I've been having trouble with my Seagate Backup Plus 4TB external hard drive for quite some time, in the form of it randomly disconnecting and reconnecting, particularly during gaming, which would cause the game to crash. I'm not sure of the cause of this, but I had the idea to cut out the middle man and simply attach the hard drive located within the external case to the cables within the computer itself. However, when I do so, while the drive is detected by the pc, it says it must be formatted. it also shows the previously working 4TB NTFS partition as 3 partitions, 1 raw, two unallocated, of varying sizes. any idea how to get the computer to read the hard drive correctly when connected via the internal cables?
Issue when plugging a previously working external HDD into the internal cables of the PC
- Thread starter Ffisher
- Start date
Solution
Hey again. Don't worry about the reply. 
Unfortunately it really sounds like the drive is having issues, especially having in mind your previous encounter with the diagnostic tool. The SMART data is basically a monitoring technology which observes and reports data based on specific criteria. You can find more about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.
Unfortunately it really sounds like the drive is having issues, especially having in mind your previous encounter with the diagnostic tool. The SMART data is basically a monitoring technology which observes and reports data based on specific criteria. You can find more about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, Ffisher.
You could've simply tried a different USB cable, just to make sure that yours is not the reason for the issues you've been having. Anyway, I'd recommend that you backup your data by connecting the drive again via its original enclosure (hoping that your computer will recognize it properly). After that you could simply reconnect it internally and reformat it so that you have a fresh secondary storage HDD.
If connecting it back to its original enclosure doesn't prove helpful in terms of data recovery, you could give it a go with Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if the partition are properly recognized and if you can get to your files. Another option would be data recovery software: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm.
Either way, once you're done with backing up your data, I'd recommend that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and run the tests, to see if there's anything unusual going on.
Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
You could've simply tried a different USB cable, just to make sure that yours is not the reason for the issues you've been having. Anyway, I'd recommend that you backup your data by connecting the drive again via its original enclosure (hoping that your computer will recognize it properly). After that you could simply reconnect it internally and reformat it so that you have a fresh secondary storage HDD.
If connecting it back to its original enclosure doesn't prove helpful in terms of data recovery, you could give it a go with Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if the partition are properly recognized and if you can get to your files. Another option would be data recovery software: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm.
Either way, once you're done with backing up your data, I'd recommend that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and run the tests, to see if there's anything unusual going on.
Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
Hi Boogieman,
Thanks for your reply! Weirdly, I'd never thought to just try a replacement cable. I have now installed a new one. Hopefully that results in no more random disconnections, in which case, I'll just use the drive as is.
Yes, it connects just fine via its original enclosure, thanks for asking about that, and giving potential options.
I have in fact tried that. The external drive is manufactured by Seagate, so I downloaded "SeaTools" from their website and left what I thought was the right scan to do a few weeks back (I've been having disconnection problems for quite some time. It got quite serious so as well as doing a chkdsk for errors, I tried to use SeaTools) however, I left the scan to run for a good few hours and when I came back, it looked like it hadn't even started! So I'm not sure how to proceed on that front.
Thanks for you help so far, much appreciated!
Ffisher
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
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Not being able to even start a test is not a good sign. Have you checked the SMART data of the drive, to see if anything out of the ordinary shows up? Basically if the new cable doesn't help and if you can't test it with its manufacturer's tool at all, then I guess the best option would be to get in touch with the vendor you got it from and/or the manufacturer's customer support and try to RMA it if it's still under warranty.
However, if this is the case you should think of a data recovery option before you return it.
However, if this is the case you should think of a data recovery option before you return it.
Hi Boogieman.
Sorry I've taken so long to reply! I changed the cable shortly after your first post, and it seemed to be ok for about 2 weeks, so i didn't worry about it. Then it started crashing again. I've not really used the drive since it started crashing again, but i presume it still acts this way.
As for checking the SMART data of the drive, i'm not entirely sure what that means, but i'll look it up and let you know what i find.
I believe it's too old for me to be able to return it.
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
- 2
- 35,960
Hey again. Don't worry about the reply.
Unfortunately it really sounds like the drive is having issues, especially having in mind your previous encounter with the diagnostic tool. The SMART data is basically a monitoring technology which observes and reports data based on specific criteria. You can find more about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.
Unfortunately it really sounds like the drive is having issues, especially having in mind your previous encounter with the diagnostic tool. The SMART data is basically a monitoring technology which observes and reports data based on specific criteria. You can find more about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.
Hi again,
Im not sure i want to run any tools on it while its installed externally, since it may just crash again and cause further problems. Ive since cleared off all the data on the drive, so i could install it interally and format it, then run any tests. Would that be an idea to check for issues?
Im not sure i want to run any tools on it while its installed externally, since it may just crash again and cause further problems. Ive since cleared off all the data on the drive, so i could install it interally and format it, then run any tests. Would that be an idea to check for issues?
Boogieman_WD
Judicious
- Jul 31, 2014
- 6,050
- 2
- 35,960
Running the tests now won't make a difference from running it later after the drive is internally connected again. I'd say that you should go ahead so that you know what you're dealing with.
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