Hard Drive problem

[leky]

I have about 5 years old IBM hard drive that seemingly just died on me. Usually when the computer is running, the hard drive beeps every few hours or so, but today it suddenly started beeping constantly (every second or so, and there was a sound of switching inbetween).

I quickly turned off computer, tested the cables (they turned out ok), ran the computer with only IBM HDD and vice versa (I have another Western Digital hard drive set as Primary Master, IBM is set as Secondary Master). After turning the computer back on, it would again beep constantly on computer startup, and then it would stop after awhile while booting the operating system.

When I log into the system, the partitions from IBM hard drive are gone, beeping is gone as well, but there is the HDD LED diode lit up constantly as if the hard drive is being accessed constantly. I have now disconnected the power and the IDE cable to the IBM hard drive, and the computer works normally again. Also, the computer is usually turned on 24/7 and runs without any problems.

I have a lot of data on that IBM hard drive, so if anyone has any idea how to fix this, your suggestions are welcome.

 

[mechBgon]

Try the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (Hitachi took over IBM's hard-drive business). If the drive still functions then it might be possible to recover data from it using data-recovery software; there is a list of data-recovery software in this thread.

Good luck

 

[leky]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the Hard Drive isn't detected by BIOS any longer, let alone the software. The drive basically "refuses" to function by giving away constant "beeps" the moment it powers up, as described above.

 

[Old Hippie]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the Hard Drive isn't detected by BIOS any longer,

That's a bad sign. If you haven't tried any of the rescue discs in mechBgon's post, do yourself a favor, and try 'um.

 

[montag451]

Out of interest,
is it a gxp75 (Deskstar/Deathstar)?