Old Maxtor recovery - I/O error

[oneRd]

Make sure you use an up to date version as is here: http://files.hddguru.com/download/Softw ... ia473b.zip

I was using the 472b so I assume it was okay

First two screenshots were made with 472b, the drive seem to be labelled "1 sec".
Last one I connected the drive via a SATA to USB external box and used the 473b

Or you can set the sata port to compatibility/ide mode in the motherboard bios.

I couldn't find any such setting in my BIOS

As a possible symptom, every time I connect the drive (PC off), especially via SATA, the system takes ages to startup. A couple of time I even had to reset.

[Spildit]

Most likely not possible to recover using do-it-yourself method. Refer to the other options already posted. Good luck.

[oneRd]

Which meas I will get the same results if I connect it via TTL?

[dick]

You connected the drive via usb and it was no good.

Now you have to connect the drive to a motherboard sata port and run Victoria again.

[oneRd]

You connected the drive via usb and it was no good.

Now you have to connect the drive to a motherboard sata port and run Victoria again.

My fist attempt with Victoria 472b (fist two screenshots) were make with the drive connected via SATA directly to the motherboard

[dick]

I still think you need to try this on another pc in ide/compatibility mode. That is because your Western Digital drive also shows a strange smart output. There might be some other unknown problem with your setup. Maybe some kind of bios incompatibility? (I'm just guessing here). I think you need to have the easy bit working before you move on to the more complicated part.

Also as you say the boot up is slow with the drive connected I would leave the computer standing for at least 20 mins to allow for the faulty drive to come ready. It might not of course. And only use sata from now on.

[Spildit]

I still think you need to try this on another pc in ide/compatibility mode. That is because your Western Digital drive also shows a strange smart output. There might be some other unknown problem with your setup. Maybe some kind of bios incompatibility? (I'm just guessing here). I think you need to have the easy bit working before you move on to the more complicated part.

Also as you say the boot up is slow with the drive connected I would leave the computer standing for at least 20 mins to allow for the faulty drive to come ready. It might not of course. And only use sata from now on.

... Pray that the heads and/or sliders of the damaged drive are not in contact with the platter ... I don't think that leaving the drive at least 20 mins working without knowing the condition of it would be a good idea but you guys know best so ... moving on....

[dick]

I still think you need to try this on another pc in ide/compatibility mode. That is because your Western Digital drive also shows a strange smart output. There might be some other unknown problem with your setup. Maybe some kind of bios incompatibility? (I'm just guessing here). I think you need to have the easy bit working before you move on to the more complicated part.

Also as you say the boot up is slow with the drive connected I would leave the computer standing for at least 20 mins to allow for the faulty drive to come ready. It might not of course. And only use sata from now on.

... Pray that the heads and/or sliders of the damaged drive are not in contact with the platter ... I don't think that leaving the drive at least 20 mins working without knowing the condition of it would be a good idea but you guys know best so ... moving on....

Yes you are right but to dive in and run terminal commands, do you think that would be better?
What I am saying is get Victoria to work correctly first. As for leaving the drive for 20 mins before attempting any diagnosis well that sometimes has to be done. If there are any unusual sounds coming from the drive then it would have to be stop stop stop.

So I would say make sure Victoria is detecting the other drives correctly and then connect the Maxtor drive and attempt to read the smart attributes.

[Spildit]

It's not about sending terminal commands it's about checking what the drive is sending to terminal (check the log) ...

[oneRd]

Pray that the heads and/or sliders of the damaged drive are not in contact with the platter

Can you normally tell if the heads are in contact with the platter? Do they make any particular noise?
By the noise it does the drive seems to work regularly. No clicks at all and you can hear what I assume are the heads moving on startup (maybe positioning themselves on the platter?).

The motherboard is a gigabite b150m-d3h. I cannot find any mention of ide/compatibility on this particular motherboard online. This is the only section about SATA configuration I found

That is because your Western Digital drive also shows a strange smart output.

Could you explain what do you mean by strange?

Would a terminal log extraction cause any damage?

[dick]

Take a look at how this WD drive smart is displayed in Victoria and compare it with yours.
Maybe try on a different computer?

[oneRd]

The previous analysis was referred to the faulty drive. Note all unknown parameters. I do not know why Victoria was labeling it as WD

This is the SMART analysis of the WD without the faulty Maxtor connected.

And if the listing order of those parameters is always the same I'm sure you guys can have a preliminary idea of how bad is the situation (I guess it is bad enough)

[dick]

Yes you setup seems to be working perfectly.

So now you have to prepare and run terminal.

Take note your drive to diagnose is a 7200.11 and your test drive is a 7200.10 so they are different architecture. That will make practice and learning more difficult.

I would run terminal on the 7200.10 'test' drive to make sure your adapter is working. Then after you can move on to your 'broken' 7200.11 drive. Be very careful with the commands you send!

[oneRd]

...to make sure your adapter is working.

I did short TX and RX pins on my TTL adapter and tested it on Putty. Is gives back my inputs so it seems to work. Is it okay to use Putty for what come next or should I use another terminal like Hiperterminal? Will the log be shown automatically once i give power to the drive or do I have to give a particular command for it?

[fzabkar]

FWIW, some motherboards disable a SATA port if an M.2 (NVMe or mSATA) drive is installed. It might pay to consult the manual.

[oneRd]

FWIW, some motherboards disable a SATA port if an M.2 (NVMe or mSATA) drive is installed. It might pay to consult the manual.

I checked the manual. It seems not to be the case for my motherboard

[oneRd]

Do I have any advantage in terms of processing time if I keep the amount of space in use on my test drive at minimum or what matters is the total disk's space?

[oneRd]

Do I have any advantage in terms of processing time if I keep the amount of space in use on my test drive at minimum or what matters is the total disk's space?

The question was intended in case of logical recovery software use. I answer this question myself: no. Software don’t make distinction between meaningful information and empty space. They will process the whole disk space or partition.

Hello everyone!! After a several days of duly “sector by sector” search I have finally understood now what a terminal log is looking back at my last posts I feel a bit like Neo being uploaded with entire “domains” of new knowledge in a very short time-span. I must say I have really enjoyed the binge-reading and come to appreciate even more your hard work in this field.

According to my last checkups: the drive appears in the BIOS, it does not appear in Windows 10, it shows up in Lubuntu as unknown or unmountable and it does appears on terminal if I type lsblk

My plan: first doing a very quick sortie with the TTL adapter (since a bought it) and see what do I get back in the terminal and post it here. Wait for your advice. Assuming there is still hope I will try next to image the drive using ddrescue or HDDSuperClone.

.... power the drive on with the terminal connected and POST the LOG that the drive output to TTL/terminal software at power up ... Goes without saying open the terminal first and power the drive later.

Spildit has been clear on how to connect the drive through TTL, but how and when do I turn the drive off? It is safe to just power off the drive once It has delivered all information on terminal?

That said:

I've been reading multiple times all major guides around about ddrescue and the HDDSuperClone manual. I would like to understand if my drive’s condition needs a particular setup for HDDSuperClone (maybe the author could help with this) that is not available on the free version nor on ddrescue. I have read ddrescue standard setup for recovery can be further improved with some tweaks like direct access the drive with the --idirect call and the skipping function.

It could help to know how data are arranged; the drive is half full. Also fragmentation should be reasonably low as I did defragmentation not so long previous the failure with very little changes (using mostly to browse internet and working on a few docs and pics). Is that safe to assume data are all stored together?

I've read I could use ddrutility and partclone to extract the MFT from NTFS partitions and save time but I would rather avoid it if the drive conditions turned out to be stable - I do not know how serious it is not being able to get the SMART parameter in Victoria. I've always treated my HDDs as if they contained nitroglycerine therefore I know mine has never suffered any trauma of sort. I do not know if that is enough to guarantee a not damaged platter(s) or head(s).

It is a lot of questions but at least now you know we can have a more constructive conversation.

Thanks for you time

[maximus]

According to my last checkups: the drive appears in the BIOS, it does not appear in Windows 10, it shows up in Lubuntu as unknown or unmountable and it does appears on terminal if I type lsblk

From your indication of the drive being sdb in the screenshot, the drive is listing partitions. That means it powered on and identified, and also successfully read sector 0. It could still have a firmware issue and/or a bad head. Try cloning/imaging with HDDSuperClone for about 5 minutes or so, stop it and attach the log here. I can tell many things from a log, usually even from a short run.

[maximus]

And while you are at it, try to get SMART using HDDSuperTool (preferred as it shows real raw values), or any other way you can find to get SMART in Linux, such as smartmontools.