Question Seagate 2TB HDD making buzzing noises, and not being recognized by any PC.

[xfoofy]

Hey all!

First post on here, so sorry if poor etiquette.

I've had this hard drive for a while now, and it contains quite a few important pieces of data on it, including backups. When I plug it into my PC (Windows 10 x64 Home), it begins beeping approx. every 1 second. This also happens when plugging it into my Thinkpad T430 running Ubuntu 19.10 x64, on all of the ports.

I've removed the drive from its normal blue case, and have unplugged the sata-to-usb adapter from the drive and tested it with a drive of similar form-factor. It worked flawlessly.

I don't have that much money to send it in for repairs. If a sample of the noises is required, I can upload it to my site and link it here.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Forgot to include, that I do not have the drive under warranty.

 

[USAFRet]

New noises are never a good thing.
Failing across multiple systems and OS's, even worse.

Since this has the "backups", surely the original files still live on other drives. Correct?

 

[xfoofy]

New noises are never a good thing.
Failing across multiple systems and OS's, even worse.

Since this has the "backups", surely the original files still live on other drives. Correct?

Yes, although backups were not the only things I had stored on this drive.

 

[USAFRet]

So this was an external drive, and apparently the external case is OK.

Does not bode well.
The PC cannot see it in any way?

 

[xfoofy]

So this was an external drive, and apparently the external case is OK.

Does not bode well.
The PC cannot see it in any way?

I would attach output from lsusb and devmgmt, however the forum doesn't accept my post. It marks it as spam. 😛

Either way, when I plug it in, each OS makes a "device attached" sound, but nothing gets mounted.

 

[USAFRet]

Have you tried a different enclosure?
Is this an encrypted external, like some WD drives are?

 

[xfoofy]

Have you tried a different enclosure?
Is this an encrypted external, like some WD drives are?

I don't remember encrypting it, or ever having to use encryption keys or things of the like.

As for the different enclosure, I don't have one. This is the only external drive in this house.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't remember encrypting it, or ever having to use encryption keys or things of the like.

As for the different enclosure, I don't have one. This is the only external drive in this house.

No, some of them are encrypted by default. You don't have to do anything.
So what is the make/model of this?

 

[xfoofy]

No, some of them are encrypted by default. You don't have to do anything.
So what is the make/model of this?

According to good ol' lsusb on my ubuntu machine, this is a "Seagate RSS LLC Backup Plus Slim Portable Drive 1 TB".

This is quite strange, as I strongly remember this drive being 2TB, and it even says so on the drive itself. Otherwise, it matches up.

 

[USAFRet]

You've removed the drive from the enclosure, and tried to connect it as a standard internal drive?

 

[xfoofy]

You've removed the drive from the enclosure, and tried to connect it as a standard internal drive?

No. I'm connecting it using the internally provided SATA to some-sort-of-micro-usb port adapter.

 

[USAFRet]

No. I'm connecting it using the internally provided SATA to some-sort-of-micro-usb port adapter.

Link to this adapter?

 

[xfoofy]

Link to this adapter?

It's part of the drive, so I don't have a link, sorry 😛.

 

[USAFRet]

Oh.
I thought you have removed all the USB stuff.

Can you remove that, and expose regular SATA connectors?
Is this a 2.5" or 3.5" drive?

 

[xfoofy]

Oh.
I thought you have removed all the USB stuff.

Can you remove that, and expose regular SATA connectors?
Is this a 2.5" or 3.5" drive?

Yes, I can indeed expose normal SATA connectors, but I don't have a testbench to plug it into short of disassembling my main PC, and there might not even be a free SATA cable inside of there.

For the size, I don't know, since the label doesn't specify. :|

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I can indeed expose normal SATA connectors, but I don't have a testbench to plug it into short of disassembling my main PC, and there might not even be a free SATA cable inside of there.

For the size, I don't know, since the label doesn't specify. :|

Connecting as an internal is a good test of the actual drive.

And if you have it outside the case, you should be able to eyeball 2.5" vs 3.5".

 

[xfoofy]

Connecting as an internal is a good test of the actual drive.

And if you have it outside the case, you should be able to eyeball 2.5" vs 3.5".

Ah. I'm not familiar with the imperial system, I didn't think there'd be much of a noticable difference. To answer your question, it looks like a 2.5" drive.