External Drive Problem - Data Recovery

[LorenK]

I hope someone can help with this problem. I have an Samsung 5Tb external drive and the controller card died. To make the device compatible with Windows XP, Samsung added some firmware to make it compatible. The problem is that with the controller card dead, even though the drive still works, I can't access the data on the drive. I have the data, but it is my iTunes, and I had made some updates that haven't been backed up, besides being a giant pain to reload the data from the separate drives (I was in the process of transitioning from three drives to one).

Anyone aware of any software tools that might allow me to directly access the data? I tried using Seagate's Paragon software, but it only works with Samsung manufactured drives, and the one Samsung put in my external was by JMicron. I also tried Seagate customer support, but while one support person tried to be helpful, apparently Seagate doesn't let their support staff follow through on a request, and the next person who responded was less than helpful (yes, I knew that the drive was out of warranty, I was asking if Seagate had any recovery software that got around their firmware problem, so no answer from them).

So, new rule for me, avoid external drives that have weird firmware on their controller cards.

 

[ZapNZs]

Is this one of the models where the SATA bridge is permanently mated to the drive board itself?

 

[ayetta]

Prosoft's, "Data Recovery" software. I actually bought their Drive Genius + Backup software in addition, as a bundle. But yea, it can definitely help. They've been in the data recovery game for years.

 

[seagate_surfer]

Seagate does offer software under Recovery Services. There's also a lot of 3rd party software out there which does this as well, you'd just have to do a little digging around online to see what other users recommend in similar circumstances.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Before going further, let's parse something you wrote:
"The problem is that with the controller card dead, even though the drive still works, I can't access the data on the drive."

Frankly, this doesn't make any sense.
How do you know the drive "still works", if the controller board is "dead"?
What are you doing that is leading you to this conclusion?

Here's a test:
Open Disk Utility.
Are you able to "see" the drive in DU's window?
If so, can you "repair" the drive?
What results do you get?
Can you click the "erase" tab?
Does it give you the option to erase? (DON'T actually erase it, we are only trying to see if DU can access the drive)

I don't think that ANY data recovery software will be able to access the drive if the controller board has gone bad on you.

I have heard of the following technique from others, but have never tried it myself:
It might be possible to buy an identical, working drive -- and then swap the controller boards from the good drive to the bad one.
This presumes that the boards can be detached and re-attached.

Other than that, without a working drive controller, I think the only way to get at the data would be through a professional firm that will literally disassemble the drive and access the platters somehow.
Doing this is going to be VERY VERY EXPENSIVE.
We're talking thousands.
Is the data on the drive REALLY worth that much to you?
Is there an "alternate means of recovery" that would make more sense?

Let's review some more of what the OP wrote:
"I have the data, but it is my iTunes, and I had made some updates that haven't been backed up, besides being a giant pain to reload the data from the separate drives (I was in the process of transitioning from three drives to one)."

It doesn't matter if it's going to be "a giant pain to reload the data from the separate drives". One has to do, what one has to do to recover data from a failed drive.

I recommend that you get a new drive that has sufficient capacity to hold all the files.
I also recommend that you DO NOT initialize the drive in a "cross-format" (so that it could be read on both PC's and Macs)
Instead, format it for HFS+ with journaling enabled.

Then, begin the process of re-consolidating your files on this Mac-formatted drive.

 

[LorenK]

Is this one of the models where the SATA bridge is permanently mated to the drive board itself?

I may be using incorrect nomenclature, but no, the SATA bridge is not soldered to the drive, I can access the drive through a SATA -USB cable, it just can't red the drive.
[doublepost=1505167088][/doublepost]

OP:

Before going further, let's parse something you wrote:
"The problem is that with the controller card dead, even though the drive still works, I can't access the data on the drive."

I'm probably using incorrect nomenclature, someone else describes it as the SATA bridge, but all I know is that there is a board in the drive case which connects to the SATA port on the drive and to which the power connects. Seagate tells me that there is firmware on this card that allowed it to be read by Windows XP, which had a 2Tb limit on drives. That firmware apparently prevents the drive being read directly by Mac O/S.

Yeah, I get it, one has to do what one has to do, but like everyone else, I'd rather that people did smart things in the first place, like not making a drive unreadable if the card in the case fails when the drive still functions. Or if you use firmware in such a card, that you make software available if the card fails. Seagate/Samsung failed in the test of consumer friendly.

But thanks for taking the time to reply. Still learning and always nice to hear from people with more knowledge and experience.