5 ?? Hdd's possibly dead in one week !!!

[Redeyeburn]

I had 3 hard drives crash a few days ago, so I disconnected one that was ticking, left the other 2 connected, and after multiple reboots they started working again, then they wouldn't, then they would, and so on, so I disconnected the 2nd hdd, and only had the op' system drive running, then it started ticking.
So I bought 2 new Western Digital Caviar Black 640gb's, copied my data to one, then disconnected it and installed my opp' system on the other, then I connected them both, and now not even the bios see's the 2 new hdd's.
Did I kill the 1st new drive running it at the same time as one of the other bad hdd's then kill the 2nd new hdd when I ran it with the other new hdd that had been connected at the same time as one of the old drives?
ANd I can't figure out what's causing all this.
I'm at a loss here?

 

[tcsenter]

Just keep putting more drives in there. I'm sure whatever is killing them will get tired eventually and declare you winnar!

 

[sxr7171]

I think you need to consider solid state storage.

 

[wraith3k]

Faulty psu?

 

[taltamir]

replace the PSU and the mobo ASAP. don't even both finding which one of those two is doing it, replace both.

 

[IBDoomed]

Originally posted by: taltamir
replace the PSU and the mobo ASAP. don't even both finding which one of those two is doing it, replace both.

That's is what I would do. I have to think it's gotta be the power supply though. I just don't see a data only sata connection actually causing damage to a hard drive. But are the new ones ticking? And even on the old ones are you sure it's the death tick/click? It could be just that your controller is shot.

 

[TC91]

What case are you using? Could be bad cooling but its probably a bad psu.

 

[Redeyeburn]

Well, unfortuantely solid state storage isn't an option right now. The mobo is only a month and a half old, but I 'll rma it and sell it I guess. time to try a different brand. The Psu is only half a year old, but I'll be getting a new one also.
No, the new hdd's aren't ticking, it feels like they're spinning up, but I couldn't be sure, didn't have much time to play with it. I'm going to exchange the one that doesn't have all my data on it and try one more time. And the ticking and clicking and weezy whining from the old drives also froze up the os, and were extreley loud, so they're toast.
And when you say it could just be me controller is shot, are you talking about updating the drivers in the op' system? I had literally just finished installing the op' system, and hadn't even installed any video drivers, or updates, or even activated windows yet. And they both stopped being recognized in the bios as soon as I added the 2nd hdd. So I don't know.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: IBDoomed

Originally posted by: taltamir
replace the PSU and the mobo ASAP. don't even both finding which one of those two is doing it, replace both.

That's is what I would do. I have to think it's gotta be the power supply though. I just don't see a data only sata connection actually causing damage to a hard drive. But are the new ones ticking? And even on the old ones are you sure it's the death tick/click? It could be just that your controller is shot.

i have had a bad mobo that over volted the data lane causing damage... but you are right about it being unlikely, furthermore i don't see how that would damage the mechanical parts causing clicking. it should only damage the board leaving you with a drive that doesn't register in bios but doesn't click (either no spin, or spins quietly)...

Although, really, who knows?

OP. Ignore the guy who said solid state, he has no clue what he is talking about, solid state will ALSO be fried by bad power source! Either your mobo is frying it via the data port, unlikely... or the power supply is doing it via the power port, likely.

 

[pjkenned]

Yikes... 5 drives? That's about what I've seen using 30+ of them over the last 3 years!

My suggestion is that you replace that PSU ASAP. Next, take a look at how you are mounting them. In the old lab years ago I saw one drive do the click of death after a big ESD shock on the PCB. I also saw someone make a drive fail due to an improperly sized screw (very old drive).

Also, which type of power connectors are you using? Are you running a SATA power cable directly from the PSU or are you using an adapter/ drive cage? Finally, have you tried the drives in an eSATA/USB enclosure yet to see if they are just not responding on that motherboard/system?

 

[taltamir]

mmm, i did have a drive get ESD from the case before... it wasn't even touching, it just shot out like lightening...

 

[IBDoomed]

Originally posted by: taltamir
mmm, i did have a drive get ESD from the case before... it wasn't even touching, it just shot out like lightening...

Wow, scary. I guess that's +1 for plastic drive cages.

 

[JASTECH]

I would also say it's your PSU. A tleast use a PSU tester and then a volt meter if you have one. What PSU do you have and how long have you had it? Post a list of all your hardware so that we can get a better idea of the supply and load of your system.

tcsenter, that was plum funny you hear! Even with all the pain I am going through that made me chuckle!

Thanks, JASTECH

 

[pjkenned]

Just as important as the power supply though is that you need to watch out for the randomly bad power connector. A lot of people use Y cables SATA to 4 pin converters and etc.

Finally, I was remembering on the way home that my friend had an old summer cabin with spotty electricity service. He lost 2 laptops in 30 months due to hard drive failures. These were machines that were only used a small number of hours, but were always plugged in. We got him a nice surge protector and a UPS (backing up a laptop which is odd of course) and he hasn't seen issues since.

 

[Redeyeburn]

Thanks for all your help everyone. Turns out it was the power supply. I installed my old enermax 485w and all's good again, just have to buy a new one with a little more juice that candle moderate oc'ing, doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to be reliable. Looking at a pc power & cooling 750w.