# [SOLVED] Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?



## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

My Seagate 500Gb external drive is 'not recognized'-how to replace its internal circuit board, which I think is the cause? The drive has stopped functioning, although it whirrs and the light comes on, nothing shows. I found out that moving the usb cable gently at the hdd port end has helped show the drives content in the past, but now its not working or showing anything at all. I think the circuit board inside the casing (that connects the hdd to the usb and power supply) may have been the problem from the start. The drive connects with a standard psu and 27 pin connector, which I think is sata. 

My external hdd looks like it has a smaller version of the connection within the blue circle here (this is what the circuit board connects to), but everything else in this shot is missing: 









As seagate are unlikely to send me a new replacement circuit board for the external so that the hdd might function once more, I am wondering if its possible to make the hdd work on any desktop as an internal hdd? I know I can get 27 pin sata to usb cables, but that still leaves me needing to provide power to the drive-since its the seperate circuit board that the psu connects to, and not the drive? I have managed to backup the drives content already, but is it possible to get this drive working once more, if its just its seperate circuit board causing the problem? Thanks


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

It should plug right in to a desktop that has extra SATA data and power cables. You might have to buy a SATA data cable


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

My own external hdd does not have any slot for any power cables, only whats in blue above, so to use or test on a desktop, do I just need one of these:










The blue sata slot area in my image connects to a small circuit board, and that board has a 5 pin mini-usb slot and power supply slot. All of this sits inside the external laptops casing. The sata connection above looks alot larger than whats on the external hard drive, so its hard to tell if its definately the solution.

thanks for the reply


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

You just need a SATA cable ( red above) and a spare SATA power connector in the desktop


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

As Old Rich said, just use a SATA cable and a SATA power connector from your PSU.


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

thanks to both-it should be fine on my current desktop 

I forgot to say that part of my problem was that I also wanted to be able to find out if I could use the drive on a desktop which does not have sata, just out of interest with older machines? I have been browsing up for docking stations and cables for external hdds, but none of them seem to support '15+7 pin' sata drives, only 40 pin or 44 pin. Is it possible at all to get docking stations at all for the drive I have (3.5" 15+7) or are they simply not compatible?


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

Something like this:

Newegg.com - Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

thats what I was thinking.. but most of these drives seem to be only for 40 or 44 pin sata, when they do state how many pins the connection on the device holds. this one does not say if it can accept the 15 pin sata drive I have here (15 pin data+7 pin power as in my picture at the top). since my drive is an external taken out of its casing, and its not very common to ever be used out of its casing, im guessing theyre not going to be widely supported, if possible to be used with docking stations at all. i might be wrong, but if not then Im guessing that sata cables on that sata desktop are probably the only way to go  thanks


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

There is no 40 or 44 pin SATA . . There is just one SATA regardless of the size of the drive. Some for notebooks may have an adaptor


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

I must have been getting confused with ide-typing 40 pin or 44 pin did sometimes come up with sata though as an automatic addition, which didnt help. my excuse  I was looking at my image above thinking the connection had to look identical when I was forgetting that I was essentially looking at sata data and sata power connections together on the drive.

When I look at sata connections of hard drives online, they do seem to be much larger than what is on my own drive. At first I thought I was just getting results for smaller hdds, but Im still not 100% sure. Ill try posting a photograph up of my own drive tomorrow so you can gauge whether its definately the same type of connection or not-thanks


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

AGain . . there is only one SATA data and Power connection size


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*



> Again . . there is only one SATA data and Power connection size


See pictures in post #5


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## Kshahzad (May 15, 2012)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

why dont you buy a new external case for your HDD


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

yes an external case for a sata drive would be a good idea, if this drive works Im thinking of now only using it on a non sata compatible old desktop or laptop, for another user, as a backup for their files. enclosures are perhaps easier to use, and unlike the docking station the hdd isnt upright, so perhaps liable for less damage if knocked. the only thing Im wary about (for both docking stations and hd enclosures) are the cheap models-for an old drive I dont want to spend alot, but I dont know which brands to trust-there are some reviews from plenty of annoyed users of some stations and enclosures causing the hdd to get far too hot. If I am to transfer files via usb2, that can take a long time, and I wouldnt want to damage it after copying files for over half an hour or more. thanks


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

Only if a HDD is really old is it usually hot. There are enclosures that have fans. If you just want to transfer files and don't need a permanent solution and want to save money then get a USB Adapter.


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

I have a similar cable to the above already, originally only for my ide drives, and barely used due to being a very cheap brand (FZ?). Looking at it again now, I have noticed that its description labels it as 'ide sata to usb', yet the sata data connection on the adapter does not fit with any sata hdd, due to the sides of the sata port blocking the connection-eg its identical to:










I would need a seperate power connection anyway for the sata drive, as it cannot use the psu the above adapter came with, as that only fits with my ide hard drives. I believed it to be very cheap and stopped using it for my ide drives, as whilst the hdd didnt get too hot, the mains plug definately did-after 20 mins it was always too hot to touch, so I dont like to use it for long periods. Im sure overheating would likely be no different with cheap brand sata cables, enclosures or stations. If anyone can suggest reliable brands for either sata hdd to usb adapters or enclosures that would be great. Startech seem to be low cost and are everywhere, sold on multiple websites including amazon, but I dont know if they manufacture all that they sell themselves or if they are trustworthy


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

 


> USB Adapter.


The SATA connector on the adapter needs to have a SATA cable plugged into it and then plug the other end of the cable to SATA drive. These USB Adapters usually come with a separate Power Adapter included, as shown in the link in the quote. Here is another option if you want to spend more money Newegg.com - USB 3.0 2.0 to HD HDD SATA IDE Adapter Converter Cable


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

thanks for that  I do still have the psu for for the adapter, its completely identical to your link, even in design, which might hint at it being cheap (!), but it would seem if I was to use it with the sata drive I have here in a short test, I may require a molex to sata adapter, shown in your link. The psu I have here has a 4 pin molex connector only, which my sata drive does not have. I would have thought I would have gotten a molex to sata adapter as part of the set, unless very old sata drives did use molex, only having a molex and data connection. The drive I have here does have both 15+7 pins for power and data, so I may just have to hunt around if the molex to sata cable is definately required-i likely have it somewhere


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

You can get the molex to SATA adapter from any computer store. The very first SATA drives had Molex and SATA power connectors for backward compatibility. 
None the less your USB adapter should have included the power adapter for SATA.


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

*Re: Seagate Maxtor external drive 'not recognized'-how to use as internal hdd?*

I found the cable-the drive is working ok, so it must have been a bad connection on the circuit board after all. Ill probably replace the cables as they are pretty cheap and nasty- it should be fine inside a desktop, but im not so sure about it functioning elsewhere regarding its temp. the maxtor hdd did operate inside its own external casing using a fan-but it does not now whilst out of it, connected via usb. Ill try speedfan on it tomorrow to see how hot the hdd gets, i imagine it should b ok with no extensive use, but i still question where the best place is for any hdd out of its casing, especially with no fan functioning. I cant keep it in its original case due to the sata cables not fitting in fully. thanks for the help


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Run Seatools for Windows on the drive non the less to test it's stability. Run the Short and Long tests on the drive if either fail, then then drive needs to be replaced.


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

I dont want to run the long test via usb just yet until I get a more reliable adapter, as seatools states it can take hours-but the hdd has passed the short self test and short generic test at least. thanks


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

An enclosure is just to keep the drive from being damaged. It's not necessary to transfer files, you can leave the drive just attached to your USB Adapter. This drive is failing. Backup anything you want off of this drive and replace it.


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## thedarkness (Dec 30, 2004)

I was wrong about the fan, that info was given to me by someone else whilst we were checking the drive, late yesterday. Now testing it again, Im not so sure-I can hear it running, and wonder if it was because the fan can operate at differing fan speeds eg lower on startup, or if the casing itself that originally surrounded the hdd, made the fan sound louder in comparison to it does now. If the fan is ok, aside from not yet trying out the seatools 'long test', I dont think I can be 100% sure its failing, as the circuit board still seems to have been the sole cause for the windows messages of 'not recognizing the device' in 3 out of 5 attempts, unless the usb cable port at the hdd end was moved very slightly or reinserted. The likelyhood of the system (vista) recognizing the device worsened the more this connection was moved or reinserted, which suggested to me that the circuit board connection was at fault and nothing else.

Now, with a straight usb connection using my cables and your info, its connecting every time and has passed the short tests. The fan seems to be running ok. I have left the drive on for over 1 hour in a new test (idle for the most part) and despite a very warm and cheap power supply, the temperature of the drive has stayed in the late 30s C whilst connected to a laptop, according to speedfan. Everything on this drive was a secondary backup already. I decided to copy all content that wasnt elsewhere onto a larger newer drive just over a week ago whilst the computer was not always recognizing the device. The copied data I have tested runs ok with no errors and the drive is still working with no flaws. I have decided to keep the drive and only use it as a third backup rather than a hand me down to anyone else, as it wouldnt be fair if it decided to give up in the near future.. I know in keeping the hdd myself I could just take the easy option and use identical but better quality cables to what I have already, and take care of the device, but just out of interest-with enclosures vs docking stations, I still wonder..

1- if a docking station might be the better option regarding hdd temperature,
despite my initial thought that the docking station would be the worst 
option, due to being potentially knocked over by someone as it stands 
upright?

2-My own hdd label suggests that the drives warranty would end if the drive 
was hit by any force higher than 300G, so ive been trying to find out what 
the equivalent of this would be (the drive is out of warranty already)?

3-Im also still trying to find out if companies such as startech are 
trustworthy regarding quality, as they sell on multiple websites such as 
amazon, with their own enclosures and transfer cables at cheaper prices 
than the rest.. and no I dont work for them, lol


The above questions could perhaps be started up as another subject 
altogether in this forum  but thanks for the hdd info


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

All electronic computer parts are made in China. Some are shipped from China (startech) others are shipped from China to a "manufacturer" here they put there logo on it and the price is inflated. If the drive is working then don't worry about it. But do run the long test to be sure. Start it before you go to bed or when you don't need the drive for a long time.


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