I have left my hard drive off for 12 hours as adviced, but on turning it on again the problem is still the same. The drive is trying to boot up over and over again.
My solution will be multipart, and lengthy. So if you're a coffee drinker, I suggest you make yourself a fresh pot
Reasoning? I'm going to explain a little bit about the hardware makeup of an external harddrive, and multiple solutions that in the hopes of one of them, may cure your problem.
I'm trying to arm you with as much information as I can, so you can use deductive reasoning, and take the best approach for You.
General symptoms that affect an external harddrive,
1.Bad USB cable. Although it is unlikely, USB cables can go bad.
2.Power supply.
To solve this problem, you need another power supply just like the one you have, for a test. ( Not exactly laying around. I have a work around for that, which I will detail later)
3.Controller failed.
Inside that external enclosure, (The metal, or plastic box of the external harddrive), is an ordinary harddrive such as used in a desktop, or laptop computer.
Yours has a Desktop size harddrive in it. (They measure 3 and a half inches across in width. 3.5"
Laptop HD's measure 2.5")
Harddrives are IDE, or SATA. All harddrives have been going to SATA for quite some time.
Yours is a SATA harddrive.
Inside the external case is an Interface, connected on a Controller Board.
Harddrives use metal round pins that are built on the harddrive itself. These in turn plug into an Interface, or also can be referred to as a Socket.
With an external harddrive, the harddrive itself may plug right into the Interface, (Socket. The metal pins of the harddrive plug into the Interface socket holes), or the Interface plugs onto the harddrive, and cables lead from it to a small PCB in the external harddrive enclosure. (Case)
The metal pins transfer data (Information) back and forth. (Signal pins)
Power for the harddrive is also transmuted through these pins.
Just like plugging in a lamp to a receptacle.
The Controller Board is a PCB. Printed Circuit Board.
This is connected to the bottom of the harddrive. It controls the mechanism inside the harddrive.
This is a link to Howstuffworks>Computer Channel>
Computer Hardware>Hard Drives and Disks>How Harddrives Work,
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hard-disk.htm
When you arrive at Page 5 you'll see the Controller Board. (Their term is Electronics Board)
The Controller Board can be safely removed from the harddrive, and not ruin the harddrive.
You cannot open a harddrive case itself, where the Platters and Arms reside, Unless you have the proper environment.
('Clean Room'. A 99.9% dust free room that would make NASA jealous! This type of room is where a typical harddrive is assembled)
If you use an ESD wrist s-trap and connect it to a good ground source, plus work on a table, you can safely remove, and replace the Controller Board. (No magnetism Anywhere near! NO speakers!)
An average ESD (Electro Static Discharge) wrist s-trap is about $6.
This link shows the connector pins I have been referring to,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hdd.jpg
(You can click on the photo to enlarge it)
At the bottom of the photo is the back of the harddrive. All the way to the right are 4 pins. These are not recommended to be used on a SATA harddrive, but are for power to the drive.
All the way to the left, is a connection which has 15 pins for the Power connector, and to the right of it are 7 pins for the Data connector.
(It's in the upside down U shaped opening. There is a rectangular wide opening all the way to the left, then a narrow rectangular opening, then the upside down U shaped opening)
4.Harddrive failure. The mechanism inside the harddrive itself has failed. These are mechanical components, as you can see in the Howstuffworks link. Average lifespan for a harddrive is 5 years. Depends on how much it's used.
Solutions:
A.If the harddrive is still under warranty, you can see if the manufacturer will replace it. HOWEVER, they do not guarantee anything that is stored on it. You will get another harddrive minus your information.
B.You can take it to a Data Recovery Specialist. Average price is $50 per hour on up. Average time is minimum 1 hour, and usually takes 3.
I could be mistaken, do research for your area.
C.
1.You could start with using another USB cable, and see if this is the problem.
No?
2.Then it's on to the power supply. This solution cures 2 possible problems. I didn't mention, that sometimes the small PCB board in the external case also goes bad. Most of the time, according to hits on the internet, this is a major problem with a LaCie external hardrive.
The small Printed Circuit Board inside their external harddrive case, (Enclosure), goes bad.
Solution is to buy an external enclosure for a 3.5" SATA harddrive. Take the harddrive out of the LaCie external enclosure, and install it in this one.
Check computer hardware websites on the internet. (Examples of two are Tigerdirect, and Newegg) Look for Harddrive Enclosure. Then 3.5, then SATA.
Average price for a decent one is $20.
3.If this doesn't cure it it may be the Printed Circuit Board on the bottom of the harddrive. If your data warrants saving, then you may want to buy the SAME style of harddrive, borrow it's PCB, and get your information off of your old harddrive. More cost I grant you, but cheaper than a Recovery Specialist. You aren't buying another LaCie external harddrive, you are buying just the saqme SATA harddrive used inside.
Past this, the harddrive mechanism itself has quit. Only a very competent, reliable, Recovery Specialist can recover your data, if possible.
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