External (J) drive light was off. Error 36 read/write to scratch Unrecoverable.

[Dottonedan]

Came in this am and the External (J) drive was not available. I had a psd file open and it popped up an error code 36.  Error 36 Could not read/write to scratch disk. Sorry, this is unrecoverable. I close it down (the file was saved) so no worries there.

I checked the drive folder and see that the 1st step to my backup process) aka the J drive was changed to the K drive...and so my 1st backup drive (K) is running.


The 2ndary or FINAL backup drive is on the Fritz.

So I check the drives and see that my external (Final backup drive) light is off.
I checked the connections, All good. I  restarted the PC. Nothing. No light on at this point.


So I unplug the connection and plug it back in. Light came on. Still no connection to the PC. It's not recognizing it.


I work on my C drive for current jobs.


Once jobs are done, I then save or back up to the big J drive (now the K drive).


I also then back up (the back up)  that other 2nd external ....but have never had to try it out so I don't know how much of everything is being truly backed up.


Any particular precautionary steps to recovering everything on this 2ndary external drive? I think it's got everything on it that the 1st backup does...and then some. It's the Then some that I don't want to lose.

[inkman996]

I had an external crap out recently like yours. Mine was unresponsive like no power to it at all. After doing all the things you said with no luck. I ripped open the case removed the hard drive and installed it directly in a PC. The drive was perfectly fine so obviously there was something burnt out in the external connections. Maybe this is your problem if not and it is the drive itself then who knows.

[Frog]

It wouldn't hurt to try a different usb cable (and/or perhaps to a different usb port)

[blue moon]

I had an external crap out recently like yours. Mine was unresponsive like no power to it at all. After doing all the things you said with no luck. I ripped open the case removed the hard drive and installed it directly in a PC. The drive was perfectly fine so obviously there was something burnt out in the external connections. Maybe this is your problem if not and it is the drive itself then who knows.

same here about two weeks ago. . .

pierre

[Frog]

I moved away from the specific external drive for this purpose, to a rack that holds a regular internal drive. I just feel that they are more dependable.
Some racks are all inclusive and  the drive just slides in, while the one I chose utilizes a tray that hols the drive. It seems more secure. (To switch between multiple drives,  one would need multiple trays)

These folks have racks with 1, 2 , or three little fans.
Since I only run my drive during daily scheduled back up, I find the single fan adequate.

http://kingwin.com/products/cate/mobile/racks/kf_811_bk.asp

[Gilligan]

I had an external crap out recently like yours. Mine was unresponsive like no power to it at all. After doing all the things you said with no luck. I ripped open the case removed the hard drive and installed it directly in a PC. The drive was perfectly fine so obviously there was something burnt out in the external connections. Maybe this is your problem if not and it is the drive itself then who knows.

same here about two weeks ago. . .

pierre

That's definitely a possibility and a solution.  Those things are practically given away with the drive... so you get what you pay for in a sense.

Now as far as your "crash", do you understand why that happened?  For whatever reason J became K and that confused PS or Illy.  Your scratch discs is an Adobe thing and it was pointing at the "J" drive I assume.

Let me know if you have any other questions.  Which drive is the one that is flaking out?  Your old one or the one I sent back with your old one?

[Dottonedan]

Now as far as your "crash", do you understand why that happened?  For whatever reason J became K and that confused PS or Illy.  Your scratch discs is an Adobe thing and it was pointing at the "J" drive I assume.


Yes,  I'm fully aware of that part. When a drive is disconnected, the drive names change up in sequence.  No drive, no scratch disk to go to.


It's still not kicking in thus far.