It runs fine for ~ half a year. Without any warning, I have trouble
powering up. It powers up ok like any other HD I've seen but it also
making a clicking noise at a regular pace (~ once a second) like it
got stuck by something at rotation. After a few minutes, it shuts
itself down. If I power it up again, it would go through the same
process like described above.

I have a lot of files on the HD that I'd like to retreive before
sending it back. Are there tricks that I can temporarily making it
work? I wonder if I slap at it at certain angle, it may break free and
work again?? I've seen tips of putting it in a freezer.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

cpliu

cpliu <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> It runs fine for ~ half a year. Without any warning, I have
> trouble powering up. It powers up ok like any other HD
> I've seen but it also making a clicking noise at a regular pace
> (~ once a second) like it got stuck by something at rotation.

More likely what you hear is the drive recalibrating
when it cant read the platters properly.

> After a few minutes, it shuts itself down.

Because it decides that even recalibrating wont read the platters properly.

> If I power it up again, it would go through the same process like described above.

> I have a lot of files on the HD that I'd like to retreive before sending it back.

Smart move not having proper backups.

> Are there tricks that I can temporarily making it work?

You could try putting it in a plastic bag in the freezer for a couple of hours
and see if it will read the platters properly for a short time before it warms up.

> I wonder if I slap at it at certain angle, it may break free and work again??

Its unlikely to stuck and you should be able to feel if its rotating by
powering it up loose and feeling the drive when its powering up.

> I've seen tips of putting it in a freezer.

> Any suggestions?

Try the freezer, it does sometimes work.

Professional recovery will likely get the data back, but it isnt cheap.

Previously cpliu <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> It runs fine for ~ half a year. Without any warning, I have trouble
> powering up. It powers up ok like any other HD I've seen but it also
> making a clicking noise at a regular pace (~ once a second) like it
> got stuck by something at rotation. After a few minutes, it shuts
> itself down. If I power it up again, it would go through the same
> process like described above.

Sounds like excessive read or postioning errors. Please post the
full SMART attributes here.

> I have a lot of files on the HD that I'd like to retreive before
> sending it back. Are there tricks that I can temporarily making it
> work? I wonder if I slap at it at certain angle, it may break free and
> work again??

Stiction does not happen to modern drives due to improved
surface coating. You may cause additional damage though.

> I've seen tips of putting it in a freezer.

Unlikely to help, but you can try it.

> Any suggestions?

Next time -- make backups. Seems this is a lession thathas to
be learned the hard way...

Arno

Thank you all for the suggestions. I put it in the freezer for one
night but it didn't help. It might take longer to start the clicking
noise. Here is the recorded noise: http://66.179.233.115/training/xfer/HD_noise.mp3
This is the first time that a HD stopped working without any symptons
first. I carried it to work to backup and retrieve data when needed
and I didn't drop it or mishandle it. Maybe the motion of walking with
it inside a bag or putting it on the table gradually kills it.
I have 90% of files with a second copy or on DVD. There are a few big
files and newer files I don't have backups. It would be still nice if
I can still back them up before sending it back.
The HD won't show up on my laptop. How do I generate SMART attribute?

Thanks for the help,

cpliu

cpliu <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Thank you all for the suggestions. I put it in the freezer for one
> night but it didn't help. It might take longer to start the clicking
> noise. Here is the recorded noise:
> http://66.179.233.115/training/xfer/HD_noise.mp3 This is the first
> time that a HD stopped working without any symptons
> first. I carried it to work to backup and retrieve data when needed
> and I didn't drop it or mishandle it.

> Maybe the motion of walking with it inside a
> bag or putting it on the table gradually kills it.

Nope, but you might have killed it with static if it wasnt an antistatic bag.

> I have 90% of files with a second copy or on DVD. There are
> a few big files and newer files I don't have backups. It would
> be still nice if I can still back them up before sending it back.

> The HD won't show up on my laptop. How do I generate SMART attribute?

Use Everest
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

cpliu wrote:
>
> Thank you all for the suggestions. I put it in the freezer for one
> night but it didn't help. It might take longer to start the clicking
> noise. Here is the recorded noise: http://66.179.233.115/training/xfer/HD_noise.mp3
> This is the first time that a HD stopped working without any symptons
> first. I carried it to work to backup and retrieve data when needed
> and I didn't drop it or mishandle it. Maybe the motion of walking with
> it inside a bag or putting it on the table gradually kills it.
> I have 90% of files with a second copy or on DVD. There are a few big
> files and newer files I don't have backups. It would be still nice if
> I can still back them up before sending it back.
> The HD won't show up on my laptop. How do I generate SMART attribute?
>
> Thanks for the help,
>
> cpliu

I listened to your recording.

You have either bad firmware or bad heads.

No amount of freezing or playing around with utilities is going to bring
this drive back to life.

I have seen an enormous surge of recently-manufactured Seagate drives
(high-capacity) coming in for recovery - although admittedly mainly with
failed bearings rather than bad heads or firmware. It is an issue I
will be taking up with Seagate and posting on my website in the coming
days.

From having been the most reliable drives around two to four years ago,
I now see more Seagate drives for recovery than any other, and I no
longer recommend them for reliability.

Recovering that drive is going to be costly.

And, no - I am not offering - I'm snowed under at the moment and
reluctant to take on new work such as that.



Duncan
--
Retrodata
www.retrodata.co.uk
Globally Local Data Recovery Experts

Previously Odie Ferrous <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> cpliu wrote:
>>
>> Thank you all for the suggestions. I put it in the freezer for one
>> night but it didn't help. It might take longer to start the clicking
>> noise. Here is the recorded noise: http://66.179.233.115/training/xfer/HD_noise.mp3
>> This is the first time that a HD stopped working without any symptons
>> first. I carried it to work to backup and retrieve data when needed
>> and I didn't drop it or mishandle it. Maybe the motion of walking with
>> it inside a bag or putting it on the table gradually kills it.
>> I have 90% of files with a second copy or on DVD. There are a few big
>> files and newer files I don't have backups. It would be still nice if
>> I can still back them up before sending it back.
>> The HD won't show up on my laptop. How do I generate SMART attribute?
>>
>> Thanks for the help,
>>
>> cpliu

> I listened to your recording.

> You have either bad firmware or bad heads.

> No amount of freezing or playing around with utilities is going to bring
> this drive back to life.

> I have seen an enormous surge of recently-manufactured Seagate drives
> (high-capacity) coming in for recovery - although admittedly mainly with
> failed bearings rather than bad heads or firmware. It is an issue I
> will be taking up with Seagate and posting on my website in the coming
> days.

Might that be mainly ones of the famed Chinese origin? Or is it
Maxtor models?

> From having been the most reliable drives around two to four years ago,
> I now see more Seagate drives for recovery than any other, and I no
> longer recommend them for reliability.

There seems to be waves of this: A manufacturer has a reputation
for really good reliability. Then they decide to cut cost or
mess up some other way and theirs are suddenly the worst on
the market. Seen with IBM, sow Seagate. Expecting it with
Samsung some day, although I hope, they manage to avoid it.

Arno

On Jan 28, 7:21*am, Arno Wagner <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> Might that be mainly ones of the famed Chinese origin? Or is it
> Maxtor models?

It's Seagate made in Singapore.

On Jan 28, 2:12*am, Odie Ferrous <odie_ferr...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I listened to your recording.
>
> You have either bad firmware or bad heads.
>
> No amount of freezing or playing around with utilities is going to bring
> this drive back to life.
>
That's too bad. Why would a HD have bad heads? I've just started
carrying it to work for 1.5 months. Before that, I've used it for a
while at home (without the need to move it around) without any
problems. Maybe I have it exposed (internal HD) so it got static? This
is an internal unit that I access it with a SATA to USB adapter. Or is
it because of the heat it generated? I carried another external HD to
work for 9 months without problems.

> I have seen an enormous surge of recently-manufactured Seagate drives
> (high-capacity) coming in for recovery - although admittedly mainly with
> failed bearings rather than bad heads or firmware. *It is an issue I
> will be taking up with Seagate and posting on my website in the coming
> days.

All my seagate HDs failed in the past. Except this one, they were
refurbished. I also had Maxtor, Western Digital drives. Some had
problems after a few years. None of them failed suddenly like this
one.
Looks like I should avoid Seagate from now on.

It's indeed a big lesson for me. I will backup from frequently from
now on.

Arno Wagner wrote in news:(E-Mail Removed)
> Previously cpliu <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > It runs fine for ~ half a year. Without any warning, I have trouble
> > powering up. It powers up ok like any other HD I've seen but it also
> > making a clicking noise at a regular pace (~ once a second) like it
> > got stuck by something at rotation. After a few minutes, it shuts
> > itself down. If I power it up again, it would go through the same
> > process like described above.
>
> Sounds like excessive read or postioning errors. Please post the
> full SMART attributes here.
>
> > I have a lot of files on the HD that I'd like to retreive before
> > sending it back. Are there tricks that I can temporarily making it
> > work? I wonder if I slap at it at certain angle, it may break free and
> > work again??

> Stiction does not happen to modern drives due to improved
> surface coating. You may cause additional damage though.

Utterly clueless.
Stiction *does* happen to modern drives *due* to improved surface
coating. That's why landingzones are specially treated to avoid stiction.
Other drives have landing ramps to avoid this.
If for some reason the heads park in the data area stiction becomes a
real possibility.

>
> > I've seen tips of putting it in a freezer.
>
> Unlikely to help, but you can try it.
>
> > Any suggestions?
>
> Next time -- make backups. Seems this is a lession thathas to
> be learned the hard way...
>
> Arno