Having trouble making my external LaCie appear as a volume

[Loyent]

Windows 10.

When I connect my Lacie external harddrive it shows up as a unit, but Windows will not give it a volume so that I can access it.

I had the same problem yesterday, and after I contacted LaCie support they insisted that it was a different format and that I had to reformat it. However, after a while it spontaneously appeared as a volume and I could access the files without a problem.

Now, due to a windows update tonight the machine restarted, and once again I cannot access it.

Does anyone recognise what the problem is, maybe? I haven't encountered a problem like this before.

If it's relevant information, it's a 2TB drive and 99% of it is used.

(I have a HFS explorer installed, but I did not use it to access the files.)

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware, @Loyent!

I'd strongly recommend you check how the external HDD is recognized in Disk Management in Windows first. Posting a screenshot from there would be really helpful as well. You might actually be able to change the drive letter assignment and be able to detect the hard drive as a volume in This PC (Windows Explorer)
Another thing you could try is accessing the contents on the external drive from another computer to see how it will get recognized there. If you haven't done this already, swap the USB cable and the port where the HDD is connected. Since there was a recent Windows 10 update, try manually re-installing the USB hub controller drivers from the motherboard/computer manufacturer's official website. You should be able to find your model there with all the available drivers & downloads, compatible with Windows 10 OS.

Good luck! Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Loyent]

Thanks for the reply, SuperSoph.

Here's a screenshot of the disk management (it's disk 2):
imgur.com/a9xTnjR

Ok, when I try to change the drive letter assignment, the button is greyed out. For the other units, the buttons are clickable. Does this indicate something perhaps?
imgur.com/69XVM

I'll try to connect it to another computer aswell.

edit: embed didn't work

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hello again, @Loyent!

Unfortunately, I'm unable to see the second link to the screenshots! 🙁 From the looks of the first one from Disk Management, though, it seems like the problematic external HDD should be ( E : ). Disk 2 (C : ) must be your internal booting HDD because it contains the system partition. Disk 3 is a WD My Passport external (D : ) that doesn't appear to have any issues according to Disk Management. There should be more Disks listed but it's not visible in that particular screenshot. Maybe sharing the link to the second one again will help me out.
You should definitely attempt to plug the external HDD using a different USB cable and to another computer to see how it will pop up there. Don't try changing the drive letter to an internal (SATA) HDD, though! Make sure you back up all your data from the external drive as soon as you can access it. This is the surest way to avoid potential data loss!
Another thing you should try is running the external drive manufacturer's brand-specific diagnostic utility or a third-party alternative to determine the health and SMART status as well.

Let me know how it goes.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Loyent]

Thanks.

Sorry, I should have specified. E: is another harddrive. The LaCie one is the blank one. Here is the correct link to the screenshot:
http://i.imgur.com/ptMw1MC.png

Interesting development. I tried to use another cable, and it seems to communicate better now:
http://imgur.com/1V0RcEo

As you can see, the format is HFS+. But I accessed the files without problem yesterday. But it doesn't work with HFSExplorer either. It says it's an invalid HFS type.

Backup is luckily not a problem, but my client wants a rough product by sunday, and he's in another country.

Edit: same problem on other computer. Also, I used the same cable on another HDD, and it worked without problem.

 

[Loyent]

LaCie desktop manager recognises the external harddrive, but interestingly the firmware updater does not.
https://i.imgur.com/rKZafFd.png

Does this indicate something perhaps?

 

[Loyent]

Right.
SOLUTION: Downloaded TransMac and transferred the files to another HDD.
http://www.acutesystems.com/scrtm.htm
It's trialware.

I do not know why I could open the files yesterday though, and why it was not assigned a volume today. That's a mystery.

But thanks for your patience, and your help!

It is now very late and I'm going to bed.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @Loyent!

I'm glad you were able to figure out the solution to your own problem. Hope you got some rest! I'd again advise you to check the health and SMART status of the drive using one of the utilities shared in the hyperlink from my previous post. You might also want to try reinstalling the HDD's brand-specific tool and check for any firmware updates again. If the problem persists, make sure you contact the manufacturer's technical support.

Good luck! Hope I was helpful even a little bit!
SuperSoph_WD