How do I install new larger capacity disk inside older enclosure

[theloststory]

I have some 5-8 old LaCie 1TB external FW800 drives.
I want to swap the internal 1TB 3.5 inch disks for 4/8 TB ones.
Is this possible?

I have added drives to enclosures earlier and it always works. However this time when I swapped the 1tb from an earlier enclosure with a 8tb new disk, the enclosure didn't power on. I put the 1tb back and it still doesn't power on. I checked and double checked all ports and connections, they seem fine. What could I be doing wrong? What should I be looking out for? The power requirements seemed identical too.

 

[Elixer]

Older controller boards most likely won't work.
You might be able to apply a firmware upgrade for it to work.

 

[theloststory]

Thanks! And how do I do that?

 

[LTC8K6]

All I can find at LaCie is an FW800 that takes 4 500gb hard drives.

http://knowledge.lacie.com/articles...S&key=ka03A000000m8erQAA&kb=n&wwwlocale=en-us

 

[LTC8K6]

If you're just talking about an external FireWire drive, then it shouldn't cost much to get a 4tb drive and give the swap a try.

 

[Elixer]

Thanks! And how do I do that?

Looks like this falls into, the product is too old to support what you bought.
There are no firmware updates at all on this thing.

https://www.lacie.com/support/raid/biggest-fw800/

 

[theloststory]

Thanks for the help. Let me try a 4tb drive...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, many of those devices only supports "up to" (a certain size) drive, and not a larger drive. Sometimes, you have to test it out. And rarely, you might find a firmware update for the controller bridge chip, that can accommodate a larger drive.

 

[XavierMace]

2TB was the cutoff point for many older controllers.

 

[theloststory]

hmmm... that helps! Thanks!