# Did my Seagate external harddrive die?



## Broman48 (Apr 17, 2012)

After quite a few hours of looking around on the internet and trying different cables, I'm now going to ask you guys for help. I need sleep and hopefully I can get a few answers.

Earlier today (yesterday) my Seagate Freeagent Pro 750GB harddrive suddenly shut down. The device disconnect sound played in Windows and I looked down to see the harddrive light was off. I've had it for about 5 or 6 years now and I was going to get a replacement this month. I tried restarting the power, checked to see if the power cord worked, tried another USB cable and nothing has helped. The thing doesn't want to turn on at all. I haven't heard any click of death on my harddrive and it seemed to be working just fine until today.
Could this be the harddrive, or just the enclosure that's broken? If it refuses to turn on at all, wouldn't the drive itself be fine to take out and replace the enclosure?

I don't want to lose all my important data I had saved. This is the first harddrive problem I've had, so I wasn't careful enough to make any backups.
Any help is appreciated.


----------



## digibucc (Apr 17, 2012)

it's possible that the drive is fine, but possible not. only way to know is to get another usb adapter or stick it in a machine and test. i'd recommend usb over sticking it in your machine.


----------



## jsfitz54 (Apr 17, 2012)

When you said you checked the AC adapter, did you put it on a meter and check it against the specs on the adapter?

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAg...GB-Desktop-USB/m-p/904?view=by_date_ascending

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAgent-Products/Freeagent-Pro-500gb-power-issues/td-p/4457

New Power Supply, check for compatibility:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030BMV9O/?tag=tec06d-20

Those older black and orange models had some power issues and there were firmware updates for some drives.  I know that doesn't help if it won't start.

Yes, it may just be the shell.

Don't break the case unless that's a last resort to try the drive in its bare state.

If you can get it running it would be prudent to transfer the contents to a new drive.

I use two external drives and stagger the backups, just in case one backup fails.

I also don't leave them plugged in 24/7 but rather make the backups after changes, updates, new important files, etc.


----------



## Broman48 (Apr 17, 2012)

digibucc said:


> it's possible that the drive is fine, but possible not. only way to know is to get another usb adapter or stick it in a machine and test. i'd recommend usb over sticking it in your machine.



What do you mean with another usb adapter? To replace it on the drive itself? Do you know where I might find a replacement for that?



jsfitz54 said:


> When you said you checked the AC adapter, did you put it on a meter and check it against the specs on the adapter?
> 
> http://forums.seagate.com/t5/FreeAg...GB-Desktop-USB/m-p/904?view=by_date_ascending
> 
> ...



I plugged the adapter into my speakers which take the same kind and they powered on.

I was thinking of disassembling this and sticking the drive into my computer rather than searching for a replacement piece to be 100% sure whether it's the drive or the enclosure. You guys advise against that?


----------



## 95Viper (Apr 17, 2012)

From what I have been reading the base on those get hot and it's possible it is crapping out.
And the touch power button, also, was not the best idea in the world Seagate had.

Did you try holding your finger on the on/off button for 20+ seconds?

Quote from OC review:


> One thing of note is the On/Off Button has a sensor to control the power of the unit. It took me several tries holding my finger there for up to 20 seconds each time before it would turn on or off. It would have been better to just place a switch on the unit instead, as this is to finicky to be used on a regular basis.



Just me personally... if, the sucker is not working, no matter what you tried then read-on.

If your data is that important and you wanna retrieve it (or, have a chance at retrieving it) then pop it open, hook it up to your system and see if you can get your data off it.

Now, that will kill any warranty you have... more than likely.

If, you don't care or can replace the data and it is still under the warranty (five years, I believe), then get an RMA approval and get a replacement or banter with them for an improved version.

Warranty info page:  Warranty and Returns Assistance
Warranty Validation Page

Goodluck!


----------



## Broman48 (Apr 18, 2012)

Thank you very much for the help. Yes the touch sensitive button's a hassle. Usually this thing powers on or at least maks a little noise when I plug it into a computer, which it hasn't. Holding in the power button hasn't done anything, either.
 I'm in the process of disassembling this and I'll post back later if it's worked.


----------



## ShiBDiB (Apr 18, 2012)

95Viper said:


> If your data is that important and you wanna retrieve it (or, have a chance at retrieving it) then pop it open, hook it up to your system and see if you can get your data off it.



This^^

Possible the enclosure just crapped out, just hook the hd up like any other internal and if it works ull see it in ur computer.


----------



## Broman48 (Apr 18, 2012)

After lots of unscrewing and prying (they really don't want you getting in there,) I managed to take out the harddrive and put it into my computer. It really was just the enclosure and my drive is working fine.  
Thank you guys very much for the help. I'm gonna go back everything up now.


----------



## offspring2525 (Jun 26, 2012)

I'm having almost the exact same problem as the OP. My Seagate external is a 500 GB and just completely up and stopped working after years of no problems. The power supply isn't the issue, and I too have hundreds of gigs of data that I really don't want to lose.

My question is, were I to open it up, could I take the hard drive out and put it into another external device? My other device is only a 120 GB external, but I figured it's the hard drive itself that only really matters right?

Thanks for any advice. Don't have the money to take it into a repair shop and this would be a pretty big loss of data.


----------



## mcarrer91 (Oct 31, 2014)

Broman48 said:


> After lots of unscrewing and prying (they really don't want you getting in there,) I managed to take out the harddrive and put it into my computer. It really was just the enclosure and my drive is working fine.
> Thank you guys very much for the help. I'm gonna go back everything up now.



did you take the external HD and insert it in your computer through internal connections, or did you just open the HD housing as connect it through USB ports on the outside?


----------



## joe Artrup (Feb 11, 2016)

Mine is close to the same issue. I plug it in and the power light comes on and goes out without powering up. I do not have a computer to install it in all I use is a laptop. So could I use a new housing? And them where to get one


----------

