Hard Disk asks to initialize, shows no partitions and "Bad Disk" in PW

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  1. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #11

    Bad Wolf said:
    Thanks for your quick replies and the info.
    @mrjimphelps

    I forgot to mention. I had already tried it on Ubuntu Studio, since I knew Linux sometimes handle these things better. But to no avail. I can feel it spinning, but it doesn't show up..
    If there is any Ubuntu solution to this problem I would be happy to know. Any way I can fix this is highly appreciated.
    You say to copy everything of the drive. But that would only be possible if it is readable right?
    That is correct. If you can't read it, you can't get the data off of it.

    Bad Wolf said:
    I have read somewhere a while ago about making a whole image of the disk so you are able to do several trials of data recovery without loosing/corrupting your data in the process. Are you talking about this?
    This could be an option if nothing else works. But preferably I would like to have this disk working again, preferably in the folder structure it was. For now I also don't have money to buy a new hard disk to make a system image. Also I'm travelling at the moment. And all the other hard disks I have at home are smaller than 4TB and as far as I know you need at least the same size to do a disk image.
    That is a smart idea - do a backup of the drive, then try various data recovery techniques on the drive. But if the drive doesn't show up, your backup software won't be able to get a backup of it. Perhaps there is some backup software that could see the drive and do a backup of it; if so, then that would be your best shot for getting the data off of the drive, that is, unless you want to pay a professional data recovery company to get the data off of the drive.

    I have heard of people who use GPARTED (a Linux partitioning tool) and Partition Magic as backup tools -- they save a copy of the partition while in GPARTED or Partition Magic. If you are very careful, and you can avoid hosing or deleting the partition while in GPARTED or Partition Magic, that might be something to try...IF GPARTED or Partition Magic can see the drive.

    A "bare-metal" backup program I have heard about is called "Redo Backup and Recovery" (http://redobackup.org). A bare-metal backup might be just the thing that is needed for your drive.

    I have heard good things about the Terabyte imaging program (TeraByte Unlimited :: Boot Manager :: Partition Manager :: Drive Image :: Disk Copy :: Drive Wipe :: Hard Drive Utilities). They offer a 30-day free trial.

    My suggestion is that you start with Redo Backup and Recovery. I've never used it, but my thought is that a bare-metal backup, independent of the OS, might be just what you need in this case in order to get the data off of the drive.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 25
    Wins 8.1
       #12

    Was this resolved? I'm having the same issue.. Jumanji please help..
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #13

    All right, thanks a lot all of you! I really, really appreciate all you time and effort! I've watched the videos. As soon as I will be back home from travelling then I will try the given options. At that time I will let you know how things are you going

    @yoongcy421
    No this has not been resolved yet. Read the whole post and go have a try if you dare :)
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #14

    Allright. I'm finally home from travelling and finally had time to work on this. Again thanks for all you guys' help!

    I called Seagate. They were very nice and have extended my warranty with a month, but they will only replace it with a refurbished one and not recover the data (which is normal). But my data is more important to me.

    I opened my case removed the Sata to USB connector and connected it directly via Sata to the motherboard of my home desktop. But again it didn't show properly. I'm attaching the screenshots. In disk management it as unallocated. But this time as 128GB instead of 3,86GB as with casing on my laptop.
    I tried both short and long generic tests of SeaTool, but both failed soon after starting them.

    What does this mean and what are the next steps?
    Is the PCB maybe defected? The first video Jumanji sent had a website which is selling PCBs with international free shipping. Anybody any experience with it? Is it trustworthy? Or do you recommend any other places to buy?
    I live in the Netherlands (Europe).

    Thanks!

    Hard Disk asks to initialize, shows no partitions and "Bad Disk" in PW-seagate-desktop-via-sata-diskmanagement.png

    Hard Disk asks to initialize, shows no partitions and "Bad Disk" in PW-seagate-desktop-via-sata-short-generic-test-fail.png

    Hard Disk asks to initialize, shows no partitions and "Bad Disk" in PW-seagate-desktop-via-sata-long-generic-test-fail.png

    Hard Disk asks to initialize, shows no partitions and "Bad Disk" in PW-seagate-desktop-via-sata-seatools-log-file.png
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #15

    Bad Wolf said:
    @mrjimphelps

    I forgot to mention. I had already tried it on Ubuntu Studio, since I knew Linux sometimes handle these things better. But to no avail. I can feel it spinning, but it doesn't show up..
    If there is any Ubuntu solution to this problem I would be happy to know. Any way I can fix this is highly appreciated.
    You can log into the drive as "root", and make sure you have the permissions set to read/write. I did this just yesterday to one of my hard drives and one of my flash drives, because although I could see the drives in Linux Mint, I couldn't access them. (Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu, so whatever works in Mint should also work in Ubuntu.) Doing so made both drives accessible. I'm not at my Mint computer right now, but here's what I remember:
    • Open File Explorer.
    • In the left panel, click once on the drive to make it the current drive.
    • At the top of the window, click File then Properties.
    • You should see an option to access the drive as "root" - this gives you absolute power to do whatever you need to on the drive.
    • Enter your admin ("SUDO") password when prompted.
    • In the right panel, right click on any folder, then click on "drive permissions" (or something like that). Give the folder read/write permissions for each user listed. Click OK. Repeat for all top-level folders on the drive.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #16

    Hello everyone again,

    I'm sorry I keep bringing this thread up, but the thing is I'm quite busy and I don't always have time to try your solutions. So I appreciate the patience and your input. Thanks!

    I tried it with Ubuntu to see if I could use mrjimphelps method, but the same thing as before happened: I couldn't see the disk at all. It just doesn't show up anywhere. So I am also not able to login as root.

    Is there anything else I can try?

    Thanks a lot you guys!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #17

    Can somebody please help me with this?
    Thanks a lot!
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #18

    On Ubuntu you don't log as Root. You launch an application (like file manager) as root.
    To do it, open CMD window and type:
    sudo nautilus
    It will open nautilus file manager as root (highest level under Linux)
    Look for the files on the problematic disk. If you can find them, copy to another disk.
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #19

    Bad Wolf, unfortunately everything indicates that your disk is gone.
    You should always have a backup for the important files you can't loose.
    On external disks, NEVER, EVER, touch or move them when plugged or heads can damage the disk surface.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 16
    Windows 7 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #20

    Hello @Megahertz07,

    Thanks for your reply!
    I see, thanks for clearing that up. I will try that.

    Yeah, I suppose so.. Yeah, you're right. I do have most of it backed up, but some new material wasn't backed up. While traveling it's sometimes a little more difficult or you have to walk around with a lot of extra weight... Pros and cons :P And this time it turned out bad. It happens.
    I didn't move it. It was during a large copy with a lot of files that it hanged (see my first post). And I'm not sure if it the disk is surface is damaged, because it is not making any clicking sounds or whatever and it still shows something in partition manager (see first post).
    @jumanji previously said it might be the PCB. Any chance I could try that? If so, how.
      My Computer


 
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