SEAGATE BEEPING NOISE

[qwent1]

Hello,

My hard disk is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11.
I tried to send an audio sample of my hard disk failure but couldn't. That would probably have helped you guys diagnose my issue.
Basically it sounds like a repetitive beeping noise, the disk doesn't spin at all, and nothing happens other than the beeping noise. The beeping sounds a bit like a motor tempting to spin but fails, rather than a clear beeping sound.
I watched many videos explaining how to fix failing hard disks but after opening it, replacing the heads as explained it is still doing the same noise. I tried to manually spin the disk (with gloves), it didn't budge. Another video explained how to unblock a faulty motor, with some of players the guy had to put much force into it to unblock it. I tried but didn't manage to unblock it. I unscrewed the 6 or 8 screws in the center of the disk, then the disk spinned, put the screws back, couldn't spin it.
I couldn' find the exact same sound but it is very similar to this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5cil6KezI
Mine goes slower, and there is absolutely no spinning sound.

One of the video I watch to fix the issue was : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UNISzf5sCQ
But it looks that I have to give much more force into it if I wan't to unstick the disk. I also saw that :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAHJGiKj8s0

I hope someone can help...

Thanks =

[data-medics]

First off, if your data is even a little bit important and you can't afford to lose it please don't try any of what you just watched.

If your data isn't important, and you don't mind losing it (most likely scenario) then go ahead. Just FYI in the second video you posted, they didn't recover the data they just gave up and closed it back up. I'm not sure why you'd post that to YouTube for the world to see.

Also HDRC tools are absolute garbage, you'd be better off just burning the money so you'd at least get some heat from it. Often with this model the issue is a bent/seized motor bearing which often requires platter transplant, something you have absolutely zero chance of accomplishing without proper tools and training.

[fzabkar]

The 7200.11 series suffer from seized spindle motors. Most DR shops will want a hefty price for such a job.

These tools are what the professionals use:
http://hddsurgery.com/tool/hdds-motor-u ... 1-12-lp-xt
http://hddsurgery.com/tool/hdds-spindle ... 7200-10-11

[dick]

I unscrewed the 6 or 8 screws in the center of the disk, then the disk spinned, put the screws back, couldn't spin it.

Multi platter disk?
Bye bye data.

[Cleanroom]

I unscrewed the 6 or 8 screws in the center of the disk, then the disk spinned, put the screws back, couldn't spin it.

Multi platter disk?
Bye bye data.

exactly, multi-platter and you unscrewed the screws holding the platters into the motor and manually spun them. They are now out of alignment. 0.000001% chance of recovery now.

better chance of winning the lottery now.

[Leo]

Actually it is not a big problem to align platters and get all the data, but only if surfaces still are good enough. From what I read in the first post I have a huge doubt they are...

[LarrySabo]

Here's a video of a guy using the "tape method" to successfully swap the platters and spacers of a Seagate 7200.10 into a new chassis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZx-tU1_gOw

When I tied this on a scrap drive, I got tape all over the platters and it was a disaster. Cue the clowns! However, I've read somewhere on here that the success rate with tape is higher than with platter swap tools (which tend to drop platters). Maybe they were HRDC platter tools.

[data-medics]

I unscrewed the 6 or 8 screws in the center of the disk, then the disk spinned, put the screws back, couldn't spin it.

Multi platter disk?
Bye bye data.

exactly, multi-platter and you unscrewed the screws holding the platters into the motor and manually spun them. They are now out of alignment. 0.000001% chance of recovery now.

better chance of winning the lottery now.

And this is why I told him earlier today that losing his data was the most likely scenario. Had a feeling he'd try something stupid like that.

[natallica]

Actually it is not a big problem to align platters and get all the data, but only if surfaces still are good enough. From what I read in the first post I have a huge doubt they are...

How would you align the platters? I didn't think this was possible.

[data-medics]

It won't work on all drives, but given that most modern drives have servo data on all platters (not just the bottom one like really old drives) I think you can modify ROM to only read from one head at a time and try to extract the data that way (thus eliminating the need for alignment). However in practical terms, it very often won't work. Especially when you try to read the upper platter(s) which don't contain the SA data and it needs to re-check the P-List, G-List, Translator, etc. while reading, after soft/hard reset, etc. Would really only work if the drive has no bad sectors or such a small number you can get away with manually prepping it every time it needs a reset.

[natallica]

It won't work on all drives, but given that most modern drives have servo data on all platters (not just the bottom one like really old drives) I think you can modify ROM to only read from one head at a time and try to extract the data that way (thus eliminating the need for alignment). However in practical terms, it very often won't work. Especially when you try to read the upper platter(s) which don't contain the SA data and it needs to re-check the P-List, G-List, Translator, etc. while reading, after soft/hard reset, etc. Would really only work if the drive has no bad sectors or such a small number you can get away with manually prepping it every time it needs a reset.

Gotcha. Thanks. This is very helpful. Seems like it isn't very practical and requires a PC-3000 (correct?) -- unlike what the poster said above that isn't a big problem.