This could be really bad

[carbonel]

I'd been meaning to back up the external hard drive that all my music is on -- all the CDs I ripped, all the LPs and tapes that I'd converted myself, everything. I finally got a large enough additional hard drive to put it on. And now my music hard drive, the one that hasn't been backed up, seems to have totally died. The light goes on, but there are no vibrations.

Is there anything that can be done that won't be hideously expensive?

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I do not know the answer to this.

K.

Complicated Question

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

There's a few things you can try. Do you know if it's a SATA drive or an IDE drive? How old is it? SATA is easier to work with.

I'm guessing it won't spin up. Sometimes a thump helps. I'd not try to spin it up until you have a replacement drive ready to copy it to.

[guppiecat]

Here is your process:

1) Try the drive with an external adapter kit. I have a few you can try.

2) As lsanderson says, give it a small thump. See if that frees up the platters.

3) Set the oven to 100 degrees. VERIFY THIS WITH A THERMOMETER. Place the drive in there for about ten minutes, then try it again.

4) Place the drive in two ziplock bags, and place in the freezer for about half an hour. Then try it again.

5) If none of the above works, find an identical model of drive and swap the external circuit boards.

6) If that doesn't work, swap the circuit boards back and try the identical drive (make sure it works). Then, do a platter swap in as close to a clean room as you can. What often works best is to run the shower on hot in your bathroom until things get all steamy. Then cover any sources of dust and run the bathroom fan until it's not steamy anymore. Then swap the platters and place the open drive in a baggie with some Do Not Eats for about a day. Then try the drive again.

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Beth, This does not sound like fun.

Josh, What is this, the computer equivalent of Chinese water torture, or an attempt to save a (computer) life exposed to extreme weather?

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

Get SpinRight from GRC and run it for as long as you can. As soon as your sectors are recovered. get the stuff off of the drive and chuck it.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's probably bad. The above advice is good. You might try simply powering it down (turning it off/unplugging it) until it's cool, then trying to restart. If this works, it's probably a power supply issue, which is expensive to fix, so replace it and transfer.

[pameladean]

Aaaaagggghhhh. No advice, alas, but plenty of sympathy. I hope thumping it helps.

P.

Edited to correct stupid spelling error.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you're facing this, but somewhat amused--or maybe bemused--by guppiecat's response. If you try any of that, I'll be interested in hearing whether it works.