Pls help w/ identifying hard disk failure

[megagram]

I have a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 hard disk here that has apparently bitten the dust. The drive clicks 4 times (quite loudly) and then attempts to seek/scan and then shuts itself down after a few seconds.

Is this a mechanical breakdown of the hard disk drive mechanism? Is the drive toast?

Here is a youtube video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZL2nEqucqQ> of the drive "working" with the case taken off so you guys can see what's going on. I'd love to know if you think it's salvageable in any way or if it's beyond help.

One thing I noticed when taking the case off is on the top platter, there is a very small ring (looks like a scratch) about 2-3mm from the outside. I don't know if it's normal to have such a marking on hard disk platters or not. I worry if maybe the head made contact at that point and made a perfectly circular scratch around the platter, thereby rendering it useless?

Thanks for any help!

 

[roadrunner197069]

I think exposeing the platter made it worse offf then you were recovery wise. Supposed to be in a clean anti static room when open.

 

[megagram]

Thanks. I've taken many hard disks apart in the past with no ill effects. My room, while not de-ionized etc etc, is still really clean and I am extremely careful.

Now, anyone able to help out with my actual problem? Thank you...

 

[roadrunner197069]

Its definately screwed.

 

[Zorg]

^ agreed, It's screwed.

You might, as a last resort, get a drive with the identical revision and swap out the controller board. No guaranty, but I've heard of it working in some cases.

 

[jay2tall]

"Click of Death" it's hosed.

Time to restore from Backup..... You do backup don't you?

 

[megagram]

I do backup, yes. Thanks for checking. It's not my drive, though. It's a friend's. The status of her backup is unknown, as she's out of the country for awhile. She definitely backs up, it's just a question of her backup's age. So we're seeing about getting the drive working again--if possible. We figure she's going to lose some data;yet, thankfully not all.

So the general consensus is this drive is hosed and beyond magical repair?

Thanks for all the replies, so far!

 

[jay2tall]

I've done this before and it has worked on several occassion. Take the drive and stick it in the freezer. YES the freezer, next to the ice cream. Let it in there overnight or for several hours. Make sure it doesn't get any moisture in it though. When it is icy cold, take it out, hook it up and try to copy all you can off ASAP. This has worked on a few in the past. I actually got this trick from a Specialist at an old job. It might work a very small percentage of the time, but hey it's worth a shot. I just remembered this.

 

[jay2tall]

crap double post