Well Colour Me Perplexed.
Before I begin my rant, let me just say that I had corn dogs for lunch so life isn't all bad. However, it appears that the overzealous cleaner threw away my winning Tim Horton's roll up the rim cup. So I guess those cancel each other out. 
Back to me and my hard drive. So to speak...
So my computer is still FUBAR. On my way home last night, I stopped at Best Buy and picked up a Hard Drive enclosure kit which surprising, isn't that much cheaper than a whole new external hard drive. Funny that.
Got home, pulled out bad hard drive, set it up in the enclosure and USB'd it into my other computer. Did it see the new/old hard drive? No. Fine.
Went to the Seagate website and found some diagnostic apps. Downloaded, installed, ran them. Did the apps see the new/old hard drive? No. Fine.
Put the hard drive back into the original case. Plugged SATA cables into other ports on Motherboard. Not working. The BIOS sees no hard drive. Fine.
Go through the Seagate site some more. Apparently the drive is still under warranty. This is good! They don't provide data recovery within the warranty. This is bad.
The site pretty much says, send us the hard drive, and we'll send you a formatted one back that will work. If you want data recovery, you have to pay. And although they won't tell you how much it will cost, it looks very expensive. Not to mention it has to be done in Toronto. Nice!
So I fill out all the online forms anyway... so they are 'expecting' my hard drive via UPS at some point.
Right before going to bed (around 1am), I noticed a message on their site stating they have a 'known but extremely rare' situation with 'very few' hard drives that work one day, but not the next. The drive becomes unrecognizable. Hmmm. This sounds vaguely familiar. So I read on. They ask you to put in your HD specifics (serial/model) and it tells you if you 'qualify'. Sure enough, I qualify.
So there is a firmware ISO you can download and burn to a bootable CD that will install new firmware onto your HD and hopefully, Bob's your uncle. However there are BIG RED WORDS that state, and I'm paraphrasing here, "If you screw up installing the firmware, well you might as well just kill yourself because you will be pooched". Hmm...
So do I do the data recovery before attempting this crazy upgrade? Or throw caution into the wind and JUST DO IT! ? Well, since I'm the type of guy stupid enough to not even do simple data backups, I think you know the answer. I proceeded.
I downloaded the file, created the bootable CD, put it in the machine and... pressed... the... button...
Are you as excited as I am? I thought so.
So the computer does it's whizzing and whirring. Unable to load the OS from the hard drive, it defaults to the bootable CD. The application starts. I confirm the licensing agreement. And when prompted, confirm that this is the upgrade I want by pressing the provided key. And I wait. And I wait. Text appears on screen. Then more. Then some more. The CD is making it's noise. And after several minutes I get....
"No devices detected. Upgrade stopped. Press any key to continue"
Well, d'uh. I'm trying to fix the problem that the hard drive isn't being detected. How was this going to help me?
So I'm about to get on the phone with Seagate and see what the hell I'm suppose to do.
Thanks for stopping by. Go have a corn dog or something.
March 3rd, 2009 - 14:29
Told you not to leave your empty cup on the desk – the cleaner is proably enjoying a free doughnut right now!
March 3rd, 2009 - 15:19
Ouch! I haven’t been on a few days and just read the last 2 posts. It sounds like you’ve been bitten by the major firmware bug they had. Search the web … not pretty. I’d be surprised if Seagate actually survives this fiasco. Good luck getting it restored.
2 recommendations going forward:
1. Buy WD Green hard drives. Awesome drives, low power, low heat, fast and reliable. I just bought 2 1GB drives to use in my second recommendation …
2. Buy a Windows Home Server (it is me after all) or if you’re a M$FT h@ter go with a Drobo. I love my WHS. You just drop drives in and it just adds space and duplicates your data with next to no config. You install the utility on your PC’s and it just backs up your entire PC without any hassle. “just set it and forget it” as the infommercial goes.
The new HP Media Smart ex485 WHS also supports Macs via Time Machine for back-up which is really cool.
Oh, and it gives you a nice web interface to invite family/friends to look at pics, share files, etc.
Drobo is pretty similar and there’s a ton of apps out there that enhance functionality (WHS has add-ins though the community is nowhere as big). The backup stuff is OK, but not as good as WHS IMNSHO.
Rog’s recommendation of a NAS is also good, but they’re usually not as simple and require more tinkering to add drives and make sure backups are complete. The geek in me leans to the NAS but I LOVE the simplicity and efficiency of WHS.
Oh yeah, and any of these is fine and dandy, but if a thief breaks in and steals the box, it’s useless (don’t think it can happen – ask my buddy at EA who had his apt. broken in to. He lost 5 years of his portfolio work!). So get a good off-site backup like Mozy or Carbonite for the most important pieces – well worth the $50-60 / year.
March 3rd, 2009 - 15:23
Not sure if comment moderation is on, but that should have said 2x 1TB drives. 1GB is so 90′s
March 3rd, 2009 - 16:29
Hey thanks Karan. yes, you were moderated. must have been all those swear words… like ‘microsoft’.
March 3rd, 2009 - 21:27
First, corn dogs rock… I have some at work in the freezer. They even came with some cheesy sauce… Mmmm……
I agree with Karan that a NAS server is more involved in setting up, but after it’s set up, it’s virtually maintenance free (at least mine is).
Additionally, it’s IP addressable, has a built-in FTP server and you can administrate it over the internet. Easy, breezy, not Microsoft cheesy.
Mine, a Buffalo TeraStation, is Linux based, I believe.
Not a Microsoft hater, but I’ll avoid it whenever I can.
Roger’s last blog post..I Wanna Fly a Choppa
March 5th, 2009 - 10:18
Dude, bad news.
Go with WD for harddrives, they consistently get better reviews than Seagate.
You could get a NAS, I agree they seem pretty cool and appeal to the geek side. However, you don’t really need a NAS for the amount of data you have. You have an external harddrive enclosure now – get yourself a TB drive and put it in, and use it as your external backup. Backup once a week, or once a month, whatever suits your needs. Encrypt the drive (we use a free product called truecrypt at home, easy to install and use), and store it somewhere else when you’re not backing up.
March 9th, 2009 - 08:10
You could just purchase a Mac and then you wouldn’t have all these problems. But you already know that don’t you?
March 9th, 2009 - 08:40
Well, the problem isn’t with the operating system. It’s with the hardware. And I honestly don’t believe the hardware they put in Apple computers is any better than whatever else is out there.
Oh, and I actually hate the apple OS. It is completely foreign to me…