External Hardrive not Mounting

[JoshJ]

Hey guys,

I had to force eject my new Seagate STBX2000401 Portable USB drive yesterday and it has been acting strangely ever since.
It is now taking ages to show up on my desktop when I plug it in. I thought it was not appearing at all but I went to Disk Utility and it was there. After restarting my MBP (running Yosemite) it eventually showed up on my desktop.

The light on it also flashes sometime even when it is inactive (not sure is this is normal).
I just noticed a new folder has appeared also next to my other folders on the drive called, "lost+found" which contains a bunch of .txt files. I have attached a link to a screenshot:
Gyazo - aa2d7a945aadd5af6be6cc176b2373bf.png

The folders seem to have been created today at the time I restarted my mac but the empty .txt files say they were created on 30th Dec 2014 (in "Get Info")


Does anyone know whats going on with it? Has it got problems and if so do I need to get my data off it? Can I eject the drive or will it damage it further?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

It's dead, Jim.

Seriously, that drive does sound like it's in its death throes. You can try Verify/Repair Disk via Disk Utility and check the SMART status (Onyx can do the basic SMART test), but I wouldn't trust that drive anymore.

 

[MacInWin]

Well, most likely the drive is in trouble. Whether or not it's hardware or software related depends on WHY you had to force eject it. At this point, with what you've said so far, I would recommend getting everything OFF the drive, then you can try a to repair it with disk utility and then if that fails, repartition/reformat to see if you can recover it back to normal.

The Lost+Found is just that, lost files that the OS doesn't know what to do with. They are in txt format so you can look at them, but they may well be binary and unreadable to you. What were you doing on December 30th that could have created a lot of little working files?

 

[JoshJ]

Thanks for such a quick response.
I'm currently copying all my data across to another drive to create a backup.

Couple of questions;
1. Will the data on the Seagate now possibly be corrupt? How will I test for this?
2. Could the data on the Seagate corrupt the data on the drive I am backing up to?
3. I'm not sure exactly what I was doing on Dec 30th; What exactly do these lost+found files mean? Does it mean other related files are broken?
4. How can I find out what those lost+found files are are?
5. Is there any way of identifying what I was working on when those lost+found files were created? (eg through Terminal)
6. Once I have backed up and reformatted the Seagate, is there any way of testing it to see if it still has any issue / will create problems for me in the future?
7. Finally, if the Seagate IS corrupt and I need to do Data Recovery on it, is there anything I should or shouldn't do with it between now and Data Recovery?

Sorry for all the questions. Freaking out a little..

 

[MacInWin]

1. Might be. If it copies over, it's probably ok. No test I know, just use the copied data and see how it looks to you. If you want to try to fix it, open Disk Utility and run Verify against the drive. If it can fix it, it will offer to do so.
2. Probably not.
3. L+F files are the rough equivalent of what CHKDSK files are in Windows; files or fragments of files that the directory information was incomplete or inaccurate. OS X gathers them into L+F for the user to decide.
4. Again, only by inspection of the files. Most are probably temporary work files that were in some sort of scratch storage when you force ejected the drive (That is, BTW, the source of all of the troubles. Don't do that.)
5. Well, if you note the time of the files and want to look the logs in Console, you can then look at the same time to see if anything was going on, but I suspect the problem was really the force eject of the drive. That's brutal, particularly if the drive was in the process of writing at the time you did that.
6. You can run Disk Utility Verify and/or Onxy on the drive to test it. But if it partitions and formats, it's probably ok.
7. Use it minimally. The more you mess with it, the more writes to it and the potential for overwriting something you want.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I'll just chime in to concur with everything MacInWin had to say/add.

 

[JoshJ]

Thanks guys,

I’m thinking through this now;

1. On the 30th Dec I was most likely working on a video project in an app called Screenflow (a screen capture & video editing app)

2. Think I remember what might have caused the issue today/yesterday;
-I was copying a large folder to or from the Seagate last night and Canceled the copy midway through as I realised I didn’t need a copy;
When I tried, the disk might have then not been able to eject so I had to force eject it.
-Over the past day or two I think I also accidentally disconnected my USB mac keyboard which also had my Seagate connected to one of its ports.

Do either of these actions seem like a more probably cause / warrant a different approach in solving the overall issue?

Finally;
-In future, if I can’t eject a drive normally - how shall I eject it without forcing it?
-Is it always a bad idea then to cancel a Copy once it is in process?

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, all of those actions can hammer a drive's structure and integrity. Hardware-wise, it's probably ok, but the directory structure is most likely badly broken.

If you can not eject normally, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Try a shutdown of the computer to see if that will allow it to eject. Force eject is the dead last thing to try. it's the equivalent of stopping your car by driving into a wall. Yep, you stopped, but the collateral damage can be phenomenal.

Yes, it's a bad idea to cancel a copy, particularly a large one. Lots of files are "in flight" and can get lost. That's probably the source of all those L+F files, things in flight that you basically shot down with the force eject.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

If that drive is formatted using FAT32, it's even more important to wait wait wait on a proper eject. FAT32 is useful enough for sharing a drive between platforms, but its directory is very easily corrupted. NTFS and HFS+ are much more robust file systems and can more easily recover themselves from an unexpected dismount. If it is formatted using FAT32 and you use it strictly on your Mac, I would definitely back it up, then reformat it using Mac OS Extended (journaled). If you share it with a Windows PC, then consider getting a 3rd party NTFS driver for your Mac and format the drive to NTFS instead.

 

[JoshJ]

Hey guys.

So I managed to copy all the data across to another drive (900GB of it)
Iv tested a couple of files (from the data on the backup drive) and they seem to be functioning fine. The drive is also mounting and behaving normally now!

I guess i will still Verify/Repair the disk. Would it be safer to just reformat the drive & copy the data back onto it?
I take it this will completely reformat the directory structure which you guys say is likely broken?

Ps, I always format my drives as OSX extended journaled which I take it is a good thing in this case..

 

[johnodd4]

Don't bother...

Why do people buy seagate drives they corrupt and crash everytime.

Honestly ask why would a company create a firmware update for there hard drive itself unless there are major problems where not talking firmware for the external box.

Also why would they only produce the firmware update to run on windows and not mac.

Western digital, Samsung, Hitachi, None of these companies require a firmware update.

Just some honest food for thought...

 

[MacInWin]

What I would recommend at this point is to repartition and reformat the drive. Then you can put it back into service however you want to. I'd keep an eye on it, running Verify every once in a while just to make sure it isn't going bad again.

And don't cancel large copies and don't force eject drives!

 

[chscag]

Why do people buy seagate drives they corrupt and crash everytime.

@John:

Apple uses Seagate drives in their iMac models and have been since 2010. You buy a new iMac with a straight HDD or a Fusion Drive and it will come with a Seagate installed. The buyer has no choice if he/she wants an iMac.

 

[JoshJ]

Many thanks for clarifying that chscag.

I ran Verify Disk on both the route disk & the volume of the drive and they both said "The volume Seagate Expansion Drive appears to be OK”.
Just to clarify; do I still need to Repair / Reformat the disk? Under any circumstances does Disk Verifying say a disk is OK when it actually isn’t?

 

[JoshJ]

I have attached the Verify History for the route & the volume below incase anyone wants to check the results;

2TB Seagate Expansion > Verify:

Verifying partition map for “Seagate Expansion Media”Checking prerequisitesChecking the partition listChecking for an EFI system partitionChecking the EFI system partition’s sizeChecking the EFI system partition’s file systemChecking all HFS data partition loader spacesChecking booter partitionsChecking Core Storage Physical Volume partitionsThe partition map appears to be OK
Verifying partition map for “Seagate Expansion Media”Checking prerequisitesChecking the partition listChecking for an EFI system partitionChecking the EFI system partition’s sizeChecking the EFI system partition’s file systemChecking all HFS data partition loader spacesChecking booter partitionsChecking Core Storage Physical Volume partitionsThe partition map appears to be OK
Verifying volume “Seagate Expansion Drive”Verifying file system.Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.Detected a case-sensitive volume.Checking extents overflow file.Checking catalog file.Checking multi-linked files.Checking catalog hierarchy.Checking extended attributes file.Checking multi-linked directories.Checking volume bitmap.Checking volume information.The volume Seagate Expansion Drive appears to be OK.File system check exit code is 0.



Seagate Expansion Drive (Volume) > Verify:

Verifying volume “Seagate Expansion Drive”Verifying file system.Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.Detected a case-sensitive volume.Checking extents overflow file.Checking catalog file.Checking multi-linked files.Checking catalog hierarchy.Checking extended attributes file.Checking multi-linked directories.Checking volume bitmap.Checking volume information.The volume Seagate Expansion Drive appears to be OK.File system check exit code is 0.

 

[MacInWin]

Under any circumstances does Disk Verifying say a disk is OK when it actually isn’t?

Yes, that can happen. Verify just verifies that the drive can read/write, not how many retries it makes to get the job done. So a failing drive will "succeed" in the test, but still be failing because of the number of retries it has to make being an indicator of failing internal hardware. Retries manifest in a slowing machine, beachballs, etc.

 

[JoshJ]

Many thanks for clarifying that chscag.

I ran Verify Disk on both the route disk & the volume of the drive and they both said "The volume Seagate Expansion Drive appears to be OK”.
Just to clarify; do I still need to Repair / Reformat the disk? Under any circumstances does Disk Verifying say a disk is OK when it actually isn’t?

Can I bump this please!

 

[JoshJ]

Yes, that can happen. Verify just verifies that the drive can read/write, not how many retries it makes to get the job done. So a failing drive will "succeed" in the test, but still be failing because of the number of retries it has to make being an indicator of failing internal hardware. Retries manifest in a slowing machine, beachballs, etc.

Sorry! Didnt see the 2nd page of the Thread.
Many thanks for clarifying - I shall reformat then!

 

[pm-r]

Sorry! Didnt see the 2nd page of the Thread.
Many thanks for clarifying - I shall reformat then!

Sorry, and I'm just arriving a few days late here, but when reformatting that drive, I'd suggest using the Option to zero-out or do a one pass security write, as doing so will map out any bad sectors.

 

[Collin Bl]

FWIW
Just a trick i have used which may help some - i removed the drive from the enclosure and used part of a HD kit to just power up the naked HD, then put it back in it's enclosure and it was back operating as usual.
Of course these modern 1 piece Ext jobbies may defy removal of HD but thems the breaks.