My seagate freeagent can´t be found by the computer.

[seagate on fritz]

I just got my case opened. It was easy. I never would have thought of taking off the bottom first.

Once you get that as the starting point, it is quick. A half dozen screws, lots of prying (that damn case is a pain), and voila, it's done.

Now, I just need to get the drive to my buddy to try to access it. I'm about to go on a work trip, so I won't have a chance to try it for a week. I'll report back when I find out.

 

[Strider]

Same boat...and it's sinking!

Hi everyone,

I'm so glad I found this forum thread. I just came back from LA where I was shooting a documentary (I'm an amatuer filmmaker) and of course....I used a SEA-BREAK Free Agent to back up the files.

Now, it won't power up.

I'm currently in Taiwan, where I need to get the footage off the harddrive.

I've read all the posts about how to get it open, but honestly, I'm not a very good hardware person. I think with the pictures, I should be able to get it open, but I'm still a little scared.

And also, I can envision taking it to a local shop, but they are not as "corporate" as US companies (I mean, the little technology shops around Taipei)...

So, can you guys provide an opinion on:

A. Should I attempt to package, mail, send this back to Seagate? Risk getting more damaged in the process, probably have to pay for a recovery fee, and then maybe wait for a couple of months?

B. Try and open it myself and take to a local hardware store to see if the harddrive will boot up?


THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP.

I'm so sorry to hear about the guy who lost the family videos/pics. Mine is only a documentary, so it's not as bad as family memories, but it is something I put a lot of time and money into.


- Damon

damon@subtitledfilms.com

PS: I bought the drive 7 days ago.

 

[Nick1696]

Strider I don't think there is much point in opining it up for you! If its not powering up then it my have more to do with the powersaply your using in Taiwan! Even my drive powers up. so there my not be anything wrong with it!

And A & B SUCK!!!

A= you will most likely lose all data and get a refurbished drive that will probably brake agen and in less you bought it from them directly they wont replace it at all!

B= ? but if you take it to a shop theres no need to open it... Inless you smell somthing burning form the inside its probably not the circuit bord!

I tested mine and they were fine thats why i think the hard drive is the problem for most of us! So at lest for me the ship is sinking quick

but does any one know a way to hook the drive to a standard drive slot the seagate wires are.... Not standard I need a way to hoke the drive to my pc directly then i can try to recover the data!

 

[Strider]

1/2 open...

- Nick1656

I got it half open, but I don't understand how you guys got the case open?

I'm attaching pictures...

I don't see any more screws to unscrew...

At this point, is it just a case of prying open the two sides of the case? Or are there hidden screws somewhere?


Thanks,

Damon

 

[sunwmax]

Nick1696 - can you please post:

- a detailed picture of the drive's label
OR
- the exact model number that appears on the label?

I have a dead 500Gb FreeAgent Desktop. Luckily enough, the important stuff (my 5500 family pictures) are ALL on Flickr. The drive still has some semi-important data that I'd like to get off. If it's standard SATA or eSATA, I'll be able to plug it into another machine and save the data.

Please help! Your prior work is greatly appreciated. I will post back with anything I find in the process.

 

[Nick1696]

Help from The Helpless!

Strider - All you need to do now is finish removing the bottom then pry open the side and slid you small screw driver in the direction noted


sunwmax - not sure what you meant by

If it's standard SATA or eSATA, I'll be able to plug it into another machine

If you mean the wires there not normal i have three other computer that all have the same wiring & it won't work with them!!! But here some pics hope it helps!

 

[sunwmax]

The data cable looks like it's standard Serial ATA. Are you able to remove the two cables without damaging the drive's connector?

 

[sunwmax]

Another thing I noticed: is it whiteout on the label?? I can't believe they'd conceal model numbers like this.

 

[Nick1696]

LOL!!! No its not whiteout on the label I erased it with paint I would still like a refund from seagate If they see my drives info i don't think they will!!!

& yes the wires come right off...

 

[sunwmax]

I doubt they look at these forums, but can you just post the model number? Does it look anything like ST3500630NS?

 

[Nick1696]

Yes but there all different! Im sure you have the same drive!

 

[Rory Buszka]

Hey, guys. I've got a question for you all.

In my review from April, I reviewed the Seagate FreeAgent Pro model, which I suspect has significantly different innards from the plain-vanilla FreeAgent. How many of you are having these problems with the 'Pro' model? What I'm trying to determine is if people are having these problems with the 'plain vanilla' FreeAgent, or the 'Pro' version, or both.

As far as my own experiences, I've had nothing but good things to say about my FreeAgent Pro. Even though it's been powered up almost 24/7 (with weekend-long respites every now and then), I've only ever twice had an issue with the drive showing up in Windows after plugging in its USB cable. However, pulling out and reinserting the FreeAgent's power adapter plug always rectified this, and I can count the times it's happened on one hand.

 

[sunwmax]

Is the Pro version the one with multiple interfaces? It seems as if though my FreeAgent Desktop (and possibly the other drives in this thread) are having all these issues because of faulty controller boards. The logical conclusion would be that the boards in Desktop and Pro versions are different enough to make your drive more stable than mine.

My drive is working fine at the moment. I'm sure if I disconnect it now, it'll throw the usual tantrum again (rapidly blinking LED, doesn't show on my Mac), which is why it's gonna stay connected for a long time now, until I'm ready to take it apart. At that point, I'll leave the crappy Seagate board behind and stick the drive in a run-of-the-mill SATA/USB enclosure and be merry.

 

[sunwmax]

By the way, I'm buying these two babies to replace the Seagate enclosure:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1501&sku=30504
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1912&sku=29566

 

[Ante]

Possible solution

Hello again.

Here i have some pictures of both harddrive and the covering.


First picture is the harddrive showing the circuit bord.

The technicians believed that this circuit board was damaged. They tried one new exact copy of the circuit bord on the drive without any succes. The drive still don`t start.

Now there is only 2 things left to do.

One thing, is to take the drive to a harddrive service store. Let them put it to pieces in a so called "clean room". The will take out the actual discs and put them in another machine and then download the data to another drive or storage device. If the discs are not damaged this will work. Since the mechanism inside the seagate drive is damaged it will never start again. The only sad thing about this action is that this is not cheap. This will cost " i`m not really shore in usd" but be prepared for something like 1000-1500usd. Maybee more maybee less.

Now there is just one other thing to do.
Go back to the store and get a new external hard drive from the warranty.
A tip.......not a seagate.

...........wait a minute...........

There is one more thing you can try.

If you used this free agent external harddrive as an backup the data should come from somewhere.
For example, a harddrive in a computer that you have formated and gave to a friend (that`s what i have done). If so.....tell that person not to use the hard drive.......The data that you had before you formated the drive is still there. It`s not visible for the operating system. There is a program called " i think" (ntfs recovery). And this program searches through the whole drive and saves the data on another storage device. And this can take about 15-20 hours depending on how much data you had. This is what i am going to try out next week.

Those other pictures shows how the outer casing looks like on the inside. You can see the hooks that you have to reach with long smal sticks and gently bend apart, and at the same time with little help try to open the cover.
This is what i did. Take long time to understand how i fits and be very gently.

I really hope this workes for you al with the same problem. And that you get the data you want.

Ante

 

[danny800]

Uhhh this drive is so annoying.

I didnt lose any data as such but i need a working one soon as im always concerned about my PC making strange clicking noises.

I ideally would like a refund so that i can get one the same as the ones we use in school to backup all our media and moving image coursework.

I believe they are iomega drives.

Hah i few people i know are saying it doesnt work because the Seagate plant up the road from me (Limavady) is closing. Thats obviously not the reason....

 

[seagate on fritz]

I have the regular version, not the pro.

 

[Nick1696]

I also have the regular version, not the pro.
I think non of us have pro.

 

[Ante]

Hello again.

To all of you out there with this seagate free agent harddrive problem, how is it going. It`s been so quite here for a while. Is the problem fixed, have you found another way to solve the problem.....

Ante

 

[Nick1696]

Nop and im in limbo till i get the money to get new parts! I will never ever EVER buy a Seagate drive again!!!