Ohhh crap (external USB HD borked)

[Sole Signal]

My external USB HD just shut off. I gave it a 15 minute rest and tried turning it back on. Nothing.

I had been working on a project with FL when the light first flickered once, then again about 10 seconds later, and then it shut off.

Obviously, the first thought is overheating; if that's the case, are the files recoverable? I'll take it in tomorrow if it still doesn't start up in the morning.

Man this sucks.

[CH]

That sounds more like something on the control board went out. You could try taking the HD out of the case and putting it in your computer and see if it works.

[Sole Signal]

Erm, it randomly decided to turn back on again. It's gotta be a loose connection or something. At least I can grab all my stuff before/if it conks out again.

[Katsurugi]

Depending on what the problem might be, there is a very slim chance you can revive it by throwing it in the freezer for a couple of hours. I don't exactly know how much time that'll buy you, but it's worth a try.

[Pyrion]

The freezer solution is only worthwhile if you're using a drive that has been running for years that may have built up gunk on the read-write heads that is preventing it from starting up (a repetitive clanging sound on startup, and the drive won't post). Freezing causes the data platters to shrink just enough for the read-write heads to fit, in which case you might be able to run the drive for a couple of hours to get your data off of it, but the drive itself is basically fucked.