Hello, this is my first post here and I'm happy to find such a great community of people who share their knowledge! Thank you for the possibility to ask a question.
Recently I faced the problem which I can't still resolve, though I've spent some time investigating the case.
My slave storage drive failure happened when the system was up. The error was "Can't write $mft". BIOS still detects HDD but with long delays up to 10 seconds. Windows fails to mount logical drive. DMDE can read sectors and shows root directory.
HDD contains no critical information, just vast multimedia collection. Professional recovery is not reasonable, so I'm ready to try DIY approach. I don't care about HDD itself, making copy would be more than enough. The problem with raw copy is that drive became very slow and fails to detect itself or show S.M.A.R.T. sometimes.
It's a pity I couldn't get TTL cable and use terminal connection for diagnostic. But I've got familiar with MHDD and Victoria and here are some results.
Model: ST1000DM003
PN: 1CH162-302
FW: CC46
DATE: 13354
Site: SU1) HDD info (Hdd detects with delay and can print some rubbish)
2) S.M.A.R.T. values seem to be OK (there's also a 4-5 seconds delay or just error without delay)
3) Linear surface test (it gives different results every time) The same picture is for starting, middle and last areas of HDD. Random surface test fails permanently.
4) Controller/buffer test (this test also gives errors and different results every time it runs)
HDD produces its usual noise, no suspicious sounds. These errors during controller/buffer test make it believe that it's PCB failure, but no visual defects detected. (see attachment)
Is it possible to make suggestion about what's up with this HDD?
Is it PCB, firmware or mechanical failure?
Do you know any HDD Raw Copy program that can make copy of specified area (I mean pointing out starting and ending sectors). It may be helpful if copy operation is too long at can't be completed at once. Logging the numbers of sectors that failed to copy would be also great feature.
Thanks for reading, and even more thanks for answers )