Samsung 500gb drive not loading

[Woomera]

the drive is not loading after NOT safely ejected from computer. can a drive even get damaged from not safely removed first in the OS? i thought only the data may get corrupted.

anyway can this be fixed because warranty is no longer valid.

[jaclaz]

the drive is not loading after NOT safely ejected from computer. can a drive even get damaged from not safely removed first in the OS? i thought only the data may get corrupted.

anyway can this be fixed because warranty is no longer valid.

"not loading" says nothing.

If you removed it without "safely removing" it, it is possible that the drive is perfectly OK, BUT *something* remained as a "left-over" in the Registry that prevents from having it show properly in the "Safely Remove" window, which means it is not "loaded" or not "loaded properly". (in disk manager the disk CANNOT be seen)

Another issue that is likely to happen is that for any reason the data in the MBR (first sector or LBA sector of the drive) has been corrupted.

There are three main types of corruption:

1. MBR code was corrupted (disk will show normally, as well as all partitions in it but it is NOT bootable anymore)
   
2. partition table entry (ies) have been wiped (in disk manager the disk can be seen as "RAW")
   
3. Disk Signature and Magic number bytes have been wiped/changed (in disk manager the disk is seen as "not initialized")
   

We need more data, some better descriptions.

First thing to try is anyway connecting it to another working system (better if one to which that specific disk drive was never connected).

jaclaz

[Woomera]

sorry for the late reply, i have subscribed to the topic but somehow i never got any email, anyway.

returned the hard but the problem was nothing showed up after connecting to the machine.

no tray icon, no drive at my computer nor anything in device manager.

tried to other laptops running windows 7 and also my own macbook. also in macbook nothing showed up in Disk Utility.

[jaclaz]

I'll try again.

Since you "removed" it, although you completely fail to describe it, that drive must be in an external case, connected either through USB (more likely) or e-sata (less likely).

Exception made AFAIK for a few WD drives (that actually have a USB interface on the actual disk drive) most of these are either IDE/ATAPI/PATA or SATA hard disks connected to a USB converter, powered by an external or internal power adapter.

Thus what you call "drive" is actually made of THREE main parts:

1. actual disk drive
   
2. USB converter
   
3. Power adapter
   

ANY of the three may have gone foobar (and it could also be a mere coincidence that it happened at the time you removed the drive from a booted system without "safely removing").

So the troubleshooting path is:

• try the whole thing on another PC <-it doesn't work
  
• check if the drive actually spins up
  
• If not check the power supply.
  
• If power supply is OK, open the disk case and try the disk in another case, or hooking it directly to a PC (through PATA or SATA) or using an el-cheapo USB converter, example:
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002
  really el-cheapo:
  http://cgi.ebay.it/CAVO-ADATTATORE-USB-2-0-IDE-SATA-2-5-3-5-/160475671112?pt=Cavi_Prolunghe_Convertitori&hash=item255d186a48
  

jaclaz

[Woomera]

thank you jaclaz,

it was a 2.5" external drive which had no external power supply, just a usb input.

i dunno how you can check the spin but i guess unhooking the case and try a direct connect would be the way to go for it.

[jaclaz]

it was a 2.5" external drive which had to external power supply, just a usb input.

i dunno how you can check the spin but i guess unhooking the case and try a direct connect would be the way to go for it.

Read here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128092&st=1213

(2.5" being smaller, the effect is less evident, but you can feel it allright if you move it slowly)

Also, take into account that generally speaking, 2.5" external USB drives draw, if PERFECTLY working ALL the power available on a USB port (and some more ).

Some cases have a Y USB cable for this reason, like:

It is not actually impossible that for *any* reason the drive draws a little bit more current than expected (and thus it fails with a "normal" single connection).

jaclaz

Edited September 7, 2010 by jaclaz

[Woomera]

thanks alot for the info's Jaclaz, since i returned the hard ill tell my friend to give this a try.

after this incident i bought a Silicon Power 2.5" drive for my self and i didnt know what the second usb was for since accessing the drive on 2 pc simultaneously can damage the files even if its possible.

thank you

[jaclaz]

thanks alot for the info's Jaclaz, since i returned the hard ill tell my friend to give this a try.

after this incident i bought a Silicon Power 2.5" drive for my self and i didnt know what the second usb was for since accessing the drive on 2 pc simultaneously can damage the files even if its possible.

thank you

I beg your pardon?

The Y-Cable has one USB "A type" connector to which BOTH the power (+/- 5V) AND the USB serial wires are connected and another one that ONLY has the power (+/- 5v) wires connected.

So you will never actually "connect" the USB drive to two PC's at the same time.

The only "risk" is that you will be grounding together the two PC's.

This is normally NOT a problem (example two desktops) but it may cause in certain VERY RARE cases (two laptops or one laptop and one desktop) a "ground loop" (since desktops are normally grounded and laptops are not).

The theoretical max output of a USB port is 500 mA (usually a port provides slightly more than that)

To give you some actual data, some (but not all) 2.5" disks do sport on their label the actual current needed.

This is usually slightly in excess of what is actually needed.

1. Seagate Momentus 5400.4 120 Gb -> 0.508 A (i.e. 508 mA)
   
2. Hitachi Travelstar HTS541080... 80 Gb -> 1.0 A (i.e. 1,000 mA)
   
3. Hitachi HTS541616... 160 Gb -> 700 mA
   
4. Samsung MP0402H 40 Gb ->0.7 A (i.e. 700 mA)
   
5. Fujutsu MHV2080AT 80 Gb ->0.55 A (i.e. 550 mA)
   

Of the above, #1 will most probably work with a "normal" USB cable, #5 may, #2, #3 and #4 will NEED the Y cable. (or an external powered hub, some do give much more than 500mA)

jaclaz

Edited September 12, 2010 by jaclaz

[BlouBul]

i didnt know what the second usb was for since accessing the drive on 2 pc simultaneously can damage the files even if its possible.

You do, off course, realise now that they are normally connected to two USB ports on the SAME computer?