Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 112127 2010-08-25 01:22:00 Hard Drive Failure - Clicking Sound - Need Advice MongooseRoadkill (13197) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1131504 2010-08-25 01:22:00 Recently my primary Hard Drive (my OS HDD) failed on me randomly, I was just using the computer normally, then it froze, restarted and refused boot, it just returned a "Hard drive read error" So I can't access any of my files of which some would be vary nice to have back (my C# and XNA projects :crying ) - Luckly I have backed up some of the files but not everything. At the moment I'm running Puppy Linux off a 4 Gbyte flash drive which isn't a lot of fun :(

After examination I found that the Hard Drive continuously clicks (only when the SATA cable is plugged in) I did some research and found that there is a small chance it could just be the Hard Drives control circuit playing up. I found a website that offers the matching circuit here: www.onepcbsolution.com

Is it worth the money to buy this and attempt to fix the Hard Drive or would it be better to just buy a new Hard Drive? Or is there any other way to fix the Hard Drive and get the data back because as you probably know HDD failure is a nerds (unbacked up one of course) worst nightmare :crying

Hard Drive Model: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80 Gbytes
Model Number: ST380819AS
Serial Number: 5MR61690
Firmware: 8.04

Any help on this issue is appreciated :thanks
MongooseRoadkill (13197)
1131505 2010-08-25 01:29:00 Get what you want off it then chuck it out. Then buy another. Or try another SATA cable. See if it makes a diff Speedy Gonzales (78)
1131506 2010-08-25 01:46:00 By that do you mean buy the new circuit, attempt to copy over data, then but a new Hard Drive?

The other SATA cable or ports didn't work either.

By the way, an error with my first post:

The Hard Drive clicks for a few seconds when it starts up not continuously.
MongooseRoadkill (13197)
1131507 2010-08-25 02:37:00 The ports maybe stuffed then. Connect it to something else with SATA. See what happens. Is the SATA onboard or is it a PCI card? If the hdd is still under warranty take it back Speedy Gonzales (78)
1131508 2010-08-25 06:22:00 It's on-board. I tested the Hard Drive using a SATA to USB adapter but it was to no avail.

Is it worth attempting to get a new control circuit or should I just move on?
MongooseRoadkill (13197)
1131509 2010-08-25 06:50:00 The board will probably cost more than the hdd. Speedy Gonzales (78)
1131510 2010-08-25 09:50:00 That clicking is the controller trying to find track zero to get itself oriented. The head doesn't find it and ends up hitting the endstop, making the click sound.

I don't believe anyone can tell you whether a new circuit board will fix it. Only you can make the call on whether it is worth the risk of wasting money.

There is only one way to get the data back with a very high probability of success and that is to give it to a professional recovery company but your data would have to be pretty valuable to justify this.

Sorry to sound so pessimistic. Do some googling and see whether anyone else has had any success.
linw (53)
1