Seagate FreeAgent 1TB issues...

doomsday · 2nd January 2009, 15:21

Hi guys,

I got myself a 1TB Freeagent to store all my Top Gear, Fifth gear, Best Motoring and other automotive videos and stuff since my two smaller 120GB drives and my laptop were full to the brim. The dealer said it was pre-formatted and that I could start using it right away.

The problem raised its ugly head the very first time I plugged it in. Windows XP didn't recognise the drive and I literally passed out thinking that I have damaged it somehow before using it even once. Then we tried restarting the PC twice or thrice and it suddenly detected the media as a single partition of 984GB or so of usable space. So the drive was indeed formatted and ready to use.

I started copying data from a friend's comp- totalling to around 250Gb, the transfer was successful. I got the harddrive back home and plugged it in to another PC- the same issue popped up again- Windows didn't recognise the drive. I went through computer management in control panel but the partition didn't show up there as well. I started panicking again, restarted the system twice or thrice and continued with my work where it was suddenly detected with the autorun popup.

I have been facing this issue since a long time now- recently I tried connecting it to my friend's Dell Inspirion 1501 and it refused to detect it. I powered down the laptop, changed USB ports to which it was attached and it was detected again suddenly. I copied some stuff and disconnected it- since then it has refused to detect the drive.

Can someone shed some light on what possibly could be wrong. I have changed the USB cable twice or thrice, I try all possible USB ports too on a machine. Is it possible that it can be a motherboard issue on older machines which can't detect portable devices with higher storage?

Thanks in advance.

aaggoswami · 2nd January 2009, 15:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by doomsday

Hi guys,

Can someone shed some light on what possibly could be wrong. I have changed the USB cable twice or thrice, I try all possible USB ports too on a machine. Is it possible that it can be a motherboard issue on older machines which can't detect portable devices with higher storage?

If possible, format the drive again and then see if there is a difference. The motherboard issue can be there, but I feel that there is something wrong with hard drive itself.
If possible, give it for RMA.

pranavt · 2nd January 2009, 21:44

Get it replaced. Don't stick to something which is giving problems just after purchase.

SirAlec · 3rd January 2009, 01:00

Its best you claim your warranty.

vishalpipraiya · 3rd January 2009, 06:39

claim warranty asap!

cooldude1988765 · 3rd January 2009, 11:07

I had a similar problem with my WD 1tb drive. It turned out I dint have enough ram (had only 256mb). When i upgraded the ram on the same comp (everything else was same) to 2gb there were no problems. I could connect upto 4.5tb without a hitch (I could probably connect more but thats all i had).
It seems wierd but i thought your hard drive reading capability depended on your motherboard bus speed but somehow upgrading the ram fixed things for me.
Hope this helps

WanderNomad · 3rd January 2009, 12:08

Take it to the dealer along with your laptop and he should be able to figure it out. There could be compatibility issues but this occasional detection / non detection speaks against that.

doomsday · 3rd January 2009, 12:37

The thing about claiming warranty is the fact that I need place to transfer the ~500 GB of data to another drive and then wait for them to inspect and send it back. I'll try that but not sure that I'll find so much space somewhere except if I buy a new HDD.

@ cooldude- Interesting fix. Let me see if I can try that since I need to upgrade RAM anyways.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

ssjr0498 · 3rd January 2009, 12:50

Hi,

I also have a Seagate freeagent 1 TB hard drive and my system just has abt 512 MB of ram, however the transfer speeds seem to be really good.

As for the detection, did you install the software that came alongwith the hard drive, or did you just let windows do its work?

It really helps if you install the Freeagent software on your system.

Cheers
Shrey

doomsday · 3rd January 2009, 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssjr0498

Hi,

I also have a Seagate freeagent 1 TB hard drive and my system just has abt 512 MB of ram, however the transfer speeds seem to be really good.

As for the detection, did you install the software that came alongwith the hard drive, or did you just let windows do its work?

It really helps if you install the Freeagent software on your system.

Cheers
Shrey

The software comes loaded on the HDD itself. So it needs to be detected first in order to install it. The issue is that I've been using the drive on many diff systems. So I haven't installed the freeagent software on all machines. I think I should stick to one machine and install the software once it gets detected.

given2fly · 22nd January 2009, 12:37

Seagate has reported an issue with their 1 TB drives and there is a firmware update available. However, this firmware update is not universally know to fix the issues with the drive and usual opinion in forums is to avoid Seagate 1 TB drives altogether. Have a look at these articles.

Seagate isolates 'potential' Barracuda flaw ? The Register

Drives Fail at High Rates, Seagate Offers Solutions > Comments

Bottom line - Recover the data, return your harddrive and get a Seagate 1.5 TB (which is supposedly based on a design helping quieter operation and better speed than small ones) or switch to Hitachi/WD/Samsung/Maxtor whatever you fancy.

2nd January 2009, 15:21	#1
doomsday BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 424 Thanked: 59 Times	Seagate FreeAgent 1TB issues... Hi guys, I got myself a 1TB Freeagent to store all my Top Gear, Fifth gear, Best Motoring and other automotive videos and stuff since my two smaller 120GB drives and my laptop were full to the brim. The dealer said it was pre-formatted and that I could start using it right away. The problem raised its ugly head the very first time I plugged it in. Windows XP didn't recognise the drive and I literally passed out thinking that I have damaged it somehow before using it even once. Then we tried restarting the PC twice or thrice and it suddenly detected the media as a single partition of 984GB or so of usable space. So the drive was indeed formatted and ready to use. I started copying data from a friend's comp- totalling to around 250Gb, the transfer was successful. I got the harddrive back home and plugged it in to another PC- the same issue popped up again- Windows didn't recognise the drive. I went through computer management in control panel but the partition didn't show up there as well. I started panicking again, restarted the system twice or thrice and continued with my work where it was suddenly detected with the autorun popup. I have been facing this issue since a long time now- recently I tried connecting it to my friend's Dell Inspirion 1501 and it refused to detect it. I powered down the laptop, changed USB ports to which it was attached and it was detected again suddenly. I copied some stuff and disconnected it- since then it has refused to detect the drive. Can someone shed some light on what possibly could be wrong. I have changed the USB cable twice or thrice, I try all possible USB ports too on a machine. Is it possible that it can be a motherboard issue on older machines which can't detect portable devices with higher storage? Thanks in advance. Last edited by doomsday : 2nd January 2009 at 15:23.
	() Thanks

2nd January 2009, 21:44	#3
pranavt BANNED Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,704 Thanked: 852 Times View My Garage	Get it replaced. Don't stick to something which is giving problems just after purchase.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 01:00	#4
SirAlec Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: zxc Posts: 3,395 Thanked: 727 Times	Its best you claim your warranty.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 06:39	#5
vishalpipraiya BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 44 Thanked: Once	claim warranty asap!
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 11:07	#6
cooldude1988765 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,055 Thanked: 222 Times	I had a similar problem with my WD 1tb drive. It turned out I dint have enough ram (had only 256mb). When i upgraded the ram on the same comp (everything else was same) to 2gb there were no problems. I could connect upto 4.5tb without a hitch (I could probably connect more but thats all i had). It seems wierd but i thought your hard drive reading capability depended on your motherboard bus speed but somehow upgrading the ram fixed things for me. Hope this helps
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 12:08	#7
WanderNomad BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Delhi Posts: 271 Thanked: 11 Times	Take it to the dealer along with your laptop and he should be able to figure it out. There could be compatibility issues but this occasional detection / non detection speaks against that.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 12:37	#8
doomsday BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 424 Thanked: 59 Times	The thing about claiming warranty is the fact that I need place to transfer the ~500 GB of data to another drive and then wait for them to inspect and send it back. I'll try that but not sure that I'll find so much space somewhere except if I buy a new HDD. @ cooldude- Interesting fix. Let me see if I can try that since I need to upgrade RAM anyways. Thanks to all for your suggestions.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2009, 12:50	#9
ssjr0498 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Blr-Ccu Posts: 959 Thanked: 693 Times View My Garage	Hi, I also have a Seagate freeagent 1 TB hard drive and my system just has abt 512 MB of ram, however the transfer speeds seem to be really good. As for the detection, did you install the software that came alongwith the hard drive, or did you just let windows do its work? It really helps if you install the Freeagent software on your system. Cheers Shrey
	() Thanks

22nd January 2009, 12:37	#11
given2fly BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 214 Thanked: 0 Times	Seagate 1 TB Drives - High Failure Rate Seagate has reported an issue with their 1 TB drives and there is a firmware update available. However, this firmware update is not universally know to fix the issues with the drive and usual opinion in forums is to avoid Seagate 1 TB drives altogether. Have a look at these articles. Seagate isolates 'potential' Barracuda flaw ? The Register Drives Fail at High Rates, Seagate Offers Solutions > Comments Bottom line - Recover the data, return your harddrive and get a Seagate 1.5 TB (which is supposedly based on a design helping quieter operation and better speed than small ones) or switch to Hitachi/WD/Samsung/Maxtor whatever you fancy.
	() Thanks