Defective (clicking) Seagate Expansion 2 TB External Hard Drive

[aboodankaboot]

Guys, this may seems like a crazy solution but.. When mine, just like the one in the video, except it's 1 TB, started to make the click of death I was alerted. At that time I did not know that this was a bad symptom but my gut told me it was. Anyway, what I did was, I was trying to look at the serial number from below. After turning it off and uplugging, I flipped it upside down to look. I was pleasantly surprised that flipping the drive and giving it a little shake while TURNED OFF solved the..

[aboodankaboot]

@aboodankaboot ..issue. After a few months. The click of death came back. Again I turned off the drive and unplugged it. Then turned it upside down and gave it a little shake (not too rough). Turned back on click of death still there. Felt disappointed. Again, turned off and unplugged, shook, turned back on, and NO MORE clicking. It seems like a temporary solution but it also seems to work. I had already contacted Seagate support on twitter and they person said I could return it if defect.

[diogobarretomartins]

Thanks a bunch, I went all the way and changed it to a better case. Now all works perfectly!

[farnzy2011]

My 1.5 tb drive does the exact same thing and it's so bad I can't even watch a movie on it, I contacted seagate and they told me to run sea tools for windows do I did ant it said all was fine but the drive still clicked and because sea tools said it was fine they wouldn't replace it. Does anybody know of a fix for this problem? I can hear the stupid thing clicking now.

[ronald61063]

I think I found the problem.... The power source is 12V 2A and of chinese make. Took another power source and my drive is now working without problems. Power source MUST be 12V -- 2A DC minimum. DO NOT try to supply it with 12V AC power because it will probably destroy the PCB inside the hard drive casing.

[totizedger]

Im using an expansion as in the video mine looks identical

[totizedger]

My 1,5 TB drive started doing tick tock noises but first it did a ticking noise just every 5 minutes then it does it much more often it was an expensive HDD which is why i raged when hearing that noise :( can someone suggest a really cheap and stable HDD for me please

[xponen]

I have Seagate's Internal HDD for 3 month now (now computer)... and it started to have strange noise while idling. Now since I've read that everyone else had HDD problem: then SEAGATE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -I never choose Seagate but they still get profit from OEM... ffffuuu Seagate.

[GillbotRebirth]

Must have been Dropped

[JDMrob1]

My 1TB seagate has developed this clicking sound also, ill have to call tec support to see if they can replace the drive while i save up for a western digital harddrive, a friend also is having trouble with the same drive as myself, im worryed that i might lose my 250GB's of music and movies could be lost, i tryed to copy a 350MB video from the drive and it was very slow clicking constantly, SEAGATE SUCKS

[rockard94]

I did this before and it worked, its obvious.

[Minecraft4Cows]

i have a 250gb hard drive, been working for about 2 months fine but suddenly, it no longer works. when i plug it into my computer and go into My Computer, everything normal comes up but theres no link to my hard drive. same with all the other usual links, any help???

[makapav]

Dude - you are awesome for taking the time out to help the rest of us and for this great video duet!

[JoshoonJH]

I fixed it with another External HDD case :), u can buy those for 10 to 20 euros, and ur done :D

[leosantana23]

Final

Se você, como eu, achar que você precisa para executar a unidade nua em modo IDE ao invés de AHCI, você pode encontrar um quebrado-Inglês, mas precisa e trabalharem muito para mudar de AHCI para IDE Windows sem precisar ser reinstalado no link ths: (obras para a cabine W7 e Vista)

Clique aqui para ver meu vídeo siga-up estava eu explicar como fazer a correção

[leosantana23]

Parte 3

Vou estar comprando ocidental unidades digitais ou SAMSUMG exclusivamente para o futuro previsível, porém, essas duas marcas têm sempre me serviu bem durante anos. Espero que isso ajude alguém ...

[leosantana23]

Parte 2

Então, se você estiver no mesma situação que eu estava em casa, onde você estiver pronto para simplesmente jogá-lo no lixo, essa pode ser uma última opção para você.

Por algum motivo eu era incapaz de fazê-lo funcionar em modo AHCI, porém, só IDE. Um desempenho da unidade de pouco menos rígido em geral é um preço pequeno a pagar por um fim a este pesadelo produto embora na minha opinião.

[leosantana23]

Tradução ao pe da letra (via google tradutor)

Parte um

20 de outubro de 2010 atualização!

Muito bem 24 horas agora! Não clique, sem ler / escrever os erros, um desempenho aceitável ...

[captghost]

@gucio85pl thank you for that solution

[BillInDenmark]

Seagate is now admitting there is a problem with these drives, and asks people with problems to contact customer support. I think they are replacing them - I'm not sure if the replacements work better.

[nawoalanor]

@BillInDenmark A few months too late.

[xponen]

@BillInDenmark I have NEW computer and still get strange noise HDD. They never fixed it... The problem still there.

[clapyourhandsify]

thanks. I will not buy this one

[syan9184]

oh dear...then i guess i shouldnt get this...

[syan9184]

oh dear...they i guess i shouldnt get this...

[caydr]

October 20, 2010! FINALLY A SOLUTION!!!! See my video annotation for details!

[xUnit212]

@gucio85pl Wow, mine actually stopped clicked after I did that.

[jakefo410]

I have the same problem!!!!!!

I thought i'd lost everything and it kept going for a couple of minutes but then started to work!!!!!

[PAWLOA]

I have bought 3 seagate 2TB drives Everyone has been clicking. My first drive clicked until I moved it to external. The second one did the same and then died. The third one now makes the same clicking sound. I will therefore never buy seagate 2TB drives again and go for Western Digital 1TB drives x 2 instead.

I also replaced my power supply since I also thought that was the cluprit but it was not.So my advice is don't buy seagate 2TB drives. Out of three all of them click like crazy.

[dakuwanga]

Purchased my drive last week - and returned today for a full refund after the dreaded "click of death"

[gustybh]

Hey guys. Mine is also clicking. Look it up: "External Drive Seagate 1,5 TB click of death.3gp "

[caydr]

Just replaced my cable with one from a high-quality reputable manufacturer. It's only a 3-foot cable so length definitely isn't a problem, and it has a ferrite core. Drive is still clicking as bad as ever.

My research tells me that the drive inside the enclosure is probably OK but the USB interface or drive controller chipset inside is of low quality. This would explain why a better cable helps some people. Still defective. It's no coincidence they're discounted everywhere. I'll RMA.

[ashahry081085]

I change my usb cable with the ferrite choke IT WORKS!!!

[caydr]

@ashahry081085 For you maybe. And for how long? In the Seagate forum thread people report replacing the cable and everything being fine for a few days and then the problem returns.

I'd take this chance to copy everything off and try an RMA if I were you.

[mvurbdy007]

I'm sorry to say that the clicking started today. After 2 days with no clicks I thought the problem is sorted out but I was wrong. The problem with these drives seems to be more serious. Today I'm going to take it back and I will not buy any more products from seagate. the old hard disk I have from seagate runs very well but this one is defective it seems all new ones are(according to the user reviews). My last word to all of the readers don't buy this product.

[caydr]

@mvurbdy007 Same here, I have a Seagate external 500, 750 and 1500, all good drives. But apparently now they've switched over to some lowest-bidder Chinese manufacturer.

It's a pity, because most people with a guts to take the enclosure apart (void warranty) say the drive itself is perfectly fine, but Seagate just HAD to save an extra 3 cents and go with a bad controller chipset or w/e.

Reminds me of the problem affecting their entire 7200.11 line. They've got to clean up their act, fast.

[gucio85pl]

@caydr - got that too, cliks like watterfall, but when i turn the disk on his back (top to down) there is only one klick on the start and than it works perfect!

[mvurbdy007]

I bought the same drive about a week ago and the clicking started from the first days of use. After searching for answers on the net all I could find was that clicking is sign of a big problem. I backed up the data on it, while I was doing so I was reading the seagate forum page about the problem with these drives. Someone in the forum suggested the change of the usb cable with a high quality one with a ferrite choke. Luckily I had one available and changed the cable and the problem was solved.

[TheTecnobiker]

@mvurbdy007 can you send me a message with a link where I can buy it ? I have this cable but I'm not sure if it is ok.

thanks

[mvurbdy007]

@TheTecnobiker I actually didn't buy the cable because I found it among my old stuff I geuss it is for my old camera or maybe a printer. You need to look for a 1.5m mini usb to usb cable. Use the cable which came with your HDD as a reference when you want to buy the new cable. The ferrite choke is a little cylinder shaped thing which is attached to the ends of the cable (near the mini usb socket).

My guess is the cable coming with the HDD catches Electro magnetic interference.

[mvurbdy007]

@TheTecnobiker to be exact you need a:

male Mini B (5-pin) usb to male standard A cable with ferrite bead.

Wikipedia: "A ferrite bead is a passive electric component used to suppress high frequency noise in electronic circuits."

[TheTecnobiker]

@mvurbdy007 very thanks man, well I think that I have 2 or more of this type of cable, first is the usb cable that recharge my ps3 controller :D, and the last is the cable of my toshiba camcorder, so both cable have a plastic cylinder before mini usb, I'll try to do this when I backup my macbook pro and air; I think that if you upload a reply vid whith solution can be very helpfull.

peace

[caydr]

@TheTecnobiker I read about that too, but it didn't help with mine.

Even if a better cable solves the problem, you've got to wonder what was going on in Seagate's QA department when they decided to ship a cable that doesn't work with their product.

[TheTecnobiker]

@caydr hi all,finally after a period of research for find the problem and solution, of this clicking issue of the external hard drive,I can say that the problem is the case,and the solution is the case,it's not a joke I spent a considerable part of my time;well the problem is the case not hd so if you open the case and take only hd and put this in another case(for precisione in a not miniusb case as the original, but a normal usb female->male) the problem magically disappears and is much fast