how to get a faulty hard drive to power up one last time?

[grepcomputers]

The afflicted drive is a Western Digital Caviar 1200JB

The drive started making funny clicking noises a few days ago, but there was no data loss or corruption (according to reiserfsck). So I downloaded WD's Data LifeGuard tools and tested it.

Before the drive got even 10 seconds into the test, it failed with the error message "Test completed with element failure due to handling", and had an error code of 0008 (which is a SMART error according to WD's website, and means the drive should be replaced).

So I powered down the computer, and have not turned it back on until now, when I have a spare hard drive to replace it with. I need to get the drive to power on one last time so I can copy all the important data off of it, onto another Caviar 1200JB I got. (I am planning to boot to the gentoo live CD and use "dd -if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb" (assuming hda is the dying drive and hdb is the new one) to copy the drive - the dying drive is my main OS drive. There was never a problem once the drive was on, as if there was a read error, it tried again and got it. So as long as dd retries on read errors...).

However, I can't get the drive to power on. It spins up during boot when my Promise IDE card queries the IDE bus, clicks once, and spins down again. Every time, cold boot, reboot, whatever.

Any suggestions as to how I can get it to power on one last time?

thanks!

 

[crazycarl]

i have heard, freezing it, or giving it a good whack can help

 

[NelsonMuntz]

The freezer trick sometimes works to get you that last needed access to the drive.
Put the drive in a ziplock (to minimize condensation) and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Take it out and hook it up to your computer and cross your fingers.
Usually buys some time.

 

[grepcomputers]

Ahh, so this is the freezer trick.
Take it out of the freezer and put it in your computer right away?
Won't that affect it because a) condensation might still be there and b) very rapid and drastic heat change?

thanks!

 

[chadomaly]

i've heard of the freezer thing before. why exactly would that work?

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: grepcomputers
Ahh, so this is the freezer trick.
Take it out of the freezer and put it in your computer right away?
Won't that affect it because a) condensation might still be there and b) very rapid and drastic heat change?

thanks!

I think you're supposed to vacuum seal it in a ziploc bag before you freeze it, so that reduces/eliminates condensation.

I don't think the heat change will be that drastic. In any case, it will only give you a short time to get your data backed up so do what you can ASAP. I suppose the best thing to have on hand would be a second hard drive.

 

[3chordcharlie]

it's very technical - the drive is too busy shivering to remember that it isn't supposed to work anymore.

 

[fredtam]

Freezing it contracts the components to there original position within the drive. Condensation isn't really a problem. I put mine in a paper bag. The heat up isn't a problem either. Your drive is already fvcked up. It gives you time to get your data. I suggest leaving it longer than 30 minutes.

 

[grepcomputers]

longer than 30 minutes? 45 then?

I don't remember, is the drive airtight (if it is airtight I would assume that condensation *inside* the drive is not a problem)?

Condensation would be a problem on the circuitboard outside the drive, as any warm, moist air coming into contact with it when it is so cold will cause condensation...or am I missing something?

thanks!

 

[Shagger]

I have a similar issue - mine is a 1600JB that made the infamous "click of death". I haven't tried the "freezer trick" but am considering it. I cracked open the drive and noticed that the control arm swings the heads back and forth erratically until it parks the heads (presumably because it doesn't get recognized by the OS). My question is can I replace the controller board on the bottom of the drive with a similar board? I bought a few 1600JB's from CC a week back and was thinking of trying this.

Any ideas? Any body ever try something like this?

 

[Ninjazx]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
it's very technical - the drive is too busy shivering to remember that it isn't supposed to work anymore.

ahhhaahh... thats the correct reason!


I've gotten a drive to work for about 15 minutes after the click-o-death using the freezer trick, but after that, its gone. so before pull it out of the freez, make sure you know what your going to copy.

as far as the time to freeze; i dont think it matters to over-chill, so let er cool for a while.

 

[grepcomputers]

So, you can only use the freezer trick once? IE, I can't copy data for 15 mins and then freeze it again for a bit, and maybe get another 15 mins out of it?

thanks!

 

[3chordcharlie]

well, there's no guarantee it will work at all; it's just worth a try since the alternative is to give up the data, or pay someone to extract it for you ($$$$$$).

It may be a contraction of components thing, it may be damaged circuitry that is helped by lowered resistance due to cold temperatures, it may be some combination - most electrical things work better cold than hot...

Any extra time you get with the drive is a bonus, so be completely prepared to do your backup in case it does work, and you'll have a better chance of getting eveything before it dies again.

 

[Shagger]

My question is can I replace the controller board on the bottom of the drive with a similar board?

Has anybody tried to replace the controller board on the bottom?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Shagger

My question is can I replace the controller board on the bottom of the drive with a similar board?

Has anybody tried to replace the controller board on the bottom?

IMHO, *Very* risky. I did that once with two 1GB WD drives. Fried both the controller board and the drive, apparently, because after switching them back, neither would spin-up. I have heard occasional success stories with other drives from time to time, but my personal experiment with swapping controllers was a failure.

(Yes, I know what I'm doing generally, I didn't fry them from static discharge or anything obvious or negligent. Possibly the two models were too dissimilar to interoperate. It was more a "for fun" experiment than anything.)

 

[Shagger]

I have two 160GB from CC that I could try it with and if I fried one of them, return it and exchange *cough* (sigh) I had 150 GB of Simpsons mpegs on that drive and I don't relish the thought of recapping them all...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: grepcomputers
So, you can only use the freezer trick once? IE, I can't copy data for 15 mins and then freeze it again for a bit, and maybe get another 15 mins out of it?

thanks!

probably fifty (or more) times with my Dell notebook's HD (4200rpm ibm)

it was a couple of months while i waited for Visa's extended warranty service . . . i'd freeze it at least once a day and it worked most of the time after 15 minutes in a very cold freezer - didn't matter if you thawed it or used it right away . . . FINALLY it died - the day before service was approved and AFTER i fixed my desktop.

Probably atypical.

:roll:

 

[country2]

200 ways to revive a hard drive.. http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6255-5029761.html

 

[grepcomputers]

Well, the freezer trick seems to have worked. I used it three times successfully, today when I tried for the fourth, it didn't work - at least, I was no longer able to recover data. I was able to recover quite a bit, too, maybe about 15GB.

 

[goblue420]

get another one of same brand/type and try to replace the controller card on teh bottom

 

[earthling30]

Originally posted by: country2
200 ways to revive a hard drive.. http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6255-5029761.html

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Good link and the freeze method is in there. Good luck!