Primary Master Fails - Help Needed 2

[sm9]

I have a problem with my PC that I hope someone can help me with. I booted up my PC at 8am one morning before going to work, and I left it connected to Kazaa downloading files all day (as I often do). When I came home from work at 6pm, there was a message displayed on my monitor about some sort of error (I've forgotten exactly what it said), and it was loading in safe mode - this was a DOS screen, and nothing else was happening.

I then reset my PC, and as it started loading. I got a message on screen saying "Primary Master Fails." I could click OK to continue, then it will tell me to insert a System Disk as there is a Boot error, or I can hit DEL to enter Setup.

Therefore, basically, it appears that my Hard Drive is broke. I checked all the connections, and everything is fine, so I assume this is hardware fault. (?)

I have now bought a brand new hard drive (a Maxtor 30GB), and have just installed Windows XP and all my software from scratch. So my PC is working now.

...But my problem is this, my old Hard Drive had about 10Gb of files that I would like to recover, but as it's broke, what can I do? I have heard that some places can fix broken hard drives and recover the files? I don't
really care about the hard drive itself, only the 10Gb of data that's on it!

My last backup was about 6 months ago so I am missing a lot of data - digital family photos (mainly), downloaded utilities, personal documents, the lot! I definitely won't be making this mistake again (of not backing up for so long), but what's done is done, and now I want to try and see if there is anything I can do to rescue these files.

I had put a post on a newsgroup about this a few weeks ago, and the two suggestions I was given to fix the Hard Drive were to to hit it (but not too hard), or to put it in the freezer for 10 hours, then try if it works. I have not tried any of these ideas yet, but they may be my last resort before I get expensive professional help.

I have tried connecting the broken drive as a Primary Slave drive, but I still get a message on startup, this time saying "Primary Slave Fails." But Windows will then boot up from my new Primary Master.

On the BIOS / DOS screen that appears on my computer on startup, the broken Primary Slave drive is listed amongst the other drives and components, so it is being detected. It's just not working for some reason.

Also, when Windows XP loads for the first time with the broken hard drive connected as a Slave drive (strangely, Windows takes a few minutes longer to boot up when the broken primary slave drive is connected), I get a window appear saying "New hardware detected." In Device Manager, the broken drive is listed, and it says "This device is working properly." I find this very unusual, and wonder whether I could fix it or try something to make my hard drive work again? It's all very confusing for me though.

The specification of my PC is as follows:
Windows XP Professional, Athlon 1Ghz processor, 256Mb SDRAM, 32MB nVidia Graphic Card, Sound Blaster 32 Sound Card, Quantum Fireball Hard Drive - 30GB IDE (broken hard drive).

I hope someone can help or advise me, it will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Stephen

 

[sm9]

I've tried Winternals Administrator's Pak, but with no success. I tried using Disk Commander in Win 32 mode (while Windows is running, with broken hard drive connected a primary slave), but not much happened.

As the program runs, here is what happens...

it says: "Does the volume containing your lost files have a drive letter assigned to it?" I can then choose the C: drive only, which is the new drive, or I can click the other option that says No, it does not have a drive letter. So I click this option and hit the Next button.

The next screen says Indicate the physical disk that contains the damaged or delete partition table, volume, or files. There is then a graphic of two horizontal maroon coloured bars. I click the top bar, which is the longest bar, and the following information is displayed: Selected disk 0: 29325 MB. If I click the bottom bar, the shorter one, the following information is displayed: [/I]19602 MB.[/I]

The second bar must be my broken hard drive, but it says it is only about 20GB in size, when it should be about 30GB!

I then click Next.

The next section is called Lost Volume Scan. It says [/I]If the partition table on your disk has been damaged, or the volume containing your files was deleted, then Disk Commander can scan your disk or locate the missing volume(s).[/I]

Would you like Disk Commander to scan your disk for deleted or corrupted partitions?

I can click:

No, assume the existing partition table accurately describes all volumes.

or Yes, scan the disk searching for lost volumes.


If I click Yes, I then go to a screen that says Scanning for lost volumes. After a few seconds, I get a dialog box appear saying: Sector unreadable. (Press Ignore to ignore all further errors). If I press OK, it will wait a few seconds, then tell me the same thing about Sector 1, then Sector 2, then Sector 3, etc. (How many sectors are there on a 30GB hard drive?)

So I then click Ignore, to save time and clicking, but the program then appears to freeze, and the scan of the broken drive remains at 0%. I've left this for a while (about 40 minutes), and the program has remained frozen. In Windows Task Manager, it says [Not Responding], so I end the program.


So I load up the Disk Commander again, only this time, when I get the opton to scan for deleted or corrupted partitions, I click "No, assume the existing partition table accurately describes all volumes." I then click Next.

The next main screen says "Recover Volume: Select a volume or the master boot record (MBR), and an operation to perform."

Under this is a horizontal column showing two segments of the hard drive - a *very* thin maroon section that represents the Master Boot Record, and the rest of it is a white colour, representing 19603MB of unused space.

Under this graphic is an information window. The first line says PARTITIONS. Undeneath this it says Master Boot Record, and under this, it says "19603MB unused space."

Whichever of the three items I click, the only Operations that are not greyed out are Rewrite MBR, and Restore Backup.

There is also a button that says Volume Details...

If I select Partitions, then click [/I]Volume Details...[/I], nothing happens. If I select Master Boot Record, then click Volume Details, a window opens saying:

Master Boot Record
First sector: 0
Last sector: 40146435
Length: 40146436
Boot sector located at 0

If I select 19603MB unused space, then click Volume Details..., a window pops up with the following information:

Volume Details:
First sector: 1
Last sector 40146435
Lenght: 40146435 sectors
Boot sector located at 1


Now the only option for me to do to this list of three items is Rewrite MBR. So I have tried this for each items and clicked Next.

A window then appears saying:

Disk Commander will rewrite the code in the MBR.
Rewriting the Master Boot Record (MBR) replaces the code on your hard disk that is used to initiate the boot process for your computer. The MBR is responsible for selecting which partition to boot from.

Replacing the MBR code could cause your system to stop booting correctly. Rewrite it only if necessary.

This operation will rewrite the code portion of your MBR. It will not modify your partitions or partition table in any way.

I then click Next, but this is only followed by a windows that pops up saying Error reading partition table.


I think I have exhausted this utility now, and I'm not sure what to do next. I don't want to give up just yet though.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for any help or advice,

Stephen

p.s. I will be away for the next few days, so if there are any replies, I won't be able to respond until Monday.

 

[sm9]

Hi there,

I noticed that nobody has replied after I tried to give as much detail as possible over the error messages I have been getting on my broken hard drive when trying diognistic software. Is this because nobody knows what the problem could be? Are there any more ideas from anyone?

Thanks for any help,

Stephen

 

[firewolfrl]

send out the Drive

 

[roamer1]

sm9,

Sorry, I thought I had posted on Saturday. Musta' backed out w/o submitting...

IMHO:
Considering the fact that the drive didn't pass inspection, and that DiskCommander is unable to read any information from the physical disk as well, I suspect that you are now SOL.

It is time to decide whether your data is worth spending money to recover. If so:

Contact Maxtor and explain your dilemma- see if the drive is covered by warranty, and see if they can recover your data as well.

Contact a professional data recovery service to obtain an estimate. Your location will likely influence your choice.

If your data is not worth the cost, or the drive is unwarrantable, run the extended tests in powermax to see if the drive is salvageable. Otherwise- Sorry dude, it's a doorstop.

 

[sm9]

Thanks for your replies firewolfrl and roamer1.

The data is sentimental - about 2GB worth of family photos is priceless. The other files would be nice to have back, but not worth paying for.

I will email maxtor and see what they have to say, then I will try a search on Google to find some data recovery firms so I can tell them my problem and try and get a quote.

Has anybody ever used a data recovery service that they can recommend? Preferably in the United Kingdom?

Thanks for all your help, it has been appreciated that you have all tried to assist me. If anyone thinks of anything else, please let me know.

Thanks again,

Stephen

 

[sm9]

Hello again,

I've sent emails to several data recovery firms, and I have been given various quotes. I have been recommended a place called Vogon (

http://www.vogon.co.uk).

I've been told that they aren't cheap, but their work is excellent. They charge £85 for stage 1 of their recovery - I send my broken hard drive to them, and they look at it. They then send me a detailed report of what is wrong with it, and a final quote for data recovery (this is stage 2). I dread to think what this final quote will be!

Before I send my hard drive to this place, I have been given one last bit of hope. On a newsgroup for my ISP, I told people about the problems with my broken hard drive. I got a response from a person called BennyA. I have copied and pasted his reply in Bold below:

Hi Stephen

Are you sure the HDD is broke, and not just virus trapped ?

After reading your message link, I have had four machines to repair all with
the same symptoms as yours, and all where virus trapped from a file download
from Kazaa, and all about the same time as you say yours went belly up.

Solution: Contacted the disk maker, tech' peeps, told them the problem, they either
sent or allowed a download of firmware identity for the drive. These
firmware updates are loaded just like doing a BIOS Flash or Update, so it
allows your machine to recognise the drive again.

As I was told by the tech' people for these HDD's, if this procedure doesn't
work, then the drive is a DohDoh and will need replaced.

Give it a try first, and you may get your drive back.

HTH

Benny


I have emailed Maxtor about this (2 days ago), and also filled in their online contact form (yesterday). But I have not heard from them yet.

Does anyone have any comments or advice about this 'virus trapped' scenario? Has this happened to anyone? Or are there any files or downloads on the Internet that can restore my drive again?

I look forward to hearing any further advice or guidance on this, just in case there is a small chance that my hard drive can be recovered before sending it to the professionals.

Thank you for any help, it is much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Stephen

 

[roamer1]

sm9,

Stranger things have happened, I guess- But I REALLY doubt this.

I know of no virus that causes the symptoms your machine exibits, But then again, I may be ignorant. Does BennyA have a NAME for the virus he is referring to? If one can obtain a name, I am sure there is documentation to aid in repair.

If you suspect a virus, run a virus scanner from a known CLEAN write protected boot disk from a known clean machine on the box.

AFAIK, the firmware flash will do no harm, so knock yourself out

 

[sm9]

Hi roamer1, thanks for your reply.

I'm sorry that my last hope doesn't look hopeful, but nevermind. :"-(

I have just posted back to Benny asking him if he knows the name of the Virus that he had, so I will let you know if I hear anything from him.

I have still not heard from Maxtor, so I will contact them (for the third time on this subject!) again now to see if they can send me some software to reset my hard drive.

Also, when I turned on my PC today (with my broken hard drive connected as the primary slave), my broken hard drive made 2 or 3 loud (not very loud, but loud compared to a normal hard drive noise) clicks on startup.

But when it went through the BIOS setup, the drive wasn't even detected. A week or two ago, the BIOS was detecting my broken hard drive if it was connected, and it would give me a message in the BIOS setup saying "Primary Slave Fails." Windows XP would then load up, but it would take about 15 minutes to load!

Now, even with the broken hard drive connected as a Primary Slave, there is no mention of the broken drive in the BIOS setup (it says NONE in the Primary Slave section), and Windows XP loads as normal, as though it is not even connected at all! And the broken drive is no longer viewable in Device Manager.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any help and advice, I feel that my hard drive is gona be fixed really soon, or I'm gona send it off to Vogon really soon. Either way, this thread can close and stop annoying you all! But thanks for all your patience, and I hope that if anyone has any further advice, then post.

Kind Regards,

Stephen

 

[ayce123]

Hey everyone-
I just found this forum and this thread because my situation is almost exactly like sm9's. Maxtor 30 GB HD died yesterday after doing perfectly fine. After a couple reboots from misc. computer problems, I got the Primary Master Drive Fails error. My drive, however, does a little differently in the PowerMax utility. The drive itself's tests pass. The things that don't pass are the Bios Extension Support tests one of the SMART tests. But the drive predates SMART. I ran the "factory recertification" test and it passed. The drive doesn't make any weird noises or anything. It seems normal. However, other computers also display the same error when I connect it to them. Unfortunately, I only have one HD and so all I can go to is a WinME boot disk I have. BIOS still recognizes the drive in autodetect. Any new suggestions? I'm currently getting these disk utilities to recover files.

Thanks,
Jack.

 

[MDGibson78]

This same problem just occured to me as well on the weekend and I left my Kazaa open while I was away for the weekend. Has anybody been able to confirm if this is indeed a virus that is being distributed through Kazaa??

 

[sm9]

Hi there,

I got a reply from Benny, and he wrote the following:

Hi again Stephen,

Can I ask one thing. Did you have to reboot your machine using Ctrl + Alt +
Delete, just before your machine went belly up ?

If so, you most likely have caught the virus which was spreading around
Kazaa near the end of last year, from August or so, and what it does is
freezes the machine to make you reboot, then it wipes Sector Zero from your
hard drive, thus supposedly, making it completely useless.

The only way to get the drive up and running again, is to obtain the
firmware from the drive maker, and flash the system to make it recognise the
drive again.

I am sorry, but I never found a name for this virus, but I know that it was
first announced as a Virtual Postcard e-mail or some such, sent through mail
systems, but was adapted to be sent with music and video files from places
like Kazaa.

If you try the drive makers web site, and see if a firmware software version
for your model is posted, or send a mail to them asking again if they can
help, telling them the situation, and that you may have a chance of
recovering the drive if they can give you the programming for it.

I think the virus is first announced here:

http://www.herring.epoet.co.uk/virusalert.htm

with the heading, date 05 April 2002, Worst Virus Ever, but as I said this
virus was adapted to be sent with other files.

I am sorry I can't help any further with this, but I wish you luck, and hope
you receive some help from the makers.

Benny

Anyway, I hope his post might have help a few of you.

I am going to send my hard drive to the data recovery people tomorrow. I will probably hear from them again by next week, and I will let you all know what they have said.

Kind Regards,

Stephen

 

[MDGibson78]

I thought that virus was a hoax?? I called the manufacturer of my drive (Maxtor/Quantum) and they said there was no available firmware that could be downloaded for the drive. Does anybody else have any ideas??

 

[patdmoose]

For what it is worth. I have a Maxtor 40g Model # 6L040J2. About a month ago it started hanging up WindowsXP and would start making a loud thumping noise. I opened up the CPU to make sure it was my HDD. It was. The first time it did it, I reseated all of the cables and power cable. It worked fine for about 1 week and then started doing it more often. I downloaded the Maxtor Powermax v3.04. The drive failed the BIOS Extension Support and the Partition info came back as a read fail. I also recieved error code UK0E02 (that is how I came upon this thread when I did a GOOGLE search). According to the tests that my drive failed, it should not be functioning. However, I am on the internet with it right now. I have been backing up every concievable file to CD, and will keep using this computer until my new Dell arrives. The drive is in warranty, and Maxtor has issued me a RMA # that is good for 90 days. I will send it in after my new system is set up and I am sure that there is nothing I need from it. FYI, Maxtor states in their SUPPORT FAQs that any drive with a 6 digit error code has no user servicable issues and should be replaced.
This info is mostly FYI.
Pat

 

[m4526]

Please read This Do not listen to the other
posting

turn off the Power
take the cover of the computer
look at the back of the hard drive
you will see a gray cable with a red strip
it gose to pin one.check the Jumper on the back of the
drive make sure that is set to master
Put cover back on.
start computer press del key
you are in Bios Go into standerd cmos
chang primary master to set to auto press esc
get out setup

 

[MDGibson78]

m4526,

Thanks for the advice but unfortunately the problem is a little more complicated than wrong CMOS settings. The drives are set to auto and are getting detected just fine. The problem is after the detection phase it says "Primary Master Hard Disk Failed". This isn't caused by faulty CMOS settings. Thanks.

Mike

 

[chrismogz]

have a look at this site

http://www.drivesavers.com/

chris

 

[Ferdinando]

Hello everyone,

I found this forum whe looking for solutions to solve
exatly (almost) the same problem denounced by Stephen (sm9) and Jack (ayce123): two days ago (6 Feb, 2003) my Maxtor
20GB drive (Mod 32049H2) would no longer be usable by
Window XP - or any other OS or program I tried so far:
- the driver is detected and "visible" in the BIOS
- windows device view says it works fine, but does not
assign a letter, nor allow to allocate partitions
on it
- I could not read the drive from MS-DOS and linux either;
both can detect the device, but any disk utility/command
fails returning an error (tipcally on sector 0) or else
hangs; I tried Maxtor's MaxBlast and PowerMax, fdisk
(both linux and dos), part, findsect...

I also got to the conclusion should be a MBR/partition table
problem but I found no way to read or write anything on the
drive.
I found interesting the suggestion to twist the drive; it
actually causes some reaction; it shakes gently back;
I though could be the head seeking (at least I hope it
was not "landing" but it did not change the situation.

Could be it a virus? given that the problem seems to
recour (three cases here...) a virus could be the cause
that corrupted (or kidnapped) the MBR; but could a virus "live" in the drive?

Any further idea? I do have valuable personal data in
one of the lost partitions, but I am not yet prepared
to get expensive professionals to solve it; and, if it
can be solved without using special hardware, I would
be curious to know

I look forward to read from you

Nando

 

[Blather]

I have almost the same problem.

I have a Maxtor 40 G 4D040H2 hard drive. The system froze, and after CTRL-ALT-DELETE would not log into Windows XP. It couldn't find the boot sector. I also had WIN2000 on the system and it DID see that after booting from CD. So I assumed it was a virus. I repaired the disk from the CD and purified the system.

After a bit, it couldn't find the win2000 partition either. Booting from CD and reparing the disk seemed to do the trick, but the drive crashed ever more often.

Today it finally died. After a couple more crashes I used Fixboot. That seemed to help, but then the PC crashed twice and would not start up again.

I now checked the BIOS, on AUTO CMOS did not recognise anything: Primary master, primary slave, sec master, sec slave were all empty! I flagged the Pri Master to "User", pressed F3 and it recognised the HDD again. But the cylinder/head/Sector settings are different from the factory settings, although the Drive size is correct. I cant change the settings manually either.

I ran powermax and it noted a problem with the Smart enable function: "smart enable command failure". (Error D22S01)After running the advanced scan, I got another message: "read verify command failure, uncorrectable ECC" (Error D22R03).

Virus? Chernobyl flashed the BIOS, so maybe we are the victim of a new, as yet undetected virus with a predeliction for MAxtor drives. I doubt it in my case; These crashes have been occuring with increasing frequency over a period of several months, a sign to me of hardware failure.

Will contact Maxtor. I'm lucky, my warranty runs out in two weeks.

 

[sm9]

Hi there,

I'm just posting an update on the problem that started this thread in the first place.

I sent the broken hard drive for data recovery to Vogon International a few weeks ago for them to diagnose the problem. I've had a few calls from them since then, and they tell me it doesn't look good. They think the problem is something called a Swipe Error (?). The man did explain it to me on the phone, but I didn't understand a lot of it (it got a bit technical for me!). But basically, he is not optimistic that they can recover any data from the hard drive at all. They are just waiting for a donor part to arrive from a supplier in the USA before they know for sure. Once this donor part arrives, he says they might be able to get a one-off read of the drive, but as I said, he is not optimistic.

Does anyone know what a 'Swipe Error' is? I might not have that term exactly correct, but it was definitely something to do with the word Swipe!

Thanks, and I'll let you all know of any developments.

Stephen

 

[firewolfrl]

if I remember correctly it is where the read/write arm swings out across the platters while in a charged state leaving data in its swing path all jumbled. it is usually related to a jarring or heavy vibration of the drive while the drive is in a write state. this usually has a secondary issue of gouging one or more of the platters and damaging the read/write arm and its components.

Laptops see this problem more often.