That sound tells me that it is a head problem...And it's not affected to head 0 or head 1.
This drive need a new sets of heads, and it's not DIY

Bosse

_________________
Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

What do you mean when you said "it's not affected to head 0 or head 1"?

Just a feeling I get when I Heard the recording, that the failure is on other heads than head 0 and 1 ....but I can be wrong

_________________
Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

So, is this a good thing or bad?

Bad heads are never a good thing.

_________________
Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

I agreed but don't take it the wrong way, I still think it is not a bad head issue.

The reason why I said so is that it sounded like how it usually sounds when it is still in working condition.

I've few other working HDD which sounded like this as well, unless you are telling me that they are all failing soon with bad head.

So, to me, it sounded normal.

Is there any other way I can test and tell for sure?

Try MHDD for basic diagnostic

_________________
Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Thanks labtech!

Does this program works if the HDD is not detected at all?

No. No program will work if the heads are shut generally speaking. MHDD should be able to at least indicate whether your drive identifies correctly and if can read any sectors.

_________________
Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Then I think this program is of no use then.

Download MHDD and write it on a CD
http://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
MHDD 4.5, CDROM iso-image

then boot the computer from MHDD CD and see if it detects your drive from sata port, if it gets detect try to scan surface by pressing F4 button twice, if scan surface works then stop it after few seconds.
labtech gave you already a good advice!

P.S.
Stop working with this faulty drive on windows or on any O.S.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI

Ok, thanks michael! I will give a go.

If it do indeed gets detected by the surface scanning, what's next?

And if it doesn't gets detected, the HDD is as good as gone?

If it gets detect and surface scan is possible then i would try to clone surface on a new drive (1 TB or bigger) via Mediatools or DMDE or DDrescue, but can be extremely slow process, also heads might completely die during clone process due to intensive stressing.
If drive is not detect or if surface scan doesn't start from any LBA point then very likely heads are damaged, in this case only a pro can help you.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI

You are right. I brought my HDD to data recovery center and they have diagnosed and confirmed the issue to be of head problem.

Good that you have send it to DR, it's the only way to recover data from damaged heads drive safely.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI

Haha, but I don't intend to. The price is too hefty.

I will have to let it be then.

But before I close off, I would like to provide some knowledge which I've learnt during the painful weeks of troubleshooting it with the hope that it will help someone who have the same / similar problem as mine.

Of course, what I will listing below is not the complete solution as I'm still a novice, but at least it should be able to shed some light to the issue.

================================

1. Looks for signs / symptoms.
- Is it powering up?
If no, possible issue are the TVS diode are shortned.
Refer to
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html
http://hddrepairing.com/downloads_n_vid ... airing.pdf
(again, thanks to fzabkar for sharing)
If yes, is the disc spinning?
If yes, are there any clicking sounds?
If yes, most probably it is head problem. Seek professional help to recover data.

- Does it have light on?
If yes, is the light blinking?

- Is it detected in My Computer?
Most of the time, it is a no but if it is detected in My Computer but the files are gone or not accessible, then it could be some other issues which are not within the scope of this troubleshooting.

- Is it detected in Disk Management?
If detected, try to assign drive letter.

- Is it detected in Device Manager?
If detected, try to update firmware.


2. Basic troubleshooting.
- Try different USB cable?
If it is on USB 3.0, try cable with USB 2.0.

- Try different USB port?
If using desktop, connect to the USB port at the rear instead of the front.
May try to troubleshoot USB port issue: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/16 ... blems.html

- Try different power adapter? (make sure it has the same voltage as original power adapter)
- Try connect the power adapter direct to the wall power socket instead of power extension / hub.
- Try different laptop / desktop?
- Try different OS?



3. Advanced troubleshooting. (Attention: Requires removing the HDD from the casing which will void the warranty!)
- Connect the HDD (without the bridge board attached) to computer by via USB-to-SATA cable.
If detected in Device Manager, check if it display the correct HDD model.
Sometimes it detected the bridge board in the USB-to-SATA cable instead of the HDD.
If not detected, it could be PCB or internal HDD issue.

- Connect the HDD (without the bridge board attached) to motherboard by via SATA port.
If detected, the HDD is fine. Otherwise, it could be PCB or internal HDD issue.
To fix the PCB, you will have to find the exact model number and do a swap.
In addition, need to do a ROM transfer as well (requires soldering).
There are many sources (and youtube video) which discuss about PCB replacement.
Besides replacing the PCB, there have been cases whereby PCB issues are caused by oxidisation.
Refer to http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php? ... tion#p3971 (thanks to fzabkar for sharing)


- Connect the bridge board (without the HDD) to laptop by using the original cables.
If detected, the bridge board is fine. Otherwise, it is faulty.
I'm not sure how to fix the bridge board though.


Remember to:
Attach clear photo of the PCB board.
Attach clear photo of the bridge board (control board).
Attach clear recording of the HDD sounds when powering up.

================================

Hope this helps!

Hello unhappy_wd_user ,

nice final post. It will help some people to identify problems.
I hope that you will have luck with your data.

Thanks for the good luck wish, jerovsek!

Right now, I'm not even entirely sure that it is a physical head damage as mentioned by the data recovery person.

They concluded the head issue from 2 symptoms, clicking sounds and spin down behaviour, which to me its an entirely normal behaviour.

The sounds aren't like any clicking sounds that I have heard when I watched all the Youtube videos about clicking sounds. The clicking sounds in Youtube are very distinctive and it clearly telling you there's something wrong inside.

To me, it is a reading sound, the head is reading the platter.

As for the spin-down behaviour, I do remembered that when the HDD is still working fine, when I plugged it in my desktop, it will spin up, give me that reading sound and get detected as per normal.
If I ignore it, meaning I did not access the HDD from My Computer, it will spin down eventually, like a power-saving mode. And when I finally access the HDD from My Computer, it will start to spin up again. That's the behaviour.

So to me, the HDD is still behaving like it does, and the spin down and retry behaviour is due to the fact that "something" is hindering it from talking to the computer, that's why after 1 minute, it sort of spin down and retry to establish the communication again.

Update:

I have contacted WD technical support (thanks Rainier!) and he have confirmed that it is normal behaviour that the disk will spin down (slow down) after idle for around 15-30 minutes, like a power saving mode.

So, this spin down behaviour can not be concluded as a head problem at all.

And the reason why it spin down so soon (exactly 1 minute), I'm not too sure.

My suspecion is that the HDD is trying to establish the connection to the host computer, and "something" is blocking it.

After 1 minute, it spin down, and spin up to retry again. But it is still blocked. After another minute, it give up and spin down entirely without trying anymore.

Now I just need to find out what is this "something" that is blocking it from being detected in the computer.