Bad drive determination...

[fotoobscura]

Hi...I have several bad drives in various states. One of them spins
up but never shows up in (Windows) as a disk or an unallocated disk in
Disk Management. Wondering how to get access to it at a low level
perhaps? Would Ontrack see it if Windows Disk Management wouldn't?

Also I have another disk that spins up quite loudly then you can hear
the head tracking over and over again..tick tick tick tick tick tick
tick tick (8x always) then a stop, then 8x, then a stop, then an
spindown. This drive also does not shop up anywhere in Windows
either....Wondering if perhaps its the controller board on the drive
that has gone bad...Is the only way to truly determine this is to
replace the controller board? I've done this before with success but
not with a drive that had a head that was seeking oddly.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi...I have several bad drives in various states. One of them spins
up but never shows up in (Windows) as a disk or an unallocated disk in
Disk Management. Wondering how to get access to it at a low level perhaps?

Not possible without fixing the problem it has.

Would Ontrack see it if Windows Disk Management wouldn't?
Nope.

Also I have another disk that spins up quite loudly then you can hear
the head tracking over and over again..tick tick tick tick tick tick tick
tick (8x always) then a stop, then 8x, then a stop, then an spindown.

Thats the drive recalibrating when it cant read the platters
and eventually giving up when it still cant read the platters.

This drive also does not shop up anywhere in Windows either....
Wondering if perhaps its the controller board on the drive that has gone bad...

Thats certainly possible, but it can also be a failure within the sealed enclosure too.

Is the only way to truly determine this is to replace the controller board?

You can work out some failures using a CRO but those are quite
expensive and you need to know how to use them to do that.

I've done this before with success but not with
a drive that had a head that was seeking oddly.

That recalibration detail does vary from model to model so a logic card swap may work.

 

[fotoobscura]

Thanks Rod! I've had a RASH of bad luck (I have three bad drives
(ide) ) that i've had for < 6 months- in 20 years i've never seen that
sort of failure rate....wondering if there's some mfr. defect going
on- they are maxtor's and samsungs. (actually the samsung is a sata).

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks Rod! I've had a RASH of bad luck (I have three bad drives
(ide) ) that i've had for < 6 months- in 20 years i've never seen that
sort of failure rate....wondering if there's some mfr. defect going on-
they are maxtor's and samsungs. (actually the samsung is a sata).

Very likely the power supply is killing them or they arent getting adequate cooling.