- Aug 30, 2013
- 42
- 0
- 10,530
My LaCie Porsche Design P'9230 died all of a sudden after just 18 months of purchase and I was mighty mad at LaCie. And I mean dead as a doornail. No sounds, no clicks, no lights - nothing. Just a big fancy looking paper weight.
I contacted LaCie tech-support who sent me a replacement power adaptor that did nothing. I was still staring at a shiny brick. They then asked me to send the drive back to them for replacement but I would lose all my data AND have to pay them US$ 25 for shipping.
No way in hell, bro.
I had a hunch that it wasn't actually the hard drive that had failed but the case electronics since nothing happened when I plugged the thing in. After giving LaCie warranty the middle finger, I decided to retrieve my invaluable data on my own. I went about researching how to open this case but came up with nothing for this model so I decided to write my own guide. Here we go:
WARNING: THIS PROCEDURE WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY
Step 1: Disconnect the power cable and USB cable first ofcourse and wipe off any dust that might have accumulated on the case. It might get into the HDD later.
Step 2: The Achilles heel of this case is at the front side (where the LED blinks). With the case turned on its back, stick a small, flat, narrow but strong knife or similar tool inside. There are two latches that will unlock. Do them one by one. You might need to try a few times to get it right but it came off pretty easily for me. After this step, its pretty much smooth sailing.
Step 3: Turn the case back up now. The top of the case has two hooks at the back too so be careful while you remove it. The back hooks are pretty close to the circuit board. The top cover of the case (the only part that is actually made aluminium) will come off freely now and can be kept aside.
Step 4: Turn the case on its back again. You will see two rubber strips on the long sides of the case. You need to remove them. It will be hard because they are glued on pretty tight. You might need to use a thin sharp blade to get under it but once you've lifted it, it WILL peel off with some effort. You can always glue it back on later if you want to.
Step 5: Once you've removed the rubber strips, you'll see 4 screws that you need to remove. They will come off pretty easily. These are what secure the the drive to the case.
Step 6: With the screws removed, carefully turn the case back up again. Time to free the hard drive from its cage. At this point, the hard drive is still docked to the circuit board at the back. You will notice that there is some space between the hard drive and the front of the case. Gently push the drive towards this front part and it will come free from the circuit board. You can now easily lift and remove the hard disk.
Mine was a Seagate. Plug the hard drive directly into your motherboard using power and SATA cables and check if it will detect. In my case, it immediately sprung to life with ALL the data intact.
RESULTS:
Case opened successfully.
LaCie warranty rendered void
100% data recovered
Saved the US$25 LaCie asked for to ship the case back to them
Although the LaCie warranty is void now, the hard drive warranty will still be valid. Send it back to the manufacturer if it didn't work, and you should be able to get a replacement.
Additional trouble shooting: the LED circuit board at the front is connected to the main board at the back by a black and white cable that has a 4 pin connector and runs along the length of the case. This connector can be removed and the LED board replaced if needed. In my case, the 2 LEDs were totally burnt and had actually melted - hence no lights.
LESSONS LEARNT:
LaCie does not manufacture their own hard drives. They simply package other OEM drives in their cases - most of these cases being of substandard quality electronics and materials with slow hard drives. Mine was a Seagate of just 5400 RPM.
Dont fall for fancy marketing and shiny cases. Beauty is indeed only skin deep.
Before you buy, find out which hard drive is inside. In all likeliness, the hard drive contained will cost less than half the price of the LaCie.
STEP-BY-STEP PICTURE GUIDE
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7qDhs3Ui-7uaEJXZ3lvSE1fTTA&usp=sharing
Good Luck
I contacted LaCie tech-support who sent me a replacement power adaptor that did nothing. I was still staring at a shiny brick. They then asked me to send the drive back to them for replacement but I would lose all my data AND have to pay them US$ 25 for shipping.
No way in hell, bro.
I had a hunch that it wasn't actually the hard drive that had failed but the case electronics since nothing happened when I plugged the thing in. After giving LaCie warranty the middle finger, I decided to retrieve my invaluable data on my own. I went about researching how to open this case but came up with nothing for this model so I decided to write my own guide. Here we go:
WARNING: THIS PROCEDURE WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY
Step 1: Disconnect the power cable and USB cable first ofcourse and wipe off any dust that might have accumulated on the case. It might get into the HDD later.
Step 2: The Achilles heel of this case is at the front side (where the LED blinks). With the case turned on its back, stick a small, flat, narrow but strong knife or similar tool inside. There are two latches that will unlock. Do them one by one. You might need to try a few times to get it right but it came off pretty easily for me. After this step, its pretty much smooth sailing.
Step 3: Turn the case back up now. The top of the case has two hooks at the back too so be careful while you remove it. The back hooks are pretty close to the circuit board. The top cover of the case (the only part that is actually made aluminium) will come off freely now and can be kept aside.
Step 4: Turn the case on its back again. You will see two rubber strips on the long sides of the case. You need to remove them. It will be hard because they are glued on pretty tight. You might need to use a thin sharp blade to get under it but once you've lifted it, it WILL peel off with some effort. You can always glue it back on later if you want to.
Step 5: Once you've removed the rubber strips, you'll see 4 screws that you need to remove. They will come off pretty easily. These are what secure the the drive to the case.
Step 6: With the screws removed, carefully turn the case back up again. Time to free the hard drive from its cage. At this point, the hard drive is still docked to the circuit board at the back. You will notice that there is some space between the hard drive and the front of the case. Gently push the drive towards this front part and it will come free from the circuit board. You can now easily lift and remove the hard disk.
Mine was a Seagate. Plug the hard drive directly into your motherboard using power and SATA cables and check if it will detect. In my case, it immediately sprung to life with ALL the data intact.
RESULTS:
Case opened successfully.
LaCie warranty rendered void
100% data recovered
Saved the US$25 LaCie asked for to ship the case back to them
Although the LaCie warranty is void now, the hard drive warranty will still be valid. Send it back to the manufacturer if it didn't work, and you should be able to get a replacement.
Additional trouble shooting: the LED circuit board at the front is connected to the main board at the back by a black and white cable that has a 4 pin connector and runs along the length of the case. This connector can be removed and the LED board replaced if needed. In my case, the 2 LEDs were totally burnt and had actually melted - hence no lights.
LESSONS LEARNT:
LaCie does not manufacture their own hard drives. They simply package other OEM drives in their cases - most of these cases being of substandard quality electronics and materials with slow hard drives. Mine was a Seagate of just 5400 RPM.
Dont fall for fancy marketing and shiny cases. Beauty is indeed only skin deep.
Before you buy, find out which hard drive is inside. In all likeliness, the hard drive contained will cost less than half the price of the LaCie.
STEP-BY-STEP PICTURE GUIDE
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7qDhs3Ui-7uaEJXZ3lvSE1fTTA&usp=sharing
Good Luck
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