- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
Please read this guide carefully before making threads.
Introduction:
Hard drive failings happen for many reasons. They are especially common in IPods, laptops and external hard drives, simply because people think that dropping them is OK. But to the hard drive dropping on the floor is a big deal. It means that the head just might scratch the plate.
However, if your HDD is starting to fail, there is no reason to panic. First and foremost, determine if you need the data from it. If you have irreplaceable data on it, then copy it immediately. Preferably in one big swoosh. Which means not booting to windows from that HDD but maybe low level,sector by sector copying from it to another hard drive.
Even if you are late and the HDD is not readable for Windows, it is not too late to save your data.
What to do:
Normally this is what happens:
Program requests OS to write to HDD. OS requests the BIOS. BIOS requests the controller. Controller asks the HDD board. HDD then attempts to execute.
Program -> OS -> BIOS -> Controller -> HDD.
Here is how low level programs work.
Program -> Controller -> HDD.
It does not use, need or access BIOS/OS. This means that all HDD errors/failures will be reported to the user and the test would continue running, unlike in Windows where it will freeze/give up. Also, error reporting and error codes will be shown according to the ATA standard.
0) BACKUP THE DATA. If you want to actually try fixing the stuff, then you WILL have to write stuff to it. If your data is important to you, then buy a harddrive the same as yours and do a direct copy (HDDscan) from yours to that one. That way the second hard drive will have exactly the same data as yours for future recovery. If your data is not that important to you, then copy only the stuff you need.
1)Once you backup the data it is time to see what is really happening to the HDD. First of all, download MHDD.
This is an excellent program for HDD watching. Choose the version of MHDD that you like (floppy or CD. floppy is preferable). Then boot from the floppy/CD, and you will be in MHDD interface. (mhdd runs from DOS, so the floppy will boot DOS. MHDD is not a windows product.)
2)Press F2. If you don't get errors, then you are in luck. This will display your HDD, your serial number and other. Your FLASH memory and the CPU work.
3)Next press F8. This will display your SMART parameters.It displays a lot of information: like the number of times this HDD had been turned on, the amount of time it worked...
The most important one here is the "Reallocated Sectors Count". This means the amount of sectors that were deemed not working and now your HDD re routes those sectors to other sectors. Different vendors have different number of 'extra' sectors. If it is above 100, then that means that over 100 of your sectors have failed. If it is above 100... that is bad. That would mean that when the other sectors failed there would be no room for them, and you will lose data in those sectors.
If "UDMA CRC error rate" is more than 0, that simply means you have a bad cable.
4)So load Wiki Smart Page and check out all of the values. Those will tell you a lot.
5)Now click F4. Here you have the option of scanning, erasing and remapping. If you are scanning it simply reads the sector and reports how much time it is to read it. If you are erasing it will simply erase the sector (WARNING, WILL DESTROY YOUR DATA), which helps to fix some software bad blocks. If you are remapping it will deem the sector bad and put reallocate it.
If after scanning your HDD it has 0 errors, that is good. Try to erase the whole hard drive (will destroy data) by giving command "erase". This will also detect all blocks that you can't write to.
If after scanning your HDD it stops at one place, but remapping fixes it, that means you have damaged the actual hard drive surface. (semi-bad). You can fix it by remapping or cutting the hard drive if the bad blocks are at the end. (HPA)
If after scanning your hdd it doesn't fixes it by remapping, then one of the HDD heads is at fault (bad). Just replace the HDD. If you need data, then give it to a company which will replace the actual surface in a different case. (for a hefty price)
If after scanning your hdd you get all errors, that means something on the HDD board broke... like the CPU, flash memory.
If the engine never starts up (you hear no noise), then your engine broke.
If you hear clutching noises, then one of the heads got stuck on the hard drive surface, and you can (DANGEROUS) fix it by sending a short high voltage burst to the actual engine.
[NOTE: look down to the section called overvolting]
When I am trying to fix a HDD, I usually do SCAN - ERASE - REMAP, and it mostly gets rid of all the bad blocks.
Now, after this remember that you need to reformat and reinstall OS, as the HDD will only have 0s on it.
Also, you could use Victoria, but I am not sure if it is not just Russian. It is just like MHDD.
Additional Stuff You can Do
*unlocking HDD with a password.
*cut/uncup harddrive: command hpa, nhpa. Check if your harddrive is bigger than it appears to be.
Also useful if you got bad corrupted sectors at the end of the HDD.
*Type HELP to see all the commands <-Handy!
*check the logs at Logs folder.
*screenshot - F10!
*RPM - measures RPM.
*write/read sectors to file
If your HDD is locked with a password, try to unlock using master.
Beyond that... you will need a PC3000. That is expensive.
OverVolting To Raise Heads
What do you do if the hard drive was turned off while writing and got hit causing the head to get stuck on the platter?
If you try to power the HDD on, you will hear the HDD whine but the engine will not be able to spin up the platter.
You have a couple of options. If the hard drive isn't expensive and you value your time, then just hit the harddrive lightly. Yes, that is "hitting the harddrive". Normally I would attempt to throttle the guy that hits the hard drive, but it will rescue 40% of all stuck hard drives (as measured on my pre-previous job).
It will damage the hard drive on the section where the head was sitting (and other), but nothing relocating sectors won't fix.
But -- there are the other ~60%. Plus, it does less damage to the hard drive. Now, this is to try only after you make sure that you are safe.
*to do a little later. really sorry..*
Introduction:
Hard drive failings happen for many reasons. They are especially common in IPods, laptops and external hard drives, simply because people think that dropping them is OK. But to the hard drive dropping on the floor is a big deal. It means that the head just might scratch the plate.
However, if your HDD is starting to fail, there is no reason to panic. First and foremost, determine if you need the data from it. If you have irreplaceable data on it, then copy it immediately. Preferably in one big swoosh. Which means not booting to windows from that HDD but maybe low level,sector by sector copying from it to another hard drive.
Even if you are late and the HDD is not readable for Windows, it is not too late to save your data.
What to do:
Normally this is what happens:
Program requests OS to write to HDD. OS requests the BIOS. BIOS requests the controller. Controller asks the HDD board. HDD then attempts to execute.
Program -> OS -> BIOS -> Controller -> HDD.
Here is how low level programs work.
Program -> Controller -> HDD.
It does not use, need or access BIOS/OS. This means that all HDD errors/failures will be reported to the user and the test would continue running, unlike in Windows where it will freeze/give up. Also, error reporting and error codes will be shown according to the ATA standard.
0) BACKUP THE DATA. If you want to actually try fixing the stuff, then you WILL have to write stuff to it. If your data is important to you, then buy a harddrive the same as yours and do a direct copy (HDDscan) from yours to that one. That way the second hard drive will have exactly the same data as yours for future recovery. If your data is not that important to you, then copy only the stuff you need.
1)Once you backup the data it is time to see what is really happening to the HDD. First of all, download MHDD.
This is an excellent program for HDD watching. Choose the version of MHDD that you like (floppy or CD. floppy is preferable). Then boot from the floppy/CD, and you will be in MHDD interface. (mhdd runs from DOS, so the floppy will boot DOS. MHDD is not a windows product.)
2)Press F2. If you don't get errors, then you are in luck. This will display your HDD, your serial number and other. Your FLASH memory and the CPU work.
3)Next press F8. This will display your SMART parameters.It displays a lot of information: like the number of times this HDD had been turned on, the amount of time it worked...
The most important one here is the "Reallocated Sectors Count". This means the amount of sectors that were deemed not working and now your HDD re routes those sectors to other sectors. Different vendors have different number of 'extra' sectors. If it is above 100, then that means that over 100 of your sectors have failed. If it is above 100... that is bad. That would mean that when the other sectors failed there would be no room for them, and you will lose data in those sectors.
If "UDMA CRC error rate" is more than 0, that simply means you have a bad cable.
4)So load Wiki Smart Page and check out all of the values. Those will tell you a lot.
5)Now click F4. Here you have the option of scanning, erasing and remapping. If you are scanning it simply reads the sector and reports how much time it is to read it. If you are erasing it will simply erase the sector (WARNING, WILL DESTROY YOUR DATA), which helps to fix some software bad blocks. If you are remapping it will deem the sector bad and put reallocate it.
If after scanning your HDD it has 0 errors, that is good. Try to erase the whole hard drive (will destroy data) by giving command "erase". This will also detect all blocks that you can't write to.
If after scanning your HDD it stops at one place, but remapping fixes it, that means you have damaged the actual hard drive surface. (semi-bad). You can fix it by remapping or cutting the hard drive if the bad blocks are at the end. (HPA)
If after scanning your hdd it doesn't fixes it by remapping, then one of the HDD heads is at fault (bad). Just replace the HDD. If you need data, then give it to a company which will replace the actual surface in a different case. (for a hefty price)
If after scanning your hdd you get all errors, that means something on the HDD board broke... like the CPU, flash memory.
If the engine never starts up (you hear no noise), then your engine broke.
If you hear clutching noises, then one of the heads got stuck on the hard drive surface, and you can (DANGEROUS) fix it by sending a short high voltage burst to the actual engine.
[NOTE: look down to the section called overvolting]
When I am trying to fix a HDD, I usually do SCAN - ERASE - REMAP, and it mostly gets rid of all the bad blocks.
Now, after this remember that you need to reformat and reinstall OS, as the HDD will only have 0s on it.
Also, you could use Victoria, but I am not sure if it is not just Russian. It is just like MHDD.
Additional Stuff You can Do
*unlocking HDD with a password.
*cut/uncup harddrive: command hpa, nhpa. Check if your harddrive is bigger than it appears to be.
Also useful if you got bad corrupted sectors at the end of the HDD.*Type HELP to see all the commands <-Handy!
*check the logs at Logs folder.
*screenshot - F10!
*RPM - measures RPM.
*write/read sectors to file
If your HDD is locked with a password, try to unlock using master.
Beyond that... you will need a PC3000. That is expensive.
OverVolting To Raise Heads
What do you do if the hard drive was turned off while writing and got hit causing the head to get stuck on the platter?
If you try to power the HDD on, you will hear the HDD whine but the engine will not be able to spin up the platter.
You have a couple of options. If the hard drive isn't expensive and you value your time, then just hit the harddrive lightly. Yes, that is "hitting the harddrive". Normally I would attempt to throttle the guy that hits the hard drive, but it will rescue 40% of all stuck hard drives (as measured on my pre-previous job).
It will damage the hard drive on the section where the head was sitting (and other), but nothing relocating sectors won't fix.
But -- there are the other ~60%. Plus, it does less damage to the hard drive. Now, this is to try only after you make sure that you are safe.
*to do a little later. really sorry..*
Last edited:
