first post, so firstly, hi to all!

my home forum back in my country knows NOTHING about data recovery, so I was pointed your direction...

Ive got a basic background, been doing basic recovery for home users for a couple of years now, including the Seagate BSY and/or LBA error.

So a client gave me one of these bloody things, its a Samsung HM502JX USB Only 2.5" drive. Nasty little thing

Apparently it died while copying and she phoned the place where she bought it, and was told "to push the plug in harder"... bloody Africa! ffs

Needless to say that didnt work. When I plug this baby in, the Blue LED comes on, but the drive is NOT spinning up.

So I guess the question is, should I bother trying to connect to those TINY TX and RX points with hyper terminal? Worth it? Chances of recovery?

Sorry about all the questions, but here we dont have many Samsung drives. Mostly Seagate and WD

Im busy taking some pics of the drive now... will post ASAP

If the HDD does not power, SA cannot be accessed and Terminal access is useless.

I suspect the heads are parked incorrectly on the media, this prevents spindle motor start and instead each attempt damaging the heads further. Resulting from this, you also probably have weakened/failed heads and surface errors.

If this contains important user data, you may want to get a professional diagnosis before attempting anything yourself.

ok this drive just power up in my hands... and now it died again! wtf

I am a proffesional!

Obviously...

And what do you expect to get and do with terminal connection ?

guys im just looking for help here... clearly I have a lot to learn, I know that.

I was hoping that I could diagnose exactly what the issue is. Im not charging her for this coz she doesnt have a lot of money, in fact she is outright poor so Im just trying to save the data for her. I doubt she will even get another one coz it was a gift, but the least I can do is try burn it all onto some DVD's or something

any help would be appreciated, not only by me, but by her most of all

1) eliminate simple problems like device not powered enough, USB adapter etc.
2) If the simple things don't work, you need either :
- a specialized tool (THAT IS IN ANY CASE OF LIMITED USE ON THIS DRIVES)
- know how and YOUR tools to access drive internals
3) if there is a HW problem, it must be solved or the drive won't startup.

It's not possible to make a diagnose over the net NOR to fix this drive remotely. You have to work it out, for free or not this is your choice.

FYI, but I doubt it will help:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15310

If your drive buzzes or vibrates as if trying to spin up, then it could be that a single USB port is unable to provide the current required during this time. In this case the solution is to use a Y-cable that picks up power from two USB ports.

A standard USB port is current limited to 500mA. I don't know about Samsung, but Seagate's 2.5" drives require about 850mA during spinup, and about 400mA thereafter.

Can you see the drive with Microsoft's UVCView utility?
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/USB_ID ... ew.x86.exe

"the drive power up... and it died again"

To me seems that drive spin up - maybe clicks - and spindown.

i got the VIP all data off... didnt bother with the music and vids

cheers

What was the final solution? Y cable?

Always good to post the final solution for future users who run into a similar problem.

Probably. I said :

1) eliminate simple problems like device not powered enough, USB adapter etc.

It was a real challenge...

They haven't seen sci-fi on these drives like rebuilding no longer existing tables or reconstructing adaptives , this is what I call a challenge.

Good thinking... The solution?

I put the drive into the deep freeze then ran a USB cable to my laptop which I placed on top of the freezer.

Took two or three attempts, but I got all the info off that I needed.

Anyone care to explain why the freezing cold allows me to access the drive?

actually, no.

You a real moron you know. Try to be more more helpful and less arrogant and condecending. Shame you couldnt get this "simple" challenge right...

And you think all the pros here will believe that a drive that was working, not working, working again, not working and now working was fixed that way ? For me the drive DIDN'T HAD problems.

Some hdds like to be imaged cold. It happens. Belive it or not - thats ur right.

LOL

dude you got some serious epenis waving issues... Why on god's earth would I bother finding this site, registering, and finally posting something when I hadnt already tried all the usual things (according to me anyway, being a non pro)

Then if you didn't try the freezer trick it's you having even more serious issues. Simply google FREEZER HARD DISK. About registering, it's free.

like I said over 3000 posts and seriaaasly www.epeniswaving.com

lol

@HTC_guy

You got lucky. Its that simple. The next time you are in this position, I think maybe you wont be so lucky.