Dead Hard drive??

[pcchipsficaopen]

i turned my computer on today and the hard drive was dead (no light, no noise). i tried different power plugs in the case, but the same thing happened everytime. i tried all of the 'usual' ways of testing to see what's wrong. everything else works, from what i can tell (all cards, all other drives, all fans, etc.).

i dont think i am, but i really hope I'm overlooking something here. this was my main computer and had all of my stuff on it. it showed no sign that something was wrong before.

one other thing i noticed today for the first time, and i dunno if it has something to do w/ it, is sometimes when u press the power switch on the front of the case, the display shuts off but the fans keep going, along w/ the CD drives. u have to either unplug it or hit the switch on the back of the case(on power supply) to turn it off. maybe a bad power supply for everything?

the computer is in the sign.

thanks for anything
Doug

[redbears]

The PS problem makes you wonder whether or not there is any power on the rails. Do any of the other drives (CD/FDD) fire up??

[pcchipsficaopen]

yep, everything else works (CD drives and floppy lights up).

[bear]

That sounds like the Power Supply. If the CD Drive appears to be working properly, a simple test would be to switch the power lead between the CD Drive and the HD. If you have a multimeter, you can check the voltages on the leads as well. If one lead has gone bad, chances are good that the others will follow suit shortly.

[redbears]

If you find it is the HDD, have a look at this post I saw on google...

http://groups.google.com.au/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=aus.ads&selm=Pine.LNX.4.44.0302070807570.9898-100000%40leo.crm114.net

rb

:)

[bear]

While that offer to "perform data recovery for free" may very well be "legit", I would be extremely wary. All it takes is one credit card # or important personal ID number (such as bank account, driver's license, etc." in the wrong hands to very seriously screw up your credit rating and your life. If any of that kind of information is on the disk in question, I wouldn't trust that data to anybody who doesn't have a business license, bond, or insurance.

As for recovering data from dead hard drives, I've found that almost always, if you can get the drive to spin up, you can get the data off it. I have a PC with removable drive bays that I always use specifically for this purpose. I install the problem drive as a slave and turn off all of the advanced features in the BIOS - No UDMA, PIO 0, no multi-sector tranfers, etc. to slow the drive down as slow as it will go. I then snap an image of it using Ghost and slap it down on a new drive. I've done it numerous times, particularly with IBM Deskstar drives. Or "DeathStar" drives, as I prefer to call them =^P

[redbears]

Hmm... didn't think of that! How naive of me! Sorry if any harm done.

Hey by the way Mr Bear, I like your theory there with data recover. I think I have a couple of cactus drives in the cupboard, should give it a go.

rb

[pcchipsficaopen]

thanks for all ur help

unfortunately, the drive doesnt even spin up. i had a friend use his voltometer (sp?) and the p/s was good, so...looks like the hard drive...oh well i had a couple month old backups (my cd burner software started not working and i never got to fixing it...)

guess i know to fix it now if it happens again lol
Doug

[bear]

Depending on how old the drive is and where you purchased it, it may still be under warranty.

You can check here: Maxtor ATA HDD Warranty Pages (http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/service/warranty_ata.htm)

A couple of years back I RMA'd a 6 GB drive that was 2 years, 10 months old (just shy of the end of the 3-year warranty period). Since the 6 GB drives were no longer being made, I got a 10 GB drive as a replacement.

If you RMA one, just be sure that you pack it in acceptable packing materials, like a HDD box from another drive that includes the foam inserts. Otherwise they will not honor the warranty.

[hashbang]

You may be able to swap the logic board :
http://www.deadharddrive.com

[grayboy]

Hi Bear,
Tried your link for the 571,3.3a bios, but came up with "not known......".Have you another link? or perhaps you could email the bios to me.
I am of the opinion that hdds are getting less reliable as all the mfs cram more into them - I suppose that they are cheaper in price, but you can loose more data.
Recently I have had a spate of hdds failing - from a new wd caviar
that sung like a canary to my 80 gb Maxtor failing after 3 months, Seagate and IBM seem to fail more than most.
My advice is to buy a hdd with a 3 year warranty ie WD SE, and use your cdr to back up!
Graham

[flaqo]

If you have problems with the power supply, then you probably have problems with other devices. It's not simple to determine when you have a power supply problem, normaly the modems fails too. If everything is ok then your hard disk is dead. Maxtor has some problems with bad electrical conditions. Check your Power supply ground.

[rob grant]

I've never tried this, but someone once suggested that you can remove the cover on a dead hdd and try manually rotating the disk. This person claimed that rotating the disk to another position may temporarily get the thing to boot long enough to get the data off. Of course, if it's still under warrenty, forget removing the cover!

[alex zorrilla]

I don't know about that. It seems to me like you could screw up too much other stuff by removing the cover and handling the mechanics with your own bare hands outside of a cleanroom. Maybe as a last ditch effort.

Heh, I do remember a problem one of my friends had a long time ago with a hard drive. The drive had pretty much quit spinning correctly. He called up Dell, and the tech told him to hit the hard drive cover on the side with a screwdriver. My friend did so, and it worked. Apparently, there was a known problem with this particular batch of hard drives. They had too much bearing grease, and knocking it on the side loosened the bearings enough so the driver could spin again. Needless to say, Dell ended up sending him a warranty replacement.

Strange but true.

[hashbang]

One I've also heard is put it in a plastic bag and into the freezer for 20 minutes. Then try it.
The freezing shrinks the components slightly and the drive might then be able to spin up.

Otherwise it sounds like the logic board. I tried the freezer method on mine with no luck.
I ended up successfully swapping the logic board.

You can see pictures here :
http://www.deadharddrive.com

[rob grant]

"I ended up successfully swapping the logic board."

Jeeze, you're a brave lad!<G>

Totally enjoyed the process... 'specially the photos!