External HDD not detected (Error code 10)

[CoreDex]

Hi

I have had some trouble with my Seagate Backup plus slim 2TB external harddrive.
I am running Windows 7 on a Lenovo laptop.
While trying to transfer a big pile of data on to it, it messed up somehow and completely lost all data stored on it.
I tried to run different kinds of scans on it but always got stuck on a certain sector. (SeaTools failed it, testdisk wouldnt complete and so on)
I tried chkdsk with "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" option enabled, and it finally seemed to complete the scan, and now SeaTools also passed its tests.
It felt like the drive was still acting a little odd, so I wanted to reformat the drive.
I pressed the restore device defaults in the format window, unchecked the quick format option, and let it to work overnight. Upon waking up, I see that windows has decided to update and restart the pc.
Now the disk is not recognized in Disk Management, it doesn't show up at all, and in Device Manager I get the "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" error. I can't find any drivers on seagates website to try and install, and don't now how else to attack this problem.

Hope someone can help me.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, CoreDex.

First of all - nice job on troubleshooting the issue.
The "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" error is usually associated with hardware or device drivers issues. I'd recommend that you open up Device Manager (with the drive connected to the computer) and under Universal Serial Bus controller uninstall the external HDD (it is usually "USB mass storage device"), then reconnect the drive so that Windows can install its drivers again to see if the same thing happens after that. I'd also suggest that you test the drive with a different USB cable (not longer than 12") and a different computer to see if it's properly recognized.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[CoreDex]

Hey there, CoreDex.

First of all - nice job on troubleshooting the issue.
The "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" error is usually associated with hardware or device drivers issues. I'd recommend that you open up Device Manager (with the drive connected to the computer) and under Universal Serial Bus controller uninstall the external HDD (it is usually "USB mass storage device"), then reconnect the drive so that Windows can install its drivers again to see if the same thing happens after that. I'd also suggest that you test the drive with a different USB cable (not longer than 12") and a different computer to see if it's properly recognized.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Hi Boogieman

Thank you for the reply. I have already tried try uninstalling the driver and reconnecting the device, this changed nothing. I do not have a replacement cable at hand, but will try and get one to see if that is the problem.
Otherwise, other suggestions are more than welcome

 

[Boogieman_WD]

No worries mate, the important thing is to figure out what's wrong. I'm a little concerned by the errors you were getting. If none of this proves to be helpful and no one else comes up with another suggestion, then perhaps the best thing to do would be to contact the manufacturer's customer support and ask for assistance and/or RMA if the drive is still under warranty.

Good luck!

 

[CoreDex]

No worries mate, the important thing is to figure out what's wrong. I'm a little concerned by the errors you were getting. If none of this proves to be helpful and no one else comes up with another suggestion, then perhaps the best thing to do would be to contact the manufacturer's customer support and ask for assistance and/or RMA if the drive is still under warranty.

Good luck!

So, I got a hold of another cable, and that does not seem to be the issue.
I'm most likely going to give up soon and send in the drive as it is still under warrenty.
Just one more question, could the restart of my pc while formatting the drive have broken anything?

-CoreDex

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well, physically there should be no consequences for the HDD, but this could mess it up (not being recognized, corrupted partition, RAW file system etc.), but you should still be able to reformat it via various methods afterwards. Having in mind how everything started, this really doesn't seem to be the cause for the problem in my opinion.