external hard drive samsung m3 1tb became raw

[luke0001]

hi everyone. it is my first time posting here so please bear with me.
i have a samsung m3 externak hdd 1tb. it was working well until i misplaced the usb data cable. i tried using a different cable, like a generic micro usb cable connected it to the pc. unfortunately, it keeps getting disconnected then reconnect by itself. i mean, i didn't unplug nor removed the cable, i just plugged it to the pc then its acting like it is being ejected then reconnected back to the pc. same thing when you are plugging a flash drive to the usb then you plug it back in then unplug then replug and it keeps going on and on, until i decided to not use my external hdd until I bought a new data cable. when i used the new data cable that fits well with the hdd, it was detected by my pc but it is giving me an error, the drive in e: needs to be formatted before you can use it. I don't want to format it because of all the files in thedrive but when i go to my computer, the drive e: is blank, went to properties and it is showing 0 bytes.
i tried to connect the external hdd to my tv and it can detect all my movies but some movies are no longer playable. i asked my friend to connect it to his pc using win 7 but it still shows an error that it needs to be formatted. he tried using a linux mint and it was able to detect and see the files. so he tried to boot back to windows and tried repairing it using testdisk folliwing this article http://html5.litten.com/updated-how-to-fix-external-disk-drive-suddenly-became-raw/

but still no go. tried chkdsk but it freezes or won't continue.

tried booting back to linux mint so i can copy my files but no longer able to do that since the drive can no longer be mounted or accessible. still able to see some of the movie files when connected to my tv. but i need your help, i want to know if there is any way i can recover my files or if not, can i still use my m3 external hdd?

thanks in advance and hope to hear back from you guys.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the community, Luke!

Unfortunately, it sounds like the file system on your external looks corrupted through the computer. You should try using a different computer and see if you'd be able to backup your data from there. The RAW format indicates that you have somehow lost the partition on the drive or, at least, it's invisible for the PC. If TestDisk didn't work, I'd suggest you definitely use the external HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool to check up on the health and SMART status. If your data on it is not that important and you have it backed up elsewhere, then you should reformat the HDD from Disk Management in order to get it properly detected and access from your computer system.

Keep me posted if you have more questions.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[luke0001]

Welcome to the community, Luke!

Unfortunately, it sounds like the file system on your external looks corrupted through the computer. You should try using a different computer and see if you'd be able to backup your data from there. The RAW format indicates that you have somehow lost the partition on the drive or, at least, it's invisible for the PC. If TestDisk didn't work, I'd suggest you definitely use the external HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool to check up on the health and SMART status. If your data on it is not that important and you have it backed up elsewhere, then you should reformat the HDD from Disk Management in order to get it properly detected and access from your computer system.

Keep me posted if you have more questions.
SuperSoph_WD

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried downloading the diagnostic tool from http://samsunghdd.seagate.com/as/en/ , selected the support for my device which is m3 and was redirected to seagate site and downloaded the seatools, however it can only detect the internal hdd which is a seagate 500gb.

I haven't tried formatting the external drive yet using disk management. I am still trying some other fix to see if it is still possible to fix it without formatting. I searched google for a similar issues and was able to find this: http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/334380-disk-structure-corrupt-unreadable.html


Here is a screenshot of windows disk management and drive E: is the one that needs repair:

I am currently running 'check file system' using minitool partition wizard in here is what i found:

I first tried using the "check only, do not fix detected errors option and this is the result:

Then I tried selecting the second option which is check and fix detected errors and it has been running for 6 hours now and still not finished. it is still at " Inserting an index entry into index $O of file 25." right now:

The blue LED light of the drive is still blinking which I can safely say it is still running. Also, I don't hear any noise from the drive, I opened the enclosure and I can feel a little vibration from the hdd and so far there is no mechanical noise.

Now my question is,
1. should I leave my computer and wait for the minitool partition wizard to finish or is it safe to close it? however, the cancel button is grayed out. Also, how long do you think it will take to finish?

2. is the check file system in minitool partition wizard the same with SFC /SCANNOW or chkdsk?

Thanks again for taking the time to help


Update:
after a few minutes of posting my reply, I finally see some progress:

Update:

minitool has finished and here is the result:

What does it mean?
TBH, i don't know what it means, but when I checked windows disk management, it has changed to this:

Earlier, in "My Computer" it was like this:

After doing approximately 7 hours of check file system with minitool, it has changed to this:

I didn't expect that I could repair it without formatting or buying a new drive.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read and help me, I hope this can help other people who are having this same issue.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Really amazing job, Luke! I'm glad you managed to recover your files and folders!
You should definitely consider yourself lucky and, from now on, always make sure you have your files backed up to at least ONE more location/storage device. Multiple copies of your files will give you some peace of mind if you ever encounter a file system corruption or any other possible hard-drive damage again.

Best of luck to you!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Pablete69]

Thanks Luke. It worked for my Raw M3 and in under 1 mn. I love you!!!