Broken External HDD

Pikachu · Post by **Pikachu** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:18 pm

Ok, I thought this might be an easy fix, bt it's prooving to be a pain in my rear...

I got this usb 2.0 case, with a western digital 160gb hdd.

HDD powers up, not able to read it off my IDE on the mobo, so i put this handy dandy ide controller card in.... still no prevail. I've checked the jumpers and gotten new ATA cables for all my drives (an upgrade that looks great for this soon to be file server). Anyone come across this prediciment before? I have about 140gigs of stuff I need to d/l on my other hdd's, and was wondering if there is a program that find this? I could try a linux cfdisk, but don't really want the hassle of playing with linux out here (most of my L33ty McL337 books are at home, and so is my majic hdd repairer... I swear the thing is majical). Any pointers I could use out here in the desert, or even a few site I could get some answers from?

thanks,
John

wpublic · Post by **wpublic** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:43 pm

have you tried to clear cmos?

then "load optimized defaults"

also, check the IDE connectors for bent pins

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:55 am

I'm not sure I understand and I need more info.

You have an external 160Gb drive that failed. You've removed it from the case and connected it to the IDE port on the mobo, and an add-on IDE card and it still doesn't work, right?
QUESTIONS:

- When connected to the IDE on the mobo does BIOS detect it?

- If BIOS detects it show up in the Disk Manager in Windows?

- If it shows up in the Disk Manager does it show up in Explorer (My Computer)?

- If it shows up in Explorer, can you see the directory or is the directory corrupt/files missing?

- Have you downloaded Western Digital's hard drive diagnostic from their website and run it yet? Run the advanced diagnostic which will take a couple of hours. If it finds damage it may offer to repair it. Do so.

Assuming BIOS recognizes the drive, but the data is corrupt, there are several utilities that can recover the files. I use DIY's iRecover. Be aware that it can take the better part of a DAY (or more) to recover the files off a corrupt drive.

Pikachu · Post by **Pikachu** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:18 am

bios is not detecting this drive.

ide pins are slightly bent, but the connection is secure between the pins and the cable.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:06 pm

No hope if BIOS doesn't detect it. So if I understand it's not detected in the USB enclosure or if connected to the IDE port? It's dead - likely a problem with the drive's electronics.

I assume you can HEAR the drive spinning so you know it's getting power?

wpublic · Post by **wpublic** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:46 pm

has this drive taken a bit of a shock (knocked or dropped)?

if you can get in there to see it without disassembling, look where the IDE pins on the drive are connected to the pcb on the bottom of the drive and see if any of the pins have broken off the solder points.

Pikachu · Post by **Pikachu** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:34 pm

yes, i can hear the mechanics of the hdd, like the spinning, and it's ability to move the reader to sector 0 for a boot, but that's about it. I think I might just crack open the hdd once i get back to see if i can remove the disks manually and swap them (for fun, not for data recovery).

Is there any other way to see if i can pull this data off the hdd? Like a drive image maker/disk drive duplicator? Also, with a good soldering iron, think i can swap out the hdd main boards? I'm just wondering, since I have some time on my hands, and i got nothing better to do...

Also, for the shock question, I have no clue, someone gave me this hdd, and asked if I can pull the data from it, If so, then I got a free 160 gig hdd, if not... i got a new playtoy.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:31 pm

Waste of time opening it up. Without a clean room 2 seconds after you open that drive the platters would be junk. The clearance between the heads and the platter on modern drives is so small that normal dust we breath in all day long would immediately wedge between them and wreck the drive and platter due to friction.

You'd ruin 2 drives by trying to move the platters.

If the drive can't be recognized by BIOS there's nothing you can do. If BIOS can see it then you can recover data.

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:03 pm

what you can do though, is if you have an identical drive, swap the circuit boards and see if that is the issue.

Greg

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:28 pm

Originally posted by nexus_7
what you can do though, is if you have an identical drive, swap the circuit boards and see if that is the issue.

Greg

What he said.

RubberDuckie · Post by **RubberDuckie** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:35 pm

Pay close attention to the key words in there: identical drive

Pikachu · Post by **Pikachu** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:15 am

Originally posted by nexus_7
what you can do though, is if you have an identical drive, swap the circuit boards and see if that is the issue.

Greg

Sounds like a plan... and if that dosen't work... well then i got some free coasters for everone here.

rndmtask · Post by **rndmtask** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:31 pm

Originally posted by nexus_7
what you can do though, is if you have an identical drive, swap the circuit boards and see if that is the issue.

Greg

It needs to be perfectly identical, and from what I read when I RMA'd my last WD drive its impossible to tell if two WD drives are identical. At least to us mortals. Their documents say that even if its the same model and size and everything it could have a totally different board controlling it. I don't have a clue how they can tell but you can't swap the board for even a slightly different one.

Pikachu · Post by **Pikachu** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:29 pm

Originally posted by rndmtask
It needs to be perfectly identical, and from what I read when I RMA'd my last WD drive its impossible to tell if two WD drives are identical. At least to us mortals. Their documents say that even if its the same model and size and everything it could have a totally different board controlling it. I don't have a clue how they can tell but you can't swap the board for even a slightly different one.

I hate technology at times, and my mortality.... looks like i'm going to bring home a hard drive pinata, so when I get back from the sandbox, the party is going to be at my place....

Shadow250 · Post by **Shadow250** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:14 pm

have you tried the jumper settings? western digital seems to like no jumper on it even if it has a master setting when used as a boot drive.