HDD Fail?

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carnageX

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So, I left college to go home on friday. Before I left, I shut my computer down, unplugged my external HDD's, and made sure they were shut off. Everything was working fine before I left.

Came back yesterday (Sunday), and plugged everything back in. One of my external drives was recognized fine. Didn't notice till later that night that my other one wasn't being recognized. So I try it on a different comptuer...still no go. I tried plugging it direct, and it still wouldn't go. and here's the odd part about that: it would take forever to detect the other drives on that channel (SATA channel) that the troublesome drive was plugged in on, and sometimes wouldn't even detect the other drives. Tried looking in BIOS to see if it was detected...and a no-go there either.

I can hear the drive spinning up and start up, and feel it running, which is the weird part. Nothing should have happened to it over the weekend, either, since it was just sitting there and not moving. I'm going to try the freezer trick a little later today to see if maybe that works...but I'm not sure. Anybody else got any tips? This drive has literally ALL of my music (about 70GB or so) on it...and stupid me hasn't made a backup of it...

Edit: I can also see the external HDD drive light flicker once in a while (once every few minutes I'd say) like it's trying to read it...but still isn't detected in Disk Management or BIOS.
 
Cable's not the problem. As I stated above, it's normally in an external enclosure. I unhooked one of my optical drives, and then hooked up the drive direct to the mobo that way. Would not be recognized in BIOS and would hang on the splash screen, but I could hear/feel it spin up (both on direct connection, and through the enclosure). Could it be a bad controller card maybe?
 
What about drivers, I could be going completely down the wrong track but Ive had similar problems with CD drives. Maybe going in to device manager and scanning for hardware changes. Just thinking of things you've probably already tried :L
 
It would still be detected in BIOS if it were a driver problem, though. Going to see if I have time to try the freezer trick later...will see how that turns out.
 
Well, freezer trick didn't work... Put it in my freezer for about 3hrs...took it out, and hooked it back into my enclosure..does the same thing. May call SeaGate's data recovery to get a quote on how much it would cost to get it recovered...cuz i had over 12,500 songs on that drive =\. Don't really feel like trying to find them all again...

Sucky thing is I can feel it running, but it's not recognized by anything >.<... Wondering if its a controller card problem.
 
There's a CD floating around on the internet called "Hirens Boot CD". Download and try that (I'm not sure of the legality of it, so sorry if it's illegal). I've heard positive things about that piece of software. It's got tools for all sorts of problems.
 
Already have a Hiren's BootCD. That' won't help though, because again, its not detected by BIOS. If its not detected by BIOS then it's not gonna get recognized by anything.
 
Just another update...after doing some more looking into it, it looks like it was one of the drives affected by the faulty SeaGate firmware. Had forgotten about that until earlier today. Checked it out, and sure enough, it was one of the affected models with the affected firmware (model ST3500320AS, firmware SD15.

Contacted SeaGate, and here's what they had to say:

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
Hello. How may I help you?
Bryan W: Hi Chase! How may I help you?
Chase B.: Hello, I have recently had a problem with a SeaGate hard drive I have purchased a while back.
Bryan W: Ok, what is going on?
Chase B.: First a bit of background info to run you up to speed on the situation I'm having.
Bryan W: Ok.
Chase B.: Left home last Friday, and shut down all of my computer components. Unplugged my devices to make sure nothing would happen to them. I came back Sunday night, and my hard drive that I store all of my music and game installers on would not be recognized. This drive resides in an external enclosure; I tried putting it on another computer via USB, and sam ehappened.
Chase B.: So I decided to try it outside of the enclosure and direct connect it to the motherboard...still would not be recognized.
Bryan W: Ok, does the drive still spin up ok?
Chase B.: the drive still spins up, and I can hear it attempt to be used; but is not being recognized in any OS. So I do some more researching, and I think it is because it is being affected by the firmware bug that was announced in Dec '08
Bryan W: Also does it make any strange noieses?
Chase B.: Nope, no strange noises (e.g. clicking, etc)
Bryan W: Ok, hold on a sec. Let me check to see if it was an affected drive.
Chase B.: I thought I had checked all of my drives for the firmware compatibility, but it seems I overlooked this one. It is running the SD15 firmware, which it seems is on the affected list
Chase B.: Model is ST3500320AS, f/w SD15
Bryan W: What is the drive serial number?
Chase B.: ***********
Bryan W: Ok.
Bryan W: Just one moment please.
Chase B.: I'm not able to apply the update because it is not being recognized by my computer's BIOS, either (have already attempted this via the firmware update boot disk)
Chase B.: I have read places that the data is still intact on the drive (which is very important to me), but it is inaccessible because of this firmware bug.
Bryan W: Ok yes this drive looks to be affected. to get the drive updated you need to contact the recovery division at 1-800-475-0143. Inform the agent that you need to initiate the process for a firmware affected drive. also provide the case number ********.
Bryan W: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Chase B.: I guess if you don't mind me asking, do you by chance know what is all done in that procedure? Or if my data will still be retained?
Chase B.: And, since the drive is still under warranty, will the service be covered?
Chase B.: If I have to send it in to be serviced, that is.
Bryan W: The data will be retained. they will be able to update the firmware to the new version, and it will allow the drive to be accessible and usable again.
Bryan W: The update is free.
Chase B.: Ok, that is very good to know. Been stressed over this ordeal for a few days now.
Chase B.: Is there a certain division I need to ask for when calling the number, or is it an option in the menu?
Bryan W: I do understand and apologize for the stress. they will get you fixed up though.
Bryan W: Just select the option 1 I beleive it is, but once you get an agent just tell them what you need and give the case number, they will know what to do from there.
Chase B.: Ok, thank you so very much for the help, I really do appreciate it. Gives me some peace at mind for something anyway, heh.
Bryan W: No problem.
Bryan W: Thank you for contacting Seagate. Have a Great Day. Good Bye.
Chase B.: Thanks, Good bye.

So, looks like I'll be getting the drive updated as well as my data recovered for free from their partner company, i365. They're paying shipping both ways, as well.
 
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