prefer it to run hot continuously, rather than heating and cooling all the time. Heat causes the platters in the drive to expand, and continual expansion and contraction of the platter is more likely to cause the magnetic media to flake off.) My take is the frequent overheating of your drive increases the PROBABILITY of failure, but it does not guarantee failure. I would return it if I could get my money back. If not, I would keep the drive and continue to use it, but even in the role of a backup drive, I would want additional backup options.


While I understand why B&H has the packaging rule (it helps keep their costs down) that is one reason I choose to buy elsewhere, even if I have to pay a bit more. None of the stores I regularly do business with (Amazon, Apple, OWC, SmallDog) have an original packaging requirement.

When shopping for a Time Machine drive, given the choice between a drive with 5Gbps and one with 10 Gbps and all else being equal, I would go for the 10 Gbps drive. But to be honest, I doubt the difference would be noticeable in day-to-day use with Time Machine, that goes for 5,400 RPM vs 7,000 RPM drives, as well.


That appears to be your best option.

BACKUP SCHEME

You mentioned your backup scheme previously, and it is a good one. Your bank backup is a step that most people overlook. However, with a slight modification, and thanks to changes in Time Machine, it could be even more flexible. Given three drives, call them drive A, drive B, and drive C....

1. Attach Drive A, B, & C to your computer
2. In System Preferences > Time Machine, select drive A as a Time Machine drive, then wait for the backup to complete.
3. In System Preferences > Time Machine, select drive B as a Time Machine drive, then wait for the backup to complete.
4. In System Preferences > Time Machine, select drive C as a Time Machine drive, then wait for the backup to complete. (You now have 3 complete backup data sets)
5. Without changing any settings in System Preferences, disconnect drive C and take it to the bank. Time Machine will continue to back up every hour alternating between drive a and drive B.
6. In one month (or whatever interval works for you) and without changing any settings take drive B to the bank and reconnect drive C the next backup to drive C will bring it up to date, but without the incremental backups that took place while drive C was at the bank.
7. In one month (or whatever interval works for you) and without changing any settings take drive C to the bank and reconnect drive B the next backup to drive B will bring it up to date, but without the incremental backups that took place while drive C was at the bank.
8. Continue alternating drive B and drive C between service and the bank.

The advantages to this scheme are:

• If at any time one of the two connected drives fail, you still have a backup that is no more than 2 hours old to recover from
• Normally, you would always be able to recover a file version an hour or less old.
• If either drive B or drive C should fail, Drive A will have both a full backup along with incremental backups from day 1
• If drive A should fail, you would lose at most a month's worth of incremental backups.
• The only window of vulnerability would be the length of time it takes for the bank drive to catch up after returning from the bank
• That vulnerability would be mitigated by System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud Drive > Options > Desktop & Documents folders turned ON.

Thanks Joe, the scheme at end was bit confusing... I only go to the bank every few months, so that one is always outdated. (super emergency ie is had burglary or freak fire, all 3 home gone)

3 externals at home, #1 primary dats new Lacie d2, ie documents/ photos (and apfs added volumes for backup Mac OS both super duper and CCC), #2 backup for 1 - this is still old Seagate, and third is TM - new cheap Segate Costco... backup plus....dedicated (TM will eventual max out the drive even if it its 5tm or 8tm, and others are only 3-4 tb so you would not want TM also on another drive right - as why have those max out?


Fascinating, "While I understand why B&H has the packaging rule (it helps keep their costs down) that is one reason I choose to buy elsewhere, even if I have to pay a bit more. None of the stores I regularly do business with (Amazon, Apple, OWC, SmallDog) have an original packaging requirement."

Surposed even know about BH! I just know about it because of photography. Indeed had a good computer dept, but maybe changing mind on that.. as got lousy advice on buying all those Lacies d2s....

Pre Amazon, very brutal on retuns, if missing, anything big issue, but still yeah. toast without the box... trying to get Lacie rep to email back and help, but guy very flakey, and on staff at Lacie / Seagate...

But if stuck with D2, then keep as primary even though alwayw hot, as it's the more "moder" drive at 7200 ..... ?

bTW love Drive X , without it, never even know hot... but emailed them, don't reply.. stumped on alert thing, get email, weird.. enter from on email.confusing..too. thinking just betting to manually test all drives every blue moon. then don't have contstat scanning/ monitoring....

Back to BH, this is infuriating good call, have to ween myself from habit of them.....especially for computers stuff which not even then primary focus. Again surprised now of them, are they well known in world of computer people out there?

BTW BH did worse debacle ever... they had no tax for years, out state shipping, then ended, and offered a great 10% Payboo card Synchorony, then out blue cancelled card on everyone, and went to disastrous bank called Commenity, which is almost impossible to get the Payboo card with now, even with perfect credit, Lot grief there. REal bad corporate decision. Upset lot peoplel

Update: BH make exception and do return.... (is there edit button here not sure see it) Oh, edit option goes away after bit..?

What you don't know can hurt you! With the LaCie throwing frequent errors, even that would be a pain in the derrière. But since you will be returning the drive, continual monitoring would go a long way toward mitigating Murphy's Law and McGillicuddy's corollary,

DriveDX monitoring just alerted you to an unsuspected condition with the LaCie drive and thereby proved the value of continuous monitoring. Why would stop now? That doesn't make sense to me.

Joe, yes I found out issue myself, by launching DriveX then click on the drives manually... One at a time every few days..

What Im asking it the page where you get alerts. I've never figured that out as seems quite convoluted and complex. Don't understand what to put in for the mail to and email from.. Ok to easy, but the from? And why emailing? Wouldn't be better to just have option to see an alert on screen.

Now even though I bailed on it, I would still get these ghost failed errors.. so it seems to be messy contraption. Your opinion? Plug through it and then get app on 24/ 7?

I think if drive going to fail don't know few months in advance, and just do monthly manual check would suffice?

The setting, so many options.

You are assuming the responsible party is the one in front of the keyboard, but there are many other possibilities and the responsible party may be in another office, building, even country. I have a system that doesn't even have a monitor attached to it. Email neatly covers all the various possibilities and options, including my headless system. My warning came by email. However, you could contact the developer and suggest an on-screen notification as a possible option. I just put my own email address in for both the from and to. It works perfectly.


I am not sure what you mean by "ghost errors". I do not get any "ghost errors" about my drive that failed and was replaced, just the current status when I click on the DriveDX icon on the menu bar or open DriveDX.


The lead time from a warning being raised until an actual failure occurs can range anywhere from months to a fraction of a second, depending on the nature of the failure. Are you going to manually check every few seconds, or would you rather wait and find out the drive had already failed and, unknown to you, valuable data had already been irretrievably lost? It is your choice. My choice is to run DriveDX 24x365.

Thanks Joe, ok weird errors getting were caused I think by not do email thing right. On I just put normal email in both to and from. But then gotta do server name, port, and user, and pass in there.. too?


Now for settings, what recommend... pretty hairy/ complex on that too.... percentages... I think you posted before, but don't mind posting again.. not sure you previous screenshot on that was complete.? .. lot of percentages to choose.. What are the settings you want that basically say you are a getting close to failure... and /or there setting maybe let you know when also "issue" stating up?

Odd no not slider or something about send report when see new "issue" is for example issue, overheating, don't notify on issues?

Enter your email address under both to and from then click the radio button labeled "Send using Apple Mail" and leave the SMTP server information blank.


The default settings are to send a report when...

• a drive fails (that is not a warning, it is a statement of fact. The drive should be taken out of service immediately to prevent further damage to the system.)
• the overall health rating falls below 30%
• the drive overall performance rating falls below 50%
• the overall lifetime rating falls below 20%
• a drive self test is completed
• available space falls below 10%

Those values are based on a variety of factors. If you want to fully comprehend what that is about, find a convenient university with a computer engineering department and enroll. Assuming you are a full-time student within a couple of years, you should have a reasonable grasp of the what, where, and why of S.M.A.R.T. and NVME. Alternatively, you could, as most of us do, accept the necessary knowledge has been programmed into DriveDX, accept the default settings, and trust DriveDX's conclusions.


DriveDX quite properly reports a condition like overheating each time it occurs. If your car engine overheated, wouldn't you want to know about it, or would you be content to let it continue to overheat until the engine seizes up completely?

Joe great, this look about right?

https://imgur.com/a/50R9KKV

Dont' think see the space once mention.

Not pesty, just send you an email with there is a problem?

And you then you keep Drive X in log in or start up items, to up all time?

"Drive X reports a condition"... ok so even though don't see it, when know this is .. they call them "issues" it send report?

Looks perfect!


Near the bottom of the DriveDX drop down, just above "preferences", click here


I never put DriveDX in Startup Items, I simply check the item in DriveDX > Preferences > General labeled "Launch at login" and forget about it unless and until I get an email from DriveDX reporting something. (Apple deprecated login items years ago in favor of Launch Items and Launch Daemons. Checking the box installs the appropriate launch tool. Launch Items is kept around only to support apps that have not yet adapted or for temporary use.)


DriveDX sends an email containing the report to the address you specified.

Thanks Joe, fina 2

Still don't see where/ what the space preference is, you sent a screenshot of email you get... or in preferences something one has to check or is it automatic. Nothing to check/ mark?

Same question on Issues... Nothing to check? You'll get an email is there is an issue? (ie, not a percentage thing) overheating or other issues..

ILLUSTRATED STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Click on the DriveDX icon on the menu bar
2. This menu appears
3. Click on "Drive(s) Free Space Monitoring Settings (you may have to scroll down to see it)
4. The "Free Space Check Settings" menu appears
5. Set your preferences (I use the default settings)
6. Click on Close when you are finished

To see this in action Click here.

Thanks Joe, cool, not used to using menulet, just because I did not know there! But menulets are great, now I now.

I checked them all except TM, because TM just eventually fills up to brim and then deletes old stuff for new, so you dont care about TM right? (if have dedicated drive just for TM

Don't understand pre low, extreme low what that meaning? and does some alert come on ? Is this just manual check do every once in while? (of course then have to ask, is this any different than me just using the disk daisly or even Mac About storage to see manually how much space is left?

ON using default... clicked restore defaults, and that unchecked everything (all externals) except the Mac HD, so why would want restore defaults? Thanks!

(and again, final, the "issue", those will come in email if / when happen.. lot issue.. but not a percentage you do/ choose in alerts)

I have two drives dedicated for Time Machine and I have the warning turned on. Yes, Time Machine will drop data off the backend if the drive fills up, but I would like know that is happening or about to happen. I might choose to add a third or even switch to a tape drive, if that happens. As it is, I have little to worry about, as I still have lots of unused TeraBytes on those drives.


It means you will get a warning email when a drive gets down to each level telling you what level you are down to. Ie. drive X is low on space or drive Y is extremely low on disk space.


Countless apps offer an option to return various settings to default. If you find you have chosen settings that do not work well in practice and it provides a quick and easy way to get back to the defaults and try again.


10% of a 16 TB drive is a lot more free space than 10% of a 256 GB drive. So numbers or even percentages may have different implications in different situations. On the other hand, pre low, low, extremely low have a relatively consistent connotation. A Comfortable amount of free space on a given drive depends on the user and what the drive is used for. The boot drive, for example, is used by the system for the storage of numerous invisible temporary files that improve overall system performance, so I might set a 256 GB boot drive pre-low at 20% to be sure to allow enough space for the temporary files and a 1 TB boot drive at 10%. If that 1 TB drive were used for Time Machine backups, a pre low setting of 5% might be more appropriate. There are many factors to consider and frankly few users have the expertise to judge that accurately. I just use the default settings as a reasonable compromise. (Note: by default, DriveDX turns free space tracking of Time Machine drives OFF.)

When the low disk space warning is raised, then there are many alternatives, but using Daisy Disk or similar to delete the temporary files on the boot drive, is a very temporary solution, at best because the system will almost immediately recreate those files and simultaneously system performance will suffer. (The real solution, in that cse, is to move as much of your data as possible to another drive such as iCloud Drive or get a new Mac with a bigger internal drive.)

Thanks Joe, "drop data off the backend".. ? Years, using TM... it just deletes etc. Anyway my guess is to leave it unchecked, don't think be issue right? The TM I had just finally filled up - what after 6 months - but you got the most recent stuff. What is bad about TM filling up and then it deleting, I think just deletes oldest versions and then replace with newest versions..? No good?

BTW the new Seagate just came. I trying to use places other than BH and Amazon all the time. That said. Wow: Only 15 day return (not 30 days) with Best Buy. Pathetic you agree?, did you know that? I think I only discovered the overheating at about 23 days... so hope I'll know if it bad by that time.

That said, bit less $ than the desktop Plus (no longer on Costco), and is has nice ventilation on all sides. Curious Joe: I now have 3 different Seagates, from different eras, all seem to have good ventilation. Any guess why Lacie D2 (owned by Seagte) would sell a drive whose enclosure has literally NO ventilation at all? They do not know that bad idea? (Yet they can build a complex thing like that? Wow

For the average home user, data dropping off the back end of the historical data set is not a problem, but for some it is a major issue. I am a fan of Time Machine and have relied on it virtually since its inception, and have found it to be the best and most flexible system available. It is ideal for versioning, file recovery, and system restoration in the near and midterm but, the fact that it will drop data off the back end of the data set makes it ill-suited to long-term or archival storage. There are hardware and software systems like these that are designed specifically for long-term and/or archival data storage, but they are not cheap and well beyond the reach of the typical user.


Brick and mortar stores such as Best Buy often have more restrictive return policies than internet vendors. Internet and catalog vendors like OWC and Amazon typically offer 30-day returns and often include free shipping both directions.


In highly stylized enclosures like those common to LaCie products, engineering the cooling, is A major design and manufacturing cost, if not THE major cost. LaCie established a unique market niche with highly stylized enclosures designed by the noted industrial design firm Porsche, backup up by LaCie's highly reputed engineering staff. Price competition in the PC market eventually reduced LaCie's profit margin to the point they elected to sell out to Seagate and their engineering staff scattered to the four winds (or vice versa, I don't remember the exact sequence of events).

NOTE: the following is pure speculation.

Your experience leads me to suspect Seagate is attempting to capitalize on LaCie's cachet in the market and still make a profit by foregoing the expensive engineering.

Great info JOe as always, ok going pass on the $5k OWC version of TM, but good to know there are there!

Yeah, I remember that now design by Foescher, I had those for a bit! No better worse than others at time... I bet they were overheating then, and did not know it....... Not worth cool look, as sits behind computer and no vents no holes... crazy...