I am hoping for some help with my Seagate drive. I have looked at the postings and do not see a similar symptoms reported.

The drive is a Segate 7200.10 750gb drive. It functioned perfectly the last time it was used ~1 year ago and has never been dropped.

I went to retrieve some pictures off the drive and it will not spin up. There is no clicking noise and if left connected for a couple of minutes no part of the drive gets hot. The drive does make a quiet "humming" noise that is barely audible from 18" away. The noise lasts for 2 seconds, pauses for a second, and repeats. This lasts for ~30 seconds then stops.

The drive is not visible to the computer but the caveat being that it is an IDE drive and the computer has all SATA connections so I have it plugged into a usb port.

I am hoping that someone can provide more insight beyond simply telling me to drop it in the mail.

Thanks for the help.

heads stuck to plattter.

Or spindle stuck. Either way needs pro help to guarantee safety of data.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Thanks guys.

I am guessing either way it is a ~$1000 repair vs. a $200 repair. While I would really like the pictures and other data off the drive the information is only worth so much.

The wikipedia links suggests smacking the drive against the desk to loosen the heads. Anyone else advocate this method?

How about throwing the drive in the toaster oven set at 110 degrees? This should be within the operating range of the drive. Maybe this will help unstick the the heads or spindles.

I realize I am risking loss of data but with the quotes I am receiving the data is lost anyway as the cost benefit analysis does not work out in my favor.

The DR pros will laugh at you, but what do you have to lose? I had to smack my 6.4GB IBM drive from time to time to get it started. It's still going. Avoid hitting the motor -- you'll risk seizing the bearing. In my case it was enough to rap the casting with the handle of my screwdriver.

Avoid the oven or freezer. If you've seen some of the photos here, then you'll know why.

The link refers to drives from the 80's and early 90's, so unless your drive is 30 years old then NO!

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Did you pull off the PCB to see if any of the contacts are tarnished?

I've never understood the shock specs of hard drives. What is the practical meaning of the following spec?

Barracuda 7200.10 Serial ATA Product Manual:

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/supp ... 02371f.pdf

2.9.5.2 Nonoperating shock - 3 and 4 Disc models

"The non-operating shock level that the drive can experience without incurring physical damage or degradation in performance when subsequently put into operation is 300 Gs based on a nonrepetitive half-sine shock pulse of 2 msec duration."

"All shock specifications assume that the drive is mounted securely with the input shock applied at the drive mounting screws. Shock may be applied in the X, Y or Z axis."

No, I have not pulled off the PCB. The top of it looks fine but I will see about pulling off the PCB.

also anyone can write anything on wikipedia!

Yep. That is one reason I mentioned smacking the drive vs. just running out and doing it.

also anyone can correct anything on wikipedia!

I'm sure Wikipedia would welcome the input of an industry professional. ;-)

Based on Seagate's spec, you should mount the drive securely and apply a nonrepetitive half-sine shock pulse of 2 msec duration at the drive mounting screws.

Just be sure that the magnitude of the shock doesn't exceeed 300Gs. ;-)

I'm still trying to get a grip on this spec.

The impulse energy is defined by ...

E = F.dt = m.a.dt

where F = force, a = acceleration, m = mass, dt = impulse duration

So E = 0.720 kg x (300 x 9.8 m/s/s) x 0.002 sec = 4.23 Joules

If this energy is imparted by a projectile of mass M travelling at V m/s, then ...

E = 1/2 . M . (V x V)

If M = 1 kg, then V = 2.91 m/s = 10.5 km/h

So the drive will survive a strike by a projectile weighing 1kg and travelling at 3m/s or 10 kph???

Sounds more like a wrecking ball to me ...

Brain fart.

F.dt = m.a.dt = m. dv/dt.dt = m.dv

Therefore, F.dt has the units of momentum, not energy.

Sorry for my error.

some guys did the same experiment ;o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY5kzDSDv64

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

Even IF stiction is the only problem and IF you did manage to get the heads to move by "whacking it on the table" you would have a high probability of causing the heads to scratch the platters. Plus you would most likely need to "whack it" more than once, increasing the chances and/or amount of scratching.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Also you should see this video first before doing anything :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c_MTX6-gYg