USB disk not recognized by Linux

Question

I have a Raspberry Pi running a Debian based linux distribution (Raspbmc).
I have a ext4 formatted 1 TB usb disk connected to it, mounted under this path: /media/Monolite with this line in the /etc/fstab:

UUID=683ff60f-5d1a-4cc2-99bd-b0f146a4362a /media/Monolite ext4 rw,user,exec

Suddendly, the disk is no more recognized.
I unmounted it, unplugged it and plugged it again. Still not showing up.
If I run sudo mount -a I get this error:

mount: special device UUID=683ff60f-5d1a-4cc2-99bd-b0f146a4362a does not exist

Output of sudo lsusb contains:

Bus 001 Device 017: ID 059f:0951 LaCie, Ltd 

which is the disk, so it is recognized in some way, I think.

Output of dmesg contains this:

usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: New USB device found, idVendor=059f, idProduct=0951
usb 1-1.2.4.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=10, Product=11, SerialNumber=5
usb 1-1.2.4.3: Product: LaCie Hard Drive USB
usb 1-1.2.4.3: Manufacturer: LaCie
usb 1-1.2.4.3: SerialNumber: 152D203380B6
usb-storage 1-1.2.4.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
scsi5 : usb-storage 1-1.2.4.3:1.0
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device not accepting address 12, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: reset high-speed USB device number 12 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device not accepting address 12, error -71
scsi 5:0:0:0: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery
usb 1-1.2.4.3: USB disconnect, device number 12
usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 13 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 14 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 15 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device not accepting address 15, error -71
usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 16 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2.4.3: device not accepting address 16, error -71
hub 1-1.2.4:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 3
usb 1-1.2.4.3: new high-speed USB device number 17 using dwc_otg

Also, the disk is making a funny noise, which I suppose is not a good sign.
Is there any way I can read the data in the disk, or is it gone?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Gpart NOT Gparted OR testdisk (and its other included tool photorec) are great BUT as with everything of this nature do it unmounted (from an installer or other OS) and with as little writing to the drive as possible in the interim

Answer 2

Connect to the manufacturer's site and look for the disk recovery software. Almost all manufacturers have such a tool (Western Digital's is called DLG if I recall correctly). It might be a tool which runs in DOS or windows. These tools are able to switch bad sectors for spare ones, and get the disk at least logically correct again. There might be some files which have now bad sectors replaced by new ones, but at least the space is usable again.

Then run fsck.ext4 on the driver - this does not mount the disk (which should not be mounted either) and checks for the file structure. If the superblock is damaged, it can use a backup copy, and maybe get access close to normal again. See the man page and Wikipedia

If you get access, backup everything and run a diagnostic on the disk to decide if you're going to be able to continue using it. Also check the power supply cables to see if they're reliable - they're frequently the cause for such problems. If that's the problem, it's not the disk's fault!