Hey guys, this is my first post and I'm trying to make sure as much as possible my questions are respectful.

I dropped my Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1500 Gbytes hard drive yesterday and I am unable to get it to show up in Linux or Windows. I can not get the Seagate diagnostics software to find it, and I even tried HDDscan; it to can not find it the drive. Linux can see the USB drive initalizing but gives errors in dmesg.

When I power up the drive it sounds like it tries to spin, but doesn't. It sounds like a faint clown horn, repeating it self over and over again as if the motor is trying to spin but it can't move the platters. I carefully opened up the drive and tried to turn the platters and no go.

Any ideas?

Oh, I tried freezing it as well.

We're the heads stuck to the platter when you opened it?

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
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The heads weren't stuck. I'm willing to accept that the drive data is gone. I opened it up in a sort of clean room, but not a clean box.

Is there anything I can do, for the purpose of a learning experience, to get this drive working up to the point of getting corrupted data? I don't care if the data is gone or the drive is unusable.

Replace the spindle?


Thanks

well Maybe the heads are stuck, the drive was spinning when I dropped it. Hmmm. Is that a hard fix?

You need to free the heads from the platter. Unfortunately this can lead to media damage and head damage. You will need to inspect both. You need to free the heads without causing anymore damage. This is your next step. I doubt the spindal motor is gone.

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

spindle problems are usually hard to fix. mostly impossible.
The only choice is to move the platters to a good chassis.
But once u loosen the screws of the platters and their alignment is lost: bye-bye data...
But just give it a try and see for yourself. But be aware that the last chance of getting your data back is right when u start.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Hi Friend,
In Dropped Hard Drive case just try your nearest good data recovery company having good clean room environment including proper donor part..
As for one dropped Hard drive thats not good to do practicals with your important data or you have good experience in clean room environment ,replacement of platter in successful way as many of the components are damaged after jerk (Read write Head,Spindle motor etc..)so try this including the vast knowledge of proper donor drive selection with the adequate hard drive recovery tools..

Yes, the heads move fine. but the spindle won't move no matter what.

So I need to find a working one, and probably a broken one to experiment.

should I just wait a few years until the 1.5tb drives are under $50, or by chance is the Seagate chasis somehow compatible with lower models numbers?

Like for example, I can find a 80 GB Barracuda drive and use it as the working drive to transfer the platters over? or are the spindles not compatible between model numbers.

thank you

Sorry to say, but it has more probability that I will ever bear a child than U being successful in this platter transplant operation.
It is not a car engine where u can unscrew some parts and replace with good ones.
To answer your question regarding chassis compatibility:
probably u can somehow put the platters into a 7200.7, at least some of them
But how about the MHA? and magnet...

to keep it short: forget it.
Instead find a pro with proper equipment. U will have to dig deep into your pockets, that's sure.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Opus,

I sent you a PM!!! Check it please...

You can't use the case from a 80GB drive!!!!

Agreed don't open the drive, especially not in "a sort of clean room" (!)
At 1500GB the media density is extremely high. The margin for error is tiny and any data recovery professional does not like to have to handle such a disk. Particularly because this range of drive has 'spacers' making a platter swap very hard to do.

John

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0161 408 4857
http://www.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk/

I didn't even know you were trying.

No, I haven't tried.
I hired a wife for those tasks instead. She does it much better than I could.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Am I the only one that thinks these 'spacers' are a postive thing? I believe it keeps the platters a bit more solid and sturdy when moving them.

positive thing for manufacturer. but a nightmare for DR. but this is the life OF DR that are very chalengging

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I was thinking postive thing for DR. Improves our skillset

I have the exact same hard drive making the exact same sound. It dropped from only 2 ft onto carpet so im shocked its died.
Is it worth trying the warranty path or would I just be waisting my time?
I havent opened it either. Was just about to.............
Its been a while sine ive been at school but how do I work out the gs? of the shock?
Thanks.

Out of curiosity, what exactly were you trying to achieve by that?



For a 3.5" drive weighing in at about 700g and falling from 2ft, and let's give it 2mm of stopping distance on impact with the carpet, you'd get about 2100N


edit: just working out G properly

or, if my maths is correct, about 150G (although, 2mm compressibility of a carpet is probably too generous)