[mythtv-users] Lost my OS hard drive

Matthew McClement mythtv at macker.co.uk
Tue Sep 15 14:25:46 UTC 2009


James Crow wrote:
> Jim Morton wrote:
>> I had one that would not spin up. After the freezer trick didn't
>> work and banging it around didn't work, I took the cover off of it
>> (it had those security torx screws) and while plugged into a
>> system, started the platters spinning by hand. Once I got it
>> spinning, it kept going and worked long enough to copy everything
>> to another drive.
>> 
> Good idea, but I can hear the platters spinning up. After they have
> spun for a bit (I'm guessing getting up to speed) then the click
> sound starts. It sounds like the drive attempts to position the heads
> several times and they slam into a stop or something. It repeats the
> click several times, pauses, and then clicks again. After maybe ten
> or so click sequences the drive seems to shut down. I guess the
> electronics are trying to keep it from doing more damage.

A variation of Jim's trick is to open up the drive and wiggle the drive
head mechanism(gently!) a little while spinning the disk. Replace the
cover(even if just losely) and try spinning up the drive again.

Note, you don't really need a clean room to open up a drive, as long as
you understand that it's usable lifespan has been drastically shortened.
It takes a while for dust particles to settle on the platters and build
up enough to cause problems for the drive heads.

On a related note, an external SATA->USB adapter is very useful for
drive recovery in these kinds of situations. It allows you to quickly
try various methods to get it back to life without having to mess around
with the internals of your PC.

Matt


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