External hard drive clicking and not recognized by mac will DiskWarrior work?

First of all apologizes if I've posted in the wrong community I couldn't find one that really fit my particular query.
I'll give a quick rundown of what happened and see if anyone can help or suggest a course of action. My Seagate External HDD model SRD0SP0 was mounted to my 2013 MacBook Air when it started to make a loud noise freezing the computer and requiring me to force shutdown the entire system. I immediately rebooted the computer and it started up again fine but when I tried plugging in the drive to the USB it would only spin and beep at regular intervals and then go quite. The drive did not mount to the desktop but I could see it in DiskUtility although the 'verify' and 'repair' options were greyed out. I tried to connect to a PC but it would not recognize the drive either. I left the drive alone for a few months and now when I plug it in it starts to fire up with the whirl sound but that is quickly followed by 5 faint ticks followed by a louder click. It almost sounds like something is dragging and the click is it coming to an end before starting up again. (I have a .m4a recording of the this but I don't see an option to upload) This goes on for about 20 seconds and then a window pops up saying something along the lines of 'this disk is not recognized by this computer' and the options to 'initialize' 'ignore' or 'eject'. I have only ever clicked eject. As before the drive is visible in DiskUtility but the options are greyed out.
I contacted a data recovery agency and their response was:
I would recommend to remove bare drive from the External casing and connect it to a computer directly or via another USB enclosure. If the drive is internally fine you should be able to see and copy the files. If you still get the same symptoms then your clicking hard drive most likely has internal problem with read/write heads and needs head assembly swapped from a donor. It's a very serious problem and recovery procedure in this case requires a lot of experience, use of class 100 clean room and specialized equipment.
If stored files are not particularly important you should replace the hard drive. If you need data from the drive we could recover it for $950 USD.
At this time I am not comfortable taking my drive apart and I can not afford close to 1k in repair costs. From my research on this forum I have seem multiple suggestions to try DiskWarrior but I am not sure that it will work with the problems that I am describing. Before I spend the money has anyone had a similar problem and had success recovering their data via DiskWarrior? Or do I have to resort to the data recovery agency or the freezer technique?

If the drive is making clicking sounds then it will probably fail. That's evidence of a mechanical issue. DW isn''t going to fix that nor will Disk Utility. Only replacing it with a new drive will fix it. While you can you should make a backup.

Similar Messages

WD Smartware, external hard drive back up not recognized by Macbook Pro

I use WD external hard drive as back up for my Macbook Pro using WD Smartware. All software is upto date but when I plug in my external hard drive it is now not recognised by my Mac. It does not appear in Finder or Disk Utility but it does show up in System Profiler. It has worked fine until now. I have changed the UCB cables multiple times, the external WD hard drive has its own power suppy and other external hard drives work in the same usb port. When I plug the external drive into a PC it is recognised but obviously will not let me use it. When I go to access via the PC it prompts me for the password to open the drive, however when I plug into my Mac, when I click on 'unlock drive' its says that the drive is not locked. The WD Smartware software runs to check the files on my Mac but after categorising them the 'back up' option is not highlighted and it will not access the external WD drive.
How can I access the WD external drive ? System Profiler data is below. Many thanks, apologies for any ignorance and thanks in anticipation of any help !
My Book 1110:    Capacity:     804.4 MB (804,421,632 bytes)   Removable Media:     Yes   Detachable Drive:     Yes   BSD Name:     disk1   Product ID:     0x1110   Vendor ID:     0x1058 (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.)   Version:     20./My Book 1110:    Capacity: 804.4 MB (804,421,632 bytes)   Removable Media: Yes   Detachable Drive: Yes   BSD Name: disk1   Product ID: 0x1110   Vendor ID: 0x1058 (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.)   Version: 20.18   Serial Number: 574341565931323033383539   Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec   Manufacturer: Western Digital   Location ID: 0xfd130000 / 5   Current Available (mA): 500   Current Required (mA): 2   Partition Map Type: Unknown   S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported   Volumes:   Capacity: 700.4 MB (700,448,768 bytes)   Writable: No   BSD Name: disk1s0   Capacity: 32 KB (32,256 bytes)   Writable: No   BSD Name: disk1s0s1 WD SmartWare:   Capacity: 229.7 MB (229,672,960 bytes)   Available: Zero KB   Writable: No   File System: HFS    BSD Name: disk1s0s2   Mount Point: /Volumes/WD SmartWare18   Serial Number:     574341565931323033383539   Speed:     Up to 480 Mb/sec   Manufacturer:     Western Digital   Location ID:     0xfd130000 / 5   Current Available (mA):     500   Current Required (mA):     2   Partition Map Type:     Unknown   S.M.A.R.T. status:     Not Supported   Volumes:   Capacity:     700.4 MB (700,448,768 bytes)   Writable:     No   BSD Name:     disk1s0   Capacity:     32 KB (32,256 bytes)   Writable:     No   BSD Name:     disk1s0s1 WD SmartWare:   Capacity:     229.7 MB (229,672,960 bytes)   Available:     Zero KB   Writable:     No   File System:     HFS+   BSD Name:     disk1s0s2   Mount Point:     /Volumes/WD SmartWare

mjunder Hong Kong
   I use WD external hard drive as back up for my Macbook Pro using WD Smartware.
To be a parrot,.......REMOVE the WD garbageware.
Western Digital warned its users about its OWN software couple months ago.
Remove ANY and ALL WD software products.

My external hard drive is suddenly not recognized.

I have a thunderbolt enabled 1.5 Terabyte Seagate FreeAgent Go Drive. It was used as a simply external hard drive and then I added it to be used as a time machine location. After the first initial backup, it suddenly became no longer recognizeable. It does not apear in the finder, disk utility, or in the terminal when I ask for list of the Volumes. The drive light is on, I can hear the disk spinning, and it warms up as normal after being plugged in to the computer for a period of time. Still, I am unable to recognize the drive in any way.
Ideally, I would like to save the files if possible. If not possible, I'm happy to reformat the disk but this is not possible at this time with the drive being unrecognized by any means I am aware of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am using 2.3 GHZ i7 Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM. I'm on 10.9.1.

Yes, exactly. It's very strange. I've never had this happen. Drives fail but then don't apear in the DiskUtility app. This drive is "there" but I cannot seem to preform any action on it. This is the type of response received (in Log) I get whenever I attempt any action:
Securely erasing data to prevent recovery failed.
2013-12-26 08:43:39 +0530: Erase complete.
2013-12-26 08:43:39 +0530:
2013-12-26 08:44:06 +0530:
          Name :           Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media
          Type :           Disk
          Partition Map Scheme :           Unformatted
          Disk Identifier :           disk1
          Media Name :           Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media
          Media Type :           Generic
          Connection Bus :           USB
          USB Serial Number :           NA0B3X6P
          Device Tree :           IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/XHC1@14
          Writable :           Yes
          Ejectable :           Yes
          Location :           External
          Total Capacity :           1.5 TB (1,500,301,909,504 Bytes)
          Disk Number :           1
          Partition Number :           0
          S.M.A.R.T. Status :           Not Supported
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530: Preparing to partition disk: “Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media”
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:           Partition Scheme: GUID Partition Table
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:           1 partition will be created
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:           Partition 1
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:                     Name                    : “Untitled 1”
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:                     Size                    : 1.5 TB
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:                     File system          : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530:
2013-12-26 08:44:43 +0530: Unmounting disk
2013-12-26 08:45:04 +0530: Partition failed for disk Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media Unable to write to the last block of the device.

Old laptop died, got latest itunes on new laptop and recovered all music from external hard drive but ipad not recognised as device when plugged in? Do i reset my ipad2!!!

Old laptop died, got latest itunes on new laptop and recovered all music from external hard drive but ipad2 not being recognised as a device when plugged in so can't sync? Do i reset my ipad2?!!!! Its only taken 7 months to get to this point.
My ipad is set to sync via wifi but it is still trying to look for my old laptop which has been trashed..but i have deauthorised it and removed it from my account and still not recognised.
Please help (an extreme novice to Apple products)

Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data
http://www.howtogeek.com/104298/sync-your-ios-device-with-a-new-computer-without -losing-data/
iPad not appearing in iTunes
http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/assistant/itunes/
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Mac OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1591
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
IOS: Syncing with iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386
Apple - Support - iPad - Syncing
http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/syncing/
 Cheers, Tom

I have an imac 2009 the disk drive is damaged and I have lost the passwords I need to reset passwords I tried booting with a macosx disk from an external hard drive but did not read the drive how else can I reset password ?

I have an imac 2009 the disk drive is damaged and I have lost the passwords I need to reset passwords I tried booting with a macosx disk from an external hard drive but did not read the drive how else can I reset password ?
I have a 2012 mac book pro can I use that to connect with firewire and load osx that way? and how woudl I do that?
Thanks so much!

To what password are you referring? Do you mean your user account's admin password? Or do you mean the master password for File Vault or do you mean a Firmware Password?
For an admin password:
Forgot Your Account Password
For Snow Leopard and earlier
     Mac OS X 10.6- If you forget your administrator password
For Lion/Mountain Lion
    Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
     Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
     instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
     Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
     OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
If you cannot do the above then try this:
1. Boot to Safe Mode by restarting and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-S keys until a black screen with white type appears.
2. At the prompt, type the following commands pressing return after each command line:
     /sbin/fsck -yf
     If you do not receive a "Filesystem OK" message then repeat this command until
     you do. If after seven tries you still do not receive a "Filesystem OK" message,
     then the system is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.
     mount -uw /
     cd /private/var/db/netinfo
     mv local.nidb local.old
     rm ../.AppleSetupDone
     shutdown -r now
The second-to-last command above will cause OS X to think that the operating system is newly installed, and when the new owner starts up the computer it will send him/her to the startup wizard where he/she can start a new user without reinstalling.
This last method does not actually change a password. It simply removes the user accounts and lets you create an initial admin account as if the computer were new out of the box.
How to reset the OS X password without a startup CD:
Reboot into Single-user Mode. Enter the following and press RETURN after each command line
   1. Type fsck -fy
   2. Type mount -uw /
   3. Type passwd <username>
I have never tried this method myself.

LR 5 does not recognize my external hard drive. It has recognized this drive in the past. No help at any Adobe site.

LR 5 does not recognize my external hard drive. It has recognized this drive in the past. No help at any Adobe site.

My external HD contains photos I have worked on in the past.
Additionally, I have added photos to LR5 directly onto my Mac HD. (38
photos added when working in the absence of my external HD)
Presently, in the Library mode, the Le Cie external HD is not seen in the
upper left hand corner "Source" location.
The only way to "see" the La Cie HD and its photos is in the "Import" mode.
These photos have previously been imported.
I wish to use the La Cie HD as my source in the Library mode and proceed to
the Develop mode.
In other words, work on my previously imported, previously worked on
photos, now on the La Cie.

How do I figure out if I have usb 3.0? I am trying to buy compatible external hard drive (western digital my passport for mac) and I can not figure out if it will work with my mac book.

how do I figure out if I have usb 3.0? I am trying to buy compatible external hard drive (western digital my passport for mac) and I can not figure out if it will work with my mac book.

Dont buy a Western Digital, get a Hitachi or Seagate (Toshiba is made by Hitachi). These are the most reliable, and the HD used inside Macs.
ALL HD can be made compatible with your MAC (including a WD if you already bought same), ......they just need to be formatted for the Mac platform, format them in Disk Utility as Mac OSX extended journaled.

How do i repair or recover data from a corrupt USB external hard drive that does not show up on my Mac desktop or disk utility

How do i repair or recover data from a corrupt USB external hard drive that does not show up on my Mac desktop or disk utility?
Last night i was using my external hard drive, for some reason the folder just closed and i couldn't find it on my desktop.
After googling solutions, i found it in the disk utilities, i clicked on the 'repair' button many times, but it said the 'error...' message.
So i ejected it to try again, now when i connect the USB external hard drive it doesn't show up on my desktop or disk utilities.
I really just want to either repair or recover the data on it because it literally has everything (documents, work files, photos etc) on it,
I downloaded an application to recover my files but it needs the USB to at least show up.recognise it which mine doesn't.
I know i should've backed it up on another USB, this definitely teaches me for next time to back up all my files.
Are the files lost forever or can i recover them by going to a shop or using a software?

Thank you for responding.
This might sound stupid since i'm not really knowledgeable with Macs,
but since all my files were moved from my mac computer to the external hard drive,
is it possible to recover those files through my Mac - like recovering deleted files?

I'm trying to back up 10.6.8 (snow leopard) and all my files before upgrade to Mavericks. I have an old but sturdy external hard drive...how many GB available will I probably need to back up the whole thing? thanks!

I'm trying to back up 10.6.8 (snow leopard) and all my files before upgrade to Mavericks. I have an old but sturdy external hard drive...how many GB available will I probably need to back up the whole thing? thanks!

You will need a separate partition unless you plan to use the entire drive. You will need an amount of space somewhat larger than the total space now used on your startup drive. If you select the startup drive's Desktop icon, then press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. Used space will be shown in the topmost panel. Add a GB or two to that number to determine how much space you'll need for the backup.
Do not backup on a drive that has any files you want to keep. You can make a bootable backup as follows:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
it to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

How do I re-download podcasts? My external hard drive failed and I can't figure out how to download them again in the updated iTunes.

How do I re-download podcasts? My external hard drive failed and I can't figure out how to download them again in the updated iTunes.

The Time Capsule drive is a network drive. You have to mount it on the desktop before you will be able to drag/drop files onto the disk. More tips are in this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17312017#17312017
.....and then delete them from the Mac to free up space?
The Time Capsule was designed for your backups.
If you move a file to the Time Capsule drive and delete the file from your Mac.....you have no backup.
Your only copy of the file will be on the Time Capsule drive. I would only do this with files that I could afford to lose.
All drives fail. When.....not if....the Time Capsule drive has a problem, you will lose your data.

Has anyone enabled time machine using a linksys router and external hard drive? And if so how?

Has anyone enabled time machine using a link sys router and external hard drive? And if so how? I have a Linksys E4200 wireless router with a usb port on it. I also have a Western Digital Elements 1TB external hard drive. I would like to be able to use this hard drive with time machine. Has anyone done so and if so how can I do so?

You might get some responses, but we don't see many Linksys users on an Apple forum so it may be awhile before you see an answer.
It might be useful to point out that Apple does not even support Time Machine backups to the USB port on their own AirPort Extreme wireless router, so we may be heading down a very slippery slope here.
I've tried Time Machine backups on an AirPort Extreme router a number of times in the past. It's just not reliable. Works for awhile, then has corruption problems. Or has corruption issues immediately. I once went a month or so and thought I had it nailed, then got smacked with a corrupted set of backups again.
But, I guess you never know. It might work on the Linksys. If you decide to try this, I would suggest that you have another backup plan in place for your important data.
Hope that some Linksys users will respond so we can all learn.

HT2518 How do I transfer music from an external hard drive to my itunes on my mac? I have put the files into the itunes media, but they are not showing up in iTunes!

How do I transfer music from an external hard drive to my itunes on my mac? I have put the files into the itunes media, but they are not showing up in iTunes!

Hi, did you try iTunes>File>Import?

Is there a way to use the time capsule as an external hard drive only and disable the wi-fi function ?

Is there a way to use the time capsule as an external hard drive only and disable the wi-fi function ?

Yes.
1) Connect an Ethernet cable from one of the LAN <--> ports on your existing wireless router to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule
2) Go through the standard configuration suggested by the setup "wizard"
3) Then manually turn off the wireless function using AirPort Utility

HT201250 I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them?

I had files stored on a hard drive that were not on my Mac. I used the hard drive for my first Time Machine back up, but it was not enough hard drive space to finish. Now those stored files are gone. Is there any way I can recover them? No, they were not part of previous Time Machine backups, and I have checked both the hard drive the documents were lost on and the new one that I now use for backups. Any suggestions would be helpful, as the lost files are old pictures that are gone forever. :[ Thanks!

1. Yes, if both drives are formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
2. Reformat the drives if needed, open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and remove the drive with the pictures from the list of items set to be excluded.
(110331)

I was going to install Rosetta Stone Spanish onto my Macbook but am concerned about it taking up space on my 2GB hard-drive. I have an external WD hard-drive; is it possible to put the application onto the external hard-drive to save space on my mac?

I was going to install Rosetta Stone Spanish onto my Macbook 10.6.7 but am concerned about it taking up space on my 2GB hard-drive. I have an external WD hard-drive, and I was wondering if it is possible to put the application onto the external hard-drive to save space on my Mac?

I think you're confused about how much hard drive space you have. You probably have 2 GB of RAM... there hasn't been a Mac shipped with only a 2 GB hard drive in a while. At the bottom of any Finder window, how much space is available?
If you're actually running low on space, you should move documents to the external drive, since many applications want to be on the system drive.

External hard drive clicking and not recognized by mac will DiskWarrior work?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for