GoFlex, GoFlex Desk, GoFlex Pro, GoFlex Slim, & GoFlex Turbo

[CoreyW92]

Hi

Before getting into the issue, I'd like to say that I am working with a Macbook Pro and have a "FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive 2TB" I guess I will start out by saying that about half of the time I plug it in my mac doesn't detect it (and sometimes the light is on.. sometimes off). Then when it does detect it does the following: When I go to open it with finder it crashes my finder causing me to restart my macbook. If it doesn't do that I can get it open but it shows no folders or files within the drive (but when I click on "Get info" it shows that 60GBs are being used). If it doesn't do either when I open it shows the folders within the drive but no files whatsoever. I've tried dragging and dropping a folder to my desktop and upon doing so the transfer freezes and doesn't make any progress whatsoever. I've tried going into Disk Utility and repairing the disk and does the same (progress stays at zero doesn't progress). I have also tried using a back up utility and does the same exact that thing. ANDDD last but not least when I right click on it and click reject it takes a few minutes then a message pops saying "Drive could not be eject because one or more programs are using it" Then gives me the option to force eject or cancel. Help is dire, I have all of my music, movies, photoshop projects, music recordings, games, just about everything on this drive I need to if anything be able to get them off/backed up. Thanks

[CoreyW92]

I take that back, anyone at Seagate don't bother answering my question because I won't EVER be purchasing another harddrive from your company again. Not only did patiently wait for a answer on here and a email back but I am told that it cost $1000!!!!! to due a full recovery of my hard drive and get my VALUEABLE files back. What kind of greedy company puts a price like that on hardworking people like myself. Goodluck Adam, good luck Seagate I will be making sure none of my friends and family ever purchase anything from this company again.

[AlanM]

Did you try connecting the drive to a different Mac?  

Did you not make a backup of your data?  If not, I'm so sorry, and whether you ever use another Seagate drive in the future or not, for your own sake, please always keep a backup on a different storage media.  

[drjamie03]

I'm having the same problem and will be returning it and the firewire add on I purchased.  Fortunately for me, I don't yet have anything on the drive...I feel bad for the original poster and irritated that Seagate isn't helping them.  Regarding the response saying they should always back up their data...isn't that what an external drive is for?  When does it stop?  Do we back up our computer with an external hard drive, then back up the external hard drive with another hard drive, then back up that one, etc?  I'm not trying to be a jerk-I would just appreciate it if things worked as they were supposed to, or if they don't work, that the manufacturer would stand behind their product and help us fix the problem.  And you wonder why there are so many returns?  It's wasteful, but what else are we supposed to do if the products don't work and we can't get support for them?

[AlanM]

drjamie03,

Well, let me suggest that you consider a few things here:
1) The original poster DID receive an answer to his email query, on 19 Jan 2011.  He did not reply to it, but instead came on here and complained about not getting an answer.  That just doesn't make sense.

2) It is up to the user to contact Seagate; it is impossible for Seagate to preemptively contact every single customer we've ever had and ask them "So, how's the drive going?"  Nobody would like that anyway - that's called spam.  

3) Yes, external drives are for BACKING UP. A backup is defined as a second copy, not a first copy.  If you have only one copy of your data, it doesn't matter where it's stored; it is not a backup.  It stops wherever you want it to stop, but the MINIMUM is TWO copies on TWO different storage media. The minimum is not one.  

4) We would all appreciate it if things worked perfectly, but that's not the world we live in.  Since drives fail sometimes, back up your data.  

5) "So many returns"?  May I ask to what extent you have gotten access to wide-reaching data about Seagate's warranty-returned units?  And how you got that access?

6) You did not mention what troubleshooting you have performed, but a search of your registered email address displays no contacts to Tech Support.  

[merlynwylld]

Hi AlanM,

Maybe we can get this thread into something positive here and get some information flowing about troubleshooting the GoFlex Desk series, the 2TB USB 3.0 in particular on a iMac 21.5" 3.06ghz Macintosh with OSX 10.6.6.

I was not aware until this research that there was a PC Bundle & a Mac Bundle. It seems that both are having the same problems. 

I don't normally install device specific drivers unless there is a real need. I didn't at first install the bundle described here:

MacInstall (Seagate Software Bundle) v2.0.0 (26302), Copyright © 2007-2008 Seagate Technologies

The Seagate GoFlex software runs on both PowerPC and Intel Macintosh computers using OSX 10.4.11 and higher.

Applications

 Seagate Diagnostics (1.1)

 Seagate Storage Gauge (1.0)

 Memeo Backup (2.5)

Extensions

 Seagate Storage Driver (5.0.1)

 Paragon NTFS for Mac (8.0)

LLC.

That of course meant that with in a matter of a few idle minutes the drives began unmounting from the Desktop. A quick search turned up that I really did need to install the software which I then did.

I purchased both a 2TB Seagate FA GoFlex Desk Media hard drive & a 320GB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Media which is doing fine at this time. It is only the 2TB that has a problem. I also have just added a 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent Media HD too. It is one of the silver previous model line. I am working with a fresh install also of Snow Leopard.

I copied the software off of the 2TB drive and partitioned it into 2 one terabyte volumes. This was done with out any problems other than confusing myself as to what software came with which drive... Must be getting old!

The drive operated fine for a couple of days after installing the software listed above. Then the problem returned and I have now downloaded and installed Seagate Sleep Override Utility 1.0 Build 24531, © Seagate, LLC. I am concerned that it might be a older version but thought it was worth a try. I'm not so deep into this fresh install with all the troubleshooting I'm doing that I can't wipe it another time and start over if needed! At the moment the drive hasn't unmounted, but of course I have kept the computer active typing this. I have also set the drives to never sleep in the power management, just on principle. 

I've also been searching for info on the problems with the constant updating that shows in the console such as the com_seagate_IOPowSecUserClient***  that is discussed here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13044122&#13044122

Also, I have a still in the box iOmega iConnect Wireless Data Station that I wanted to hook this drive to and make a NAS out of it and the 1.5TB, if this drive needs constant polling from the computer to stay awake I'm wondering if it will work. I guess I'll have to be the beta tester! I'm guessing that there might be a firmware update in the future.

Thanks for any input,

BillW

[AlanM]

Installing the MacOS version of the Seagate Diagnostics software should disable any sleep feature that may be enabled on the drive and allow it to follow any sleep commands issued by MacOS.

[kyussson]

Hi All, 

I work at a computer repair shop and I have seen 3 of these units in the last two weeks all exhibiting the same symtoms. They will connect, power on, and mount for a few minutes - long enough to transfer maybe a gig or two - then they will die. Each time they die a little sooner until they will not connect at all. 

This is a hard drive problem. The enclosure has been removed. Windows ... Mac ... Linux all the same. 

DO NOT keep important data on one of these drives. 

They were all purchased within weeks of failure. 

[Cwin12]

I just purchased this hard drive 2 days ago. Backed up my old comp (Windows XP) and also my new comp (Windows 7). Both backups completed fine and the files were all there. My only problem is that there is an annoying beep every minute or two. I thought maybe it was because of my old computer being such a P.O.S....but it did the same on the new one. I then thought well maybe happens during the initial backup, but I went in this morning after the backup and it was still beeping periodically. Is this normal? I have connections to a gentleman who works for Seagate. He thought it may be a lack of power to the hard drive. Is this an issue anyone else has seen. Any feedback will be much appreciated. I want to get to the bottom of it before it is a problem and I lose all my time and data. Thanks.

[thumpinc]

Alan - You seem to have disappeared while other people are still having this issue. I am one of them.

I have a 64-bit Quad Core Mac Pro with OS 10.6.6 and it has the GoFlex 2TB drive plugged in using USB 2.0. The drive will disappear randomly from my desktop. I have installed all the SeaGate software. I have started up in 32 bit and chose to disable sleep. My drive still disappears.

The first 2TB drive I purchased had this problem so I returned it. I swapped drives but kept the same USB 2.0/3.0 dock. Since the problem has reappeared I suspect its your dock thats causing the problem but could be wrong. Dunno. I just need a working drive for $130 and there are plenty of other vendors that seem to be able to deliver that. 

And while I am at it I also have the silver SeaGate 1.0TB and 1.5TB drives that constantly go to sleep and reawake. Those aren't even recognized by the latest SeaGate software in either 32bit or 64bit which sucks because I really wish they would just stay awake for longer than 15 minutes at a stretch.

It seems to me this 2TB piece of GoFlex hardware is faulty. I am also unsure why I need to install ANYTHING to use a USB Hard Drive with my machine. Your workaround of constantly pinging the drive with 'StayAwake' or whatever it's called is a terribly sloppy way of addressing the sleep issue. And lets face it - the sleep issue is there because you are worried about the lifespan of your drive on the 2TB.

Please let me know how to either ensure this drive remains mounted.