[SOLVED] Is my Seagate 4TB EXT dying ?

Chris David

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Dec 11, 2013
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Title. Got a Seagate EXT 4TB that near 2019.

That being said, about a few months back, I was using it on a trashcan PC and it constantly kept throwing errors at me, I was sure as hell that the HDD was dying on me and just kept wrapped so as to not lose my data. I live in a area with constant powercuts from time to time and I don't have money to get UPS backup for every device in my house, the Seagate has a external power adapter and cannot function alone from the power provided by a USB port.

So as of yesterday, I decided to grab the files from the HDD, only to realize it didn't work bad at all, but I did have windows slowing down a bit when I first connected it, but after some time, it started working without issues, no problems or anything.

View: https://i.imgur.com/Ftdu1Ga.png

View: https://i.imgur.com/Ftdu1Ga.png


^ Crystal Disk Info.

I still wasn't convinced that it automatically fixed itself over time, so I went and ran some tests using the SeaTools App.

It passed SMART Check, Short DST and Short Generic. I didn't test long generic as it would take a lot of time, I ended up using the "FIX ALL -> LONG" option somewhere near 2PM today, I kept it on for hours and hours and it barely progressed to a 30%, sure, its a big 4TB drive, so I didn't mind much (although a bit fishy for a drive that was wiped clean after all the backup was in place), then I left it on and tragedy struck, I had another powercut, not sure if the drive ever finished fixing or not, but its not dead so I am guessing it still works.

Now my question is, is the drive dying, I already have my files safe in my PC, but it is choking my space as all my internal storage is now overloaded from the backups of the 4TB, I need to know whether I can trust this drive or not and throw back some files in.

Another issue I've noticed with the drive is that it is a bit loud, the vibration is felt through the table and sometimes if I keep my hand on it, I can feel the vibration suddenly grab a jerk then continue along (during read/write) but a friend of mine says it is because the 4TB drives platter moving around.

The HDD is a Seagate Backup +HUB BK 4TB

edit : both 0 Write and Erase Boot Sector tools provided by SeaTools return a FAIL message.
 
Last edited:
Solution
"Is it dying?" is not really an answerable question. Except to say "Yes...from the moment you take it out of the box, it is on a long road to death."

Your specific drive may last another 5 years, or another 5 minutes.

You always need a good backup of any data you do not wish to lose.
I've seen almost brand new drives go from seemingly perfect to dead in 36 hours.
"Is it dying?" is not really an answerable question. Except to say "Yes...from the moment you take it out of the box, it is on a long road to death."

Your specific drive may last another 5 years, or another 5 minutes.

You always need a good backup of any data you do not wish to lose.
I've seen almost brand new drives go from seemingly perfect to dead in 36 hours.
 
Solution
Title. Got a Seagate EXT 4TB that near 2019.

That being said, about a few months back, I was using it on a trashcan PC and it constantly kept throwing errors at me, I was sure as hell that the HDD was dying on me and just kept wrapped so as to not lose my data. I live in a area with constant powercuts from time to time and I don't have money to get UPS backup for every device in my house, the Seagate has a external power adapter and cannot function alone from the power provided by a USB port.

So as of yesterday, I decided to grab the files from the HDD, only to realize it didn't work bad at all, but I did have windows slowing down a bit when I first connected it, but after some time, it started working without issues, no problems or anything.

View: [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ftdu1Ga.png]https://i.imgur.com/Ftdu1Ga.png

View: ]View: https://i.imgur.com/Ftdu1Ga.png[/url]



^ Crystal Disk Info.

I still wasn't convinced that it automatically fixed itself over time, so I went and ran some tests using the SeaTools App.

It passed SMART Check, Short DST and Short Generic. I didn't test long generic as it would take a lot of time, I ended up using the "FIX ALL -> LONG" option somewhere near 2PM today, I kept it on for hours and hours and it barely progressed to a 30%, sure, its a big 4TB drive, so I didn't mind much (although a bit fishy for a drive that was wiped clean after all the backup was in place), then I left it on and tragedy struck, I had another powercut, not sure if the drive ever finished fixing or not, but its not dead so I am guessing it still works.

Now my question is, is the drive dying, I already have my files safe in my PC, but it is choking my space as all my internal storage is now overloaded from the backups of the 4TB, I need to know whether I can trust this drive or not and throw back some files in.

Another issue I've noticed with the drive is that it is a bit loud, the vibration is felt through the table and sometimes if I keep my hand on it, I can feel the vibration suddenly grab a jerk then continue along (during read/write) but a friend of mine says it is because the 4TB drives platter moving around.

The HDD is a Seagate Backup +HUB BK 4TB

edit : both 0 Write and Erase Boot Sector tools provided by SeaTools return a FAIL message.
Hdd

SMART is showing many errors on that disk.
I would not put anything on that disk that I could not afford to lose.
If your input power is that bad you best start shopping for an UPS unit.