Toshiba drive causing laptop to hang at boot-up - maybe firmware?

[silvias]

Hi everyone,

I found this site after a lot of looking around for someone on the web who has attempted data recovery themselves. You guys seem to know a lot about Seagate drives, and although mine isn't a Seagate, I hope you can help me a bit.

My less-than-a-year-old Toshiba MK3265GSX drive is a brick. It came out of my laptop, which couldn't handle it (it was causing the computer to hang at POST screen). I took the drive down to a repair shop and it also caused their computers to hang. Looks like it might be hard to treat the problem for that reason.

Luckily most of my important data was backed up, and Toshiba will replace the drive for me if I take the laptop in for servicing...but I wanted to have a go at recovering the data myself first. I see it as a bit of a fun challenge.

The drive spins up momentarily when I boot but then it stops and the access light goes off. No particularly odd noises. Based on this I'm thinking it might be a firmware issue but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any recommendations for diagnostics to run, etc? Anything goes except opening up the drive and voiding the warranty.

Cheers, and thanks in advance for your help.

[godel.chen]

Hi everyone,

I found this site after a lot of looking around for someone on the web who has attempted data recovery themselves. You guys seem to know a lot about Seagate drives, and although mine isn't a Seagate, I hope you can help me a bit.

My less-than-a-year-old Toshiba MK3265GSX drive is a brick. It came out of my laptop, which couldn't handle it (it was causing the computer to hang at POST screen). I took the drive down to a repair shop and it also caused their computers to hang. Looks like it might be hard to treat the problem for that reason.

Luckily most of my important data was backed up, and Toshiba will replace the drive for me if I take the laptop in for servicing...but I wanted to have a go at recovering the data myself first. I see it as a bit of a fun challenge.

The drive spins up momentarily when I boot but then it stops and the access light goes off. No particularly odd noises. Based on this I'm thinking it might be a firmware issue but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any recommendations for diagnostics to run, etc? Anything goes except opening up the drive and voiding the warranty.

Cheers, and thanks in advance for your help.

I recommend the CrystalDiskInfo for diagnostic purpose.

Manufacturer-specific disk tools can be more closely deciding your hard disk problem, you can find them in Hiren's CD, too.

Good luck.

MOD EDIT: Please do NOT mention warez on here anymore. One and only warning. Please read our rules.

[jaclaz]

I recommend NOT using WAREZ.

@silvias

Generally speaking, connecting the HD to a PC through a USB adapter will NOT "lock" the PC.

Whether the hard disk will be detected or not is anouther thing.

In your case CrystalDiskInfo is as useful as a bycicle to a fish.

jaclaz

[silvias]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I got a USB enclosure for the drive, and Linux running off a liveCD - the drive isn't detected at all. I have yet to try it on a Windows computer, but will do that tomorrow. I'm happy to try Hiren's CD if the Toshiba utility on it will help, but I'm sceptical about it detecting the drive at all with my current setup. Do you think that plugging it into one of the extra SATA ports on a desktop, instead of into a USB port, would help? I don't have access to a desktop right now unfortunately, but I'd still like to hear your opinions. I might be able to use a friend's desktop sometime in the next few weeks.

By the way, the drive does spin up, or does some approximation of spinning - I'd record the sound if I could, but I don't have a suitable microphone.

[jaclaz]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I got a USB enclosure for the drive, and Linux running off a liveCD - the drive isn't detected at all. I have yet to try it on a Windows computer, but will do that tomorrow. I'm happy to try Hiren's CD if the Toshiba utility on it will help, but I'm sceptical about it detecting the drive at all with my current setup. Do you think that plugging it into one of the extra SATA ports on a desktop, instead of into a USB port, would help? I don't have access to a desktop right now unfortunately, but I'd still like to hear your opinions. I might be able to use a friend's desktop sometime in the next few weeks.

By the way, the drive does spin up, or does some approximation of spinning - I'd record the sound if I could, but I don't have a suitable microphone.

DO NOT use WAREZ.

If the disk has a "semi-stuck" spindle or anyway the motor using too much amperes, connecting it to a desktop SATA (actually to the desktop PSU) may help BUT, once it is connected to the SATA it may as well prevent the Desktop from booting.

I have seen often laptop disk drives not being able to spin-up in a USB case if a Y USB cable is not used. (2x500 mA instead of 500mA)

Also if a semi-stuck spindle is the case, sometimes putting the disk drive in a vertical position may lessen a little bit the initial force needed to spin-up, this has proved more useful than you might think.

If you have the disk drive in your hand it is usually easy to feel if it is spinning or not, thanks to the slight gyroscopic effect it creates, see here:

In this case it would be better to use the SATA connection as if it was an e-sata (there is no actual difference between SATA and e-SATA if not the connector) and connect it after the OS is booted.

Generally speaking a SATA connection is more "direct" than a USB-SATA one and this may provide some enhanced access to the device (as an example the possibility to read the SMART data, but since that S.M.A.R.T. data makes NO sense whatsoever/has no practical use - I personally call it D.U.M.B. instead ) but I don't think it will make a difference, if the device is not detected through the USB converter/adapter.

jaclaz

Edited October 23, 2011 by jaclaz