Hard Drive Failure...

RealityRipple · Aug 10, 2009, 08:06 PM

I have this UDMA 400 GB Seagate hard drive I've been using as an external drive with an IDE to USB adapter, and after copying some files over to it and then to a friend's laptop, it got bumped and fell. It dangled by the cord for a few seconds before we got it up again, and now whenever I plug the power molex in, it makes five clicks and a beep, and then goes into some strange clicking pattern. I can tell the platters aren't spinning, but it does make a buzzing noise the entire time... Is there anything I can do?

mkk · Aug 10, 2009, 08:43 PM

Unfortunately there are most likely some mechanical problems with the drive when it behaves like that. If a drives circuitry card is damaged and the data is valuable one can try to find an identical drive and move the card over, but that's not likely to help here.

RealityRipple · Aug 10, 2009, 08:50 PM

No important data... just an important transportation method. If I found a hex-head screwdriver that was able to open the drive, would there be anything I could check to determine the problem?

Tyrsonswood · Aug 10, 2009, 08:59 PM

opening the drive won't help and could make matters worse. Have you tried it direct to IDE instead of through the USB converter...... I doubt that the converter would go bad from a fall, but you said it hung from it's cord for a while.... maybe the jack got busted..... I'm leaning toward bad drive though. Not much one can do about a bad drive.

RealityRipple · Aug 10, 2009, 09:02 PM

It does the same thing, no matter what. If it's plugged in via USB, it's the same as IDE, which is exactly the same as no connection whatsoever.

Tyrsonswood · Aug 10, 2009, 09:34 PM

Yeah, It's a bad drive for sure, probably damaged platters or head. It could be the circuit board like mkk mentioned but this kind of accident I wouldn't think so.

EDIT: You could try seatools with that hooked straight to IDE, if it could be salvaged seatools would do it. You can download it from seagate.

RealityRipple · Aug 10, 2009, 10:22 PM

Already tried SeaTools, but thanks. I'm gonna ship it back to Seagate (the warranty lasts until 2011!) and see if they'll send me a replacement... If not, it's not like I could do anything with the bad drive, so whatever. Thank you guys for the information, as usual.

RealityRipple · Aug 21, 2009, 04:39 AM

Sorry to double-post like this, but I'd just like to let everyone know Seagate is an absolutely awesome company, and they're already sending me the new drive. It'll be here in less than a week, and I only had to pay the $6-something shipping to get the old drive there. I'll probably be adding another 1.5 TB drive to my system in a couple months when I fill these two up, and you can be damn sure it's gonna be a Barracuda 7200 as well.

Aug 10, 2009, 08:06 PM	#1
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Hard Drive Failure... I have this UDMA 400 GB Seagate hard drive I've been using as an external drive with an IDE to USB adapter, and after copying some files over to it and then to a friend's laptop, it got bumped and fell. It dangled by the cord for a few seconds before we got it up again, and now whenever I plug the power molex in, it makes five clicks and a beep, and then goes into some strange clicking pattern. I can tell the platters aren't spinning, but it does make a buzzing noise the entire time... Is there anything I can do? __________________

Aug 10, 2009, 08:43 PM	#2
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	Re: Hard Drive Failure... Unfortunately there are most likely some mechanical problems with the drive when it behaves like that. If a drives circuitry card is damaged and the data is valuable one can try to find an identical drive and move the card over, but that's not likely to help here.

Aug 10, 2009, 08:50 PM	Thread Starter #3
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Hard Drive Failure... No important data... just an important transportation method. If I found a hex-head screwdriver that was able to open the drive, would there be anything I could check to determine the problem? __________________

Aug 10, 2009, 09:02 PM	Thread Starter #5
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Hard Drive Failure... It does the same thing, no matter what. If it's plugged in via USB, it's the same as IDE, which is exactly the same as no connection whatsoever. __________________

Aug 10, 2009, 10:22 PM	Thread Starter #7
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Hard Drive Failure... Already tried SeaTools, but thanks. I'm gonna ship it back to Seagate (the warranty lasts until 2011!) and see if they'll send me a replacement... If not, it's not like I could do anything with the bad drive, so whatever. Thank you guys for the information, as usual. __________________

Aug 21, 2009, 04:39 AM	Thread Starter #8
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Hard Drive Failure... Sorry to double-post like this, but I'd just like to let everyone know Seagate is an absolutely awesome company, and they're already sending me the new drive. It'll be here in less than a week, and I only had to pay the $6-something shipping to get the old drive there. I'll probably be adding another 1.5 TB drive to my system in a couple months when I fill these two up, and you can be damn sure it's gonna be a Barracuda 7200 as well. __________________