Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 faulty

[Grover2000]

Hi can anyone advise what the state if play is with this drive. The drive originally developed a CRC fault and over the space of a day it now just spins for 2-3 seconds and clunks then stops spinning.

Unfortunately the data on the drive is purely personal photos and means a lot to me, but I can't afford the hefty data recovery bill that Seagate is offering.

Would you believe the dam this is still in warranty till July and Seagate will happily replace it, but charge for data recovery. (Surely if it is in warranty they should suffer the bill of data recovery?)

Anyway I have purchased a like for like drive to try and salvage myself if possible.

Any advice on where the fault maybe and what I can do to repair it.

Just need to salvage the data.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Grover

[Vulcan]

just spins for 2-3 seconds and clunks then stops spinning.
[...]
what I can do to repair it.

Realistically, that behaviour means an internal drive fault in almost all cases, which a typical user won't have the equipment or experience to diagnose or fix successfully. And if you try, your actions may result in the data being permanently unrecoverable, or at the very least, later professional recovery is likely to then be more expensive / less successful than if you hadn't tried.

There are other reputable DR companies in the UK (e.g. PC Image in Peterborough [member pcimage], East Anglian Data Recovery in Norwich [member Touchclarity]), for you to compare their prices & services with whatever quote you got from Seagate. You could also just store the drive while you save up or consider your options, rather than attempting to do something yourself (likely irreversible) in haste.

Even doing more diagnosis could make things worse if there is an internal failure, but if you want to try, then one action would be to use a TTL serial adapter (e.g. USB to TTL serial) and get the terminal output from the drive when it is powered-on. I suspect that will just confirm an internal head / pre-amp / media related problem anyway, but if you wanted to take the risks of doing some diagnosis, that is one thing you could try - though I don't recommend it.

Sorry that won't be what you want to hear. Perhaps my crystal ball is cloudy and another member will see a brighter future for DIY in your description...

P.S. This is nothing to do with forensics, so I've asked for this thread to be moved to the "Conventional hard drives" section of the forum - therefore don't be surprised if it magically moves to there in a little while, but that shouldn't affect you replying or reading it.

[northwind]

In addition to the correct -as usual- remarks made by Vulcan, one last thing:

(Surely if it is in warranty they should suffer the bill of data recovery?)

Nope.

HDD manufacturers sell you their product, and cover with replacement of the drive under warranty in case something goes wrong. You are solely responsible for keeping backups of your data. If you don't then it's not their fault. Sorry.
As Larry used to say, "save fast, save early".

Vulcan is also right, the type of behavior you're describing points to internal mechanical failure, and in this case it is game over for DIY attempts.

If you can't afford professional data recovery, just put the drive in a drawer and perhaps wait for better days, or, consult other companies that can maybe give you a less steep quote.
+1 for pcimage
+1 for Touchclarity

I'm sorry this isn't the news you wanted to hear, and good luck.

[BlackST]

Nothing to add.

Internal fault 90% , if you are lucky "maybe" there is a slight chance it is something I can solve (so, nothing doable by you) without opening the drive, but in any case everything has a price.
The only realistical thing you can do is either wait for better times while storing the drive in a safe place or contact someone who can handle your case at the "best price for you".
Good luck whatever you decide !