I have the exact same problem with another Seagate FreeAgent and only after two weeks use. The drive, after cracking open the drive's external housing and this was suggested by Seagate's helpdesk techi as an option... and yes destroys warranty for FreeAgent RMA, found the dreaded ST31000340AS 7200.11. The drive behaved and failed the same way as a internal drive. Not sure what the problem is, as I never heard the beeping sound before from a damaged/dead drive. All points to some electromechanical failure, no spindle/platter spin or actuator/head parking. Some of these drives have the Firmware update notice. See "Seagate 7200.11 Drive Failures - Official Answer" I checked my batch number of the drive and it appears it does not require the firmware update. However, I am seeing a number of similar failures of the Seagate's 1TB and 1.5TB. Planning to send to the Bigboys for cleanroom analysis but I very tempted to open drive myself if I can find a spare clone drive. The big price tag for repair/recovery is a bit much. Yes data is precious but its to old Garage mechanic trust at stake here. $2000 for a 2 second nudge of spindle or a 10 minute head replacement. I have recovered data from a few dead drives and all it required was a gentle hand and just enough time to get 99%% data off. These Big Gigs are a different story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DAVIT
