Barracuda XT, Barracuda, Barracuda Green, DiamondMax and other desktop SATA and IDE drives

[HelliXSystems]

Hi,
Suddenly, this morning my ST3250310AS 250GB SATA2 HDD, was not detected by my BIOS.
The drive does not spin (I checked with an stethoscope) but it gets slightly warm.
Now is just a brick. 

Can I fix this at home? I don't care about the data, those are things I have al ready on DVDs, etc.


Thank you.

[fzabkar]

Does it hum or buzz as if it is trying to spin? If so, then you could have a seized spindle, or a stiction problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiction#Hard_disk_drives

Here are some sound samples from failed drives:

http://datacent.com/hard_drive_sounds.php

http://web.archive.org/web/20051016010750/http://www.hitachigst.com/hddt/knowtree.nsf/cffe836ed7c12018862565b000530c74/4b1a62a50f405d0d86256756006e340c?OpenDocument

[HelliXSystems]

Nope, it does not hum or buzz., no spin try or head movement.
Just like a brick.

Also, I just  unmount the logical card and it looks just fine, no visible damage and nothig smells like burn.

Is there anything I can do to bring it back to life?

Thanks.

Message Edited by HelliXSystems on 10-16-2009 11:47 AM

[Cantbecanit]

How old is the drive?

If it's 3+ years old I'd say the mechanics of it are failing, there are 2 bodge things you can try at your own risk, one is to bang it about a bit, not too hard though, this should free of stuck parts, and two, put it in a plastic bag and freeze it for the night.

[HelliXSystems]

Is not that old, here is the complete data from the label:

-Barracuda 7200.10 250Gb
-ST3250310AS
-Serial Nº 9RY1PSPE
-Part Nº 9EU132-305
-Firmware 3.AAC
-Datecode 08261 (year 2008?)
-Sitecode TK

I already bang it against the deskstop from 5inch high, in the side of the HDD. I will try to freeze it.

 Any other ideas? Why just died!?
Should I try to conect the HDD to the serial port, as shown in many sites?
Is there any low level tool to detect the disc? BIOS can't detect it...

Thank you.

Message Edited by HelliXSystems on 10-16-2009 12:15 PM

[fzabkar]

Seagate date code calculator:

http://www.bugaco.com/calculators/seagate_date_code.php

"08261 corresponds to 2007 December 22nd"

The drive's serial port may transmit a message such as "LEDnnnnn" on start-up. If so, then the data recovery experts at HDD Guru may be able to advise you:

http://forum.hddguru.com/hard-disk-drives-data-recovery-and-repair-f1.html

[HelliXSystems]

How much does it worth to build all the serial rig? I mean a SATA2 250Gb drive is just about 40USD here, and all the data is allready backed up.

Thank you.

Message Edited by HelliXSystems on 10-16-2009 01:10 PM