Question About to pry open an external drive, please advise.

[dataguy1977]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to rescue data from a Seagate backup plus 5tb external drive. It still spins and LED lights up. However, it would not show up my computers anymore when I plug it in. Every once a while it would load and I can even see my files, but can't open any of them nor copy them out.

I still don't know what's the exact problem, but I I think the data is still there. I wonder if the failure is in the enclosure, and that's seems to be a easy fix based on my research. I just need the drive to last long enough to cope the data out.

Before I go ahead, I believe the external drive is 2.5 inch, and I am buying a new enclosure on amazon for 8 dollars. This enclosure should work with my Seagate disk right?

And is there another way to rescue data or could someone ID the problem that's causing my drive not showing up on my computers (tried different computers and cables).

Thanks so much, hope to find a solution.

 

[USAFRet]

The USB - SATA bridge may be a part of the PCB on the drive. Not part of the enclosure.
If it is....a different enclosure will not work.

I don't know the specifics of your current drive, but several small externals are like that.

 

[Bob.B]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to rescue data from a Seagate backup plus 5tb external drive. It still spins and LED lights up. However, it would not show up my computers anymore when I plug it in. Every once a while it would load and I can even see my files, but can't open any of them nor copy them out.

I still don't know what's the exact problem, but I I think the data is still there. I wonder if the failure is in the enclosure, and that's seems to be a easy fix based on my research. I just need the drive to last long enough to cope the data out.

Before I go ahead, I believe the external drive is 2.5 inch, and I am buying a new enclosure on amazon for 8 dollars. This enclosure should work with my Seagate disk right?

And is there another way to rescue data or could someone ID the problem that's causing my drive not showing up on my computers (tried different computers and cables).

Thanks so much, hope to find a solution.

8 bucks!.....try it.
The other option is to connect the disk internal and see what that does.

 

[Misgar]

This enclosure should work with my Seagate disk right?

You might run foul of "sector translation", but for 8 bucks it's worth a try.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/hy83hm/sector_size_fiasco_and_recommendations_for/

I wonder if the failure is in the enclosure

There aren't any moving parts in an enclosure. It's more likely to be the hard disk itself.

I think the data is still there.

It might all be intact, or some/all data may have been destroyed, especially if you've had a serious head crash which has "scored" the platters and left debris floating around inside the housing.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=head+crash+hard+disk&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https://www.cisdem.com/resource/attach/file/images/head-crash-hard-drive-failure.jpg

Since you don't appear to have a backup, a professional repair agency may be your best bet, but it'll be very expensive.

They will investigate, then potentially strip your drive apart in a special clean room, source an identical hard disk, remove the platters from your drive, fit them into the donor drive, unsolder a calibration data ROM chip from your drive, solder it to the donor drive's pcb, then switch on the drive and attempt file recovery. No guarantee of success. That's why it's not a cheap process.

Of course you might get lucky with a new enclosure. Keep your fingers crossed.