Can't access external drive on iMac

I recently purchased an 27" Retina iMac, 4Ghz i7, 16GB ram. I plugged in two external drives - a Seagate and a WD through a Dynex USB 2 Port Hub. Both worked fine. I imported pictures from both drives using Lightroom 5.6. Then I plugged in a different Seagate drive - FreeAgent GoFlex (also through the Dynex hub) - and got the message "USB Devices Disabled - Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices". I've been using this Seagate GoFlex drive on my MacBook Pro for nearly two years without a problem. I then plugged the GoFlex drive back into the MacBook Pro and got the same message (which I've never had come up before on the MacBook). Lastly, I replugged the GoFlex back into the Dynex Hub and the Hub back into the iMac. The Dynex hub started to smoke. I disconnected both the drive and the hub. Needless to say the hub is toast, but I'm wondering if there is any way to re-access the GoFlex drive either on the iMac or the MacBook.

The Dynex hub started to smoke. I disconnected both the drive and the hub. Needless to say the hub is toast, but I'm wondering if there is any way to re-access the GoFlex drive either on the iMac or the MacBook.

Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky that you didn't burn up the USB port on your expensive retina iMac. That would have been a disaster for you since that does not fall under the Apple warranty. Throw away the Dynex, and then contact Seagate to see if you can get a RMA for the drive which undoubtedly is defective.

What you might try to get your data off the Seagate before doing the RMA is to purchase a self powered universal drive adapter. (they cost around $20) Then plug the adapter to an AC outlet and the Seagate to the USB port on your MacBook Pro. That might allow it to spin up so as to retrieve your data.

Another method you can use is to remove the Seagate drive from its case and place it in an external carrier. However, that will void your warranty on the drive.