OK, my [soon-to-be-EX-] wife knocked my external storage drive off onto the floor while I was out for a smoke. When I left it, it was plugged in to power, but not plugged into my laptop yet, so no I/O connection. So, it should have been basically in 'sleep' mode, wherein the activity light stays dark and I think the heads are parked. I'm unsure of whether the drive is actually spun-up or not in that state.

The drive is a 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent Desk, external USB. The actual bare drive is a Barracuda 7200.11 SATA300 (ST31500341AS, P/N 9JU138-568)

SO... When I came back in, she was holding the drive in both hands, like a dead kitten. She looks up at me slowly and says "how do you fix them when they do that?" {STU*#& @SS FU$#*ING B%#&CH!} The drive "buzzes" for a second, pauses for a couple seconds, then buzzes for second, and so on. It never spins up, never makes any normal noises, etc., and definitely does not show up in even the slightest way in Windows [Win7 Ultimate or Win XP Pro; both 32bit].

I removed the drive and interface board from the external case as the drive costs $140, the data is irreplaceable, so to hell with the warranty. The drive acts the same whether using the FreeAgent I/O board or installed in a desktop machine with a native SATA controller.

So, to my question. It sounds as if the heads went away from the platters too far and got stuck there, and since the heads won't move, it doesn't bother spinning up, etc.
Anyone know if there is a way to get the heads unstuck and out of 'park' without opening the drive? Actually, any insight as to what is going on in there would be greatly appreciated. Any picks of one with the hood up? I'm fairly advanced with computer tech and I'm not scared to open the drive but I know it's as good as trashed not long after cracking it's chest open. If I can get it spinning and mounted I'll copy everything over to one of the servers.

Thanks in advance, seems to be some good knowledge floating around this forum.
-Brain

Hi Brain,

99% sure your drive has a seized spindle.
Not an easy job to solve, so, even if you're a techie, i'm afraid this is above your skills.
You need cleanroom for this job and special tools to free the spindle.

There are several pro members here who live in the states, so i'm sure they'll contact you.

Sorry to bring bad news.

Dobre

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Murphy was an optimist

Datarecovery in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany
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Many thanks, Dobre, for the quick honest reply. I hate beating around the bush.

So... Any takers? I'm in Wichita, Ks area. The closer the better, may wish to meet the tech in person.

How much [ballpark] does that kind of fix typically run? It's not like it holds gov't contract data or anything but basically my life. CAD files, photos, research papers, etc. I'd really like to get everything back but, not worth big bucks by any means.

I agree with Dobre. It is most likely a seized motor.

I guess it comes down to how much you really want to spend on it. Most reputable places will charge close to 2k for a seized 1.5 TB drive.

You may be able to get it a little cheaper if they can free up the motor enough to get it to spin and come ready. But that is very slim. There is also a chance the reading mechanism has been damaged and needs replacing.

Yep, dobre and Cleanroom are on the mark here

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

I feel sorry for your wife and/or children who have to take such abuse from you. It was your mistake to buy a crappy external disk and leave it somewhere that it could fall.

You're quite the "Brain" to have decided on such a safe place to put your precious data, especially in light of your detailed knowledge of how disks work. Where I live, we used to have a state sponsored program to keep such dangerous intelligence from spreading, through a eugenics mechanism.

fistron, Virginia is Вирджиния in Russian if this what you trying to write

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SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

вирджиня maybe he comes from Virdzhinya that well known city near nude pork

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

{STU*#& @SS FU$#*ING B%#&CH!} is harsh and very rude. No wonder she will be your ex soon. "Lucky woman get out while you can.... and FUC* Y0UR ARS*!)LE H!SB!ND"

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

Any Luck near by???

Of course when you actually live the southern US the "correct" pronunciation is Vurjenya

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.