New HDD Is Dead? Advice Needed Please.

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Nomis_33

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Aug 30, 2012
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Hello.
I have completed this build and all works fine so far.
I only had to plug in the HDD, which I did today.
But neither the BIOS or the Disk Management seem to be able to detect it.
(Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive)

I have tried:
1.Re-Plugging the unplugging both the sata power cable and data cable.
2.Different sata ports on the MB.
3.Took both the power and sata cables out of the Opitical disk (which I know works) but not the MB or power connector i.e those cables work the Disk drive). Plugged into the HDD still nothing (BIOS & Disk Management)
4. Tried the 'Data Lifeguard Diagnostics' and it doesn't detect it.
5..And probably the nail in the coffin it does not seem to make any noises or vibrates to the touch that I can tell (I am guessing it would be quite noticeable.)

Other notes: Originally it shared the same power connector the SSD (SSD works fine) the Disk drive had its own power connector so neither of them worked.

This is my first ever PC built so apart from using on another machine which i could do but my old motherboard in my old pc only supports SATA revision 2 so it woldn't work anyway?

What else could I do to troubleshoot it?

Thanks for any feedback.

[PCPartPicker part list](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Bzvx7h) / [Price breakdown by merchant](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Bzvx7h/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/mV98TW/amd-ryzen-5-1600-32ghz-6-core-processor-yd1600bbaebox) | Purchased For £179.99
**Motherboard** | [Asus - PRIME B350M-A Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/nLx9TW/asus-prime-b350m-a-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-prime-b350m-a) | Purchased For £71.11
**Memory** | [G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/4vWrxr/gskill-memory-f42400c15d16gvr) | Purchased For £139.00
**Storage** | [SanDisk - Ultra II 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/JFJwrH/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdhii480gg25) | Purchased For £126.42

**Storage** | [Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | Purchased For £41.95

**Video Card** | [Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/KQQRsY/gigabyte-radeon-rx-580-8gb-gaming-8g-video-card-gv-rx580gaming-8gd) | Purchased For £241.66
**Case** | [Deepcool - DUKASE V2 ATX Mid Tower Case](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/hygPxr/deepcool-dukase-v2-atx-mid-tower-case-dukase-v2) | Purchased For £70.66
**Power Supply** | [EVGA - BQ 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xLs8TW/evga-bq-750w-80-bronze-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-110-bq-0750-v1) | Purchased For £95.00
**Optical Drive** | [LG - BH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/J9MFf7/lg-optical-drive-bh14ns40) |-
**Operating System** | [Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/96RFf7/microsoft-os-kw900139) | Purchased For £0.00
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£965.79**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2017-10-25 19:02 BST+0100 |
 
Solution
A
First of all it is not rare at all that a brand-new "virgin" HDD is DOA. Unusual - yes, but rare - no.

If the drive is not detected in two different PCs that you ABSOLUTELY know they (the PCs) are non-defective, working PCs, AND you've properly/securely connected the HDD in each of those PCs and the disk is still not recognized you must come to the obvious conclusion that you're dealing with a defective drive.

If you had a USB external enclosure or one of those SATA-to-USB cable adapters so that you could also connect the drive as a USB external device, I would also advise you to do so and see what's what.

In any event the only advice I can give you at this point in time is to return the drive to the vendor for refund (or exchange)...
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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At the outset just try the second suggestion by bjornl. Install the WD HDD as a secondary drive in your "old PC" (which I assume is a working PC). That fact that it contains a motherboard that contains only SATA II capability is IRRELEVANT. Determine if that "old PC" detects the HDD. If it does, check the health of the HDD with the WD Data Lifeguard diagnostic program.
 
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Nomis_33

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Aug 30, 2012
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Note: Everything here is referring now to my old PC apart from the new HDD

Okay I have installed it into my old pc, I have used the SATA cable from the optical drive cause yet again I know that cable works(disk drive on old pc), and used the same power connector that is plugged into the HDD drive on my old pc. (1 power cable is powering the old HDD and the new one)
And still nothing, nothing in BIOS nothing in Disk management.
Is it quite rare to get a new HDD which does not work? Have I just been really unlucky ha?

Thanks for the help and feedback.
 
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A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
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First of all it is not rare at all that a brand-new "virgin" HDD is DOA. Unusual - yes, but rare - no.

If the drive is not detected in two different PCs that you ABSOLUTELY know they (the PCs) are non-defective, working PCs, AND you've properly/securely connected the HDD in each of those PCs and the disk is still not recognized you must come to the obvious conclusion that you're dealing with a defective drive.

If you had a USB external enclosure or one of those SATA-to-USB cable adapters so that you could also connect the drive as a USB external device, I would also advise you to do so and see what's what.

In any event the only advice I can give you at this point in time is to return the drive to the vendor for refund (or exchange) if that process is still available or pursue RMA proceedings with WD.
 
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Solution
bjornl

bjornl

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Mar 16, 2016
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Your HD is DOA. Waste no more time on it, return it. If the BIOS can't see it, an USB based controller will not be able to see it. And no matter what you did, you could never trust this drive.

It is not uncommon for drives to be DOA. If they work from the start and there are no issues within the first 30ish days, they tend to last for years.
 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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Over the past 20 years or so I've worked with more than a thousand makes/models of HDDs in an untold number of PC systems.

Based on my experience (as well as the experience of competent technicians with whom I'm acquainted) there is simply NO, repeat NO way that one can determine the health/longevity of this or that HDD. It's a crapshoot pure & simple.

The fact that a HDD will "work" for the first "30ish days" is not an indication that the drive "will tend to last for years." Again, based upon our experience, there's no magic number of days, weeks, months that a drive performs without problems that provides any indication (or should provide comfort to the user) that it will continue to do so for "years" (let alone the next day or the next month!).

We know only one thing...a drive WILL fail. When that time comes no one knows. That is why the critical thing a PC user SHOULD know is that he/she MUST comprehensively back up their system(s) from time-to-time so as to have the means at hand to return their system(s) to a bootable functional state in the event of a failed drive.
 
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bjornl

bjornl

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Well you're entitled to your opinion. I've been in IT for over 20 years as well and not at fly-speck places with a few dozen PCs.

Most drives which are not DOA and do not die shortly there after do in fact live for quite some time. Drives which are more than a few weeks old and less than 3 years old dying is not impossible, but they are outliers. With the 10's of 1000s of drives I've seen giving me an ample sample size, I feel quite comfortable with what I said.
 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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bjornl:
You too are obviously entitiled to your opinion. But what bothers me is that too many users accept your analysis and take false comfort and wishful thinking that because their systems (centered about a HDD or SSD) are just working fine for X period of time, they neglect the critical need for undertaking comprehensive backups of their system from time to time. And then one day that dreadful time arrives (just peruse the continuing never-ending posts on this "forum" from users) when the user reports the bemoaning of loss of their data and the unbootable state of their HDD (or SSD) and pleading for help to a return to a functional system.

The point is that competent & experienced PC users/technicians like yourself must continually emphasize to users the absolute need to create & maintain comprehensive backups of one's system regardless of whether there is a likelihood that this or that PC component - be it a HDD or any other component installed in the PC - will "probably" function just fine for "possibly X amount of years". We must CONTINUALLY emphasize that any component can fail at ANY time and the user must be prepared for that eventuality.
 
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Nomis_33

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Aug 30, 2012
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I have returned the drive back to Amazon, went down my local PC shop brought a Seagate Barracuda 1TB
Got home installed it using the same cables as I had already tried, and bingo BIOS detected it first time, formatted and simple volume etc on disk management sorted.

Thank you everybody.

As a side note regarding backing up pc data, I have never backed up my HDD, I know that's bad, I have never experience a HDD going/gone bad (well until now obviously) it is important and something I will do in the future. I have always preferred hard solid copies as supposed to 'cloud' storage anyway.
 
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