I have been using my SmartDisk FireLite external hard drive on my macbook for about a year and a half and it stopped working today. The yellow light on the front lights up when I plug it into my firewire--it is like it is on, but the orange light on the back does not light up. Sometimes the external hard drive shows up as a device and sometimes it doesn't. When it shows up, it will randomly stop working and the orange light will flicker on and off. It seems like it will randomly work and different angles, but not consistently
Computers & Internet - SmartDisk - FireLite - FireLite 40 GB Hard Drive
Answers & Comments
If there is a repeated clicking noise from the drive, then the drive has head-crashed. If there is any data on it that you absolutely have to have, then stop using the drive immediately and contact a drive recovery service like DriveSavers.
Please do not give me a bad rating for being the bearer of bad news. I'm trying to save your data by being direct with you. Others might try to paint a rosy picture about this situation to get a good rating, but the fact of the matter is that you need to disconnect the drive immediately if there is anything of value that you need off of it.
I've used DriveSavers in the past and they are very reputable: http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/
Give them a call to discuss the situation.
NOTE: there are many drive recovery companies out there that are probably just as good as DriveSavers. My only experience in this situation has been with DriveSavers, so that's why I mention them. I do not work for or have any connection to them aside from having once been their customer.
I had another thought. Can you try using a different style="display:none;">I had another thought. Can you try using a different data cable with the drive (if that is even possible}. A failed cable could also be the problem here.