Maxtor200GB HD Failed, very strange problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Max
  • Start date Start date
M

Max

I purchased this 200GB Maxtor harddrive in Nov. 2003. It ran fine, and I
had no problem with it using the ATA133 PCI card that came with it. But
just this past weekend, when I turn on my computer's power, the hard
drive started beeping! Yeah.. how weird is that?! XP won't recognize it,
and the ATA133 PCI card won't recognize it. Well, here's what I did so
far:

1. unplug the IDE cable, and just left the power plugged in, and powered
up my system, the drive started beeping pattern, and I made sure the
sound wasn't coming from the motherboard (I didn't bother hooking up a pc
speaker). The beeping didn't stop until XP booted up.

2. plugged the hard drive into a different power supply, and it did the
same thing.

3. Plugged the hard drive into a different box (my linux box) and it
play the same stupid tone.

If you know what is going on with this hard drive, or have some
suggestions, please let share it. It would be interesting to see what
the problem is. Many thanks in advance!!
 
Max said:
I purchased this 200GB Maxtor harddrive in Nov. 2003. It ran fine, and I
had no problem with it using the ATA133 PCI card that came with it. But
just this past weekend, when I turn on my computer's power, the hard
drive started beeping! Yeah.. how weird is that?! XP won't recognize it,
and the ATA133 PCI card won't recognize it. Well, here's what I did so
far:

1. unplug the IDE cable, and just left the power plugged in, and powered
up my system, the drive started beeping pattern, and I made sure the
sound wasn't coming from the motherboard (I didn't bother hooking up a pc
speaker). The beeping didn't stop until XP booted up.

2. plugged the hard drive into a different power supply, and it did the
same thing.

3. Plugged the hard drive into a different box (my linux box) and it
play the same stupid tone.

If you know what is going on with this hard drive, or have some
suggestions, please let share it. It would be interesting to see what
the problem is. Many thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...


I've tried this many times on failed drives...
and though it usually does not work...I had success once

I put the drive in my freezer for an hour then put it back in the machine
and got it to work long enough to recover the data
 
hard drives don't beep

Philo, nice tip, didn't help my notebook HD, though
Click to expand...

Yes they do... been there, done that
Some drives do, when there's a problem. I've examined one that did,
it didn't have a speaker, so I can only assume the bearings were
making a sound identical to a beep... it really did sound like an
electronic beeper, not a squealing noise or anything like that.
 
kony said:
Yes they do... been there, done that
Some drives do, when there's a problem. I've examined one that did,
it didn't have a speaker, so I can only assume the bearings were
making a sound identical to a beep... it really did sound like an
electronic beeper, not a squealing noise or anything like that.
Click to expand...

I have a drive that chirps on cold boot for a few moments. It was making me
crazy for quite some time. It's in a removable cage awaiting format and testing
and isn't being used. I plugged it in the other day and sure enough, it
chirped/beeped on cold boot power up. So they can and do beep.

-steve
 
Yes they do... been there, done that
Some drives do, when there's a problem. I've examined one that did,
it didn't have a speaker, so I can only assume the bearings were
making a sound identical to a beep... it really did sound like an
electronic beeper, not a squealing noise or anything like that.
Click to expand...

As a hobby I fly electric powered radio controlled model airplanes.
Many of the microprocessor based speed controls for these planes make
the motor chirp when they are connected to the battery. Then they emit
two chirps to signal that they are getting a proper signal from the
transmitter and are now armed (watch out for that propellor!) These are
intentional chirps generated by the microprocessor switching the motor
on and off rapidly. The sound is emitted by the coils of the motor.

My guess is that the beeps from the hard drive are also intentional and
signal some kind of fault, similar to the beeps from a motherboard that
fails during boot-up.

Jeff
 
Stephen B said:
I have a drive that chirps on cold boot for a few moments. It was making me
crazy for quite some time. It's in a removable cage awaiting format and testing
and isn't being used. I plugged it in the other day and sure enough, it
chirped/beeped on cold boot power up. So they can and do beep.

-steve
Click to expand...

Hey, you learn something new every day. I've had maxtors, they never beeped
but then again a 200gb is newer than mine
 
Jeff, Thank you for the insightful info. I did suspect the sound was
made by the motor because right before the beeping tone, the drive motor
made two subtle noise.

Ok, so now we all agree that the hard drive made the beeping tone, can
anyone offer any suggestions on why the sounds were made and any
possible solutions to recover the data?

I have read somewhere that simply replacing an identical PCB probably
will not fix anything, and may even damage the drive. So there goes the
idea of buying another 200GB drive (identical model). Differences such
as firmware or other stuff subtle differences will screw up the data on
the platters.

The idea of putting the hard drive in the freezer will most likely
damage the drive. My reasoning is this: when you take the very cold
hard drive out of the freezer, the normal room temperature vs. cold hard
drive temperature will form water residues (based on my past disection
of hard drives, it doesn't seem to be air tight). These water residues
will screw up the electronics and may possibly short something out.
Regardless, it probably won't be a pretty sight.

Ok, let's see if someone can offer some insights here :) Hey, Thank you
all for pitching in. I respect everyone's opinion..
 
Back
Top