Re: Need help with a totally avoidable problem

Frog Prince wrote:
[...]
> *SYT:     'so you got it to quit making that horrible noise?'
> 
> FP:    What noise?
> 
> SYT:  Sounds off and on, just like the '75 VW junker Bug I had when I was in
> school. (does an impression of the noise -- rancus but still cute)
> 
> Light goes on:  Makes a lot of inquires, basically this 'noise' has been
> getting worse for about 6-8 weeks.
[...]
> I carried the HDD home, going to play with it a bit.  Any ideas at all on
> how one might recover the data?

Does the drive no longer spin up?  I've had some experience with drives
like that, which can actually enter Lazarus Mode by giving it a gentle
(but firm) twist along the same axis as it normally spins just after you
power up the system.  This applies enough torque to allow the drive to
get unstuck, and once unstuck, will continue spinning up as normal.  If
this procedure works, _immediately_ back up whatever you need from it,
as you never know how long the drive will last, or if Lazarus will visit
you again.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| WARNING! DISCLAIMER!  ETC ETC ETC!                                   |
|                                                                      |
| Entering Lazarus Mode with the above method may make things worse if |
| you do it wrong!                                                     |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Of course, if it's simply "dead", then you may be SOL unless they have
the money to hire a company that specializes in recovering data from
dead drives.

Given the noise issue, I would say it's more likely mechanical than
electrical, so you may luck out with the first method.


-- 
+-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+
| Kenneth J. Brody        | www.hvcomputer.com |                             |
| kenbrody/at\spamcop.net | www.fptech.com     | #include <std_disclaimer.h> |
+-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+
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