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Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
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WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 2:51

I have a Western Digital Caviar Blue hard drive model WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 that is no longer recognized by the BIOS. It spins up normally (as far as I know, with my experience) and I can hear the heads move (if I am correct) when the computer first boots up. It hangs on the SATA port that the drive is plugged in to for about a minute, eventually skipping it (as it is detecting the drives). The hard drive then spins down at this point. Then, right before Ubuntu begins to boot, the hard drive spins up again, the same things happen, and it then spins down. This process happens a third time as Ubuntu is booting, then stays spun down forever.

There is no unusual clicking or any other obvious sounds of a problem. This should be apparent, but I'll mention it anyway. Neither Windows 7 x64 nor Ubuntu recognize the hard drive to any degree.

I looked in my BIOS and under the SATA port that it is plugged in to it shows nothing, as opposed to "Empty" or "None". If I go into "Hard Drive Boot Order" it shows the SATA port in this list, but with no information. (This could be default, ie. If not [optical drive] THEN [hard drive], or it could recognize it as an hard drive, I'm not completely sure) This drive used to be part of a RAID 1 array.

I have tried different SATA ports, different SATA cables, different SATA controllers, etc. I'm here to see if anything can be done for this drive, short of sending it in for data recovery (upwards of $1500 quotes). The drive seems and acts like any other drive, with no sign anything is physically broken. However, I fully understand how complicated this piece of hardware is, and just because it makes a few normal sounds, doesn't mean it isn't still physically broken beyond home repair.

I should also mention that I burned MHDD to a disc and booted from it, but it gave me an error (I have a picture of the screen) and wouldn't let me do anything. I'm not sure if that was the fault of the hard drive or my computer (possibly an old version of MHDD or some incompatibility? It was 4.6.) I did, however, have access to a prompt, despite the error. If requested, I can upload the error image.

My motherboard is an EVGA X58 3x SLI Classified (E760, I believe). The firmware should be the latest, last I checked. (Not that this really matters)

I really hope members of this forum can help me! Thanks in advance!
Steffan

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 3:07

99% certainly bad heads.

Not DIY I'm afraid :-(

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 9:10

Steffwiz wrote:...short of sending it in for data recovery (upwards of $1500 quotes).


This is not always the case, unless it is applicable. If it is a heads issue indeed, then yes, it can take you in that range.

Either way, a good professional diagnostic is needed.

Do lot little more research on the industry, get educated about what various specialized DR companies offer (in your case you need a free eval because you seem to be price conscious). There are several companies WD has partner with that provide free evals. Check here for example: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.a ... n=americas

Should you not like the quote the company provides you for the service based on their evaluation findings, all you will likely be responsible for is the shipping cost of the device back to you. Good thing, you will at least know what the failure(s) your drive has.

Best wishes.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 10:18

Steff , make a recording ( as best quality as u can ) of ur hdds power on cycle. From the moment u apply power to it. I want to hear it calibrate.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 19:27

pcimage wrote:99% certainly bad heads.

Not DIY I'm afraid :-(


Oh. :(

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 19:29

labtech wrote:
Steffwiz wrote:...short of sending it in for data recovery (upwards of $1500 quotes).


This is not always the case, unless it is applicable. If it is a heads issue indeed, then yes, it can take you in that range.

Either way, a good professional diagnostic is needed.

Do lot little more research on the industry, get educated about what various specialized DR companies offer (in your case you need a free eval because you seem to be price conscious). There are several companies WD has partner with that provide free evals. Check here for example: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.a ... n=americas

Should you not like the quote the company provides you for the service based on their evaluation findings, all you will likely be responsible for is the shipping cost of the device back to you. Good thing, you will at least know what the failure(s) your drive has.

Best wishes.


I was worried that shipping it to a data recovery place for a diagnostic (and then back) would damage the drive further, or even completely ruin it. I have received dead hard drives in the mail before.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 19:30

Alexii wrote:Steff , make a recording ( as best quality as u can ) of ur hdds power on cycle. From the moment u apply power to it. I want to hear it calibrate.


Okay, I'll do the best I can.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 20:53

I recorded it with my iPhone, so I don't know how great it is. It sounds fine to me and I can hear everything it does.
Attachments
WD5000AAKS-00YGA0.m4a.zip
HDD Spinup
(163.57 KiB) Downloaded 405 times

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 18th, 2011, 23:42

Very low chance of being the board , very big chance of the problem being the heads. Sry m8.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 19th, 2011, 2:28

Alexii wrote:Very low chance of being the board , very big chance of the problem being the heads. Sry m8.


Yep.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 19th, 2011, 6:31

Steffwiz wrote:
labtech wrote:
Steffwiz wrote:...short of sending it in for data recovery (upwards of $1500 quotes).


This is not always the case, unless it is applicable. If it is a heads issue indeed, then yes, it can take you in that range.

Either way, a good professional diagnostic is needed.

Do lot little more research on the industry, get educated about what various specialized DR companies offer (in your case you need a free eval because you seem to be price conscious). There are several companies WD has partner with that provide free evals. Check here for example: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.a ... n=americas

Should you not like the quote the company provides you for the service based on their evaluation findings, all you will likely be responsible for is the shipping cost of the device back to you. Good thing, you will at least know what the failure(s) your drive has.

Best wishes.


I was worried that shipping it to a data recovery place for a diagnostic (and then back) would damage the drive further, or even completely ruin it. I have received dead hard drives in the mail before.


True, very possible to happen, unless the packaging is done correctly. Can also request and make a point with customer service at whatever company to package your device correctly.

Feel bad... you really had some bad experiences?!?

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

October 19th, 2011, 8:00

After hearing the recording, I definitely think it is a head issue as well. At least one of them is bad.

Re: WD5000AAKS-00YGA0 Not recognized in BIOS

November 10th, 2011, 20:27

So what was the verdict? I have the exact same problem and the hd sounds exactly the same as the audio clip you posted.
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