External hard drive problems -- help!

since84 · Aug 2nd, 2010, 01:07 PM

When I bought my Mini, it came with a mini stack external drive (newer technology Mini Stack V.3), which i set up as my time Machine drive.
Not long after I got it, Time Machine started having backup failures. Then the drive stopped mounting sometimes. it wouldn't show up in disc utility, either. finally I couldn't get it to mount at all. Tried it on 2 other Macs and it wouldn't mount there. either. So I bought a new drive from an Apple reseller near me and they installed it in the same case.
After a few months, it began behaving like the first one and eventually failed altogether. So, back to the Apple reseller that replaced the first drive. They sent it back to the manufacturer (Seagate) and they replaced it. The store installed it in the case.

This was about 10 days ago. The drive is mounting fine and Time Machine is using it with no error messages. BUT, 2 days ago, the fan stared running about every 30 seconds for a second or two. I've turned the drive off: disconnected it and left it for a day, but the fan started as soon as I connected it.
I moved it away from the Mini, in case their being stacked was causing too much heat. didn't work.
I'm worried about it failing, too, and, because I'm having surgery tomorrow, I won't be able to get it back for repair for a couple of months.

Now I'm wondering if it's possible that the case could be at fault.

I have other backups -- a daily clone backup on another external drive, and a monthly backup on a drive kept separately in another room of the house (Yes, that's 3 backups. I once lost a whole chapter of a book I was writing and I've been a backup fanatic ever since.)

I'm disconnecting the problem spinning drive and will test it when I get home. If it's still having the same problem, Should I buy another case and should I also get a new drive, yet again?

Thanks for reading all this.

eMacMan · Aug 2nd, 2010, 04:43 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by since84
	When I bought my Mini, it came with a mini stack external drive (newer technology Mini Stack V.3), which i set up as my time Machine drive. Not long after I got it, Time Machine started having backup failures. Then the drive stopped mounting sometimes. it wouldn't show up in disc utility, either. finally I couldn't get it to mount at all. Tried it on 2 other Macs and it wouldn't mount there. either. So I bought a new drive from an Apple reseller near me and they installed it in the same case. After a few months, it began behaving like the first one and eventually failed altogether. So, back to the Apple reseller that replaced the first drive. They sent it back to the manufacturer (Seagate) and they replaced it. The store installed it in the case. This was about 10 days ago. The drive is mounting fine and Time Machine is using it with no error messages. BUT, 2 days ago, the fan stared running about every 30 seconds for a second or two. I've turned the drive off: disconnected it and left it for a day, but the fan started as soon as I connected it. I moved it away from the Mini, in case their being stacked was causing too much heat. didn't work. I'm worried about it failing, too, and, because I'm having surgery tomorrow, I won't be able to get it back for repair for a couple of months. Now I'm wondering if it's possible that the case could be at fault. I have other backups -- a daily clone backup on another external drive, and a monthly backup on a drive kept separately in another room of the house (Yes, that's 3 backups. I once lost a whole chapter of a book I was writing and I've been a backup fanatic ever since.) I'm disconnecting the problem spinning drive and will test it when I get home. If it's still having the same problem, Should I buy another case and should I also get a new drive, yet again? Thanks for reading all this.

Cases do tend to fail at least as frequently as the HDs themselves.

Glipt · Aug 3rd, 2010, 07:14 PM

I've had a few issues like that myself. I my case a new USB cable did the trick. Try the simple first.