Hard Drive wont spin up

[george41407@noemail.com]

I have a Quantum fireball 15gig harddrive. It has been working fine
as my master. I have another identical drive for my slave. Earlier I
started my computer and it would not boot. I unplugged both drives,
changed the cable, all the usual stuff. Booted from a floppy and
Fdisk dont even see the drive. Thats when I noticed that if I plug
and unplug the power connector while the computer is on, I do not hear
it spin up. However, the slave drive has a noticable spin up sound.
Obviously the drive is trash. Fortunately I had a backup from a few
weeks ago and did not lose much. I am not booted from that backup.

Anyhow, I'd like to see if I can make that drive spin up one last time
so I can retrieve the few missing files. First off, if it wont spin,
does that mean the motor fried, or are there other things that can
cause this? If a bearing ceased, I hope to oil it so it runs long
enough to get my files. I have never tried to repair a HD before.
Can someone tell me the usual procedure to follow. Should I remove
the circuit board first or just open the case?

One other thing, if this drive is plugged in to the computer power,
even with the data cable unplugged, the LED on the drive's circuit
board keeps flashing 5 times in a row, then it stops and does another
5 flashes. Does this mean anything?

By the way, Quantum was purchased by Maxtor and Maxtor was purchased
by Seagate, so I dont think I'll get any factory support. It looks
like Seagate now owns all the competition.

Thanks

George

 

[Franc Zabkar]

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:30:18 -0500, george41407@noemail.com put finger
to keyboard and composed:

>I have a Quantum fireball 15gig harddrive. It has been working fine
>as my master. I have another identical drive for my slave. Earlier I
>started my computer and it would not boot. I unplugged both drives,
>changed the cable, all the usual stuff. Booted from a floppy and
>Fdisk dont even see the drive. Thats when I noticed that if I plug
>and unplug the power connector while the computer is on, I do not hear
>it spin up. However, the slave drive has a noticable spin up sound.
>Obviously the drive is trash. Fortunately I had a backup from a few
>weeks ago and did not lose much. I am not booted from that backup.
>
>Anyhow, I'd like to see if I can make that drive spin up one last time
>so I can retrieve the few missing files. First off, if it wont spin,
>does that mean the motor fried, or are there other things that can
>cause this?

It could be a stiction problem, ie the heads could be stuck to the
platters. With the power off, whack the front of the drive with the
handle of a screwdriver. This may dislodge the heads.

Otherwise look for a physically damaged motor driver chip (TDA5247HT
???) on the circuit board.

> If a bearing ceased, I hope to oil it so it runs long
>enough to get my files. I have never tried to repair a HD before.
>Can someone tell me the usual procedure to follow. Should I remove
>the circuit board first or just open the case?

It's not a good idea to open up the case. Even the slightest
contamination could cause a head crash.

>One other thing, if this drive is plugged in to the computer power,
>even with the data cable unplugged, the LED on the drive's circuit
>board keeps flashing 5 times in a row, then it stops and does another
>5 flashes. Does this mean anything?

It could be an error code, but only the technical manual will tell you
what it means. I'm betting that the drive's controller is probably OK,
and that the problem is in the motor area. Look for a burn mark on one
of the chips.

>By the way, Quantum was purchased by Maxtor and Maxtor was purchased
>by Seagate, so I dont think I'll get any factory support. It looks
>like Seagate now owns all the competition.
>
>Thanks
>
>George

http://www.eio.com/public/harddrv/0271.html
http://www.eio.com/public/harddrv/1357.html
http://www.hddtech.co.uk/Standardfailures.htm

"Typically electrical faults on these drives [Quantum Fireball] will
result in one of the chips showing signs of burn damage."

- Franc Zabkar
--
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