New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled

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  1. Posts : 36
    Windows 10 Home 64Bit OEM, Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.1139)
       #1

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled


    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-new-seagate-drive-s-07.04.21-.jpg

    A brand-new, less-than-a-month-old external hard drive ("Seagate 8TB Expansion Desktop") randomly disconnects after a few hours (1.5 to 12? hours), and can only be reconnected after un/re-plugging the power plug from the power socket. Simply un/re-plugging the USB cable does not work.

    This not only indicates potential future problems, but also makes the drive unusable for my purposes as I need to run long-running processes on it unsupervised.

    The Amazon return period is about to expire on April 10th, but I already have important data on the drive I cannot currently move anywhere else! >_<

    Help, what do I do?

    What could even cause that problem? I'd kinda understand if un/re-plugging the USB cable would fix it, but I have to pull the drive's power plug.

    It's like the hard drive needs to be rebooted?

    This has happened 3 times in the last 3 days, 4 times total in under a month.


    Could this sort of "disconnect", depending on the cause, cause damage to the data stored on its data in the long run?
    (Asides from the files being written to the drive at that moment, I mean.)


    Is this a known issue? Is this a Windows 10 driver thing? Something as simple as "get a different cable" / "run program X" or "update driver Z"?

    Or is this indicative of a hardware defect I cannot fix and should ask for a replacement drive?


    Again, the drive is brand-new - and I've already got data on it I cannot move without buying another hard drive first, which couldn't possibly arrive in time before the Amazon return deadline. -_-





    [rambling]

    This puts me in a pretty bad spot to be honest.

    I bought the new hard drive in kind of an emergency situation; not just one, but THREE of my external hard drives (which I bought years apart from each other, mind you) all decided to begin failing [Currently Pending Sectors] within less than 1 month of each other; one of which has the backup for the other two. -_-

    I can't even use this as a backup drive, as the drive isn't large enough for that. A 12 TB drive is more realistically needed for that, and I was already resigned to buy that too to replace the old backup drive that just reported "8 Current Pending Sectors / 8 Uncorrectable Sectors" as of last Saturday ("Happy Easter" indeed -_-), when *this* problem started happening, and now I honestly don't even know what to do next or which fire to even pour water on.

    [/rambling]
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 16,781
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #2

    Perhaps the drive has a power-saving mode. Look it up on the Seagate website to find out.

    And check its entry in Device manager.

    Denis
    Last edited by Try3; 07 Apr 2021 at 01:09.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 2,177
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit v22H2
       #3

    I have the following Seagate Expansion Desktop drive (STEB5000100 (5TB). I have been using it to backup one of my computers several years now. Disk Info is show below. Note the power on is only about 3 years even though the drive is 6 years old. That is because sometimes the computer and drive are not powered up.
    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_07_03_17_301.jpg
    Normally the computer and drive are sleeping. When the backup program wakes the computer it has no problem waking the backup drive. After the backup program is done the computer will go back to sleep. A few minutes later the backup drive will go to sleep.

    As long as the backup drive has power it should either be awake or asleep. If I power down the computer and then power down the UPS then power is cut from the backup drive. When I power the UPS back on the backup drive then powers on too.

    Seagate has a utility that can be used to check and set the sleep time.

    Seagate Drive Settings
    Seagate Drive Settings |
    Seagate


    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_07_03_32_252.jpg

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_07_03_32_313.jpg

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_07_03_32_394.jpg
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 36
    Windows 10 Home 64Bit OEM, Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.1139)
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks, I'll go check that out, but... "sleep mode" seems a bit unlikely as a cause. :/


    For clarity: The drive doesn't disconnect while I'm not using it.

    If fact, I had it on overnight to run a process which completed at 5am tonight and it was still connected when I checked at 1pm.

    The drive disconnects while it's actively being used, i.e. in the middle of writing files to it which are then cut off halfway through (or end up as empty 0 byte files, I guess), or even when just moving files around on it.

    So a "turn off after X minutes of inactivity" isn't happening here, the drive is actively being used - even in the middle of writing a file to it - and then suddenly vanishes until I pull the power plug and plug it back in. Again: Not the USB-plug. The power-plug. Like the hard drive itself crashed or something. The light's still on, though.


    I did also test to see if it makes a difference if I wait plugging the power plug back in or just do it immediately, seems the same. Maybe a bit slower to reconnect when doing it immediately but I only have 1 data point for that.
    Last edited by HedgeToaster; 07 Apr 2021 at 12:18.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 16,781
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #5

    Oh, dear.

    I think you need to return the item to Amazon.

    I realize that you will need to buy its replacement first because [otherwise] you haven't got enough backup storage capacity.

    I do not know how Amazon DE behave. I have only dealt with them once & I didn't have any queries.
    - Amazon UK would certainly accept your return request [in a chat / phone / … session for which you'd go through www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/contact-us] on the basis that the item was defective. Their specified return date of 10th of April would only apply to items you wanted to return because you had changed your mind about the purchase for no reason other than whimsey.
    - Amazon UK would give you a month or so to return the item.
    - That period could be used to buy a replacement.


    Best of luck,
    Denis
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 36
    Windows 10 Home 64Bit OEM, Version 1909 (OS Build 18363.1139)
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Isn't there anything else I can try?



    The thing that stumps me is that the hard drive seemingly needs to be "rebooted" by un/re-plugging the power plug. (Lights continue flashing, btw.)

    When people online mention issues with their hard drive disconnecting, this doesn't seem to be coming up. What could that even mean?

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    PS #1: You suggested earlier to check the device manager. What exactly should I be checking there?

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-seagate-8b-device-manager-1.jpg
    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-seagate-8b-device-manager-2.png

    Properties > Events > Information

    Device SCSI\Disk&Ven_Seagate&Prod_Expansion_Desk\000000 was configured.

    Driver Name: disk.inf
    Class Guid: {4d36e967-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
    Driver Date: 06/21/2006
    Driver Version: 10.0.18362.1
    Driver Provider: Microsoft
    Driver Section: disk_install.NT
    Driver Rank: 0xFF0005
    Matching Device Id: GenDisk
    Outranked Drivers:
    Device Updated: false
    Parent Device: USB\VID_0BC2&PID_3322\MSFT30NA8XEGBC


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    PS #2:

    MisterEd said:
    Seagate has a utility that can be used to check and set the sleep time.

    Seagate Drive Settings
    Seagate Drive Settings |
    Seagate
    I tried to use the tool you suggested, but it doesn't recognize *either* of my Seagate drives. It turns out, that is a known issue, and that the tool is incompatible with Windows 10 (yeah I was surprised too that a company like Seagate doesn't keep its software up-to-date).

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-seagate-8b-seatools.png

    I briefly checked out the more recent "SeaTools for Windows " ("The quick diagnostic tool that checks the health of your drive", download near the bottom of the page), but am not completely sure how to use this one, and it doesn't seem to have the functionality seen in your screenshot. The somewhat cryptic menu entries and the fact that "Help" immediately throws an unhandled exception doesn't inspire confidence either. And yes this is the latest version of the tool. :/
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  7. Posts : 2,177
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit v22H2
       #7

    I have no problem with SeaTools for Windows in Windows 10. What problem are you having?

    Here are the drives I have:
    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_08_02_19_101.jpg

    I just ran the most recent version: SeaTools for Windows: 1.4.0.7 (August 8, 2018).
    It sees my 3 internal drives and my external drive OK.
    I ran the Short Drive Self Test on the Seagate Expansion Desktop 5TB.
    As you can see in the screenshot below it passed.

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_08_02_13_262.jpg
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 16,781
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       #8

    HedgeToaster said:
    Isn't there anything else I can try?
    No, I don't think.


    HedgeToaster said:
    You suggested earlier to check the device manager. What exactly should I be checking there?
    That was when I thought it was a power-saving mode issue - for which a Power tab could have been expected in the drive's properties.
    Since it is not a power-saving mode then my suggestion does not apply.


    HedgeToaster said:
    … that the tool is incompatible with Windows 10 ...
    I also noticed that Seagate Drive Settings was not compatible with Windows 10. That Seagate page went on to explain that other Seagate drives use Seagate Dashboard instead - didn't that get bundled with the drive to save you having to download it from Seagate?


    HedgeToaster said:
    … "SeaTools for Windows " ... and it doesn't seem to have the functionality seen in your screenshot...
    Until your post, nobody had posted any screenshots of Seatools for Windows.
    It is a completely different tool from Seagate Drive Settings, Seagate Dashboard.


    Denis
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2,177
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit v22H2
       #9

    You are right. Seagate Drive Settings is not listed in the supported software for Windows 10.
    I have been using it with Windows 7 and 10 so I did not realize there was supposed to be a problem.

    Will my Seagate drive work with Windows 10?
    Will my Seagate drive work with Windows 10? | Seagate Support US


    Seagate Dashboard should be used instead.

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_08_05_40_381.jpg

    Select to Manage drive

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_08_05_40_452.jpg

    Dashboard can be used for:
    • Turn LED on/off
    • Test drive
    • Select Power saving mode

    New Seagate harddrive disconnects until **power plug** is pulled-2021_04_08_05_49_111.jpg
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 1,621
    Windows 10 Home
       #10

    Amazon Prime US often works this way: The day I activate a return, the clock starts ticking. I have 15 - 30 days to actually repackage the item and bring it either to UPS or USPS. Once the item is scanned, the refund or exchange is triggered. If UK Amazon is the same way, activate a return, make a note of how many days you have to actually have your post office or UPS[?] scan the item. !f you have 15-30 days, is it possible to purchase another Seagate from that seller quickly? If so, get it and use Macrium Reflect or anything similar to copy folders and files from source Seagate onto target Seagate. If copy operation successful, DBAN or zeroDelete the files on the source Seagate and return within the days specified.
      My Computer


 

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