SATA HD unaccessible

P

PhantomUSA

New Member
SATA HD inaccessible

I have a SATA Harddrive.

Not sure what happen, but now I can't boot my system unless i disconnect the drive.

My other ide drive was unaccessible a while back and wasn't able to view the contents unless I use this special software, which I don't have anymore. So I know I can access it. But as for the sata drive. I'm not sure how to go about doing that. I'm not a novice, however, when it comes to a damage drive, I'm at a loss.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Was it working before and then all of a sudden quit? What operating system are you running?
 
P

PhantomUSA

New Member
Yes, of course, and then I rebooted the system and it did a disk check and it hanged I rebooted again and never made it to the desktop, just a blank black screen. So then I unplugged the defective drive and it booted up. I'm using vista
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Then the drive is bad, it happens. Hopefully you don't have important data on there that you need,
 
J

JHM

banned
Hmm, I typed up an answer for your question, but a lot of it no longer pertains. Oh well, gonna post it anyway, cause some of it might help.

Not sure I can help; but I can try. Questions : What OS are you running ? It makes a difference, because there are some bios setings which only work with Vista and maybe Win 7; but NOT XP. Also have you checked your bios settings ? Some boards have the "De Faults" setup for Vista, and you have to change certain SATA settings for XP. If your mobo battery is dying it will go to the "De Faults". Nother question is are you using this thing for a "Boot Drive" or just for storage ? I suspect it is the latter since your machine will boot with the drive disconnected you said.

1) If running XP Set "SATA AHCI MODE" to "Disabled" because that setting is for advanced SATA features which XP does NOT support.
2) If running XP Set "SATA Port 0-1 Native Mode" to "Enabled" because that is what works for XP.
3) Also set "Limit CPUID Max To 3" to "Disabled" because that function is for older OSs like Win NT4
4) I also Set "HPET Support" to "Disabled" because I don't think XP supports that, though I could be wrong there.
5) Check your Boot Drive priority settings, and if this SATA drive is being used just for storage, make sure that it is not at the top of the priority list, or you will windup trying to boot into a drive with no OS on it.
6) Some mobos require that you "Clear the Bios" whenever there is a hardware change of any sort. If as you said, you disconnected this drive then reconnected it, that constitutes a "Hardware Change".

Might add that I seem to be seeing a lot of posts at this site where people are having HDD failures. Funny that, because there are all kinds of GEEKs out there who go to any length to get their CPUs and Video Cards to run "Cooler", but nobody seems to give a hoot about HDD temps. Me, I burned my fingers reaching into an open case a few years ago, then checked to see what the heck was running so hot. Turned out to be a pair of WD 40 Gig drives running at 77 degrees Celcius. Ever since then I have made it a point to build custom made, (because commercially available cases DON'T HAVE THEM), "Ducted Fan HDD Coolers" wherein air is taken from inside the case, sucked across the HDDs, then blown OUT of the case by way of a "Duct"; thereby insuring that :

1) The air used to cool the HDDs, only EVER gets used ONCE for that purpose, before being exhausted from the case, so one doesn't have "Prewarmed Air" being used to cool the HDDs.
2) All heat from the HDDs get removed from the case, and doesn't get dumped inside to "Warmup" other components.
3) If you think about it, when you "Cook" a processor or "Video Card" all you have to do is replace it, and you are back where you started; - BUT if you "Cook" an HDD, you have lost a heck of a lot of DATA, and it's not so easy to get back where you started.
 
Last edited:
bullzi

bullzi

New Member
JHM said:
6) Some mobos require that you "Clear the Bios" whenever there is a hardware change of any sort. If as you said, you disconnected this drive then reconnected it, that constitutes a "Hardware Change".
Click to expand...

He unplugged it after it quit working, the drive has completely failed unfortunately without any prior notice. This isn't necessarily the disk portion, more likely the controller board.
 
P

PhantomUSA

New Member
bullzi said:
He unplugged it after it quit working, the drive has completely failed unfortunately without any prior notice. This isn't necessarily the disk portion, more likely the controller board.
Click to expand...

do you think that the disk is ok just the controller board has malfunctioned?
 
J

JHM

banned
@bullzi : You may very well be right; but clearing the bios is worth trying when you consider the alternatives.
@PhantomUSA : That may be the case, particularly if the drive was running HOT. In past I have managed to replace the boards in HDDs with boards from identical HDDs that died from disk failure. Not sure that still works though, because I've heard that some HDDs keep records re usage on the board.
 
Last edited:
P

PhantomUSA

New Member
JHM said:
Hmm, I typed up an answer for your question, but a lot of it no longer pertains. Oh well, gonna post it anyway, cause some of it might help.

Not sure I can help; but I can try. Questions : What OS are you running ? It makes a difference, because there are some bios setings which only work with Vista and maybe Win 7; but NOT XP. Also have you checked your bios settings ? Some boards have the "De Faults" setup for Vista, and you have to change certain SATA settings for XP. If your mobo battery is dying it will go to the "De Faults". Nother question is are you using this thing for a "Boot Drive" or just for storage ? I suspect it is the latter since your machine will boot with the drive disconnected you said.

1) If running XP Set "SATA AHCI MODE" to "Disabled" because that setting is for advanced SATA features which XP does NOT support.
2) If running XP Set "SATA Port 0-1 Native Mode" to "Enabled" because that is what works for XP.
3) Also set "Limit CPUID Max To 3" to "Disabled" because that function is for older OSs like Win NT4
4) I also Set "HPET Support" to "Disabled" because I don't think XP supports that, though I could be wrong there.
5) Check your Boot Drive priority settings, and if this SATA drive is being used just for storage, make sure that it is not at the top of the priority list, or you will windup trying to boot into a drive with no OS on it.
6) Some mobos require that you "Clear the Bios" whenever there is a hardware change of any sort. If as you said, you disconnected this drive then reconnected it, that constitutes a "Hardware Change".

Might add that I seem to be seeing a lot of posts at this site where people are having HDD failures. Funny that, because there are all kinds of GEEKs out there who go to any length to get their CPUs and Video Cards to run "Cooler", but nobody seems to give a hoot about HDD temps. Me, I burned my fingers reaching into an open case a few years ago, then checked to see what the heck was running so hot. Turned out to be a pair of WD 40 Gig drives running at 77 degrees Celcius. Ever since then I have made it a point to build custom made, (because commercially available cases DON'T HAVE THEM), "Ducted Fan HDD Coolers" wherein air is taken from inside the case, sucked across the HDDs, then blown OUT of the case by way of a "Duct"; thereby insuring that :

1) The air used to cool the HDDs, only EVER gets used ONCE for that purpose, before being exhausted from the case, so one doesn't have "Prewarmed Air" being used to cool the HDDs.
2) All heat from the HDDs get removed from the case, and doesn't get dumped inside to "Warmup" other components.
3) If you think about it, when you "Cook" a processor or "Video Card" all you have to do is replace it, and you are back where you started; - BUT if you "Cook" an HDD, you have lost a heck of a lot of DATA, and it's not so easy to get back where you started.
Click to expand...

My case is customed made. I have several fans, my pc sounds like a jet. My fans are blowing on every component including all my hard drives which there are 7 installed. I have a 3 foot high case. so cooling is my number one concern.
 
bullzi

bullzi

New Member
JHM said:
@bullzi : You may very well be right; but clearing the bios is worth trying when you consider the alternatives.
@PhantomUSA : That may be the case, particularly if the drive was running HOT. In past I have managed to replace the boards in HDDs with boards from identical HDDs that died from disk failure. Not sure that still works though, because I've heard that some HDDs keep records re usage on the board.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree, definitely worth a shot.

What you suggested for replacing boards is a good idea if data is important. It sometimes works on newer drives, it's pretty hit and miss though.
 
P

PhantomUSA

New Member
bullzi said:
I absolutely agree, definitely worth a shot.

What you suggested for replacing boards is a good idea if data is important. It sometimes works on newer drives, it's pretty hit and miss though.
Click to expand...

so i should maybe take the disk out of the drive and place it in another one of the same. I take it, it won't work if I put it in a regular ide.
 
J

JHM

banned
It should be given that setup. Point :

Keep in mind that if, as I do, you want multiple drives in your machines, so as to keep copies of important files on at least 2 and preferably 3 different drives, the amount of heat being generated by HDDs rises proportionately; and according to Wikipedia each drive will use a Peak of .94 amp at 12 v. and an Average of .54 amp at 12 v. with the Peak being 1.11 amp at 5 v. and the Average being .97 amp at 5 v.

SEE : Hard Disk Drive Power Consumption Measurements: X-bit

This means that each HDD is continually consuming 11.33 watts Average and 21.81 watts Peak. Multiply those numbers by 4, (for 4 drives), and we get 45.32 watts Average, and 87.24 watts Peak being consumed by the HDDs. If you compare that to a 60 watt lightbulb, thats more than enough to burn your fingers, though it is unlikely that all 4 drives would draw peak silmultaneously except at startup.

Now those numbers are for my box which has 4 HDDs. Yours has 7 HDDs so the numbers are 79.31 Watts Average, and 152.67 Watts Peak; and the thing I would stress about cooling is you cannot get good results from air cooling if you are using the same air over and over again. So you need air flow in and out of the case, and make darn certain that none of your HDDs are sitting in an airflow dead spot.
 
P

PhantomUSA

New Member
JHM said:
It should be given that setup. Point :

Keep in mind that if, as I do, you want multiple drives in your machines, so as to keep copies of important files on at least 2 and preferably 3 different drives, the amount of heat being generated by HDDs rises proportionately; and according to Wikipedia each drive will use a Peak of .94 amp at 12 v. and an Average of .54 amp at 12 v. with the Peak being 1.11 amp at 5 v. and the Average being .97 amp at 5 v.

SEE : Hard Disk Drive Power Consumption Measurements: X-bit

This means that each HDD is continually consuming 11.33 watts Average and 21.81 watts Peak. Multiply those numbers by 4, (for 4 drives), and we get 45.32 watts Average, and 87.24 watts Peak being consumed by the HDDs. If you compare that to a 60 watt lightbulb, thats more than enough to burn your fingers, though it is unlikely that all 4 drives would draw peak silmultaneously except at startup.

Now those numbers are for my box which has 4 HDDs. Yours has 7 HDDs so the numbers are 79.31 Watts Average, and 152.67 Watts Peak; and the thing I would stress about cooling is you cannot get good results from air cooling if you are using the same air over and over again. So you need air flow in and out of the case, and make darn certain that none of your HDDs are sitting in an airflow dead spot.
Click to expand...

I'm well aware of that.
 
J

JHM

banned
Re Taking the disk out of the drive; Not the way I did it. What you do is go to a second hand electronics store and hunt for a drive that is identical to yours that has bad sectors, but a good board. Then when one is found buy it, (cheap), and take the board out of it and use it to replace yours.
 
Last edited:
bullzi

bullzi

New Member
PhantomUSA said:
so i should maybe take the disk out of the drive and place it in another one of the same. I take it, it won't work if I put it in a regular ide.
Click to expand...

No, you shouldn't remove the disk from the harddrive. You have to have a clean room to do so, static and completely dust free, doubt you do.

What I would suggest if you absolutely need this data, is to purchase another HD of the EXACT same model, it must be exact down to the revision. If you can find one, swap the controller boards on the back of the drive and hopefully that'll work, it won't always.

If that ends up not working and this data is invaluable, data recovery laboratories do exist though they aren't cheap.
 
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