8 replies to this topic

[eniparadoxgma]

So, I've had a My Book Pro for a couple years now. (500gb w/USB, Firewire, and Firewire2).

It's been rock solid the whole time, never given me issues, etc.

However, yesterday or the day before it started locking up and going very slowly when copying some mp3s from it to a flash drive.

Yesterday it just pooped on itself. It disappeared from My Computer even though it has power and seems to still be spinning up and everything.

I unplugged it, plugged it back in, and it came back up. I thought it was alright. However, hours later POOF it was gone again. Now it isn't recognized in My Computer at all. It's not under Device Manager on my desktop. However it would still show up under device manager on my laptop for some reason but still not in My Computer under either of them.

I tried unplugging it (power), plugging it back in, unplugging it (USB) and plugging it back in, tried another USB cable, tried all kinds of unplug/plug back in sequences on the USB/power/laptop/desktop, installed firewire drivers, attached it via firewire, etc etc. Nothing is getting it back under My Computer so that I can access the files.

I've tried going into disk management to assign it a drive letter, etc. It's not there.

So it would seem that it's a hardware issue and not a logical one.

I read that sometimes the connections in the enclosure go bad while the drive is still operable. Instead of checking the warranty and what not I decided to take matters into my own hands. So...I ripped it apart with a razor blade and a throwing star. (no joke)

I removed the hard drive from the enclosure and then installed it in my desktop via SATA. It's still not being recognized by my computer at all. It's not in the BIOS. It's not in My Computer. It's not in the Device Manager.

The world isn't going to end if I can't get anything off of the drive. I'm pretty sure the majority of everything on the drive I have on disk...somewhere. However, I would like to be able to access it long enough to just make sure.

From what I've read I have a couple options but most of them suck.

I can:

1. Put the sucker in the freezer in a ziplock bag for a few hours, plug it in, and see if I can get it working for a bit.

2. Buy another drive exactly like it and somehow exchange the electronics on it (as sometimes the electronics go bad but the platters and everything are physically fine).

3. Ship it off to some data recovery experts for between hundreds and thousands of dollars... (not going to happen)


I'm just wondering if anyone has any other ideas or any suggestions or anything.

TIA.





---

One more thing: I accidentally spilled water all over my Logitech G11 keyboard the other day and now while the lights come on none of the keys work. I've been letting it dry out for a couple days now. Any suggestions on this one?

Yeah, this has been a bad week for me and hardware.

[m.oreilly]

i'd try the freezer. i hate this when it happens

dang enip. my wife just did a spill on the deck keyboard i got her. and even though it is dry, it still has some issues. i know some have luck with getting them back up, but i never have...

[eniparadoxgma]

m.oreilly, on Jun 9 2009, 10:16 PM, said:

i'd try the freezer. i hate this when it happens

dang enip. my wife just did a spill on the deck keyboard i got her. and even though it is dry, it still has some issues. i know some have luck with getting them back up, but i never have...

Been in the freezer for a few hours. I'll pop it back out in a few and give it a whirl.

Haven't tried the keyboard today but I'm about to plug 'er in.

I'll give you guys an update once I do.

[Roadrunner]

I've done the freezer thing a couple times- works until the drive heats up so you don't get much time to copy files.

Problem when they get like that is the system is hard to boot up when a drive is having issues.
Leave it unplugged until you're ready to copy files then connect with USB.

Edited by Roadrunner, 10 June 2009 - 04:30 AM.

[eniparadoxgma]

Roadrunner, on Jun 10 2009, 12:26 AM, said:

I've done the freezer thing a couple times- works until the drive heats up so you don't get much time to copy files.

Problem when they get like that is the system is hard to boot up when a drive is having issues.
Leave it unplugged until you're ready to copy files then connect with USB.

Luckily the drive in question is just an external used for storing a bunch of stuff, so I don't have to wait and boot up the computer or anything. I can just take it out of the freezer, plug it in, and hope to get some stuff off of it.

I have tried twice now (freezing). The good news is that both times the drive did show up and I was able to get into it. The bad news is that it quickly heated back up before I could copy anything. I say it was only operational for about 2 minutes each time.

So...now I'm going to try freezing it for 24 hours and give it a whirl tomorrow.

Here's another option I may try:

"Sometimes the mechanical parts within a hard drive can get bound up or jammed. A sharp physical shock might free things up long enough to get your data. Keep in mind this is the exact opposite of how you should normally treat a hard drive, so this is really a last resort. First, try whacking the side of the drive with the handle of a screwdriver or a small mallet. If that doesn't help, try the drop method: Hold the drive about 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) above a hard surface and let it fall (make sure the metal chassis is the part it lands on). You might have luck with successive drops from slightly higher up."

This could get interesting. I will keep you guys informed.

On the keyboard side of things, I tried it again and still no luck. I've got another on the way that should be here Friday.

[nabz0r]

This is what happened to me last summer, it was pain in the ass 'cause I had like 320GB files on it and very important files as well, but I lost them due to this. Anyway, hope you get it solved soon, otherwise you gotta buy another one. Btw, hope you have back up.

[m.oreilly]

enip, get some bags of ice and bury the drive between them?

[eniparadoxgma]

Well, I've been able to get about 2 1/2 gigs off of it so far.

I have some ice packs that I've tried once (sitting the hard drive on one and laying another on top) and they're working really well. I froze the hard drives and the ice packs for a few hours and gave it a try and it stayed accessible the longest time yet. Now I'm going to freeze them overnight and see if I can get everything off it.

Wish me luck.

[m.oreilly]