Hard drive causes computer to not turn on

[Jay10826]

Hey, i'm new here and appreciate any input to this problem. My system had a 80GB and a 160GB hard drive and everything was fine, suddenly my computer shut itself down and would not turn on again (no fans spinning or anything), so i replaced the power supply. Still it wouldn't turn on, so i found out that it would not turn on unless i unplug the 160GB hard drive (which is only a few months old). I plugged the drive into a different pc and it also would not turn on when this drive is plugged into it.

Has anyone heard of this problem before? Maybe the old power supply killed the hard drive or something? Is there any way of fixing this hard drive? Thanks in advance.

 

[micker377]

Replace drive under warranty.

 

[Jay10826]

Yes, i may end up doing that, but if there's a cheap to fix it or get it fixed, i would like to do that to get my data back. Also, who knows if seagate will replace it if it was the fault of my power supply that damaged it.

 

[micker377]

If it can't spin up, you can't do anything with it. Are you going to write and tell Seagate "I think my bad power supply burnt up the hard drive"?

 

[garebo]

Quote by micker377
If it can't spin up, you can't do anything with it. Are you going to write and tell Seagate "I think my bad power supply burnt up the hard drive"?

lol

Jay10826
Seems to me you are a very honest person and i respect you for that. However, since the hard drive wont work in 2 different systems, its likely the hard drive is "shorted out" in some manner (probably a short on the ic board that is on and part of the hard drive itself). Therefore it appears that it may not have been the fault of the first power supply. Even if the power supply is now dead, it could have been caused by the hard drive. Yes, its even more conceivable that the original power supply could have burned out the hard drive, but you havent mentioned that the original power supply is burned out, you only said that you replaced it with another power supply, only to find the problem was still there. So i take it you have 2 working power supplies now?



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[Jay10826]

Thanks for your answers guys, but really i'm not THAT honest, i would lie to seagate to get the drive replaced lol. I actually wrote to seagate about this and i explained what happened, they said it sounded like a short circuit and it seems like they will replace it. As far as the 1st power supply, i tested it once after this happened and it didn't work, so most likely it is in fact bad.

I'm probably just gonna get it replaced through seagate. I was just wishing that there was some way to actually repair the drive so that i can get my data back. Are there places that actually repair hard drives? Or would it be too expensive to even consider? Thanks for any further help, i just don't have any experience with hard drives failing (which is why i didn't have all my data backed up).

 

[garebo]

We didnt have the info on wether or not the original power supply was indeed bad or not.
This is where i go into a rant about how we should all have a PSU connected to our pc. My reasoning is that there is some very bad power out there, along with surges and brownouts, and this is the cause of many of our probs. I had probs such as you have now until i started using PSU's, of which i now have 3. I dont turn on a computer if its not connected to a PSU.
Thats only for future reference.
As for your hard drive, if its clicking or you can feel that it is spinning up, you can do the freezer trick to try and get some of your data. If its dead, and by the sound of what you said, it doesnt spin up or click, then its likely that the prob is in the circuit board that is attached to this hard drive. In which case, far as i know, the only way to get data from that drive would be to get another circuit board for this dead hard drive, it must not only be the same make and model, i believe it must be the same revision, which info you can get from the board itself.
You would have to buy another working hard drive as mentioned above, and this is where forums come in, and swap the circuit board and see if you can get that hard drive running. Its been done and cheaper than paying some company to get your data for you. There are progs around that will get data for you but i dont think they can do that with a completely dead and broken drive.



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[Jay10826]

Well, my computer is and was connected to an uninterruptable power supply, if thats what you mean by PSU. But no unfortunately it doesn't spin up or click or anything that i can tell...the computer and all components refuse to exhibit any sign of powering up (except that the green light on the mobo stays on). Should i try the freezer trick anyway?

I may do your suggestion of trying to replace the circuit board. How difficult is this? And is there any danger of damaging it by opening it up like that? Thank you very much for all your help with this.

 

[paparazi]

Jay10826
I know previous answers have this well covered but I just wanted to add:
Everyone reading this thread who hasn't got a quality branded power supply in their PC's beware! this is exactly what happens.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen but branded units rarely damage components when they fail, where as cheaper generic units often take out one or more components, the hard drive is usually the first.
It is also very common that after such a failure the user fits a new PSU and then the damaged HDD instantly blows it.

Martin




We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[garebo]

Yes, I meant UPS, my keyboard has a mind of its own, lol.
Ok, it was me.
You dont "open up" the h drive, the circuit board, or, i think its called the controller board, is on the outside. Its usually green, same as most motherboards, only it small and fits on the h drive.
You need to get the exact same. As for taking off the old one and putting replacement on, its only a couple screws and then a very small cable that connects the board to the h drive.
But, you are not sure if your motherboard is dead, or all the other parts. Or do you have another computer where you can test your ram, etc. Or do you just have what you have, the one dead machine? Or can a buddy do some testing for you?
I wouldnt try to test the h drive as it is, as paparazzi pointed out, it could mess up a good computer. But if your motherboard and ram are ok then you could test your h drive on them.
I dont see the freezer trick working. However, i guess you could try. You put it in a baggie (or 2) and take out all the air you can from the baggie. This prevents moisture from forming inside the drive. Then you put it in the freezer overnight. Then, when you are ready to go, take it out of the freezer and put it in the system and fire it up.
You should also have another h drive set as slave so that if this works then you can transfer some data from the bad h drive to the good one. Better if you have another h drive and use that one as master and set the broken one to slave but i guess you can do it either way. I dont see it working if the controller card is bad. This only works if the drive isnt working but it clicks and spins up. I dont think your h drive is in that category, is it? Seems to me you said its just plain dead? Does your mobo work without your h drive installed? Can you get into your bios?



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[bcastner]

I am sympathetic to paparazi's comments above about the need for a quality power supply.

But in this instance it seems a red herring. The drive is bad. It is under warranty.

Replace it.

 

[Jay10826]

Actually i was using this as my slave drive for storage, and the computer works fine w/o it. Another computer i tried it in is the same situation, the computer works fine, until i connect this drive and it won't power on at all.

I think i'll buy a duplicate hdd and try to exchange the circuit board on the hdd. So its as simple as unscrewing the old board and unhooking the little cable, then connecting the cable to the replacement and screwing it in?

If this works and i get my data back, i will be very thankful

 

[garebo]

Yes, that simple, but you have to make sure its the exact same one, even the same revision, or at least the same markings on the controller board (circuit board). I have only done this once, got the exact same board, but i have heard in many fora that you need the exact same one.
I take it you are past warranty?
If it happens to be a drive with an 8mb cache, some of them have a longer warranty.


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[bcastner]

Jay10826,

You are a brave man. I wish you luck. If the data was that important I would use a third-party data recovery company.

Best regards,
Bill Castner

 

[garebo]

Just so you know, yes its pretty easy to replace the controller card (circuit board), long as you get the same one.
However, that may or may not resolve your problem. I would bet that the controller board is likely fried but it could also be that replacing the controller board alone wont do it, there may be other parts inside the hard drive that are fried as well.
I just think you should know that. If you really want your data back then it might be worth the effort. If i did put a new controller on the h drive then i would attach it to an old system that isnt worth much to start, just to make sure.
But its your call. Actually changing the controller card is as easy as i said it is. Wether thats all you need to do is another story, we cant tell you for sure.
I sure would like to know if you try it out and it works!



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[Jay10826]

Yes, it is under warranty, but i bet they would simply send me a new one and i could say goodbye to my data, but i will call them and find out more info about there warranty before i do anything. I checked salecircular.com and compusa has this drive on sale for only $59 after rebate, thats pretty damn good for a 160GB drive. It appears to be the same model too. I wonder if there's a way to see if its the same revision by looking at the box...when i get home from work, i'm gonna look more into that.

 

[garebo]

i know there are some net-stores that might do that for you, as i have heard of this on other forums.
But to get the exact one and on sale would be like a needle in a haystack, i would imagine. Still possible though, like on an oem drive as opposed to a retail boxed drive. Just a matter of someone looking to see if they have the matching controller.

However, this is what i would do. I am a member at anandtech.com, techimo forums, pca forums, you can google these. Log in and point out that you have this drive and you need the same one, but you need to get the numbers off the controller card that is on that hard drive and you have to ask for that particular one. Someone there will have a used hard drive with that revision of controller card. You make a deal, being new you would pay first usually, but i can help you with that, i am well known there. Just let me know where you log in and i will go there. I suggest anandtech forums first. This is where you will be able to pick up the controller for that drive and i dont see you getting it any other way, unless it was someone from here, but here you arent allowed to post email addys and such. But i can post my nickname at anandtech if you wanna go that route. You can even get info on how to do this as its done a lot. Again, though, its a simple job, the only hard part is getting the correct board with the same revision numbers.
Hope i havent done anything wrong here, only trying to help out. If so, please delete any offending part and my apologies.








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[garebo]

matter of fact, what are the numbers on the controller card of that dead drive? I have a couple 80 giggers around here.


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[paparazi]

Respect to you Bill and you may be right but I still think I'm reading this correctly

Although HDD's do just fail, by what Jay10826 says' it is much more likely the power supply was the original culprit.

Quote :
"As far as the 1st power supply, i tested it once after this happened and it didn't work, so most likely it is in fact bad"

Power supply bad
Hard drive bad
Both happened at the same time!
In 14 out of 15 cases (in my experience) the power supply was the initial faulty item and the cause of the HDD failure.

I wonder if Jay10826 would do me a favour and take a close look at the hard drives circuit board.
Typically, although not always, this type of PSU failure causes a massive power spike and burn damage to one of the controller chips (black pit mark in the centre of one of the chips) Just interested.
Martin





We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Jay10826]

Thanks a lot guys, when i get home from work in a few hours, i will look at the controller chips and see if i notice anything, and i'll get the numbers on the controller card.