External HDD failure

MuddyDog

I have a portable external hdd that connects via usb to my laptop. It stopped working a while ago but I want to try and fix it. When I plug it in I feel and hear it vibrating and the light flashes but the device is not found. After it's plugged in a while and warms up another 'Local Device' is found but when I try and access it, it just says inaccessible. Looking at the properties of the drive shows nothing. Perhaps connecting it to a PC might help I thought using the other connectors on the hard drive but I'm not sure what I need to attach it to a normal PC. Here's a pic of my external HDD. What would I need to attach to a normal PC?

bonzodog2

No picture!
However, if it connects just via USB, with no separate power adapter, its a 2.5" disk. Its probably a SATA connection inside the casing, although there are some that have the USB socket directly on the main circuit board (then youre in trouble).
Otherwise, to connect to a PC (desktop/tower) you need:
A SATA power plug on the PC PSU
A SATA data connection on the motherboard
A SATA data cable

ED E

He posted twice, pictures in the other thread:
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/121870/405343.JPG

Looks like a partial set of IDE pins. So you'll want an IDE cradle, not a SATA one.

MuddyDog

Thanks. Can you post a link to the product on Amazon or similar that I need to buy? Cheers!

bonzodog2

ED E wrote: »

He posted twice, pictures in the other thread:
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/121870/405343.JPG

Looks like a partial set of IDE pins. So you'll want an IDE cradle, not a SATA one.

I'd suggest that this is a board with USB on the main board. I don't beleive a IDE adapter will work here.

ED E

Those pins are quite specific, but its only using part. It may be OEM proprietary or it may be IDE.

OP, post the make/model off the casing and we should be able to properly advise.

MuddyDog

WD10TMVV is the model afaik. Western Digital 1TB Serial Ata Hard Drive. Serial number is WX41A8054894

ED E

Yep, the solution is to solder on a new USB port. Fiddly job.

Find somebody who's quite - very good with a soldering iron to do it.

MuddyDog

Where can I get thay done/how much? Would one of those high street tech shops do it?

Is that most likely the only problem then - a faulty usb port? If that's fixed will the data more than likely be accessible? When plugged in though it lights up amd vibrates but the laptop just doesn't recognise it. Would that happen if my usb port was faulty though? I would have assumed no power would even have reached it.

Also, in Device Manager, the HDD is found.

riclad

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-SATA-IDE-To-USB-Converter-For-All-2-5-3-5-5-25-Drives-PC-Mac-Support-/311345857609
You need something like this,
i have an ide/sata caddy with its own power supply
I would use the front of it to connect to 2.5inch ide drives .
there would be a 2.5inch data cable and a separate cable to provide power to the drive.
from the front i would plug a usb drive into my pc.
IT had a 12volt external power supply .
it would pick up any 2.5inch or 3.5inch ide drive i plugged into it.

or just get this,cable.http://www.ebuyer.com/123998-startech-2-5-3-5-ide-hard-drive-cable-adapter-connect-laptop-ide4044
the
Large ide data cable plugs into pc ide motherboard slot.
other end plugs into drive data ide pins .
large white molex cable plugs into a spare pc molex x power cable.
other end small white cable provides power to 2.5inch drive .
I think it slots over the 2 pins on the right at the rear of the drive in the
link you posted of the drive.
most pc power supplys have at least 1 spare molex power cable.
plug molex power cable from the pc into the large molex cable in the picture above.


http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_51811_3.jpg

ED E

<snip>
Apologies Muddy, got distracted determining how to interface it. We can't really know whats wrong, but if the DM detects it as a Hard Drive and not "Unknown" device then the only 2 data wires must be somewhat operational. That makes a cable fault unlikely but still somewhat possible if its producing reduced power. Try a good quality short USB cable to be sure.

You may have a case of a damaged platter, failing controller, failing read head or failing motor(rare). Only HDD specialists will determine that really which is an expensive avenue to follow.

How valuable is the data to you?

MuddyDog

ED E wrote: »

<snip>
Apologies Muddy, got distracted determining how to interface it. We can't really know whats wrong, but if the DM detects it as a Hard Drive and not "Unknown" device then the only 2 data wires must be somewhat operational. That makes a cable fault unlikely but still somewhat possible if its producing reduced power. Try a good quality short USB cable to be sure.

You may have a case of a damaged platter, failing controller, failing read head or failing motor(rare). Only HDD specialists will determine that really which is an expensive avenue to follow.

How valuable is the data to you?

Fairly valuable. I'd pay a hundred quid or so to get it back but sounds like it could be much more. I'll try a short length high quality micro usb and see what happens.

riclad

TRY go to control panel ,administration tools, computer management ,storage, click disk management, click on drive ,should be drive e,or f,
drive d is the dvd drive.
what does it say there .
does the drive have a letter .
The interface is usb.
In the Disk Management window, complete one of the following procedures,
Decide whether to manually assign a drive letter, let the system automatically enumerate the drive, or not assign a drive letter to the new partition or logical drive, and then click Next.

see if you can assign the drive a letter ,
if the drive does not have one assigned already.

the drive does not seem to be ide ,
it seems to just to use a usb connector to connect to a pc.

or try plugging it in to a pc using linux os.
or try the drive freeze trick .
put drive in sealed ziplock bag.
put bag in freezer,take out after 3-4 hours.
plug drive into a pc that is turn on with windows loaded.
make sure pc is in room with no rads on.
eg unheated room.

http://lifehacker.com/5515337/save-a-failed-hard-drive-in-your-freezer-redux

quote
I believe, this would work with hard drives with slightly warped platters; unfrozen, your busted drive is grinding the head against the platters as a result.

end quote


http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

burn linux cdr at 2x or 4x speed .

https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=38
this fits on 1 cdr disc.
in dealz shop 3 cdrs cost 2 euro.

MuddyDog

It recognizes it as Drive E:/ but no data is shown on it.

yoyo

Please leave the moderation to the mods. Please report posts if you feel content is incorrect or unhelpful. All reported posts are reviewed.
Some of you should know better. Do not suggest to users to close accounts.

bonzodog2

Does Disk Manager say how big it is? (I know you know its 1TB....) and does it say raw/unformatted/free space/... ?

MuddyDog

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Does Disk Manager say how big it is? (I know you know its 1TB....) and does it say raw/unformatted/free space/... ?

Doesn't say size. Doesn't give any of that info either.

riclad

What happens when you go to admin,storage,disk management.Does it show up as drive e,or f,
does it say drive external e 1000gig ,
Try a different usb cable
Try plugging drive into a laptop,after windows loads , borrow a laptop if you don,t have on
plug into a usb port usb 3 if it has one,
eg pc usb 2 port 500ma max output,
Usb 3 port is 900ma max output.
IF it says no data,no size just drive e, the drive pcb could be faulty.

Maybe try download gparted live cd 386 version i think it fits on 1cdr .
i,m not sure it may need a dvdr disc.
IF Gparted cannot detect the disk ,the drive has a serious fault.or the usb connector needs to be replaced.Or the drive printed circuit board is faulty.Gparted is loaded from the disc, before windows loads as a live cd.
It detect any ide drive or sata drive plugged into the pc.http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html
the external drive should be listed as dev/sda 2 or dev/sda 3 .
The Main pc drive c is dev/sda 1

MuddyDog

riclad wrote: »

What happens when you go to admin,storage,disk management.Does it show up as drive e,or f,
does it say drive external e 1000gig ,try a different usb cable,
Try plugging drive into a laptop,after windows loads , borrow a laptop.
plug into a usb port if it has one,
eg pc usb 2 port 500ma max output,
Usb 3 port is 900ma max output.

E:/ but does not tell me size.

I've tried that with different ports and laptops and all produce same results.

MuddyDog

Tried the freezer trick and plugged it in but same results as before. Without thinking I left it plugged in and about 20-30 mins later I happened to notice it was now recognised. I saw that 200gb of the 989 available were used and I saw all the folders. I immeditaley tried to highlight all folders and copy to
my main HDD but it then became slow and eventually stopped being recognised. Perhaps because it had warmed up too much at this point? I'm going to try the freezer trick again and keep my eyes on it once plugged in.

riclad

You can use the freezer trick again and again.
use in cold room ,with central heating off.do a search, Say the most important files TO you
are pdf 1,2 ,3 etc have a folder new pdf, on the desktop.
Search pdf files drive E
copy the most important files first.it looks as if the usb connector is ok,
since you can see drive e ,200gig free .
drive might work with its at a certain temperature until it heats up.
copy a small file 1 meg first to see if drive works and can read a file .

mordeith

riclad wrote: »

You can use the freezer trick again and again

If you have any interest in actually retrieving your data you cannot do the freezer trick as quoted above. It might work once or twice but continually doing it only increases the risk of the drive becoming permanently inaccessible.

EDIT: Unless you want to fork out for professional data recovery I would go with ED E's suggestion and get the connection re soldered.

riclad

You could try doing a quick format on the drive,
tick box Quick format,
in format menu.
then use recuva to recover the files.
Quick format does not erase the files.
i did this on my Apple ipod 120gig and 4 scards 16gig capacityformatted in nfs mode , that showed up as empty.
no data.Recuva Recovered 95 Per cent of the files i needed .

A quick format only erases the beginning and end of the tracks on a hard drive and not whats in the middle. Pretty much erasing the Index's only and not all the data so windows sees it as an empty drive.
i did a reset on the ipod for various reasons , so it showed up as drive e 120gig no files .


i had to do quick format first before recuva would see the files .
DO Not DO a full format,as it,ll completely erase all your files and data.
be careful.
Tick Box Quick format first ,click ok, format drive .
if you are not go use recuva, dont do a quick format on drive e,
Take this as a course of action of LAST resort.
to do a recuva scan on a 16gig drive takes 40 plus minutes .
You can do a quick Recuva scan first before you do a quick format .
Then i used recuva on it to get back about 50 gig of music from the ipod

davo2001

Please, whatever you do, do not follow the above advice in riclads post!

MuddyDog

davo2001 wrote: »

Please, whatever you do, do not follow the above advice in riclads post!

Don't worry. I'm ignoring it.

If it picks up the folders though at a certain point during the 'de-frost' does that not mean there is nothing wrong with the USB connection though?

ED E

If you're doing the freezer trick do it all in the freezer. Yep, you heard me, keep it in there.

Place your laptop on top. Get an extension lead if you need to. Then run the cables into the freezers top shelf attached to the drive but not the laptop.

Come back after 1hr when the inside of the disk will be well and truly cold.

Then plug in and start recovering straight away. Have your backup medium (another external etc) ready to run as you won't get too much time still.



The problem with the freezer method (and it does work, I have the contents of 3 20-80GB drives to prove it) is as it warms up you're creating condensation on the platters. This will prevent the read head from functioning and can kill the electronics that operate it. Staying inside means it does heat up but much more slowly.

MuddyDog wrote: »

wrong with the USB connection though?

Yeah, looks like a mechanical fault, not a connection issue. To explain, there's about the width of a hair between some components in there. Over time/through knocks this perfect alignment can fail. Freezing causes the metals to naturally contract and can unseize them. Temporarily.

riclad

If the data is valuable you can send it to a data recovery specialist,
if the drive platter is out of alignment it,would cost 100s of euros to recover the data.
The quick format method worked for me 4 times on 4 16gig sd cards .
they showed up as this disc needs to formatted ,If i plugged an sdcard reader into my pc

I Quick formatted them and then just used recuva to get my data back.
quick formating does not erase the files or overwrite them.
You can try using recuva as the drive is now.
I reset my ipod and then used recuva to get back my music files.
make sure theres another external drive ready or loads of free space on drive c,
as you may only get 1 or 2 chances to copy data off the old drive.

yoyo

Riclad, please do not post in this thread again.