How can u tell when you external is dead ?

[melon]

I have my old seagate external ( same as my other ) insalled into a new enclosure but unlike my other the power wont come in ( it flickers then goes dead ) - its not the power obviously, as the same adapter works on my other , and there is a possible faint smell perhaps of something burned ( i have anomisa so i dont know ).

When i look inside though I dont see any signs of anything , is there any sure fire way to find out whats going on ?

cheers

melon

[shaithis]

Take it out and plug it into the pc directly. Then you will know if it's the drive or the enclosure.

[melon]

I just swapped drives with the other drive that does work , so its defintely the drive and not the enclosure...

now what ?

melon

[blueball]

Did you plug it into the PC. It could be that the enclosure isnt giving quite enough power to start that drive but is managing to start the one that works. Try it in the PC so we will know for sure. If it doesn't work in the PC the it is dead. and you will be looking at warranty return or the bin.

[melon]

Did you plug it into the PC. It could be that the enclosure isnt giving quite enough power to start that drive but is managing to start the one that works. Try it in the PC so we will know for sure. If it doesn't work in the PC the it is dead. and you will be looking at warranty return or the bin.

both drives are the same type but i can try , i can just slot it into to one of these slots on the right where there already appears to be one plugged in ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2863304...57625895970867

melon

[eyezpy]

Yes, if its a SATA hard drive. Also need to plug the power from the power supply. But if its a old drive then it might be an IDE hard drive, which then you can't with out a converter. Just guessing, but it looks like your mobo might have an IDE connection too.

[melon]

Yes, if its a SATA hard drive. Also need to plug the power from the power supply. But if its a old drive then it might be an IDE hard drive, which then you can't with out a converter. Just guessing, but it looks like your mobo might have an IDE connection too.

no its sata, but i got no damm lead to got from sata port on my external to the one in the pc so I was having look - as usual on amaz-i-n and saw this ..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com...1972531&sr=8-1

looks ideal for mo given the right angle.

melon

[eyezpy]

The cable look fine, make sure you have the correct power connector available too. Guess you don't have another PC you can borrow the cable from?
When you say it doesnt work, did you check if the drive spins? If not sure you just plug the power in and turn you PC on to check.

[melon]

The cable look fine, make sure you have the correct power connector available too. Guess you don't have another PC you can borrow the cable from?
When you say it doesnt work, did you check if the drive spins? If not sure you just plug the power in and turn you PC on to check.

Spin ?

This drive was from another external ( seagate freeagent ) there is no fan or anything like that..

Aint got a clue about the connector type this pc is 4 yrs old if that helps ( Compaq-Presario
System Model: RR505AA-ABU SR2125UK )

the one inside my enclosure to the off / on switch looks like this

but that looks way too short , where is the port for the power connector usually any way ?

melon

[eyezpy]

I mean, can you tell if the hrad drive is powered up and the platters in side the disk is spinning?

Your power supply should be either at the top or bottom of your case and shou look something like this:
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/media/g...DCDC3646326EDB
With lots of cables coming out of it and connecting to most of your other componets.
You can trace the

If it has a black connector like the link in your post #9, then you can use that to plug into your hard drive, if not you will need something like:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com...cp_computers_3

[Pob255]

if the diver is sata then it's just standard sata data and power connections

issue is some of the older external disks are ide, in which case you need an ide ribbon cable if it's a 3.5" drive or an adaptor if it's a 2.5" pata drive. ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laptop-drive..._bxgy_ce_img_c )

if the hard drive is dead, then it's dead, did you need the data off it?

[melon]

if the diver is sata then it's just standard sata data and power connections

issue is some of the older external disks are ide, in which case you need an ide ribbon cable if it's a 3.5" drive or an adaptor if it's a 2.5" pata drive. ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laptop-drive..._bxgy_ce_img_c )

if the hard drive is dead, then it's dead, did you need the data off it?

Hi Pob,

The connection to my dvd drive has an ide cable but that it , my hard drive , which you can see here ( just ) uses sata.

There is only one sata ( red band one ) currently connected to hard drive and only one of those black serial types ( with the many multicoloured wires ) for the power .

however that small white one in the top right thats blurry in the pic here looks like it can plug into the far left slot on my external ( the one that isnt used for anything on my external / enclosure ) when i connected everything up.

melon

[peterb]

That small white one is fort a floppy drive. I'd be VERY wary about taking that anywhere near your external enclosure until you know for certain what the socket on the enclosure is for.

If you have swapped the two external drives within the enclosures and one drive works in both (but the other doesn't) then it is dead drive time. If both drives work in one enclosure - its a dead enclosure controller.

Worth swapping the power and data cables though - it is possible for them to develop a hairline crack in the connector housing which can make data transfer unreliable.

[razer121]

That small white one is fort a floppy drive. I'd be VERY wary about taking that anywhere near your external enclosure until you know for certain what the socket on the enclosure is for.

If you have swapped the two external drives within the enclosures and one drive works in both (but the other doesn't) then it is dead drive time. If both drives work in one enclosure - its a dead enclosure controller.

Worth swapping the power and data cables though - it is possible for them to develop a hairline crack in the connector housing which can make data transfer unreliable.

May i point out, my external enclosure failed on me, sata of course but yet my mates sata drive (250gb) works in it fine, it wouldnt spin up my 500gb! so its still worth a shot right?

[melon]

May i point out, my external enclosure failed on me, sata of course but yet my mates sata drive (250gb) works in it fine, it wouldnt spin up my 500gb! so its still worth a shot right?

I just tried it again and caught some smoke escaping up round the top where the circuitry board / power is , I assuming thats bad ?

If the drive is dead is there anything i can do ??

melon

[peterb]

Yes, that's bad. If it is the drive and it is under warranty, send it back for a replacement, and restore the data from your backup.

If it is the enclosure, then you can get the data off the drive by using the other enclosure.

You DO have a backup....?

If not, AND the data is irreplaceable, there is a high risk strategy you could try. Backup the good disk. Verify the backup. Then remove the cct boards from the drives (assuming that the drives and boards are identical part and revision numbers) and put the good board on the other drive. You might get some or all of the data back (best result). Worst result is that you end up with two dead drives.

If you have deep pockets, you could try a data recovery compamny. Expect to pay at least three figure sums, possibly more if the drive hardware is trashed.