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Thread ID: 143421	2017-01-06 04:15:00	By some remote chance........	B.M. (505)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1430459	2017-01-06 04:15:00	is there any programme that can check the firmware on a Hard Drive when the Computer itself can’t see the drive? :confused: To add a bit of detail, the HDD is a Hitachi 5K500 B-320 out of a Asus K52F laptop. All of a sudden it has stopped working in the Laptop so I’ve slaved it to a couple of working machines, by way of one of those USB connectors, and then directly, but it can’t be seen let alone work, and Recovery Disks such as Paragon can’t see the sod either, let alone report on its health. I’ve struck a few buggered disks over the years, but this is first that has made itself completely invisible. Personally, I don’t hold much hope, but I thought I’d float it anyway. :D	B.M. (505)
1430460	2017-01-06 04:28:00	You can try Crystal disk info, crystalmark.info Get the top one in the list, Standard Edition (zipped) 4.6MB. If it reads the drive, it will read the S.M.A.R.T and give the condition of the drive. (as long as its readable) You can also try booting the from a CD with Disk Partitioning software ( Had AOMEI Partition Assistant read drives that others wont) . That will tell you if the drive is readable. Then if there's any thing you want to recover use data recovery software - that's a different task though. Have you tried on your Linux Machines - sometimes Linux will see a drive when Windows wont.	wainuitech (129)
1430461	2017-01-06 04:44:00	I would try connect it directly to a SATA port on another machine, rather than one of those USB SATA adapters. And as wainui said, Linux would be preferable too.	CYaBro (73)
1430462	2017-01-06 05:25:00	Usually it's the disc that fails, but sometimes the controller board dies. If that's the case the only fix is to replace the board if you can even get one, or to use one of the very expensive professional data recovery specialists. Try the suggestions here before you give up but just be aware not all drives are user recoverable.	dugimodo (138)
1430463	2017-01-06 05:44:00	What information are you wanting to get from the firmware? If the hard drive has been locked, you won't be getting anything from the firmware. So this could be a possible problem. The steps I mention are at your own risk and may not be in the order that they should be performed. I would not use a USB caddy and connect it directly. Physically check that the contacts/pins are ok, if you can test the cable, then you should. What you want to do is see if the drive is actually spinning up. If you hear any grinding/crunching, stop it immediately. This would be a job for a professional drive recoverer. If it spins fine, then a possible culprit could be a burnt out PCB board, professionals can easily replace it, or if you are game, you could do it yourself. It may require flashing the right firmware onto the replacement board and opening up the hard drive. This might be as far as you would go to fixing it yourself, other things would involve checking the spindle, the read and write arms, basically any of the moving parts. You could even attempt surgery by swapping the platters to another drive but its really depends on whether you have the tools and ability to do it. The end result maybe a completely unrecoverable drive. So, locked drive or burnt out PCB board/faulty firmware, bad contacts can make a drive undetectable/unreadable.	Kame (312)
1430464	2017-01-10 04:23:00	Thanks guys for all your suggestions. :thumbs: I think I can safely say that all bases have been covered, but the bottom line is that only on relatively rare occasions can the BIOS, (on two different computers) see the Drive. So I guess it is little wonder the OS and other programmes can’t. Regretfully, when the BIOS can see the drive, it disappears as soon as you try to Mount the Drive. The other side of the coin is that the drive seems to be spinning OK and my experience with solid state electronics is they are not subject to intermittent faults. When they fail, that’s it and a $100 IC will always protect a 10c fuse! So this exercise in futility is really only of academic interest, as all the information on the drive is backed up. But I have heard of HDD’s being revived in the freezer, something I’ve never tried, so is there any comment on that approach? :D :thanks	B.M. (505)
1430465	2017-01-10 04:52:00	But I have heard of HDD’s being revived in the freezer, something I’ve never tried, so is there any comment on that approach? :D :thanks On Normal HDD's as long as its basically a rubbish bin job & considered lost, and $$ Doesn't want to be spent on Professional Data recovery, on the Odd occasion it can work. Other times you have a frozen / cold piece of metal :) If it does, you can only do it once as the drives really stuffed afterwards. Had one drive years ago, it was really funny, had the drive in the freezer ( in a static bag) over night, slaved it to a workshop PC and bugger me, it saw the drive and data, copy off quick, as the drive started to heat up it started to lose it again, so run inside, grab some packets of frozen Vegs and wrapped the drive, while it was copying - got most of the data off before it finally went dead completely.	wainuitech (129)
1430466	2017-01-10 09:01:00	If cooling a drive down works then I would assume it may have desolder itself and when it heats up it has expanded and lost connection again. Although the heat would have been the initial problem it desoldered itself in the first place. Another theory is you are changing the properties of the conductivity allowing a lower resistance in the circuit making it perform smoother till it heats up. My old phone gets sluggish when it overheats, so I cool it down in the freezer to prolong its usage but shorten its life. Its lived long enough though. The drive in question isn't solid state? There would be no movable parts but a lot of easily destroyable electronics in a solid state drive. You wouldn't hear a spinning noise either. There should be a reason why the drive wouldn't mount and possibly a log if you were using Linux. The BIOS does not really need to discover the drive as the OS can partially take over that side and will possibly phase out the need for a BIOS in the near future. You might be able to hot swap the drive which can sometimes work, although if using a USB caddy, it would be able to do this. Since it can be seen at times, I would assume the PCB, that be the board you can see under it. If you cant see any physical damage, then maybe get a replacement board. Try the freezer trick if you want but if there is air inside with the platters, shouldnt be but seals arent forever, you could cause moisture inside it. This should be used just to try and save data without expecting the drive to recover from it.	Kame (312)
1430467	2017-01-10 21:58:00	Ok, I slept on the problem overnight and the errant drive is now sitting in an antistatic bag within a zip plastic bag, within my beer fridge. (with strict instructions not to touch anything of course) The theory being that I’ll drop it to 3ºC for a start and see what happens. If that doesn’t work then I’ll drop it to -20ºC in the Freezer and if after that if it still doesn’t work, I’ll drop it in the rubbish bin. However, this whole experiment has raised a couple of questions I can’t fathom. 1: It has been said a number of times to boot from a Linux Disk and see what happens. Ok, but this disk is of NTFS format, so how does that work? A couple of months ago I tried to install Linux on a NTFS formatted disk :blush: and it wasn’t having any of it. 2: Now CrystalDisk, (suggested by Wainui in an earlier post), is exactly the type of Disk Programme I was looking for, but where do I find an explanation of all the codes? It produces a mine of information, which isn’t much good if you can’t decode it. Also, can this programme be installed on a Linux Computer and will it work? To answer a couple of questions for Kame: The drive in question isn't solid state? The drive is Not solid state as I can hear gentle whirring and the Drive Label says it should be spinning at 5400rpm. There should be a reason why the drive wouldn't mount and possibly a log if you were using Linux. Where would I look for this log? The BIOS does not really need to discover the drive as the OS can partially take over that side and will possibly phase out the need for a BIOS in the near future. Oh, I didn’t realise that, I thought if the BIOS couldn’t see the drive, that was your lot. Just as an aside, years ago a Hair-dryer was an important part of a technicians tool kit and I still have mine and will probably use it if all else fails. :D	B.M. (505)
1430468	2017-01-11 03:33:00	Update. Well after 4 hours in my Beer fridge I figured this HDD would have cooled to 3ºC so I’d give it a try. Now I’m fast loosing interest in this project, so instead of hard installing it, I hung it on one of those USB/adapter cords that I’d tested and found working on another drive. So, I just pulled the USB connector out of the Windows computer and plugged it into a Linux Mint Laptop, that I’ve just converted, and there was a beep and there it was, it had been found, correctly named and correct serial number. However, my joy was short lived, as while I was still staring/gloating at the screen, the laptop beeped again and the subject HDD was gone. :crying Now these USB leads/adaptors don’t enjoy my full confidence, so I just plugged in another known good drive, without removing the USB plug end, and beep, up she comes no problem and doesn’t do the disappearing act. Having had a think about this, but knowing nothing about HDD’s, I’m thinking the problem is low transmission level from the HDD, so I wonder of there is a booster/amplifier that one can plug the HDD into to boost the signal sufficiently for the computer to read it? I’ll pour myself a G&T and see if that lubricates the brain. :D	B.M. (505)
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