My 1TB Seagate external hard drive cannot be detected and the light is blinking

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ZetsubouTom

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I used this hard drive a few days ago no problem but since yesterday I can't seem to get it to work anymore. I would plug it into my laptop and not get anything at all, I then noticed the light was blinking so I knew that isn't a good sign. So I tried plugging it to my desktop and it still had the same problem. Blinking light and no detection of the hard drive being plugged in.

Anyone have a solution for this sort of problem? I would hate to lose all my movie and work. I've had this drive for about a year and a half now. Another thing to note would be that I always usually leave it plugged into my desktop while I'm on it.
 
Solution
Ideally try the drive on another PC or device to start with to confirm this is the issue is present on other devices.

Do you get the usb plugged in sound from your computer?

If yes then it's either not getting enough power to the drive
Or the windows needs to be told to re-import the drive

1) Not enough power - Add external power
a) Buy a power device
b) Or a cable that plugs into 2 usb

2) The hdd enclosure controller circuit is naff
a) buy a new hdd enclosure and move drive into that
b) use warranty claim


*Notes on Re-Import Drive - set to active
pressing the Windows & E
Right Click My Computer - Select Manage
Disk Management - Find drive drive in the list - Set to active

*Problem: often looses security tags meaning all files...
Right, There are two types of external drives.

A large external drive that requires its own 12v power supply contains in most cases a 3.5" Sata drive that can be fitted into any computer case providing it has sata connections on your motherboard.

There is a board inside the external drive case that contains what we call a bridge board.
It is used to provide power to the internal HD and also Data connection.
The board created a bridge between two interfaces IE sata to a usb connector on the external housing.
Now if this fails then its why the drive is not picked up by windows or is not accessed.
So to get it working, or test it remove bridge board and connect to the sata mobo and power feeds if using it with a tower based system.

The second type of drive in an external housing is of a 2.5" HD size, the ones found in a laptop.
Now it depends on the make, some come with a usb connector fitted to the Hard drive circuit board.
So if it fails its harder to repair.
While some external hard drives use a standard sata 2.5" drive with a bridge board from sata to usb.
If so the bridge board can be taken out once again and the drive can be fitted to a tower based system providing you have sata ports and power cables to drive the 2.5" drive.

Your not going to know till you open the external drive case.
Its worth a try, as often the culprit is actually the control chip on the bridge board from sata to usb has broke.
And will give you access to the drive to read its contents ect.
 

Markkk

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Jan 2, 2012
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Ideally try the drive on another PC or device to start with to confirm this is the issue is present on other devices.

Do you get the usb plugged in sound from your computer?

If yes then it's either not getting enough power to the drive
Or the windows needs to be told to re-import the drive

1) Not enough power - Add external power
a) Buy a power device
b) Or a cable that plugs into 2 usb

2) The hdd enclosure controller circuit is naff
a) buy a new hdd enclosure and move drive into that
b) use warranty claim


*Notes on Re-Import Drive - set to active
pressing the Windows & E
Right Click My Computer - Select Manage
Disk Management - Find drive drive in the list - Set to active

*Problem: often looses security tags meaning all files and folders require permission to move delete or edit files. there is software that can resolve this.
*Which takes about the same time as copying all files to another location - reformat and copy files back. (Copy not cut)
 
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Alia Thompson

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May 10, 2015
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Memmy91

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May 12, 2015
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Hi Guys

Sorry to be stealing the post, just hoping like minds can help me :)

Have a WD My Passport 1TB and all was working fine. Use it mainly for movies, was copying a file to it and it froze. I unplugged it without "removing it safely" (yes I know this is probably where the trouble it) and now I can't find anything. Plugged it into our DVD player to watch movies and it didn't show up as anything connected.
Plugged it back into my Comp and nothing came up (normally AutoPlay detects it immediately).
Have run Dskchk a number of times, sometimes it would say its in use and asked if i wanted to run it as startup (which I did do). For a short time it popped up in My Computer but was very very slow at accessing it (realise its probs corrupted).
But now I have nothing. It is flashing like its in use (again still not showing anywhere).
Can see it in Device Manager and Disabled and Enabled it after the message (device cannot be started) and now it reads that "the device is working properly", which of course it's not.

Have tried deleting it from device manager and reinstalling it. The driver wizard thing says the installation cannot be completed (cannot find the right stuff to install), as it searches for "unknown" instead of "My Passport" etc.
Have gone onto WDs website and downloaded the drivers from there and done the above step but browsed to that file instead of a random search.

The HDD is not showing up in Computer Management.

Oh it also makes a little clicking noise every now and then (awesome I know).

Thinking it's a lost cause, but hoping someone on here can help me fix it. Any advice would be great :) .
Not looking to recover the files (although that would BE GREAT), but if i can get it working again, even from scratch that'd be awesome.
Thanks in Advance :)

Emily
 

aashish_2

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Oct 26, 2015
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i too have the same problem i have seagate 9sd2a6-500 i pluged it too various computer it wont show up.but when i plugged it too my panasonic smart tv it says 'overcurrent usb please remove'.what is
and please can u post any link for this below suggestions to buy
1) Add external power
a) Buy a power device
b) Or a cable that plugs into 2 usb

2) The hdd enclosure controller circuit is naff
a) buy a new hdd enclosure and move drive into that
b) use warranty claim




 

aashish_2

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Oct 26, 2015
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Sakthiananth

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Dec 9, 2015
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Were you able to fix your Expansion Hard drive issue ZetsubouTom?

 

Sakthiananth

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Dec 9, 2015
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Hi, First of all your external harddrive is running under external power so problem could be your bridged board.
You have to remove your panel on the hard drive and dismantle the board and buy new one from online or from any electronic shop and get it replaced and check to see it is working. If not, then replace the cable that you're using now and check to see it works or not.

Feel free to drop your contact or else let me know if you need any assistance... Even my Seagate Expansion harddrive is not working and I'm struggling with that at least this would give me a good lead or reference to fix my harddrive.


 

laparse12

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Sep 30, 2015
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I have a 2tb seagate external hard drive. The light is not coming on and isn't being picked up by my pc or laptop. It is in device manager and it says it's working normally. Iv uninstalled it and reinstall it but still nothing. I can't get any access to the drive.

If you click start and go to my computer right click and click on manage - go to disk management it shows it but says unreadable.

Any ideas?????
 

Robert_191

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Apr 10, 2016
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I have the same drive. One problem: the green light on the front of the drive is flashing and the drive doesn't show up on my computer. Can anyone help with my problem. I just want to copy my files out before the drive totally fails if it hasn't already!!!!

I found this helpful link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2PB9gZ1br4&nohtml5=False

thx in advance.
 

ILavea

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May 8, 2016
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Ahhh! This has now happened to all three of my Samsung Slimline harddrives :( They work fine a few months and then suddenly they dont want to be recognised. I even tried replacing the cables to them incase they'd got too bent or something. No joy.
 

KellyNat1982

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May 20, 2016
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Hi guys,

I've also had my seagate slimline 1tb (external) hard drive for 18 months and it's done the same thing as the original poster. My hard drive isn't registering with my computer but the light is flashing.. Where would you recommend to take it for someone to fix - I am computer literate, but when it comes to electronics I've got almost no idea!

Thanks :)
 

Sergioscar

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Jun 15, 2016
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Hi Tom

Re:: Why this thread shows problem "Solved", while I don't see any solution !?

I hope you will see this, cos I am having the same issue with my Seagate (it's happened while I was trying to back up my laptop and it took an entire day where at the end it stuck at 84% and I had to cancel the back up. Since then and after that; nither my laptop nor other PC's recognise or conect the Seagate despite the Light flickering on it !?

Anyway; although I am always most grateful and appreciate all feedbacks from others (on such or similar forums) but for the life of me - I cannot understand why some people bother posting irrelevant to replies, or stating the most obvious !! Like "did you switch the power on"!? Another thing is when I was searching for an answer at the top of your thread it's written problem solved I don't see any solution here except for more questions!? Please reply if you resolved the problem ...
Thank you.



 

alif4636

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Jul 31, 2016
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Did you solve this issue? Even I am facing same issue. My Segate 1 TB HDD light blinking but it is not detected. When I go through some forums I got to that, it is crashed because OS installation files are copied. I took a backup of my PC into HD. Please let me know if anyone solved this issue. I am unable to take data recovery also.

 

ILavea

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May 8, 2016
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Yes and no. I can get it working if I use a port with it's own independant power supply (I used https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VK9PRIU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

So, yes, I can access it and use it for backups. No, I can't use it without lugging that around so it's in no way to be considered portable or a working product in and of it's own right.
 
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