Dead disk?

timothyb89

timothyb89

New Member
I have a USB disk which appears to be dying. I'm not sure if it the power supply (and I really hope it is) or another problem I'm not seeing.
I noticed that the drive would *sometimes* fail to turn on when I filpped the power switch, but today it just wouldn't start. I opened it up and secured the cables, which were all in safely. I even tried a different wall outlet as my powerstrip(s) are all full to see if it wasn't getting enough power, but I still get nothing.
All I can say is that it's a SimpleTech 160 GB drive, and it a bit older (they released a new one).
From what I can see, it's ust a SATA disk in a USE mount case, but I can't be sure. I'm hoping that I might just be able to plug it into my Dell and just keep it there (I really don't need it to be USB) so I can continue to use it, but I'm not too big on hardware. I'm am a bit more of a software person, so...
Anyway, I took a picture of the drive opened up, and it can be found at http://cms.learn-about.uni.cc/drive.jpg .
It's 7 MP and it's about 2.9 MB, so it's very hi-res, which *hopefully* might help.
 
Ok, So I got most of the screws out and I'm able to take out the drive- and I found out there was a SeaGate disk in there.
I'm starting to wonder if the SimpleTech is not such a good company...
But at least I know that I have an actual drave to work with. But Ireally think it's bad news... I've NEVER had good luck with SeaGeat. The other drive I had from then died in about three months.
 
I beleive Seagate has really gone down hill recently as they used to be wonderful drives. I've had one in my enclosure for about 2 years I guess, and I got the drive used from a friend. Never had a problem with it...

Now, as for your problem, I'd try the drive in a computer. I've seen a few USB to IDE controllers give out. I know the one on my dad's external DVD-RW did...
 
I'm starting to think it's the drive itself.
I took the Seagate drive out and shoved in an 11 year old 3 GB Quantum Fireball with Windows 95 on it. It runs perfectly...
But I'll see what happens when I put in my computer. Maybe it's a power supply issue. The older rive might not require as much pwer as the newer one, so that would explain why it's not working...
 
Sounds like it could be the drive. Stick it in another computer and see what it does... I suppose it could be a power supply issue, but I honestly don't think it'd take that much more power for a newer drive, espcially once it's spun up.
 
Ok...
I've got good news and bad news. And another question.
The bad news, my computer doesn't have a connection cable for the drive, so I couldn't connect it.
I'm planning to keep the case, as I might get another drive off eBay or something that my computer may not support. I should be able to swap them out. I did that with an older drive already...

The good news: the drive is working again. For now, at least. It's been running for ~6 mins. and I can access it.

And the question: The drive makes some buzzing noises that MAY have peen a contributing factor to my issue. Does this mean anything?
 
Usally any unusual noises from HDs means it's going to die. Better backup any files while you can still access the HD.
 
I'm not sure...
When I touch the drive, it stops (even when it's touched lightly) so it may just be vibration.
I can definitely say that the drive isn't the world's quietest in the first place, though.
I've turned it on twice and it's worked perfectly. Maybe the metal casing and metal cover was trapping some dust inside? I'm not sure how that would be a problem, but...

So far everything's working fine, and I'm now able to use the old IDE drive from my Gateway. I can probably throw Linux on it, even though it's 3 GB...
I' also peeking around eBay for a 300 GB or so drive.
Does anyone know of any (not SeaGate, for the obvious resons) that are large and cheap (IDE or SATA, but SATA is preferred unless it effects the price)
 
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