Seagate External hard drive suddenly became RAW


  1. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 professional x64
       #1

    Seagate External hard drive suddenly became RAW


    Hello,
    I am having a seagate external hard disk of capacity 4TB. 1 week bafore it became undetectable and showing "format disk " while connecting to system. i have removed the case and removed the hard disk(SATA) and connected directly to system through sata power and data cable. Even it is showing same error.

    Then i tried "testdisk" tool to rebuild the partition table. it was successful and i got all my data back.
    Then i put back the case and sata to usb bridge as it was earliest form of external disk. I connected using original usb cable. Again it shown "format disk" and again all data gone. i tried testdisk againg, but not working now.

    Please help me..
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #2

    Welcome to Seven Forums

    1. At the outset let me tell you I don't know yet as to what exactly has happened or is happening. And I shall ask you this question: Why did you remove the HDD from the case in the first instance? It is always done as a last resort when we have almost concluded that the SATA to USB bridge inside the enclosure had gone bad but the HDD itself may be OK. If you did run TestDisk, why did you not run it on the external drive itself without taking the HDD out?

    2. How old is your 4TB HDD? Older greater than 2TB drives were MBR drives with a logical sector size of 4096 bytes with a special drive translation circuitry in the SATA to USB bridge..The newer drives come as GPT drives with physical as well as logical sector size of 520. Do you know whether it was an MBR drive or GPT drive?

    3. When you tried TestDisk on the HDD connected as an internal drive, on the third screen, what Partition Table Type was automatically selected? Is it [Intel] - Intel /PC partition or [EFI GPT] - EFI GPT Partition Map or you paid no heed?

    More questions after you answer these. Luckily you are in the same time-zone. And so I can afford to do it in parts.
    Last edited by jumanji; 27 Jun 2017 at 08:06.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    1.I removed the HDD from the case because it was not detecting on my system. I thought of bridge problem. When i connected directly it was detected but showed "format disk".

    2. It has GPT partition

    3. I didn't pay attention that time.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #4

    OK fine. How many partitions did you have in that HDD?

    Where is the HDD now? Please connect it internally and boot your PC.( Remove all other external drives/pen drives)

    Now go ahead and post a screenshot of Windows Disk Management ( Please remove safely all external drives/ pendrives/ USB Hubs/docks) Follow the guidelines here to post an untruncated full screenshot of WDM window with all info visible. Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

    Upload and post in Seven Forums: Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

    Taking Screenshots: https://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/1...ool-vista.html

    Let us see what shows or does not show.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    It has only one partition. I am connecting it directly to my system using sata power and data cable. it is working fine in this manner. But as soon as connect via sata bridge having in case, it becomes unallocated and asks to "format disk". Then i have to again connect directly and use testdisk to rebuild the partition table.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #6

    If I understand correctly, as an internal drive everything is fine. You can see the drive and access the data.Please confirm.

    Only when you put it back into the enclosure, it gets corrupted and not detected and then asks to be initialised as before when directly connected and TestDisk is able to rewrite the partition table and restore it..

    If it is so I see no problem. The SATA to USB bridge may have become faulty.

    If you still want to put it back into the enclosure and try, then I would advise that you backup all data in that drive to another HDD and then try to do anything with it inside the enclosure. Otherwise discard the enclosure with its SATA to USB bridge and use the HDD as an internal drive and be happy.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Yes i can see and use the hard disk when connect directly, but when put it back into the enclosure, it gets corrupted and not detected and then asks to be initialized as before when directly connected and TestDisk is able to rewrite the partition table and restore it. i want to use it as a portable external disk.
      My Computer


 

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