Need some trouble shooting help with a disappearing HD

[boozzer]

I just recently upgrade my os drive to a 512gb sdd, it has been working great. the trouble I have right now is with my old mech HD. I reformatted it and using it as a storage drive now. the problem is that it just sometimes disappears from windows 7, with a pop out msg at the corner telling me there is an io error(this error only shows up if I am using the harddrive, if not it will just disappear without any notice). the only way to get it back is to completely shut off my pc(no power) and start up after 10 to 20 secs wait time. it may work for a few days to week and it cuts off again. the first time it happened, it gave me trouble after 2 weeks of being a storage drive. 2nd time was much quicker, a few days? now it is happening almost daily. it isn't like I am writing or rewriting alot of data on it. I think for the 2 months of it being a storage drive, I have used up about 100gb out of 700. mostly just video files and back ups.

when it first happened, I recheck all the power + sata wires and even change the sata port + a new sata wire for good measure. didn't solve the problem. there is no way I am that unlucky or lucky right? lucky as in I upgraded my os drive just in time before it broke. or unlucky as in I broke my old os drive when upgrading? or is it something completely unrelated and just a software issue?

help me out please.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would try swapping the SATA power cable with a different one, or if you are using a molex-to-SATA power adapter, try a different one or a native SATA power lead off of the PSU if any are available.

I had a similar problem with a drive disappearing, and I thought that I had a failed SATA port on the (new) motherboard, but it turned out that the molex-to-SATA power adapter that I was using was loose.

 

[boozzer]

I would try swapping the SATA power cable with a different one, or if you are using a molex-to-SATA power adapter, try a different one or a native SATA power lead off of the PSU if any are available.

I had a similar problem with a drive disappearing, and I thought that I had a failed SATA port on the (new) motherboard, but it turned out that the molex-to-SATA power adapter that I was using was loose.

the only thing I haven't try yet is a different sata power from the psu. I think I got an adapter lying around somewhere also. gonna try everything, I will report back once I have try everything.

 

[boozzer]

hey I changed to a molex + adapter, it has been working perfectly, thanks alot larry.

 

[boozzer]

the drive just disappeared on me again. it slowed down to a crawl at first, video file seeking took 15 secs. then it showed I/o error after 20 mins or so before becoming unresponsive and disappearing.

the power off for 10 sec trick and restart doesn't bring it back anymore, I needed to unplug power and sata cables to make it work like normal again.

this inconsistent problem is such a pain in the ass. if it would just die, I could at least trash it and move on should I just trash it? I don't want to store anything and just have it die on me permanently one day and lose all my files. that would suck!

 

[iluvdeal]

My guess is the drive is failing. I'd bootup with a hdd diagnostic and do a full scan of the drive.

 

[boozzer]

My guess is the drive is failing. I'd bootup with a hdd diagnostic and do a full scan of the drive.

something like crystaldisk would work right? or something else?

just did a full error scan with HD tune 5.5 everything is green

crystal diskinfo

this is really frustrating

 

[SMOGZINN]

I just recently upgrade my os drive to a 512gb sdd, it has been working great. the trouble I have right now is with my old mech HD. I reformatted it and using it as a storage drive now. the problem is that it just sometimes disappears from windows 7, with a pop out msg at the corner telling me there is an io error(this error only shows up if I am using the harddrive, if not it will just disappear without any notice). the only way to get it back is to completely shut off my pc(no power) and start up after 10 to 20 secs wait time. it may work for a few days to week and it cuts off again. the first time it happened, it gave me trouble after 2 weeks of being a storage drive. 2nd time was much quicker, a few days? now it is happening almost daily. it isn't like I am writing or rewriting alot of data on it. I think for the 2 months of it being a storage drive, I have used up about 100gb out of 700. mostly just video files and back ups.

when it first happened, I recheck all the power + sata wires and even change the sata port + a new sata wire for good measure. didn't solve the problem. there is no way I am that unlucky or lucky right? lucky as in I upgraded my os drive just in time before it broke. or unlucky as in I broke my old os drive when upgrading? or is it something completely unrelated and just a software issue?

help me out please.

Boozzer, I have the exact same problem with a drive in my HTPC. I've even went as far as to take the drive out of the computer it resides in and put it in my rock-stable productivity PC to make sure it was not a MB problem, and it dropped out in that computer as well. SMART says it is fine as well as a linux based HD testing suite I have (sorry, I don't remember the name.)

Mine is a 3 TB Seagate Barracuda. I'm marking this thread and I'll continue to troubleshoot this weekend and will update this if I get any results. If I don't have a solution by Black Friday I'm buying a new drive, and since this will be the 3rd Seagate drive to die on my this year I'm going Western Digital next time.

 

[boozzer]

Boozzer, I have the exact same problem with a drive in my HTPC. I've even went as far as to take the drive out of the computer it resides in and put it in my rock-stable productivity PC to make sure it was not a MB problem, and it dropped out in that computer as well. SMART says it is fine as well as a linux based HD testing suite I have (sorry, I don't remember the name.)

Mine is a 3 TB Seagate Barracuda. I'm marking this thread and I'll continue to troubleshoot this weekend and will update this if I get any results. If I don't have a solution by Black Friday I'm buying a new drive, and since this will be the 3rd Seagate drive to die on my this year I'm going Western Digital next time.

I just move all of the files I have on it to other storage hdd. I really don't want to take any chances. it just boggles my mind on how it works flawlessly for 3+ years as my os drive and turns to turd the moment I upgraded to a ssd.

 

[ArisVer]

Just a note. CrystalDiskInfo also shows me about the same values on two disks which seem to be healthy, one of them beeing a 6 month old SSD.

 

[boozzer]

Just a note. CrystalDiskInfo also shows me about the same values on two disks which seem to be healthy, one of them beeing a 6 month old SSD.

just checked, the drive in question have twice the values in the current and worst columns when I compare it to my 2nd storage drive with crystaldisk. my ssd shows almost all 100 across the board, the disappearing drive(wdc drive) is showing mostly 200 just like the screencap few posts up. and my 2nd storage drive(hitachi) is showing mostly 100 values also.

 

[Elixer]

SMART isn't a good indication in your case.
Once it starts slowing down to a crawl (randomly), and the system randomly doesn't see it, and assuming all cables are fine, then the HD is on the way out.

 

[ArisVer]

just checked, the drive in question have twice the values in the current and worst columns when I compare it to my 2nd storage drive with crystaldisk. my ssd shows almost all 100 across the board, the disappearing drive(wdc drive) is showing mostly 200 just like the screencap few posts up. and my 2nd storage drive(hitachi) is showing mostly 100 values also.

For comparison, my WD green (about 3 years old) with 11500 hours which I don't use frequently, shows the same results as the screenshot you posted above. If you want I'll post a screenshot. The disk has not caused me any problems.
My SSD with 3000 hours shows most values at 100.

 

[boozzer]

SMART isn't a good indication in your case.
Once it starts slowing down to a crawl (randomly), and the system randomly doesn't see it, and assuming all cables are fine, then the HD is on the way out.

all cables are 100% fine, I made sure to check everytime I had the problem. the slow down only happened once. when I was seeking and skipping through a video file 4 times in rapid succession. it just slowed to a crawl. first time that happened, just disappear without a pip every time before it. so if it happens a couple more times, I guess I will have my answer and trash it.