External HDD stopped working, help me recover with TestDisk ?

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SilkySmoooth

Commendable
Nov 1, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hi,
My 3TB Seagate Go Flex simply stopped working. I removed it from the case and connected to PC directly. It's now recognized but asks to format it. Obviously I want to recover data on it, so won't format.
Downloaded TestDisk and followed some advice on the internet.
So after "Analyse" it shows 'No partition is bootable' and 'Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55'. Proceeded to Quick Search and after 6 hours of searching it found: >L FAT32 partition and nothing else. If I P and try to see the files it says "No File found, filesystem may be damaged".

What do I do now ?
Any other ways to fix this ?

Any info would be appreciated.
 
Solution
SuperSoph_WD
Welcome to the TH Community, @SilkySmoooth!

I'd strongly recommend you consider following the Ubuntu guides on how to retrieve your data with this utility beforehand. Here are some examples that could help you as well.

Unfortunately, most massive external drives are configured with different LBAs through the enclosure which is why the HDD prompts you to format it when you connect it internally via SATA. I'd suggest you put it back in the enclosure and try swapping the USB cable and the USB port where the drive is being connected to your PC. If you have access to another computer, try plugging it as an external there as well. It would also be really helpful if you share some screenshots of the issue and also...
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
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Welcome to the TH Community, @SilkySmoooth!

I'd strongly recommend you consider following the Ubuntu guides on how to retrieve your data with this utility beforehand. Here are some examples that could help you as well.

Unfortunately, most massive external drives are configured with different LBAs through the enclosure which is why the HDD prompts you to format it when you connect it internally via SATA. I'd suggest you put it back in the enclosure and try swapping the USB cable and the USB port where the drive is being connected to your PC. If you have access to another computer, try plugging it as an external there as well. It would also be really helpful if you share some screenshots of the issue and also how the HDD is recognized in Disk management in Windows.
Keep in mind that taking the HDD out of its original enclosure has most probably void the warranty, if it's still covered, so you might not be able to RMA it and get a replacement from the manufacturer.

Keep us posted with the troubleshooting, though. Good luck! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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