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Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:44 am
by Dee Mat
Hi

Yesterday i did a Search on my Seagate 1tb hard drive with this software and now its not working. Im really upset. i have all my music on it and back up from my previous pcs. I'm currently using Windows 10. I had the hard drive plugged into my laptop and left the software running a search while i went out for a few hours. When i came back the results were showing where the duplicates were but i didnt know how to access them as it had searched all file types. i decided to do it manually...delete music so uninstalled the software but now the hard drive is not showing up. The power light is showing ive tried different usb ports and another cable but its not being detected by my laptop or my phone.

Please help me!!

Re: Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:26 pm
by DigitalVolcano
Reboot machine? Is it an old drive? You'd have to check Seagate support. Did you have a backup?

Re: Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:48 am
by Dee Mat
I was trying to search for duplicate songs of which I have many. I feel like this software bricked my external hard drive it was working fine before I used it. No I don't have a backup.

Re: Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:39 am
by DigitalVolcano
Sounds like a hardware issue - DC just reads files, it won't alter the drive.

There are some steps here for checking the drive-
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/k ... -003581en/

Re: Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2021 2:07 am
by Callistemon
Seagate HDDs are cheap and low-quality. I had a ST5000DM000 (5980 RPM) that was corrupting files and failed diagnostic tests, but I did not know how to synchronize the contents with another disk for months. With Duplicate Cleaner, I was finally able to synchronize it, right around the time the I/O Device Errors started blocking out access. The I/O Device Errors became more frequent and persistent, and it was just synchronized in time. At first, I was transferring unique files to a second ST5000DM000, but the second disk cannot be defragmented since it has defective firmware with errors, so transfers from the first ST5000DM000 became jammed multiple times throughout the night. At about 3:30 AM that night, I gave up on transferring to the second 5980 RPM, and instead used an ST2000DM001 (7200 RPM).

The ST2000DM001 was burning at 57 C because it was used for a few hours. Within days, the 7200 RPM Seagate HDD was blocked with I/O Device Errors when trying to access it, and it appeared to be permanently shut before it finally busted open again. As of now, the ST2000DM001 is completely burnt-out after exceeding 55 C for a few hours, even though it was only used for a total of 170 hours, or about a week.

If your Seagate HDD was used for a few hours, regardless of which program was using it, the disk could burn-out easily, especially if it is a 7200 RPM model. This software has saved files every time another disk burnt-out with I/O Device Errors, and is definitely on the right side of things. Try using Linux to access your Seagate HDD, which continues to access defective disks far longer than Windows. The only reason I did not use Linux for the Seagate HDDs is because the proprietary Duplicate Cleaner does not work there, and the defective HDD was too large and mostly redundant to transfer everything. If you do not currently have a Linux installation or don't want to install it on any computer, you could use something such as Manjaro or Linux Mint that allows you to run from a pen drive without installation. Just stay away from KDE editions, which are tremendously buggy and will crash on you at the wrong time. Be warned that even without installation, you will still need to overwrite a pen drive.

With both the first ST5000DM000 and the ST2000DM001, the I/O Device Errors could not be cleared until the disk was unexpectedly unplugged (something normally to avoid). After the disk was unplugged while spinning, it could be accessed again. When it was spun-down properly, it could not be accessed until spun-up and unplugged again. Once the disk was accessible, it became inaccessible again if left inactive for 30 to 60 seconds, because the actuator parks automatically. Unplugging your HDD unexpectedly will eventually wear it out if repeated, but it may only be required once to restore access. After you unplug it the first time, try to prevent the disk from entering idle so that you don't need to repeat it. For example, if you are not transferring files from it at the moment, open a random folder once every 20 seconds until you start another transfer. Note: with older HDDs, it may be dangerous to unplug it improperly. Many older HDDs do not use US Patent 6,025,968, so it is far beyond "less than ideal" to unplug those and should never be done in any case.

Re: Searched my Seagate 1tb hard drive and now its not detected on connection

Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 9:22 pm
by Callistemon
Temporarily booting into Linux may increase the chance of accessing your files, and improperly unplugging your burnt-out Seagate HDD may restore access after it jams with errors. Depending on how exactly the Seagate HDD is defective, unplugging it or attempting to access it may cause damage and may not successfully provide access to files. WARNING: It is your responsibility to decide if this is appropriate for you. If you have a low risk tolerance, you should have the disk recovered professionally. I am not responsible if attempting to access the HDD causes unrecoverable damage. Never attempt to physically open the HDD under any circumstances. This procedure is mainly fit for when disks sound normal but have I/O Device Errors, not for disks with grinding or relentless clicking sounds.

1. If the burnt-out Seagate HDD is not currently running, leave it off until Step 10. If it's currently inserted in Windows, remove it for now.

2. Download the latest Manjaro XFCE minimal ISOs from [https://manjaro.org/downloads/official/xfce/]. Note: you will not need to install this anywhere or replace your current Windows installation. You will be running from the installer itself, which will be the only medium required.

3. Download Rufus portable from [https://rufus.ie] and run it (administrator password required). Select the Manjaro ISO and choose a spare USB pen drive or SD card. WARNING: All files on the pen drive or memory card will be DESTROYED. Proceed at your own risk. Remove all other external storage devices and triple-check the remaining one has no valuable contents.

4. Shut down your computer. While holding down F2, press the power button to turn the computer on again. Once you reach the gray screens, use the arrow keys to navigate to the Boot tab, press the down arrow until the pen drive is selected, and use F5/F6 to move the pen drive to the top of the boot priority list. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the Exit tab, use the down arrow to highlight Exit Saving Changes, and press the Enter key.

5. If it boots into proprietary Windows again, it could be caused by "Secure Boot" (which is actually Proprietary Boot) preventing the open-source operating system from booting. Proprietary Boot is managed by Microsoft by default, which refuses to sign anything open-source as per Rule 4 of the UEFI Signing Requirements. I don't know what model your computer is, so I don't know how to disable Proprietary Boot if necessary.

6. If you have a NVIDIA GPU, boot with Proprietary drivers. Otherwise, boot with open source drivers.

7. If the burnt-out Seagate HDD is mostly filled, you should create an image. If the burnt-out Seagate HDD is mostly empty, you should simply copy and paste the contents. Files are rearranged while being copied and pasted, whereas images copy everything sequentially and leave every file in the exact same arrangement as before. It is much faster to copy sequentially, but an image also copies free space and deleted files, causing images to be slower on disks with mostly empty space.

8. Insert a different HDD for transferring the files to, but don't insert the burnt-out Seagate HDD yet. If you are copying and pasting, ensure the destination has enough free space to fit all files on the burnt-out Seagate HDD. If you are creating an image, ensure the destination has enough free space to fit the entire capacity of the burnt-out Seagate HDD (1 TB). CAUTION: If the second HDD does not have enough free space, you risk having the burnt-out Seagate HDD enter idle.

9. Open Add/Remove Software and install the GNOME Disk Utility.

10. Insert the burnt-out Seagate HDD. CAUTION: Anytime this disk is inactive for more than 20 seconds, open a random folder to prevent the disk from entering idle. If the disk is allowed to enter idle, you may need to unplug it again, losing progress and pushing it closer to corruption or permanent inaccessibility.

11A. If you chose to image the disk, open the Disks tool, select the burnt-out Seagate HDD on the left, select the right menu icon, and click Create Disk Image. Choose a destination folder on a disk with enough free space to fit the entire capacity (1 TB) of the burnt-out Seagate HDD. Start Creating. Note: this step will not overwrite contents on the destination disk, because the image file can coexist with other files.

11B. If you chose to copy and paste contents, locate and open the burnt-out Seagate HDD in the Files viewer, press Control + A to select everything, hold Control while clicking to deselect items to exclude, press Control + C, and press Control + V in a destination directory with enough storage.

12: If you cannot access the files or there is an error, unplug the power cord of the burnt-out Seagate HDD without safely removing it, and then try again. WARNING: If your HDD is older, it is less likely to have power loss protection. It is extremely dangerous to improperly unplug HDDs without power loss protection. Without power loss protection, the read/write heads will plow into wherever it was located above while operating. With power loss protection, a circuit will strongly push the actuator arm into the parked position, which actually produces the desired outcome. Not only is this ineffective on HDDs without power loss protection, but it is also dangerous. To be safe, I would need to know the model of the defective Seagate HDD.

13. While transferring, you can open GSmartControl (preinstalled) to check the SMART attributes on the burnt-out Seagate HDD. This will not stress the HDD or interfere with the transfer. If it has a high raw value for Current Pending Sector Count, you may want to consider cancelling the transfer and using professional data recovery services, depending on your risk tolerance. Note: this is after Step 11 because doing it before would cause the disk to enter idle. Idle could be prevented by opening random folders, but starting the transfer in that time and having the transfer prevent idle is more efficient.

14A. (Not Urgent) If you made an image, insert a third HDD to restore the image to. After restoring, which can be done with the same GNOME Disk Utility, the original contents of the burnt-out Seagate HDD will appear on the third HDD. WARNING: All files on the third HDD will be COMPLETELY DESTROYED. Proceed with extreme caution. Remove all other external HDDs except the second and third HDDs, and triple-check the third HDD does not contain any valuable files.

15. (Optional) File a lawsuit against Seagate in small claims court.