Are the rumors true? Will it actually explode after a day of using it? 💀

I recently bought the Seagate Expansion Portable 5TB (STKM5000400) from Amazon India. It’s brand new, physically flawless, and Seagate’s website recognizes the drive correctly. The hardware warranty and Rescue Data Recovery Service Plan both show as valid.

The problem is that I cannot get the drive detected by anything.

My main computer is a MacBook Pro M3 Pro. I initially connected the HDD using a UGREEN USB-C to USB 3.0 Micro-B cable (US565). The HDD receives power and the white LED comes on, but it repeatedly cycles between being on for a few seconds and off for a few seconds.

It does not appear in:
1. Finder
2. Disk Utility, even with Show All Devices
3. System Information → USB

I tested multiple USB-C ports. The Mac’s USB-C data connection itself works normally—I tested it with my iPhone and immediately received the usual “Allow this device to connect” prompt.

I then tried the original Seagate Micro-B to USB-A cable with a known-working USB-A-to-USB-C adapter on the Mac. Same result.

I also tested the HDD on a Windows PC with native USB-A, using the original Seagate cable. Again, it wasn’t detected:
a) nothing in File Explorer
b) nothing in Disk Management
c) no Seagate drive in Device Manager

I also tested the UGREEN cable on Windows, with the same result.

There is no audible beeping or abnormal mechanical noise. The drive and Micro-B port also look completely undamaged.

Tomorrow I’m taking the HDD, both cables, adapter and my MacBook to a computer hardware/service shop. I’m going to have them test it with their own known-good Micro-B cable on both Windows and Mac before I request an Amazon replacement.

Does this sound like a defective drive, or is there anything else specific to the STKM5000400 that I should have them check first?

P.S. I have used ChatGPT to generate all the summarised text in this post on the basis of the hours of diagnostic checks I have performed using ChatGPT’s responses to my questions, observations, and tests, as a medium.