Read this if you have a Seagate External HDD

[Krish Chandran]

Recently I had the misfortune of  my Seagate External HDD failing. One fine day it just stopped powering up. Initially I thought might be the cable but soon realized that it was a mechanical failure of the disk.

I had two years of photographs on that disk and I had not backed them all up.

Usually when a disk fails the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe a program like Recuva can recover the data. But, that needs the disk to spin and when it didn't, I realized that that I needed a higher level of help.

I asked around, researched online and found this company based in Pune called Data Care Labs. When I went there with my disk the main person there – a very capable guy called Amol – opened the disk cover and checked inside. So far only the outer cover was removed – the disk itself was still inside its manufactured cover looking pretty much like the disk in my computer. He was looking for the exact model number so that he could source a "donor disk".

I learned that his methodology – in fact it's the standard method everyone else apparently uses – was to identify the model, source an exact same new (donor) disk and mirror the existing data onto the new disk. Key here was that the model number needed to match.

A model mismatch meant that there would be small differences in the disk architecture that would prevent the software he used from proceeding with the mirroring process.

My faulty 4Tb Seagate was bought on Amazon, manufactured in Wuhan China and almost a year out of warranty.  This was January 2020. As luck would have it my disk did not have a match in his stock of (nearly 4000) pre-bought disks. Wuhan was shut down and supply of this somewhat older disk model had stopped.

So, back to the internet we went, and he found a "match" on a listing on amazon.com (USA). Placed an order and waited ten days for its arrival. But, when it arrived it didn't match. By this time about 3 weeks had passed and I was losing hope of recovering any of the data. I had exhausted all the resources that Amol and Data Care Labs could provide.

Once again I went back online and discovered that consequent to a "Class action Lawsuit " due to a large number of Seagate Disk failures in the United States, Seagate has set up a Data Recovery Center at Amsterdam NL to service the US market. For US customers Seagate arranges free collection, transportation through UPS, repair/recovery, and delivery back to the customer if within warranty. Out of warranty cases need to pay for recovery but not shipping.

Seagate takes your faulty disk – copies the data on an identical new disk and ships it back to you.

I applied through the website, paid in advance, and sent my disk via their shipping invoice though DHL couriers. The DHL courier tracking showed delivery within a couple of days and I started monitoring the data recovery progress tracker that Seagate shared with me.

When after ten days the Seagate progress tracker still showed "disk awaited" I got concerned, wrote a couple of emails and finally got a human being on the phone. When I explained my problem to him (he spoke English) he asked for my UPS tracker ID. That's when it emerged that they deal only and exclusively with UPS – since this is primarily US market oriented. Finally, they got it sorted and my disk was recovered – about 99% - far higher than my expectation. I received my data on a new disk identical to the one I sent.

A few things I learned in this process: -

1.   Goes without saying – backup, backup, and backup. It is a lot less stressful and cheaper to just discard a failed disk when you already have a backup.

2.   External Hard Disk drives are (many times) more prone to failure than internal drives

3.   Seagate External Disks are extremely prone to failure. So also, are Toshiba, Imation, and other similar Chinese brands. Amol showed me about 1200 failed disks
that he was currently working on. One thing he said that stayed with me "Seagate keeps me in business". He recommends Western Digital as more reliable, much
more reliable. Of the 1200 disks he showed me, only 11 were WD. That says it all.

4.   If you have a Seagate disk, especially an external HDD, backup now! Just because it hasn't yet failed does not mean that it won't.

5.   Most times your problem can be sorted by local resources like Data Care Labs at Pune. There are at least two other data recovery companies in Pune who do the
same thing. I am sure if you search you can find one close to where you live. However, if you find that they do not have a donor model number specific to your
disk, opt to take the Amsterdam route instead of spending your effort on more "hit or miss". The next point explains why.

6.    When you source specific models of older disks from abroad, they fall into the OEM category which jacks up the price three times compared to a (say generic 4
Tb) regular commercially available disk. They know you are in trouble and will pay.

7.   If you decide to send your failed disk to Amsterdam use UPS to courier it. Seagate has an agreement with them. Any other courier service may not be so reliable.

8.   Once it reaches Seagate Amsterdam and is logged in, the process is transparent, fast, and very efficient, right up to delivery.

9.   Seagate did not have a system for me to review my data for correctness, before shipping it to me. Its only after it arrived, and I checked it that I discovered it was a surprisingly good job.

10.   Seagate has an office in India which supposedly assists you in this process, but I was not able to contact them.

11.   Google "Seagate Data Recovery" for the recovery site.

And Finally,....

This thread is meant for those who may have failed Seagate disks and are wondering how to recover the data. Or, those interested in informing themselves before the event.

Please do not tell us about how important backing up is and so on. That lesson has been learned.

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

[drjskatre]

Very useful and informative. Thanks for sharing.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I'd say you are a lucky man. Thanks for the story.

Very often considerable amounts of data can be recovered from dead hard disks, but the service is expensive. I had cause to enquire, and the cost was waaaaay more than the value of the lost data to me. I forget how much, but multiple tens of thousands.

I wonder how much you paid Seagate?

[Bharat Varma]

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire, please lock your thread.

[raul]

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

I was just about to share my experience with some information & got a notification of a new comment on this thread & upon refreshing it I saw this comment, hence thou shall pass.

[Krish Chandran]

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire, please lock your thread.

This topic is about failed disks and recovery. But it can easily spin off into a discussion on Backups. That would be off-topic. In my opinion.

How did you translate it to "If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire" . . I wonder ?  Some bias in how you read this ?

[Krish Chandran]

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

I was just about to share my experience with some information & got a notification of a new comment on this thread & upon refreshing it I saw this comment, hence thou shall pass.

That's too bad. Our loss I'm sure.

[krishnanv]

Recently I had the misfortune of  my Seagate External HDD failing. One fine day it just stopped powering up. Initially I thought might be the cable but soon realized that it was a mechanical failure of the disk.

I had two years of photographs on that disk and I had not backed them all up.

Usually when a disk fails the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe a program like Recuva can recover the data. But, that needs the disk to spin and when it didn't, I realized that that I needed a higher level of help.

I asked around, researched online and found this company based in Pune called Data Care Labs. When I went there with my disk the main person there – a very capable guy called Amol – opened the disk cover and checked inside. So far only the outer cover was removed – the disk itself was still inside its manufactured cover looking pretty much like the disk in my computer. He was looking for the exact model number so that he could source a "donor disk".

I learned that his methodology – in fact it's the standard method everyone else apparently uses – was to identify the model, source an exact same new (donor) disk and mirror the existing data onto the new disk. Key here was that the model number needed to match.

A model mismatch meant that there would be small differences in the disk architecture that would prevent the software he used from proceeding with the mirroring process.

My faulty 4Tb Seagate was bought on Amazon, manufactured in Wuhan China and almost a year out of warranty.  This was January 2020. As luck would have it my disk did not have a match in his stock of (nearly 4000) pre-bought disks. Wuhan was shut down and supply of this somewhat older disk model had stopped.

So, back to the internet we went, and he found a "match" on a listing on amazon.com (USA). Placed an order and waited ten days for its arrival. But, when it arrived it didn't match. By this time about 3 weeks had passed and I was losing hope of recovering any of the data. I had exhausted all the resources that Amol and Data Care Labs could provide.

Once again I went back online and discovered that consequent to a "Class action Lawsuit " due to a large number of Seagate Disk failures in the United States, Seagate has set up a Data Recovery Center at Amsterdam NL to service the US market. For US customers Seagate arranges free collection, transportation through UPS, repair/recovery, and delivery back to the customer if within warranty. Out of warranty cases need to pay for recovery but not shipping.

Seagate takes your faulty disk – copies the data on an identical new disk and ships it back to you.

I applied through the website, paid in advance, and sent my disk via their shipping invoice though DHL couriers. The DHL courier tracking showed delivery within a couple of days and I started monitoring the data recovery progress tracker that Seagate shared with me.

When after ten days the Seagate progress tracker still showed "disk awaited" I got concerned, wrote a couple of emails and finally got a human being on the phone. When I explained my problem to him (he spoke English) he asked for my UPS tracker ID. That's when it emerged that they deal only and exclusively with UPS – since this is primarily US market oriented. Finally, they got it sorted and my disk was recovered – about 99% - far higher than my expectation. I received my data on a new disk identical to the one I sent.

A few things I learned in this process: -

1.   Goes without saying – backup, backup, and backup. It is a lot less stressful and cheaper to just discard a failed disk when you already have a backup.

2.   External Hard Disk drives are (many times) more prone to failure than internal drives

3.   Seagate External Disks are extremely prone to failure. So also, are Toshiba, Imation, and other similar Chinese brands. Amol showed me about 1200 failed disks
that he was currently working on. One thing he said that stayed with me "Seagate keeps me in business". He recommends Western Digital as more reliable, much
more reliable. Of the 1200 disks he showed me, only 11 were WD. That says it all.

4.   If you have a Seagate disk, especially an external HDD, backup now! Just because it hasn't yet failed does not mean that it won't.

5.   Most times your problem can be sorted by local resources like Data Care Labs at Pune. There are at least two other data recovery companies in Pune who do the
same thing. I am sure if you search you can find one close to where you live. However, if you find that they do not have a donor model number specific to your
disk, opt to take the Amsterdam route instead of spending your effort on more "hit or miss". The next point explains why.

6.    When you source specific models of older disks from abroad, they fall into the OEM category which jacks up the price three times compared to a (say generic 4
Tb) regular commercially available disk. They know you are in trouble and will pay.

7.   If you decide to send your failed disk to Amsterdam use UPS to courier it. Seagate has an agreement with them. Any other courier service may not be so reliable.

8.   Once it reaches Seagate Amsterdam and is logged in, the process is transparent, fast, and very efficient, right up to delivery.

9.   Seagate did not have a system for me to review my data for correctness, before shipping it to me. Its only after it arrived, and I checked it that I discovered it was a surprisingly good job.

10.   Seagate has an office in India which supposedly assists you in this process, but I was not able to contact them.

11.   Google "Seagate Data Recovery" for the recovery site.

And Finally,....

This thread is meant for those who may have failed Seagate disks and are wondering how to recover the data. Or, those interested in informing themselves before the event.

Please do not tell us about how important backing up is and so on. That lesson has been learned.

Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.

The type of HDD is important too. Seems there are two types in most models.

https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/

And you want to ensure CMR not SMR disks. read here. The HDD companies are sliding this through under the radar.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/

https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/


I had come across these articles  a few months ago.
S*it you learn every day !

[ISO]

TFS

It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.

[krishnanv]

TFS

It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.

Sometime I feel film is the best ! Shoot once & store for ever !