Seagate 4tb expansion hard drive not getting power supply - is this fixable?

[Cailee Felesina]

I recently bought a Seagate 4tb expansion hard drive. I transferred all my files onto the drive (10,000+) waited a day and when I went to back it up it no longer worked. I took it to a local place to see if they could fix it and they said it was a power cord issue (the drive wasn't receiving power from the cord). They said even with plugging in a different cord they were unable to get power to the device. When I spoke to the company they were unable to tell me if they could fix the issue and just that I should send the device back to them so that I could get another drive on warranty. What I want to know is if anyone knows of a way that this issue could be resolved so that I could get my files back as the only copy is on the hard drive and the quote I have been given to get the info back is between $700-800, something I can not necessarily afford. Thanks

 

[RealBeast]

IMO you have two choices, neither particularly good. (And never ever trust a USB drive to store the only copy of your data, although I'm sure that you know that now.)

(1) you can void your warranty and remove the drive from the external case and attach it to a SATA internal connector and power or an external drive dock and see if you can access the data. If not you can still send it for data recovery.

(2) contact Seagate Drive Recovery for a quote, which may be a bit cheaper than usual due to your circumstances.

 

[PhatLloyd]

If it's still in warranty period contact Seagate asking them to recover the data and replace the drive. Make it clear that you want to pay as little as possible. A reputable company will go out of their way to uphold their name and please customers.

 

[RealBeast]

If it's still in warranty period contact Seagate asking them to recover the data and replace the drive. Make it clear that you want to pay as little as possible. A reputable company will go out of their way to uphold their name and please customers.

Yeah, that would be seagate drive recovery.

 

[fzabkar]

@Cailee, if the drive doesn't spin or attempt to spin, then the problem is most likely PCB related, either on the drive itself or in the USB-SATA bridge board. If so, then a DIY fix should cost no more than US$50. If you can upload detailed photos of both sides of your PCBs, I should be able to help you.

 

[Cailee Felesina]

IMO you have two choices, neither particularly good. (And never ever trust a USB drive to store the only copy of your data, although I'm sure that you know that now.)

(1) you can void your warranty and remove the drive from the external case and attach it to a SATA internal connector and power or an external drive dock and see if you can access the data. If not you can still send it for data recovery.

(2) contact Seagate Drive Recovery for a quote, which may be a bit cheaper than usual due to your circumstances.

Thanks for the reply. I do not have access to a SATA internal connector and I did actually contact Seagate Drive Recovery for a quote which is the once I received for $700-800. They actually didn't seem to care too much when I explained the circumstances.

 

[Cailee Felesina]

@Cailee, if the drive doesn't spin or attempt to spin, then the problem is most likely PCB related, either on the drive itself or in the USB-SATA bridge board. If so, then a DIY fix should cost no more than US$50. If you can upload detailed photos of both sides of your PCBs, I should be able to help you.

Thank you for the reply. I'm not really that tech savvy and I am unable to actually get into the hard drive to get any photos for you as the case itself is pretty secure.

 

[Cailee Felesina]

If it's still in warranty period contact Seagate asking them to recover the data and replace the drive. Make it clear that you want to pay as little as possible. A reputable company will go out of their way to uphold their name and please customers.

Thanks for the reply. However even tho it is still under warranty they have told me that all they will do is relace the hard drive itself. Everything else is up to me to sort out.

 

[PhatLloyd]

what about data recovery??? They cant expect you to pay for a fault that was not your fault! If I were you I'd demand a replacement and data recovery!

 

[Cailee Felesina]

what about data recovery??? They cant expect you to pay for a fault that was not your fault! If I were you I'd demand a replacement and data recovery!

Sadly no. I tried that. When I spoke with Seagate they advised me that all data recovery was at my expense and directed me to affiliated data recovery agents who all quoted $700+. Believe me I was as unimpressed as you. They have advised me to sent the hard drive to them and they will do diagnostics on it and forward it to Amsterdam to get my files back but like I said that will cost me big money. I'm trying to decide if it is really worth it!!