External HDD spins, no light, not recognizable by OS

Megahertz07 · 02 Oct 2017

Very well. Now wait for Jumanji. He is in India so it can take some time.
Again, don't try to fix it.

bascaster · 02 Oct 2017

Ok I will. Thanks!

jumanji · 02 Oct 2017

1. OK, I have seen your screenshots. If your local time shown in your post is correct, then it is time to go to bed. You can go to sleep now. If the local time shown is not correct, please change your time zone in User CP to show the correct local time.This will help us coordinate.

2. Uninstall PW version 10.2.2 Free and install PW version 9.1 as told in para 5. in my post #8.

3. Run Partition Recovery Wizard in it and let me know what happens. ( You cannot run Partition Recovery Wizard in 10.2.2 Free. You need the paid version for it)

Note: PW shows your HDD as Bad disk. As told already the prognosis is not good but we shall try what we can and hope for the best... This diagnostic procedures may be elaborate and time consuming. Be patient. I shall be back after another 8 hours.

bascaster · 03 Oct 2017

Hi jumanji,

Thanks for your reply. My schedule is kind of complicated so nevermind the hours.
I will do it with Partition Wizard 9.1, but I also want to tell you that I did the same procedure with EaseUS Partition Master (sadly I didn't take any screenshots) and the "short" way found no partition.
Is it normal for it to take 40+ hours?

bascaster · 03 Oct 2017

I also set it to "full scan", is that OK?

jumanji · 03 Oct 2017

Whether Quick Scan or Full scan, once it passes Sector 2048 , it should have found the first partition at sector 2048 if all is well. If it does not find one then there is no point in continuing the scan. You can abort the scan.

Now do this quick test. Let us see whether Getdataback simple can scan and find your files. Download and install the Trial version of Getdataback Simple from Data Recovery Software Products - Runtime Software Products
and scan your drive if it is able to recognise the drive. You can read the documentation and also play around with it to familiarise yourself on working it. Does the scan find your files? Report what happens with screenshots.

If no results, then we shall physically examine the HDD sectors with bootice - again if bootice is able to see your drive. You may look at this post Lost partitions! Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

Note: Do not modify the sectors in any way. Here bootice will be used just to examine the contents of Sector 0 and Sector 2048.

bascaster · 04 Oct 2017

Hi jumanji, this is what Partition Wizard showed after the scan

External HDD spins, no light, not recognizable by OS-prw2.jpg

I downloaded Getdataback but it doesn't recognize the hard drive. I will try bootice now and get back as soon as I can

bascaster · 04 Oct 2017

I downloaded bootice. As soon as I open it, a popup appears stating "Read file failed! Data error (cyclic redundancy check)

LMiller7 · 04 Oct 2017

bascaster said:

Yes, it does recognize it. That's the strangest thing. Even SeaTools recognizes it. Can it be that the information is OK but something in the circuit fried? If so, would replacing the circuit with a new one be a good bet?

Replacing the circuit board of a drive isn't as simple as it sounds. These boards aren't for sale so it would have to come from a donor drive. And a drive of the same model isn't good enough. Identical model drives may have been manufactured in different countries and have significant internal differences. The donor must be a close match to the original, exactly which numbers must match depending on the model. Even then there are complications. There is usually drive specific data on the original drive that must be transferred to the donor. This is all doable but far from simple. Also not likely to help in this case.

Do not attempt to open the drive. Even when done carefully amateur attempts fail in the large majority of cases and cause serious further damage to the drive. This should only be done in a special "cleanroom" using special tools and following specific procedures. For data recovery professionals only.

Follow jumanji's advice.

jumanji · 04 Oct 2017

LMiller7 said:

.........Follow jumanji's advice.

jumanji's advice:

Unfortunately, we now have enough information to declare the drive dead. The all important
Sector 0 that holds the MBR Code and Partition Table has gone bad. It can neither be read nor written into. It is a physical defect in the platter and no conventional data recovery software will be able to recover the data. So data recovery out of user's domain and also that of jumanji :)

As a final test, in Windows Disk Management go ahead and ask it to initialise the drive as an MBR drive. You will only get an error message indicating that it is unable to write the MBR code. ( Do not worry about the data in your drive. Initialisation only writes the MBR code in Sector 0 ( provided you stop with it and do not continue to create a new volume and format it). Your data beginning at Sector 2048 and beyond is not touched at all)

Note: If by chance initialisation goes through, stop with it and report. (Do not create a new volume. Do not format the drive.) Then I will have a job on hand

.

Now what? Provided that it is only a singular defect of Sector 0 and not a catastrophic failure - sudden death - involving the whole disk ( many sectors having gone bad), a professional Data Recovery Agency with clean room facilities may be able to recover the data.

If you decide not to seek data recovery, then contact Seagate Tech Support for a warranty return - if still under warranty.