Hard Drive Death!

AfricanTech

AfricanTech

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Ahh!! Fsck it - hard drive with music collection died this morning - noticed the "click of death" last night but it was already too late to copy the music off :cry:

Bah! Tried all the tricks including the freezer method - no go - and of course, it's the one drive I don't have a backup of - and my aging brain cells can't remember if it was only music on there or other bits 'n pieces

Anyway, in the market for new internal now - 750-1TB

Anything in particular that anyone recommends?
 
That is why I only have a 160gb SSD in my PC, dont like the idea of all the drives running all day and night long.

That is why I have like 15 external 1TB drives next to my PC and I only switch them on when I need something, I just copy it over to the SSD and switch the external drive off.

That is why my drives last, my oldest external is 5 years old and is still running so damn good that thing is build to last forever.

All of my friends have bought the Samsung G3 station drive and almost all of them broke in a few months, mine is still running after like 2 years, lol.

The drives is still too expensive today http://www.takealot.com/electronics...da-1tb-hdd-64mb-cache-sata-3-6-0gb-s,11038614
 
werny said:
That is why I only have a 160gb SSD in my PC, dont like the idea of all the drives running all day and night long.

That is why I have like 15 external 1TB drives next to my PC and I only switch them on when I need something, I just copy it over to the SSD and switch the external drive off.

That is why my drives last, my oldest external is 5 years old and is still running so damn good that thing is build to last forever.

All of my friends have bought the Samsung G3 station drive and almost all of them broke in a few months, mine is still running after like 2 years, lol.

The drives is still too expensive today http://www.takealot.com/electronics...da-1tb-hdd-64mb-cache-sata-3-6-0gb-s,11038614
Click to expand...

Erm.. your externals are just internals in a case. If you have your energy management set up correctly there is no difference between having the drives in an enclosure or inside the box, except of course for the MASSIVE speed penalty. I bet it takes you hours to transfer stuff.

I have 10 drives in my media server and only one has failed in the past 4 or 5 years, and it was replaced under warranty. Tho I am constantly increasing the drive size when I can there are still 2 1tb drives in there that have been there from the beginning without any issues.

The only way having them inside the case is a problem is if there is inadequate cooling.

Esquire has 1TB drives at R679 ex vat.
 
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dovij said:
Try spinrite. It really works.
Click to expand...

Not when the hdd has some real physical damage, then you just stuff it up more. I've used spinrite only once successfully a few years ago. 3 tries later on 3 drives it failed me :(
 
AfricanTech said:
Sigh - it's mechanical - drive wont even engage via the BIOS - it's gone forever

Esquire has the best prices but now I don't know whether to go for 5400RPM or 7200RPM...
Click to expand...

The price difference is nominal I think, but honestly I have always gone 5400rpm in my media server and never had issues with them.

I only worry about drive speed when its the primary drive on a desktop. Otherwise I go for volume over speed. I stream from one drive to two different devices and it works without a problem. Unless its 1080, then it karks a bit, but 720p and below it handles just fine.
 
My advice is stay away from any drive with less than a 5 year warranty. they are simply not made to last.
 
AfricanTech said:
Bah! Tried all the tricks including the freezer method - no go - and of course,
Click to expand...
If you tried freezer method then your heads are gone, and surface probably too. I am afraid Southbit won't take such job (once he knows).

BTW, just restored data on Seagate U7 drive. Not recognised, jumps to F>. Coudn't force to T>, error FE. Just came back, temperature dropped in the building to 10 degrees. Power on, get T> prompt. Connecting interface, and copying data, all is here... :)
 
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Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AARX, 750GB - R902

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARX, 1TB - R957

Western Digital because of the warranty of 3 years over Seagate 1 year. (5400-7200rpm for power saving)


Sapphiron said:
My advice is stay away from any drive with less than a 5 year warranty. they are simply not made to last.
Click to expand...

For example the Western Digital Caviar Black range, very expensive I can't really justify it tbh, maybe for the 750GB but from there it just gets ridiculous.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX, 750GB - R1,050 (R148 for 2 years extra warranty)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX, 1TB - R1,290 (R333 for 2 years extra warranty)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX, 1.5TB - R1,796 (R699 for 2 years extra warranty)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX, 2TB - R2,036 (R719 for 2 years extra warranty)

Seagate seem to have downgraded the XT and sv35 ranges from 5 year warranties to 3 years, the only ranges that have 5 year warranties now are Seagate Savvio and the Seagate Cheetah which only dominate in speed over the Western Digitals.
 
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Makro had a special 2tb for 999 this past week external one
 
AfricanTech said:
Sigh - it's mechanical - drive wont even engage via the BIOS - it's gone forever

Esquire has the best prices but now I don't know whether to go for 5400RPM or 7200RPM...
Click to expand...

Wanted to suggest you use a Linux live cd and boot from that, but if you're sure its mechanical, then its no use.
.....if you have a Linux live CD lying around, it won't hurt giving it a try, would it??? Might just be able to save some data.

EDIT: I picked up HDD in linux that the BIOS didn't, just saying....
 
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@Madman88 - thanks for the insight - my primary is a 7200 so I reckon a 5400 will do as a secondary

@beans100 - tried all the tricks including having a look from Linux - no luck - that drive is gone forever

Anyway, nearly pulled the trigger last night on the Hitachi (1TB, 7200 for R699 ex vat) from Esquire, then realised that with the music gone (fortunately I still have all my original CD's - just the thought of re-ripping is daunting though) I don't actually have to have another drive RIGHT NOW, so I'm going to hang on a bit and see if the prices drop in the next couple of weeks.

Esquire did say they'll be running specials as part of their birthday celebrations.
 
sajunky said:
BTW, just restored data on Seagate U7 drive. Not recognised, jumps to F>. Coudn't force to T>, error FE. Just came back, temperature dropped in the building to 10 degrees. Power on, get T> prompt. Connecting interface, and copying data, all is here... :)
Click to expand...

There's always a way to get to T> ;)
 
South_Bit said:
There's always a way to get to T> ;)
Click to expand...
Perhaps... with proper tools, ability to reload firmware. On the ATA terminal is just hoping for good things to happen. Anyway, data is already out.

BTW, Drive has Head 0 problem on SA, not much problems on user area. I am going to exepriment on this one, as there is another one 200Gig, hoping I can use for myself.

First try will be N4 (not N2), as I have problem reading russian guide regarding how to modify CERT address after selfscan. :(
 
Launched selfscan and after 16+ hours it completed all tests with no error. Suspicious is response to H command on head 0 (see capture file below). Also I didn't expect that Cert Code is not loaded by default (I have no other working drive to compare). For now the drive only responds to flash built-in commands, is it normal? I didn't try to load Cert manually for the reason to avoid triggering another lenghty testing sequence.

From the user interface drive is in perfect condition. Surface scan gives all sectors below 50ms, with upper limit only found 200 to 300 sectors.

Question is whether I can trust this drive and put it back to the PC.
Southbit, others? Reason for asking is that I borrowed this unit, as I needed computer with SATA interface for testing and hard drive decided to die in my hands. If I can not trust it I would have to find a replacement.
Code: 
Interface task reset
1024k x 16 buffer detected 
AVALANCHE - 1_Disk    S.30  08-30-02 15:13 rcwood 

Buzz  - Head Mask 000F - Switch to full int.
              Spin Ready
3.31  09-09-02 11:30 rcwood
(P)ATReset
Slave

T>Pgm=00 Trk=0C97D(0C97D).1(1).005(004) Zn=0 Err=00 ErCt=0000 Hlth=0000 CHlth=0000 

Ready LBA=00000000

Age=50 Type=41 MxCyl=12EA7 MxHd=1 MxSct=399 BSz=B650 TCode=0000

T>
RD:0200:10
WR:0210:10
AC:022A:FF
AS:0329:65
SC:038E:FF
DP:022A:FF
BA:0226:03
ST:0229:01
logbps:0200
codebps:0200

uP:0FE0:20
FM:0220:06
AD:0220:0A
RL:0FDD
SL:0F1A
AL:0F03
MZ:0FF8

T>/2
2>H0
  Head 0
2>H1
  Head 1
2>H2
  Head 0
2>H3
  Head 0
2>/T
T>k
Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected
T>D4E
Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected
T>V7
Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected
T>/2
2>x
Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected
2>
 
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