HD Failure, Need Help

[badorties]

I have two WD external HDDs: one for all my music and docs, and the other with every digital photo/video i've taken since 2005

I tried to access my photo drive and the PC won't recognize it ... in My Computer, the drive (the letter, not the HDD) flashes occassionally, but then disappears

I bought an HDD reader, and the same thing happen with my PC and on a laptop

is there a way to force the PC to recognize the HDD, is there a recovery tool that will allow me to grab my files

any advise, or ideas would be tremendously appreciated

thanks

[StanUpshaw]

What do you mean by an HD reader?

[badorties]

something akin to

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oJyQky6wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[badorties]

now it apppears in My Computer but as Local Disk ( F: ) not more info, though

[torker]

It happens to all of us eventually, tiger...
http://images.allegrocentral.com/8C/F8/Precision-Pump-with-Erection-Enhancer-556411-PRODUCT-MEDIUM_IMAGE.jpg

[StanUpshaw]

something akin to

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oJyQky6wL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

So you took the drive out of the enclosure it was in originally, and stuck it in a top-loading enclosure?

And it still won't read it?

Have you tried installing the drive in your tower?

I assume you know enough to not try sticking an IDE drive in a SATA enclosure?

[badorties]

So you took the drive out of the enclosure it was in originally, and stuck it in a top-loading enclosure?

And it still won't read it?

Have you tried installing the drive in your tower?

yes

yes

no -- that's my next step, but i need to wait to get an extra cable tomorrow

[KC2OSO]

Agree with the above, try a reinstall. Not likely to work but worth a try. Another thing I'd try is to see if it works as a slave on another machine. Not likely since it didn't work in the HD reader.

A few years ago had a similar problem. It was just a guess on my part but it worked. I found the exact same type of drive and swapped out the controller board on the failing drive. Again just a guess but maybe worth a try.

Failing all of the above, maybe a penis pump is your best option.

Good luck.

[badorties]

Agree with the above, try a reinstall. Not likely to work but worth a try. Another thing I'd try is to see if it works as a slave on another machine. Not likely since it didn't work in the HD reader.

A few years ago had a similar problem. It was just a guess on my part but it worked. I found the exact same type of drive and swapped out the controller board on the failing drive. Again just a guess but maybe worth a try.

Failing all of the above, maybe a penis pump is your best option.

Good luck.

the controller board is worth a shot, i was hoping i might have that as an option

i'll pass on the penis pump, but i appreciate the "out of the box" thinking

[StanUpshaw]

I added this question to a previous post, so you may not have seen it:

Are you sure you're not trying to put an IDE drive in a SATA enclosure?

[badorties]

Agree with the above, try a reinstall. Not likely to work but worth a try. Another thing I'd try is to see if it works as a slave on another machine. Not likely since it didn't work in the HD reader.

A few years ago had a similar problem. It was just a guess on my part but it worked. I found the exact same type of drive and swapped out the controller board on the failing drive. Again just a guess but maybe worth a try.

Failing all of the above, maybe a penis pump is your best option.

Good luck.

another question: would the controller be workable on similiar make/models? or are thay very specific to each model?

[OGC]

another question: would the controller be workable on similiar make/models? or are thay very specific to each model?


I was able to replace the controller board on a bad hard drive. The specs need to be VERY similar. If your two WD external hard drives are the same, you might be able to swap the controller from the working one to the bad one so that you can grab files.

I'm no expert but it seems that if the hd isn't making that terrible clicking noise, the controller board sounds like a likely problem.

[torker]

another question: would the controller be workable on similiar make/models? or are thay very specific to each model?

It's a matter of finding out what works best for you.:unsure:
It may come down to trial and error.:wink:
http://www.penispumpreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Penis-Pump-Review.org-Article-1.jpg

[KC2OSO]

another question: would the controller be workable on similiar make/models? or are thay very specific to each model?
My guess is that something similar might work or might fuck the thing up permanently. You may be able to find an exact match on ePay. You'll probably need some Torx bits too...

I would start here (http://cgi.ebay.com/Get-BIGGER-PENIS-PUMP-Vacuum-Kit-Quick-Release-3-00-/190369486244?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c52e7d5a4) though.

[badorties]

I was able to replace the controller board on a bad hard drive. The specs need to be VERY similar. If your two WD external hard drives are the same, you might be able to swap the controller from the working one to the bad one so that you can grab files.

I'm no expert but it seems that if the hd isn't making that terrible clicking noise, the controller board sounds like a likely problem.

Agree with the above, try a reinstall. Not likely to work but worth a try. Another thing I'd try is to see if it works as a slave on another machine. Not likely since it didn't work in the HD reader.

A few years ago had a similar problem. It was just a guess on my part but it worked. I found the exact same type of drive and swapped out the controller board on the failing drive. Again just a guess but maybe worth a try.

Failing all of the above, maybe a penis pump is your best option.

Good luck.

HUZZAH!!!

12 days later: i had to go through two logic boards, one mis-ordered enclosure, a new external HDD, spent almost $300 ($75 lost on wrong parts)

but I'm elated to say thay I got all my digital pix back

god bless all of you, and god bless ronfez.net

THANK YOU, from my family & I

[OGC]

HUZZAH!!!

12 days later: i had to go through two logic boards, one mis-ordered enclosure, a new external HDD, spent almost $300 ($75 lost on wrong parts)

but I'm elated to say thay I got all my digital pix back

god bless all of you, and god bless ronfez.net

THANK YOU, from my family & I

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:


I'm very happy to hear that.

I know just how you feel. I went through the same thing. Thought I had lost all of my digital pictures but was able to rescue them by swapping controller boards.

It was such a great feeling when that hard drive fired up and was recognized by the pc.

Congrats !

[zentraed]

Glad I came across this thread. I'd never heard of anyone swapping out the logic board.

I hope you backed up those photos to a second drive after all of this.

My latest system has a 4x1 TB RAID 5 array and a 2x320 GB RAID 1 boot volume. I'm going to put in a slide-in hard drive bay so I can backup the 50 GB or so that really matter. In the past, I've just kept all my files on a couple of different computers, but with this build, everything's all in the same place. It freaks me out a bit.

[badorties]

Glad I came across this thread. I'd never heard of anyone swapping out the logic board.

I hope you backed up those photos to a second drive after all of this.

My latest system has a 4x1 TB RAID 5 array and a 2x320 GB RAID 1 boot volume. I'm going to put in a slide-in hard drive bay so I can backup the 50 GB or so that really matter. In the past, I've just kept all my files on a couple of different computers, but with this build, everything's all in the same place. It freaks me out a bit.

i bought a new 1.5TB drive, partioned it to keep all the shortcuts and prefernces set (itunes/picassa/etc) ... we're getting a passport-type HDD that we'll keep in our safe deposit box, and will update periodically ... and since the 1.5TB drive was so cheap ($99 @ B&H), I might get another to back-up the first dirve

and just to be extra careful -- for the photos, we're gonna upload the albums/folders to google picassa ... in the clouds, baby

[PapaBear]

and just to be extra careful -- for the photos, we're gonna upload the albums/folders to google picassa ... in the clouds, baby
It would be nice if they gave you more than 1GB. I have over 43 gigs of photos, and I'm still not done archiving all of our old family pics.

[badorties]

It would be nice if they gave you more than 1GB. I have over 43 gigs of photos, and I'm still not done archiving all of our old family pics.

yeah, but the price points for premium storage aren't too bad (80 GB $20.00 USD per year & 200 GB $50.00 USD per year)

[KC2OSO]

HUZZAH!!!

12 days later: i had to go through two logic boards, one mis-ordered enclosure, a new external HDD, spent almost $300 ($75 lost on wrong parts)

but I'm elated to say thay I got all my digital pix back

god bless all of you, and god bless ronfez.net

THANK YOU, from my family & I
Awesome. Glad to hear it. :laugh: :clap:

[badorties]

Awesome. Glad to hear it. :laugh: :clap:

thanks again