We have a 5TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable that was bought on November 2018. The person using it asked me to check it because suddenly he couldn't access it from his Computer.
So as the IT guy of the company, I have tried & tested it on multiple devices with different OS.
*Windows 7 Machine:
- Drive is not Recognized in My Computer / Disk Management / Device Manager.
- Tried to connect to another Windows 7 Machine, driver installation pop-up but failed. Drive Still not recognized.
- There is the 'USB Notification Sound' but No Safely remove icon appeared.
*Windows 8 Machine:
- Driver installation pop-up completed with no error. Safely remove icon appears.
- Drive is not recognized in My Computer.
- Drive is recognized in Device Manager, then after 1 minute it disappears along with the safely remove icon.
- Tried to update the driver, windows said the best driver is installed.
*Windows 10 Machine:
- No driver installation pop-up but safely remove icon appears.
- Drive not recognized in My Computer/This PC.
- Drive is recognized in Device Manager, then after 1 minute & 30 seconds it disappears along with the safely remove icon.
- Tried to update the driver, windows said the best driver is installed.
*macOS Mojave 10.14.5 - Drive is also not recognized.
*DSM Synology NAS - Drive is also not recognized.
*Additional Findings:
- The LED lights-up.
- The drive initializes (vibrates/spins) for 8 seconds, then stops.
- Tried to use USB Cable from the same Brand, still same result.
- Not detected on HDD Tools (SeaTools, HD Tune Pro, MiniTool, Recuva, EaseUS).
Additional Questions:
- Is the drive considered Dead?
- I don't have a Linux Machine, but I can download and boot in Ubuntu, should I give it a try, or it's just a waste of time?
- Is there still a chance to recover the data inside it?
- The drive is still on Warranty, however will Seagate cover the Data Recovery if the drive is for replacement already?
PS. I have already reported the issue to Seagate and a ticket has been created. But still I would like to ask and share my experience to this Community. Hoping someone can help me and everybody else with the same issue could see the fix. I will also update here if ever the Seagate Support provides the Best Solution.