Problem with Seagate FreeAgent Pro - 500GB, 7200 RPM, USB 2.0, eSATA, External 500 GB Hard Drive
The external drive was working fine until it was knocked over. It worked fine after I turned it on. After a couple of days it stated to freeze, the lights flash and it was no longer recognized. I turned it off and the next day it worked fine for about an hour and a half, then it stopped working. I turned it off went to eat dinner and when I came back turned it on again. It worked again, but this time only for about 15 minutes. How can I get it back to an hour and a half to be able to backup my backups....
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I have the exact same problem... not sure what caused it... there was a massive power spike here, and that could be it... of cource most of the electronics fried by that do not even turn on, while that turns on just fine and flashed the yellow light...
the drive sounds fine itself, so the problem is most likely in the Seagate FAP case itself, probably the internal circuitry, as when i turn it on the drive spins up normally and does not make and noises that are the tell-tale signs of a dead drive... my suggesgion would be to crack open the Seagate case (i know i know, i thought it looked nice to, but would you rather have all your data or a nice-looking doorstop) and take the hard drive out, then connect it either 1) directly into your computer or 2) into another external hardrive case. As this hard drive has eSATA, it is probibly a safe bet that it is a SATA drive, so that's probibly the connection you need. Again, i have not tried this, but i will attempt it soon... what's the worst that can happen? my drive will not work inside the case, my drive will not work outside the case... same thing really... but this is the last time i buy seagate...
I found a solution to the flashing drive, I put the drive up to my ear and turned it on what I heard was the sound of the drive trying to fire up by not being able to. So I played a hunch and plugged in the power from my Seagate Go Flex 2TB drive and the old Free Agent Pro fired up. Getting a 12v 2A power supply is all that's needed, problem the power supply died solution get a new one.
From what i have learned spending more than 20 hrs on the phone with tech support and data recovery center,if you get the flashing yellow light,that means your drive is gone,i spent 1700$ canadian to have my old files saved( memorys from 1980 and 1990) ,now if you back up ur files on an external drive to be safe,what would you be thinking if one days its fails on ya? aint this suppose to be the way arround,pc fails and rarely ext. hard drive? Mine just got knocked over while it was sitting,so its not even a violent shock to it.,but again i learned my lesson and now all back up goes online,online servers nevers fails...thats my advice
yirmin Trouble with the online storage is that sometimes they go bankrupt and you then have a very limited amount of time to download your files before they vanish forever. It has happened with one of the storage services that catered to photographers, and when they announce the 2 week window to get all your stuff off, everyone and his dog started trying to and the servers crashed numerous times. In the end some people lost photos that they thought were super safe.
Jul 15, 2010
tabique22 My hard drive was flashing as well, and it did get knocked over as well. What I did was to unscrew the module that hosts the power and e-sata, I pulled it out and then put it back in. That seemed to work. I wonder how long that will last, but at least I have access to my hard drive. Hope it works for you too.
Apr 20, 2011
Got one and have been using it primarily for video file (editing). This firewire harddrive disappear in the middle of a project either downloading or editing. It's the latest of four different brand hard drives Never lost a files, but gets hot too fast then the drive letter disappears but the yellow light stays (which off course should mean that the drive is powered and connected). It also get very hot especially at the button. This been going on for about 7 months now. I need some help......THANKS,
I ripped the whole thing apart unplugged the connector for the light diode (yellow, which was indicating an error). With the whole thing freed from the plastic cover and metal protection for the electronic it started to work again. Magic!
Hi,
Have you tried uninstalling your seagate free agent software, restarting your computer and installing it again?
Source: Hello, My Seagate 250GB Free Agent
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edwardcovic
fabiobi Same thing just happened to me (I have a FreeAgent 750 GB, bought it 1 month ago).
Ipulled a wire, it tilted (it was already on the floor, so it wasn'tsuch a big impact), the fan started to make a harsh noise and the drivestarts bleeping.
Now, honestly, this can't be the end of that data... I just can't believe it.
Ihad other external hard drives, they failed, had bad sectors, CRCerrors... everything, but I was still able to access it from mycomputer and use diagnostic and restore softwares. Actually I recentlyrestored everything from my WD drive, which had tons of bad sectors,and a physically damaged part on the disk. Even then, I was able torestore 98% of the data.
So a little thumb on a drive can't be the end of 750 GB worth of data.
And it sure won't cost 500-1.500 $ to recover.
---
I noticed lots and lots of people are having this issue with Seagate FreeAgent series... and it's starting to look suspicious.
Because, let's put what's happening in simple words:
1) Big brand advertise product that STORES DATA
2) Consumer buys product to STORE his DATA
3) Product LOSES DATA (which is a direct fail to its purpose)
4)Consumer LOSES DATA (which means, in most cases, money worth of boughtmp3s, videos, software and/or legal documents... or maybe evenpriceless memories and digital collectables)
5) Consumer contacts big brand for a solution to the PROBLEM THEY CAUSED
6) Big Brand tells that the consumer has to pay 5-50 times the product actual value to fix the PROBLEM THEY CAUSED
Now, can someone correct me here if I made any mistake?
Because if I didn't, this a pure and simple case of RACKETEERING.
May 08, 2009
jasporax I knocked over my FreeAgent 500GB drive and after that when I plugged it back in to my laptop I only get a low and continous beep sound...
May 07, 2009
jroh87 The problem occurred when the USB cord got caught on my foot as I was getting out of my seat, causing the hard drive to knock over. After plugging it in again, the light turned on, the motor begins to spin up..and then a click. It would go *whirrr* *click*...*whirrr* *click* ...and so on.
Here is an audio clip of what it sounds like. Click the first (of three) play buttons shown at the end of the first paragraph:
http://datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/sea...
From this site, I figured that the problem can be fixed by cleaning the heads. Hopefully, I'll be able to recover my files long enough to transfer them to the Western Digital External HDD I'm going to replace it with..
May 04, 2009
Guest I have had 2 of these, and now going on 3. These are warrented for 9 years, so expect to loose everything every year or so. I will never buy another!
May 03, 2009
Guest My FreeAgent 500GB External Hard Drive is dead. When I plug it in to a wall outlet there is no response. The brown/orange bar normally lights up when the plug is inserted into the wall.outlet but there is no response.
I have many files in the external hard drive. How can I recover these files. I contacted I 365 owned by seagate. I was told the cost to recover the files is anywhere between $700-$1700.
Thank you.
Norman Cates
May 01, 2009
koolnerd711 I will never buy a seagate again. I have not knocked mine over at all and it doesn't respond. I first bought a 500 gb for my video files and after a while I had to mess witht he USB plugin part (not the cord) to get it to work right and have the computer read it. Scared I might lose my video files I was working on I bought another Seagate, but the 750 gb, and moved them over. It worked fine at first but noticed the same problem with the USB connection port after a while. Then my desktop computer started to not want to read the drive and if it did it either said error or took extremely long time to get files. I just tested it on my laptop and it doesn't even read it. NOTE that the yellow light is on and stays on. It doesn't blink or turn off-- it acts as if it is working just fine but in actuality it isn't.
Apr 24, 2009
tigger2049 I got a FreeAgent Go yesterday and got a similar problem too. I think I've figured out what caused this issue. I did some test on it this night. If I flip the driver over and over or knock it over when it is writing data, then it will refuse to work. Using SeaTools to check it may find some errors. Plug out or reboot computer may get it to work again.
I have a Samsung external driver too, and I did the same shock on it when it was writing data. It lock the header when I shocked it and the writing paused. After I stopped shocking It restarted writing.
I don't know whether it's just my driver's problem or all of Seagate's issue.
Apr 06, 2009
josiel07 The light is blinking... the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500GB won't turn on!!! I'm so frustrated!!!
Feb 14, 2009
matzinkata No lights :( I haven't dropped it or anything. It just suddenly stopped working!
Jan 11, 2009
onesun8 i knocked it over and a couple days later it wouldnt pop up on the screen when plugging it in, it turns on but all computers ive plugged it in to wont read it.
Jan 04, 2009
mandi503 same thing..i have the light for a moment, only when holding the connection cord at a certain angle, but not one of my 3 computers detect it
its holding about 20,000 songs of mine that i need on my ipod!
Nov 17, 2008
Guest Knocked over my freeagent by accident. Hardly worth worrying about at the time b/c it was so gental. Now, no lights even. Its stuffed.
Oct 30, 2008
Guest i have the same problem, i knocked my hard drive over by accident and after that, my laptop wouldn't regognise it anymore... i've tried plugging it into a different computer but i still have the same problem. now the light is flashing as well.
Aug 24, 2008
Guest No light. Not working.
Aug 19, 2008
badrive 500 gb external freeagent, first got empty folders, newer folder were ok, turned off and back on
"my computer" does not show the 500 gb drive... long led in front of the drive flash (sometimes does not flash)
Aug 19, 2008
sirabbey Have the 500GB and I dropped it on the floor the other day. Since then, the light won't come on and no computers will recognise it. It's almost like there isn't any power going to it.
Please help
Aug 13, 2008
Guest i have Seagate Freeagent Pro 500gb it was working fine for a couple of months until last night it got knocked over and now it wont get picked up by the computer the drive still lights up but makes a lil noise it wouldnt make before....
Aug 08, 2008
Guest it fell over now light goes on... computer makes noise that usb is connected but doesnt show up
Jul 22, 2008
Guest Not recognized and have tellow light on front flashing
Jul 19, 2008
dussan_denni My Seagate Free Agent 500GB just stop working, I have it for only 2 months. Can I Somehow recovery the data cos i need is so much.
Please help
Jul 16, 2008
Guest Yellow band light flashing - drive has ALL my work from the last year backed up in one place. most of the work is also backed up on DVD (thank G) but, of course the important pieces are held hostage on the free agent. Sigh.
Jul 03, 2008
mel23hug but i am still searching for a way to fix it. i might just take it back, you got yours workig yet? x
Jun 27, 2008