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3!!! Hard disks dead?

Last response: in Storage
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Its true, I think.

I bought a new system with one drive:
Samsung 400gb (HD400LJ)

The added two drives from old system, both Western Digitals:
Raptor 74gb (WD740GD)
Caviar SE 200gb (WD2000JD)

None of the drives would show in my new system, so I put my two old drives back in old system, one drive showed briefly, but since theres been nothing in bios, off any of the three drives, on any system.

So I borrowed a Western Digital 250gb (WD2500JS) and... it worked first time, on both systems, on any sata port.


Both of the WD's were working fine before taken out of old system. The drives were only out for a few minutes, never left the room. Kept touching my case(while it was plugged in and powered off at AC) to reduce chance of static charge. The three drives were installed and tested one at a time, so I guess that rules out one big freak surge. So WTF is up, did static prevail? :idea:

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How very odd.

*Did* you connect the power connector? :) 

I suppose it's technically possible that the PSU is bad and is supplying *loadsapower* down one or more of the SATA power leads - maybe a short somewhere. Worth checking out, I suspect.
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I've always unplugged from wall socket when moving parts arround
modern mobo's allways are live unless unplugged ,, that's for faster
boot times,, but it would be strange that static got all 3 drives
keeping yourself at the same potentional as the case should have been
enough but might not have,,, but 3 bad luck if thats what it was

Maybe your BIOS isnt detecting the drives.. Do this, plug one drive in at a time.. Check if you can hear it powering up/spinning.. If you hear it, its working..

Then in your BIOS, check whether the drives are being detected..
Dont worry, its HIGHLY unlikely that you busted 3 drives :) 

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what chipset are you running? have you updated the latest bios available for your mobo?

EVGA 680i - latest bios P23
Connected drives correctly yes, hence I got one working.

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Do this, plug one drive in at a time.. Check if you can hear it powering up/spinning, Then in your BIOS, check whether the drives are being detected

No sound. Belive me, I've checked the BIOS :/ 

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I've always unplugged from wall socket when moving parts arround
modern mobo's allways are live unless unplugged

I was under the impression that, as long as you turn PSU switch off and wait a few secs for mobo light to go off, that the power is off. Also I left it plugged in to provide an earth point to discharge.

Quote:
I was under the impression that, as long as you turn PSU switch off and wait a few secs for mobo light to go off, that the power is off. Also I left it plugged in to provide an earth point to discharge.


That's perfectly correct technique.

As to the 3 drives, I would take them to a friends' machine and attach them one at a time, outside of the box. Lay them on a piece of paper.
Hook them up to a connection that's below the main drive in the boot order. Don't forget the power plug (like a lot of people do). See if they're picked up by the BIOS and XP. This will determine once and for all if any (or all) of them have become paper weights.

If it is indeed true, you are a victim of some monumental bad luck.

You could probably rma the Samsung. They are great hd's.

Please post back after doing the above with your findings. Also, is the "borrowed" WD still running fine in your new rig? That would rule out its' power supply being flaky.

Quote:
See if they're picked up by the BIOS and XP. This will determine once and for all if any (or all) of them have become paper weights.

Please post back after doing the above with your findings. Also, is the "borrowed" WD still running fine in your new rig? That would rule out its' power supply being flaky.


I tried the WD74gb Raptor in a friends pc and it wouldn't show in bios or windows setup.

I only used friends HD in my pc for a short while since I didn't want to risk it.

true you have no power from the psu but you still have a path
for power (electricity) and thus static to travel
turn off the psu and unplug ,,, have learned that the
hard ($$$$) way,, you want your static potentinal to be the same as
the stuff your working on, just like moving accross a carpet you
pick up static,,, use a static strap if you have one,,

Quote:
true you have no power from the psu but you still have a path
for power (electricity) and thus static to travel
turn off the psu and unplug ,,, have learned that the
hard ($$$$) way,, you want your static potentinal to be the same as
the stuff your working on, just like moving accross a carpet you
pick up static,,, use a static strap if you have one,,


I think your wrong, so does pscowboy

from building power supplies,, unless they build psu for computer
different from electronic standards the ground is still connected when
plugged in ,, thus you have your path for static to go to ground, even if
your psu is turned off,,,

Quote:
from building power supplies,, unless they build psu for computer
different from electronic standards the ground is still connected when
plugged in ,, thus you have your path for static to go to ground, even if
your psu is turned off,,,


?

I'd at first suspect an underpowered PSU, the 'old' system with a 350 or 400 watt psu would have difficulty driving 3 hdd's plus all the other stuff. Since you have tested the drive in other systems and found them failed its pretty obvious that the damage is done. Your best bet is to RMA the failed drives, I know from personal experiance that Seagate has a downloadable troubleshooting tool, I'm certain WD does too. Seagate's tool scanned my raptor so if you cant find one for WD, try seagate.

PS just a guess but under powering the drives could have caused the failure, check closely before you try to plug more drives into that system.
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