# Cannot copy image files to external HDD



## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

When I try to copy a folder of pictures to my external firewire HDD, the first picture will perhaps copy OK, but then only the upper half is copied with the lower half blank or a colour. My son can use the drive and copy successfully from his notebook computer. I can copy text files or data files etc; no problem. Eventually an error message appears saying that the file or its location cannot be found. When this happens, I find that the drive has disappeared from My Computer, but I can restore it by switching it off and then on again.
I can copy picture files successfully by burning them to a CD.
Can anyone please help? I've wondered if it could possibly be a speed of transfer problem.
I think my internal HDD is Ultra DMA Mode 5 and there is also a listed drive which is Ultra DMA Mode 2 which I guess might be the external drive (La Cie Firewire) Would these two be compatible?


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## kaytee (May 16, 2006)

I would suggest a driver related problem and would reinstall the driver for the 2nd hard drive.

Ken


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Are you using Windows Copy n Paste (or Drag n Drop) to copy to the external ??
or some other application/procedure ??

What happens if you create the folder in the external first ... 
Then copy (or drag) the individual pictures to it ??

Are you (and not your son) using a browser organizer like Kodak Easy Share... HP image zone ..etc ...


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## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

Thank you for your reply. I have tried both Windows Copy & Paste and Drag & Drop for transfer. The result is the same.

I've also tried your suggestion of creating a new folder in the La Cie HDD and dragging & dropping a folder into it, but the result was just the same; the first three pictures were about half reproduced and the rest showed a blank screen.

Thank you again for your help. If you happen to think of any other possible solution, I'd be pleased to hear from you


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

That&#8217;s weird ..
As far as transferring Data to an external, I&#8217;d think a picture is no different than any other large data file.
The only time a computer is concerned about the file type .. Is when it has to show it to you .. (the human)
If the human is not involved .. it&#8217;s only Bits n Bytes, as far as the computer is concerned.

Thinking this way &#8230; 
I&#8217;d assume you&#8217;d have the same problem with any other (large and many) file types transfer.

I&#8217;m thinking this is pointing back to Kaytee&#8217;s suggestion &#8230;
The Firewire drivers &#8230; or a very &#8220;touchy/marginal&#8221; external that&#8217;s reacting differently to the different computers.

Any differences in the Cables ??
I always use USB &#8230; Never played with my External's Firewire option ... 
other than to see there was no significant (Practical) speed difference.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Just some more chatter .. for what its worth ..
Its been my experience that the electronics in an External is less reliable than the Hard Drive in it.
For this reason (and a few others), I build my own externals using Enclosures and installing my own HDs.

I had one experience where an External was acting Weird ... 
but when I moved the HD to another (twin) enclosure .. the Weird went away.

Enclosures are Cheap  as compared to a HD and the Data in it .. and I like to have spares and options.
But this probably doesn't help you now.


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## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

Thank you Noyb for your reply posts. I tried to get new drivers from LaCie, but seemed to go round in circles, so tried updating the drivers. Again, not sure if that was achieved,because the downloaded driver seemed to be sent directly to the drive. 

Also having wondered if the problem might be incompatability in transfer speeds between the two drives, I went to Device manager/IDE ATA/ATAPI/controllers/Primary IDE channel/Advanced Settings, where Device 0 (presumably C Drive) had a transfer speed of Mode 5 and Device 1 was "Not Applicable" Not sure if Device 1 would be the external drive. Whilst there I tried updating the driver and was told there were no better ones than the current one available.

Have you any thoughts on the speed issue?


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I'm not an expert here ... 
But I'd assume (If everything is working Properly) that the computer should adjust to the Externals speed.

You didn't say if you're using a browser/organizer like Kodak or HP Image zone for your pictures ...
and is this different than your son ??

I'm still wondering ... Why pictures only .. On your computer only ??
This is making me think .. it's the picture software.


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## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

Hi! Noyb
Thank you for your prompt reply. I use ACDsee to view picture files but to transfer on to the external HDD, I copy from My Pictures to the drive in My Computer. My son uses the same method (Drag & Drop) Hope this helps.

Thanks again for your continued assistance
Worsley


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

ACDsee .. Shudder... depends on which version you have ... I hear the last good version was 3
I replaced it a very long time ago with the freeware .. http://www.irfanview.com/

This was the fix HP recommended to fix their camera software .. ACDsee.
I've need addicted to Irfanvew ever since.
But this doesn't sound like it's your problem.

Your Copy/Paste .. Drag/Drop method should work.

Can you easily get the HD out of your La Cie ???


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## kaytee (May 16, 2006)

One further comment that may help.
I had problems with an Iomega DVD drive and found that the solution was to disconnect the drive from the computer and mains supply, leave for a while then reconnect and restart.
Worked OK.

Ken


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Interesting thought .. I wonder if the La Cie is one of those Externals that's always on ??

In the past , I was reading some newegg users comments on externals, and I remember reading one about Firewire and large file transfer problems.

Could it be that since Pictures can be larger files, and only part of each file is lost, this is only a large file problem... not specifically pictures.

I don't see any Firewire only externals here .. is this also a USB enclosure ???
http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10033

I'd try the USB hookup if it has the capability.
I also see a support link here.


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## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

Hi! Noybe,
Thanks for your messages. It is very good of you to keep trying to help. I get the feeling that you don't liken to be beaten!
Re: ACDsee, I've been using it for about a year and have been pleased with it. No problems to date. it seems to do what I ask of it. The version is 3.21.
Re: the LaCie drive. On the website, it is exactly like the two models designed by 
FA Porsche, but it has two firewire sockets, rather than one of each, firewire and USB. I cannot see any way to open the case. The base must come out, but seems tight and there are no screws or clips. I discovered an option to check the drive. It took ages to grind away to the end and then reported "Disk Check complete"; no mention of any report.

Thanks again. Hope the above mayhelp in finding a solution.

Worsley


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## Worsley (Sep 7, 2007)

Hi! again Noybe,
I don't think I have shown you the screen messages that appear when the paste fails:-

Error Copying file or folder
Cannot copy xxxxx: The device is not ready (xxxxx being the name of one of the files)

Then another Windows  Delayed Write Failed
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file xxxxx. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere

This appears when the icon for the LaCie drive disappears from My Computer and can be recovered by switching it off then on again.

I can save a folder of pictures successfully to a USB pendrive and can burn it to a CD. My son can plug the LaCie drive into his notebook computer and save folders of pictures to it without problems. 
The drive has been back to LaCie., who claim to have repaired it. That suggests to me that they found something wrong with it, but they wouldn't tell me what! However, it still refuses to work properly with my computer.

Yesterday, I managed to download from the LaCie website an update, which they said would cure problems with their drives, but unfortunately it hasn't cured my problem!

Kind Regards and Best Wishes. Worsley


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

This isn't a difficult task ... But you're over my head 
I'm thinking it's your computer Firewire (hardware or drivers) ... or the external.
Sounds like there's an incompatibility somewhere in the Firewire handshaking protocol.
Maybe it's time to quit beating a dead horse.

Are you in the USA ??
What kind of HD does your computer use .. ATA or SATA ??


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Moving on to what I'm thinking … 
I've had problems in the past with store bought assembled externals… so I started making my own.
I get external *enclosures* and install a HD of my choice.

It's my experience that the HDs are much more reliable that the electronics in the external…
And this way I can have spares and swap the HDs if needed.
I also have the advantage that I can move the HD to/from my Computer.
That's why I asked if you can get the HD out.

I have a couple of these USB/Firewire enclosures … but I think they've quite making them ..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817123021
I think it's in here where I read a user report about a problem with Firewire large file transfers.
No problem .. I use USB anyway… and sometimes transfer huge Acronis backup images.

Since then … I'm trying these SATA enclosures …
Trying to stay future proof … (for a couple of months anyway)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817424001
This way .. the SATA HD is compatible with what's in my computer…or any new one I may get.

I have toyed with eSATA and booting from Vista in the external, but for DATA storage/transfer, I use it in a USB hookup.

I've had some problems Cloning from my computer to the external using eSATA …
I'm not sure it's a Vista problem or the electronics in the external … I think it's Vista.

Any chance you can sell your external to you son and start making your own ??
My son is quite happy with my hand-me-downs


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I was out mowing the yard and had another thought.
I hate it when I'm interrupted this way 

You son says it's OK .. and La Cie says it's OK.
And I'm assuming you've reinstalled your Firewire driver.

If you have a spare PCI slot, I'd get a PCI <> Firewire card and see if that worked.
This should get you new hardware and software/firmware.
If it doesn't work .. Then you could take it back.


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## xdruggie (Sep 1, 2000)

I recently bought a 320 gB external drive and had the same issues with moving pics to it. After a couple of days it would not let me move files, some music, some text etc., FROM it. It also would not let me delete SOME files, again all different formats. I ended up re-formatting the drive and all has been well since. It also would not let me format it from the desktop and I had to do it from my laptop. It was pre-formatted, plug and pray etc. I think that It just had some kind of minor conflict with my OS or actual hardware profile and so it acted strange until I did the format. 
Good Luck
-X-


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## makeitoak (Aug 2, 2008)

Sometimes delayed write issues when copying large quantities of data can be rectified by changing your pagefile from a custom size to a system managed size.

Update: A diagnosis. One of my external harddrives was unable to be written with much data today, found out that the problem was with the 5 year old USB2 enclosure. The drive was fine in a different, but identical enclosure, [having 2 the same was great for this confirmation]. I also used the same cable to be sure. Very similar symptoms to when a flash memory stick is on the way out if they have heavy use. I think sometimes these enclosures can get too hot and that eventually takes its toll on either the drive inside, and/or the usb interface chipset. My next external case will have a fan.


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## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

Read about Delayed write failures here (Especially 2,4 and 6):
http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid1_gci1041334,00.html
Every time I've experienced delayed write failures I've ended up replacing the drive after a while.
Take a look in Event Viewer for possible additional info.


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## makeitoak (Aug 2, 2008)

Good tip! Have not used Event Viewer before.
Relating to FT disk, Event viewer has several 'Warnings' of:
'The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur.'
Also, relating to ntfs:
'{Delayed Write Failed} Windows was unable to save all the data for the file . The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.'
Also, relating to Disk:
'An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk2\D during a paging operation.'
and relating to Tcpip [which I think is totally unrelated] several of:
'TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of concurrent TCP connect attempts.'

Also an 'Error' relating to ntfs:
'The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume I:.'
and:
'The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume 60g.'

As an observation, similar or identical byte patterns did crop up regularly which I presume may indicate either a bad sector on the disk or long filenames or directory strings perhaps, but apart from this the fact remains that one of my enclosures threw errors, and the other worked, regardless of which Hitachi hard drive they contained and the hard drives are almost identical 2002 models and have probably not done more than 1000 hours each. At least one of them has been recently formatted with secure over-writing and are ntfs formatted.


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## fairnooks (Oct 1, 2007)

I know what the problem probably is with the enclosures, one working one not with all other variables identical. In the not, its probably electrical and affecting the USB bridge PCB and/or BUS. One day I heard a loud, intense snap of electicity in the room. Of course the room is full of electronics so good luck finding the source right? Well, after that snap, one of several identical Cavalry drives stopped responding, and it was the one giving consitent DRFs. Took it apart and two of the six solder points on the power header/PCBoard had been blown to bits and since there were no storms or other electical instabilities in the immeadiate area, I think it was safe to assume some sort of electical imbalance had been building for at least some time and quite probably was at the root of other associated problems.

If you still have that enclosure, based on my experience, I would toss it or replace the PCB bridge.


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## makeitoak (Aug 2, 2008)

Hi, thanks, I had come to the conclusion of tossing the enclosure too, seeing as I don't know where I might find a pcb bridge [now you have told me what it is called]. I have observed that most external cases these days have a switch whereas this older one has not, and could have been a source of surge while plugging in compared to a good quality switch. I nearly always plug into a protected extension lead.


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