Hi all,

I'm in dire need of some help here...

I have a LaCie 120gb (or 80gb, i forget) external hard drive. I have only had it about a year, but i left to go on holiday for 2 weeks, during which time it was entirely unplugged from the PC (which provides via USB for it). When i arrived back and plugged it it...nothing...The ext HDD still turns on, can hear it spinning up and the active light shows green, however, my PC (and all others i have tried plugging it into) wont find it.

Can anyone suggest any remedy, whether it be a utility, a shop in Zurich that can help or anything like that?

Many thanks in advance, as this is quite important to me as it has every photo i have ever taken, as well as all music/video/apps purchased from iTunes...Am quite happy to compensate anyone who is able to help me to successfully recover the files and transfer them onto my laptop's HD and other external HD i have got.

Cheers,
Brett

I would remove the HD from the USB housing and try and mount it on your PC via the IDE or SATA connector. It could be an issue with the housing circuit as opposed to the HD itself.

If you are familiar with linux I would try a linux-live CD. Linux typically gives you more possibilities than windows for accessing drives

The problem there is that i am using a laptop, and don't really want to have to take it apart too!

Not too familiar no. I am currently running Win XP and whilst I do use UNIX at work, I have never had any dalliance with Linux...any advice on how i could proceed with it?

Possible file system or partition table is screwed.

You need to download something like Hirens boot CD (Google it) or Knoppix. You'll quickly be able to tell if it's a hardware issue provided you know what you're doing.

If you don't know what you're doing I would give it to somebody who does otherwise you could make things worse.

I can talk you through it on chat or something if you need help.

I would recommend using SpinRite: http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

It runs a non destructive analysis to tell you what the problem is and if it can fix it. You can then tell it to go and fix the drive. It is not free ($89), but it has always worked for me.

Did you ever use the software that came with the LaCie? If yes, why don't you first uninstall it, reinstall it and first try to reconnect. Download and install the latest connectivity software before you take to your LaCie with a bottle opener.

go to www.ubuntu.com and download/burn the file to a disk. Put it in the computer (have the harddisk connected to the laptop) and select 'try ubuntu without changing computer' (or something similar to this). Once it is loaded you will get a desktop not dissimilar from windows. Go to bottom left option 'places' 'computer' and have a look for your harddisk.

Maybe the actual disk is OK but the electronics for the USB interface are fried ?

Then it may be a good idea to remove the harddisk from your laptop and put in its place the external harddisk. Since now the laptop has no more operating
system installed you need to run the linux live cd. Maybe now it is possible to read the contents of the disk and copy it to a usb stick ?

There was actually a very similar case described in the, I belive, second last issue of the German magazine "Click". Maybe someone still has it at hand and can find the article and the solution described?

Thanks all for the helpful solutions...my current plan of attack is as follows:

Drop by digitec after work and procure this:
http://www.digitec.ch/ProdukteDetail...Artikel=148245

Unscrew the HDD from its casings and try plugging it into there and cross my fingers...hopefully it is just the usb/power interface that is screwed.

Failing that, i have a friend with a Linux setup, so will try what Basp72 recommends.

If this doesn't work, I would be really appreciative if you could give me some of your time Peachy and help me through it on chat - will make this a last resort as i don't want to be wasting your time if not needed.

Gooner - thx for the suggestion, but it didn't come with any software, it is purely a plug and play hard drive.

Brett, plug it into someone's Mac. I'd be more than willing to offer you the services of a Mac. It's worth a bash.

Ehm looking at the 'verfughbarkeit' tells you that they have no clue when they get them from the supplier. I would call digitec but I am afraid it will be some time before they get them in stock.

My $0.02 is on replacing your laptops disk with the external one and running a linux live cd

I'd heed Gooner's advice to not open it up before you know it's broken.

Windows must have an equivalent to dmesg (kernel messages) to see if the device is recognised, can any Windows guys help? I'd be interested to know myself.

If you want to check if the hardware is OK and the problem is just corrupted sectors, download a free trial of Acronis Migrate Easy (http://www.acronis.co.uk/homecomputing/products/migrateeasy/) and see if it can read the partitions. This is a tool for copying an entire hard drive from, for example, an old drive to a new drive which you will probably want to do anyway. If it can see it, then the disk is just corrupted in which case use SpinRite to fix it. If you do want to pull the drive out of the case, both Migros M Electronics and Interdiscount sell cheap USB to IDE/SATA adaptors with and without drive cases.

Hi Brett

I had a similar problem in that the HDD powered up but was not visible in Explorer.

I went to START / CONTROL PANEL / PERFORMANCE AND MAINTENANCE and then to "verwaltung" (don't know the English word . I'm on my work PC). There you can click on "computer management" (again translated roughly from German) and there to "datenträgerverwaltung".

I saw that the External HDD was loaded but was sharing a drive letter with another device. I just changed it to an unused drive letter and the problem was solved.

Hope this helps.
...
..
.

Hi Flashman,

Thanks for the advice, tried this but sadly to no avail.

@ Gooner, peachy etc: I have opened the HD casing already - was just a couple of screws but not poked about, just wanted to check if anything was loose.

Gooner, would be very useful to try it on your Mac...are you around in Zurich any time soon? You are very welcome to come over later to mine for the Arsenal game if you fancy, I have excellent whisky if it helps

Quick update for all you wonderfully helpful folk.

Good news, the guy at digitec recommended i just get a new housing for the HD (DE: Gehaeuse). I just brought it home, transferred it across et voila, functional Hard drive (which is of course now being backed up as we speak!). Was only 23CHF in the end, so a bit of a bargain all in all.

Many thanks to all of you who helped or volunteered time for this...it is much appreciated and there will be beers at whichever EF event we next meet at.

I have yet to hear back from Apple on their policy of whether you can re-download old stuff or not, but i will make a quick update on here when i find out.

Cheers all,
Brett