Iomega 1TB Desktop Hard Drive Problems

[shiznit]

I can no longer see my drive on the network, despite trying various connections. I have tried to turn it off and on again, but the power button does not have any affect on this. Next I tried doing a hard reset using the button on the back, this also is not working.

Pulling the plug out and restarting the drive does nothing either. On the Iomega website it talks about restarting/resetting etc through the device manager software, but seeing as i can not connect to the drive this is impossible.

I have resigned myself to the fact that i will loose all the files stored on it, I just want to get it working again. It is only 2 years old and is used as my backup TimeMachine backup disc.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[ChuckFickens]

Is it a network drive then? or is it USB, in which case it's in my commuter you should be looking, not "on the network"

If it is USB then try it in a different USB port and on a different computer, if still no joy then it's probable by the sound that it's just the case that has died and the actual hard drive inside may still be fine, in which case a £15 USB hard caddy will get it working again.

[ChuckFickens]

I obviously meant my computer, no need to look at any rail passengers to find your drive!

[shiznit]

Whooops, forgot some info, yes its a network drive, plugged into the back of wireless router, and it's a mac household. I might remove the drive and slot in my MacPro if only to test your theory before handing over any cash.

Thanks

[ChuckFickens]

That does make a difference :)

but if it's not powering on at all then chances are (fingers crossed) that it's the case rather than the drive so removing it and plugging it straight into a computer would be my next move.

It may even just be the power supply of course, do you have access to a multimeter just to check it's still outputting roughly the correct voltage?

[shiznit]

It powers on, i just cant turn it off and on with the power switch, or reset it. The blue light is constantly on with the fan running, but thats it

[ChuckFickens]

Not liking the light on all the time!

Try logging onto the drives interface by typing its IP address into a browser, but if it does work it may not be looking good for the drive itself!

But still try the drive direct in a computer, and if it does work try it again in the case, you'd be surprised how often just taking something apart and putting it together again fixes things (we call it reseating everything)

[shiznit]

Thanks for your help Chuck, the drive is FUBAR i'm afraid. Lot of downloading lost, ah well, that will teach me. I'm going to build a raid from an old G5 I have so this wont happen again.

[ChuckFickens]

Raid5, regular backups and off site storage if you have really vital stuff is the way to go :)

[MarkRae]

CF is right, especially about the regular (and, most importantly, VERIFIED) backups.


> I have resigned myself to the fact that i will loose all the files stored on it.

Well, no, not necessarily. There are specialist data recovery services who specialise in getting data off FUBAR devices. However, expect to pay a lot of money for their services. Only you can decide whether the data is worth that cost...