Retrieving data off a faulty USB drive

[lowfreq]

A few years back I transferred an aperture library to a USB drive. That drive is now not working. It's recognized by disk utility but won't mount and when I try to use disk repair its errors out.

I am pretty sure I have all these backed up somewhere else, but still want to try and retrieve these photos if I can.

Best course of action?

 

[mikzn]

Maybe try - Data Rescue 6

It worked for me in the past on a drive problem - When everything else didn’t work

 

[BrianBaughn]

One possibility is that the USB housing's electronics are on the fritz…although it's not likely as you're seeing it in Disk Utility. Still a possibility, though.

 

[eyoungren]

Maybe try - Data Rescue 6

It worked for me in the past on a drive problem - When everything else didn’t work

Second that. Data Rescue is pretty good.

 

[Fishrrman]

You could try the drive on another computer.

But if it's "gone dark" on you after several years, might be difficult to get anything from it.
USB flashdrives can just "be that way".
Not the best place for "long-term storage"...

 

[Cayenne1]

Try TestDisk installed via Brew install or download from this link: TestDisk

It's a. Free and b. effective.

Runs in Terminal requiring Sudo (administrative password). Read the extensive documentation.

I just retrieved a number of JPGs and MPGs off a deleted 60GB XQD card.

Good luck.

 

[philgxxd]

Try to copy/clone it first and then try the suggested software on it.
Especially with TestDisk its easy to do yet more harm.
TestDisk can work with images of the data.