How can I recover a "lost" HDD?

[Noels]

Hi all,

I have a 1 TB HDD that I'm unable to use. It won't show up in my BIOS with my other drives, in Control Panel/System under Drives or in Computer Management under Disk Management. It won't even show up in Partition Magic 8.0...

It seemed to be working properly until I tried use it for backup, but my backup program wouldn't recognize it, so I tried to re-format it and I found out it couldn't be formatted. Then I used the Command Prompt and went through Diskpart/List Disk/Select Disk/Clean and it seemed to clean, but it still won't format and I can't see it anywhere now.

What can I do to recover this drive? Or is it lost?

Thanks, Noel

 

[HMonk]

Regardless of its state, if the HDD is electrically sound, the BIOS POST should report it. If your BIOS does not report the HDD, then it could be mobo, bricked green board, or the cables have come loose.

For openers then, disconnect and then reconnect both drive and PSU cables (both ends). If that does not work, swap out the PSU cable to an unused cable (or temporarily disconnect one from an ODD). Also, swap out the drive cable with a spare or one from another component.

Even though you did not change them, double-check to make sure your BIOS settings enable and point to the drive.

Also, try a different port on the mobo for the drive cable.

Monk

 

[Sanvean]

BIOS/Hardware level:

Is this an eSATA cable or USB connection? (I'm assuming eSATA, but if USB then that's another ball of wax.) *Ok in your specs I see eSATA for your external WD 1TB.*
What type of enclosure is it in and what is powering it? Sometimes enclosures have data/partition limitations.
What mode AHCI or IDE (if SATA)?
Does your MOBO have the latest bios? Sometimes 1TB aren't detected correctly by certain bios.
Does your 1TB have the latest firmware? (WD have these problems)
(sorry for all the questions, but multitudes of things can affect external eSATA/USB)

Is it possible to temporary switch some drives, try the 1TB in your case and another on the eSATA or USB? This would help immensely in narrowing down the culprit.

Is the connection cable SATA, or hybrid (SATA/eSATA)?
A vanilla SATA cable can cause this error.
Always try to use short cables and out a port from the rear of the case. Long cables and using a front port ( basically another long cable) can also cause drives to fail.(this goes for both SATA & USB)

OS level:
(since bios doesn't see it, probably won't work, but still good info to know.)

What controller is your eSATA or USB?
Is the controller enabled and also have the latest driver? Is it a jmicron controller (SATA)?

You can also try this:
Right click on Computer in start menu
Click Manage
Click Disk Management
Click Action
Click Rescan Disks

Yes I'm taking a shotgun approach...lol, but every single one of these can cause eSATA/USB failure. Sort of difficult trying to diagnose on this end, but with Hmonk and the rest of the crew here, something will come to light for you.

 

[Noels]

HMonk and Sanvean,

Thanks for your help!

My drive does appear in the BIOS now, and also in Disk Management. DM says it needs to be initialized, but can't do it due to an I/O failure. There isn't an avenue to format there, either.

I d/l'd WD's Diagnostics Program and ran all the tests and tried to write zeros, etc., but it fails every one on "Cable Failure," even though I have changed cables from 3 other currently running drives that are working properly. It also failed the SMART test.

I think I may need to RMA it...

Any comments that I should try something else?

Thanks, Noel

 

[HMonk]

First off, an I/O (input/output) failure generally means that the computer and a device are not communicating. Why? Could be a HW issue, e.g., electrical/mechanical or a SW issue, e.g., drivers.

In my computing history, most I/O errors that I have received were HW issues, most often either faulty connections or faulty components.

If you are satisfied that your connections are sound, one thing you could try is Kill Disk which you can get for free. (the "pro" version is also free: all you have to do is complete a user survey). What it is able to do, if the HDD/mobo/etc. are otherwise sound, is to access and wipe a HDD of all of its data (not HDD firmware, however). The object is to clean the HDD of any conflicts that might prevent the Windows OS (not BIOS) from being able to access or initialize the HDD due to those conflicts. If that fails, then I would conclude that an electrical/mechanical defect exists within the HDD itself, i.e., it is bricked.

Monk

 

[Noels]

Monk,

Thanks, I do have KillDisk and I'll try it and get back to you in a little while.

Noel

 

[Noels]

Monk,

I've been running Killdisk for about 15 minutes now and it tells me it has 139,600 hours left to go :sarc: It bounces around from 139,600 to 139,700 and around those numbers...Not sure what that tells me, but I'll hang for awhile...

Noel

 

[cloud8521]

backtrack to see whare you lost it :O

 

[Noels]

Monk,

Here's the Killdisk log - looks like it's unwriteable from sectors 0 to 5228:

----------------------------------------Erase Session Begin---------------------------------------
2010-06-03 14:11:17 Active@ KILLDISK for Windows Build 5.1.39 started
Target: WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B1 931.5 GB
Located on: WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B1 (Serial number: 2020202057202d444d5754413556323437333633)
Erase method: One Pass Zeros (1 pass) Passes: 1
Error (1117) reading sector 0 on 81h.
Bad (unwritable) sectors detected from 0 to 5228 on Hard Disk 1.
Error (1117) refreshing device Hard Disk 1.
Error (1117) reading sector 0 on 81h.
User stopped erasing at 0 % (pass: 1)
2010-06-03 14:38:06 Total number of erased device(s): 0, partition(s): 0
-----------------------------------------Erase Session End----------------------------------------

Noel

 

[karlsnooks]

noels,
You have a hardware problem.
Replace the cable.

You have a hardware problem.

 

[Noels]

Karlsnooks,

Thanks for your comment...

I have used the cables from 3 other working hard drives to check this 1TB drive out. Those cables are all OK and none of them work with this 1TB drive. I have even used a Bytecc USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA adapter kit to hook the drive up to the computer. That doesn't work either, and that's using the USB channel to check it out instead of the SATA channel (and a different power source).

Is there anything else I should try before I RMA it?

Noel

 

[Zepher]

no, RMA it since it doesn't work properly.

 

[HMonk]

@Noels

Having gone through HW diagnostic steps I and others have outlined, I think it is pretty much assured that you HDD is defective.

RMA will do the trick, notwithstanding the downtime and aggregation. But hey . . . .

Monk

 

[Mellon Head]

@Noels

Just before you RMA the drive. I bought a WD drive to use in my eSATA enclosure a few months back, and I couldn't initialize it with the eSATA port, or USB. It works fine by plugging it into a normal motherboard SATA port, initializing it, and then putting it into the eSATA enclosure. It's been fine ever since.

I have no idea why this is. I'm not sure from your posts, but have you tried to init the drive from a motherboard port? It might save you the aggravation of an RMA.

 

[Noels]

Mellon Head,

I was using it from my motherboard SATA ports before this problem occurred. I had it running on eSATA for some time but decided to enclose it, hook it up to the mobo and make it faster. It worked fine for some time, then decided to go belly up...

I can't initialize it using Windows Management or any other way, nor can it be formatted.

WD offered to give me an "upgrade," - to sell me a new drive if I would give up the warranty on the bad drive. I selected a 150GB Raptor for $117 . I decided to take the offer since I was going to buy a new larger Raptor anyhow (I have a 74GB now), and I can keep the bad drive to work on it at my leisure to see if I can repair it somehow in the future...

Thanks for your help and comments, Noel

 

[Mellon Head]

Well, it's good the WD is able to help you out. I've heard of drives failing in poorly ventilated eSATA enclosures. I wonder if that happened with yours?

Oh well, good to see there is a resolution for your issue.

Cheers.

 

[karlsnooks]

Karlsnooks,

Thanks for your comment...

I have used the cables from 3 other working hard drives to check this 1TB drive out. Those cables are all OK and none of them work with this 1TB drive. I have even used a Bytecc USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA adapter kit to hook the drive up to the computer. That doesn't work either, and that's using the USB channel to check it out instead of the SATA channel (and a different power source).

Is there anything else I should try before I RMA it?

Noel

No. RMA it. I wish we could have helped but sure does appear to be a definite disk hardware failure.

 

[Noels]

Thanks to everyone for your help.

The last thing I tried this morning was to unhook all my other drives and then FDisk the bad drive (the only one connected). The response FDisk gave me was something like "Can't access the drive..."

I think it's really dead, so I'll put it away on one of my shelves for later digest and play

Thanks again to all, Noel

 

[karlsnooks]

Glad to be of assistance.

May the replacement work well.