iMac Sequoia – LaCie 2big Dock external drive will not eject

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iMac Sequoia – LaCie 2big Dock external drive will not eject

· The issue is that my LaCie 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3 (purchased from the Apple Store) will no longer eject from my iMac 24- inch, Apple M1, 2021. This first occurred around Sequoia 15.0.0. I was certain that Apple would correct the issue immediately, but as of today they have not, which is why I called today (11/22/24).

· I spent considerable time with LaCie support and they assured me that everything was up to date (see below) and that the issue was likely with the new Apple Sequoia OS.

(Your system would not allow me to upload a .png screenshot of the results of LaCie analysis--in a nutshell, all software & firmware is up to date)

· Today (11/22/24) I Spoke w/Angel, a Senior Support at Apple Care. He told me that nothing could be done and would not let me speak to anyone else. I asked for Manager, but he refused and said that I could not escalate this any further.

I have 50,000 photos & videos on this drive and do not want to corrupt it.
Can anybody please help??

iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 22, 2024 2:41 PM

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Answer 1

KunaBob Author

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Nov 24, 2024 3:47 PM in response to dialabrain

Hi again dial--many thanks for trying to help! I have always understood that the ejection process notifies the external drive that it will be ejected so that the drive will complete any incomplete operations before allowing the disconnect to continue. As for the LaCie software, yes I do have the LaCie RAID manager installed (see screenshot).

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Answer 2

KunaBob Author

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Nov 23, 2024 2:56 PM in response to dialabrain

Until begging for help now, for the past few months I have simply been trying to eject ( it always fails because the error message says some application is trying to use the drive), then using 'Shut Down' on my Mac and so far no problems. Not sure why it is suggested to unplug the drive from the Mac after shutdown? I need to use the assets on that drive regularly--is anybody at Apple actually aware of this issue?

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Answer 3

KunaBob Author

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Nov 24, 2024 3:21 PM in response to dialabrain

Hi dial. I am quite surprised at this response! I always thought that the main reason to eject a drive of any type was to assure that the data stored on the ejected drive was spared data corruption due to potential unfinished OS activity on that drive. Secondarily, of course, the drive can then be safely disconnected, or not, when properly ejected. Since I am unable to complete ejection of the LaCie in Sequoia 15.1.1, I have simply been going through a normal 'Shut Down' sequence after checking (as best I can) whether of not there is activity on that drive. The error message I receive from Sequoia states that an application is using the drive so it would not eject it. I (as well as several Apple and LaCie support people) am unable of find any applications using that drive at the time of requested ejection. Please help!

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

125,615 points

Nov 24, 2024 3:32 PM in response to KunaBob

KunaBob wrote:

Hi dial. I am quite surprised at this response! I always thought that the main reason to eject a drive of any type was to assure that the data stored on the ejected drive was spared data corruption due to potential unfinished OS activity on that drive.

That's not exactly logical. If there was activity on the external drive, how would ejecting it in the middle of whatever activity was running prevent corruption. Seeing it couldn't finish what it was doing.

The only drives I have ever ejected were flash drives I made to use on another Mac.

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Answer 5

dialabrain

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Nov 22, 2024 2:50 PM in response to KunaBob

If worse comes to worst, you can always shutdown your Mac and unplug the drive.

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Answer 6

KunaBob Author

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Nov 22, 2024 3:07 PM in response to dialabrain

Do these steps assure that the drive will not be corrupted, like a regular eject?

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Answer 7

dialabrain

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Nov 22, 2024 3:47 PM in response to KunaBob

Yes, if you shutdown the Mac.

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Answer 8

dialabrain

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Nov 22, 2024 4:27 PM in response to KunaBob

Just to be really clear, shutdown the Mac. Unplug the drive from the Mac, not the wall.

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Answer 9

dialabrain

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Nov 23, 2024 4:48 PM in response to KunaBob

KunaBob wrote:

Not sure why it is suggested to unplug the drive from the Mac after shutdown?

Normally the only reason to eject a drive is to disconnect it.

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Answer 10

dialabrain

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Nov 24, 2024 3:34 PM in response to KunaBob

I never asked, have you installed software for the LaCie drive? If so, uninstall it.

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Answer 11

dialabrain

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Nov 24, 2024 3:51 PM in response to KunaBob

Unfortunately I don't have any RAID drives connected, LaCie or otherwise. If Apple and Lacie support couldn't help, I'm sure I can't. Maybe someone else here can point you in the right direction.

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