HDD not working suddenly??

Cvdasf · Feb 11, 2015

I just recently changed my computer case and installed a new SSD.. after booting up i realized that my wd black isnt showing up at all.. i initialized the new SSD and both my ssds run fine but my storage WD black doesnt work

any suggestions?

digitaldoc · Feb 11, 2015

I would make sure that the WD has both a SATA and a power connection. If still not working, then try to use it externally with a SATA to USB powered connection. If this is not working, that somehow the drive got damaged, and will need to be replaced.

volcanoscout · Feb 11, 2015

Is it showing up in drive management? If it is, right click on it and see what options it gives you. You may need to re-initialize it.

digitaldoc · Feb 11, 2015

Also, see if it shows up in the Bios.

Cvdasf · Feb 11, 2015

digitaldoc :

I do not have an external way to test this drive :/.. checked in bios not showing up.. just to confirm theres two cables.. the one to the PSU and the one to the MOBA.. and the one to the PSU goes in the SATA section of the psu?

digitaldoc · Feb 11, 2015

Yes, those are the cables. You can try swapping them around with your other SATA cables to exclude that as the cause.

The link below is the SATA to USB adapter. I use mine about once a year, but in those situations where I needed it, definitely money well spent.

http://www.amazon.com/SABRENT-5-25-INCH-Converter-Activity-USB-DSC9/dp/B00DQJME7Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423715875&sr=1-2&keywords=sata+to+usb+3+0+adapter

volcanoscout · Feb 11, 2015

You're correct on the cables. One thing you might try is to power down, disconnect the hard drive data cable from the mobo and power back up. Let it complete booting, then shut it down again. Reconnect the data cable (might try a different SATA port than the one it was originally plugged into) and restart.

Check to see if it shows up in BIOS and drive management.

Cvdasf · Feb 11, 2015

digitaldoc :

My powersupply only works with the cables that came with it (dumb i know).. so thats not possible either.. :/ not sure what else to do other then buy that and hope for the best

Cvdasf · Feb 11, 2015

volcanoscout :

tried that and it didnt work unfortunately

Cvdasf · Feb 12, 2015

whelp i tried my cables that went to my disc drive (which works fine) no go... so am i screwed or is there anything else i can try? weird how this only happend when switching to a new psu.. didnt even move the HDD out of the case.

volcanoscout · Feb 12, 2015

If you have access to another system, you can try installing your WD on it and seeing if it's accessible. You can also get a PC repair shop to check it for you - might do it for free, but I wouldn't think they'd charge much just to see if it works. Otherwise I think it's time to check if your warranty is still in force. Don't suppose you had that drive backed up somewhere?

Cvdasf · Feb 12, 2015

volcanoscout :

I have my entire computer backed up to a NAS system accept that drive.. go figure.. figured sense it was a WD black that it wouldn't just break but i guess thats wrong.

volcanoscout · Feb 12, 2015

You didn't mention changing out the PSU, but it's pretty much academic anyway. What are your drive settings in BIOS? Are your SSDs configured in RAID? If they're not in RAID, try disconnecting the non-OS SSD (at the drive, not at the mobo) and connect the cables to the HDD and see what happens.

Cvdasf · Feb 12, 2015

volcanoscout :

went ahead and switched cables like u said and nothing.. looked around in BIOS and went ahead and updated it to the latest one.. As far as drive settings i have where it boots to a 850 evo pro (512gb) then my secondary drive is a 850 evo pro (1tb).. but of course where i keep all my stuff like picutres and music and stuff thats actually hard to get back is on my good old mechanical drive (WD black) <-- thing thats not working.. not really sure what else to try or do. Just dont understand how it was working fine this morning and then when i changed the PSU it suddenly doesn't work :/

volcanoscout · Feb 12, 2015

I think you can safely conclude that it's dead. This won't make you feel any better but, in twenty-something years of owning PCs, I've only had one drive fail on me and it was a WD Black, too. It was pretty traumatic - it was my only drive at the time, it wasn't backed up and the data was not recoverable. (Since then, I've maintained backups to the backups as well as periodically burning full images that I keep in a fire safe.)

The possible bright side is that if it was in fact sudden, it's probably a mechanical or electrical failure (might be something as simple as a faulty or burned out internal power connector) rather than data corruption or physical disk damage, which means the data is probably recoverable. I don't know what the recovery cost will be, but you can get estimates for free (aside from shipping costs) and if you use a WD-authorized recovery service, it will not void the warranty which, if I remember correctly is either 7 or 10 years (you can check the warranty with the serial number at the WD website).

I would give WD customer service a call or email and explain the situation. They might recommend sending to them first to see if it's mechanically repairable, in which case you won't need to do a data recovery.

Sorry we couldn't come up with a successful resolution for you.

http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp

fzabkar · Feb 12, 2015

@Cvdasf, do you see any damage on the PCB?

Catastrophic failures in Western Digital PCBs:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=1119&p=5033

Cvdasf · Feb 13, 2015

volcanoscout :

I think you can safely conclude that it's dead. This won't make you feel any better but, in twenty-something years of owning PCs, I've only had one drive fail on me and it was a WD Black, too. It was pretty traumatic - it was my only drive at the time, it wasn't backed up and the data was not recoverable. (Since then, I've maintained backups to the backups as well as periodically burning full images that I keep in a fire safe.)

The possible bright side is that if it was in fact sudden, it's probably a mechanical or electrical failure (might be something as simple as a faulty or burned out internal power connector) rather than data corruption or physical disk damage, which means the data is probably recoverable. I don't know what the recovery cost will be, but you can get estimates for free (aside from shipping costs) and if you use a WD-authorized recovery service, it will not void the warranty which, if I remember correctly is either 7 or 10 years (you can check the warranty with the serial number at the WD website).

I would give WD customer service a call or email and explain the situation. They might recommend sending to them first to see if it's mechanically repairable, in which case you won't need to do a data recovery.

Sorry we couldn't come up with a successful resolution for you.

http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp

Well thank you for trying your best!

kinda sucks for me though :/ bleh learned my lesson

Cvdasf · Feb 13, 2015

fzabkar :

Dont see any but that article is VERY interesting. Thank you for sharing!

volcanoscout · Feb 13, 2015

I agree - very interesting, indeed. Thank you for the link, Fzabkar!

HDD not working suddenly??

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