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algorithm
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 705 |
Hard drive Failure
Aaargh. Yes, this is not C64 specific. well indirectly it may be...
I have had 500gb worth of personal data on my maxtor usb harddrive (including unreleased c64 conversion tools etc). I had accidently plugged in a higher voltage power connector and now the harddrive will not work at all.
A green flickering light is just displayed.
From research this unit just consists of a standard IDE harddrive connected to usb circuitry which means in theory that i should be able to connect it to my desktop and get the data back.
Now the main cause of worry... what if the drive is fried as well??
I dont want to spend too much of a fortune. Has anyone experienced something like this and what can be done about it. eg contact info etc.
I have heard ontrack is quite reliable, but costs an absolute fortune.
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SIDWAVE
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2238 |
If the drive is fried, it's VERY likely you can just replace the board on the hdd with an identical new one. |
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algorithm
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 705 |
Yes, I have considered replacing the board as well in the unfortunate chance that it still wont work via ide interface although would it not be cheaper to get it sent to repairs instead? Depends on how easy it is to dismantle the motherboard of the harddrive. if the board can be removed via screws and unclicking ribbon cable, then this would be trivial. I know for certain that the actual magnetic media should be ok |
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Devia
Registered: Oct 2004
Posts: 401 |
You connected the WRONG external power supply to your external USB harddrive, is that correctly understood?
Most likely you only damaged the power supply circuitry (not the power supply, but whatever the power supply connects to inside the HD box).
Remove the actual drive and mount it in your PC to see if it works.
If the drive is damaged, dont EVER buy whatever brand USB disk you have there again.. it's a bad design in that case.
Replacing the HD pcb board with an identical one, probably won't help you much. It will make the drive "functional" again, but likely the data will be unreadable.
What is the rated Voltage on the "right" power supply and what is the rated Voltage on the "wrong" one?
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algorithm
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 705 |
The harddrive is a maxtor 3200 usb harddrive with a 12v adaptor
The laptop has a 19v adaptor
From reviews, the chances of the harddrive being intact is quite high. but who knows. I really hope that the harddrive will be functional still.
Would the excess current scramble the magnetic media?? Hopefully i am one of those lucky ones who can just stick the ide drive to a desktop and get ALL the data........ |
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Slator
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 273 |
as said before, most likely just the USB->SATA/IDE converter in the chassis is fried. I had that stuff several times at work, the HDD inside wasn't damaged at all.
Just open that case, get the drive out, check whether it is SATA or IDE, get yourself an external adapter for that ide/sata to usb and hook it up to your laptop.
It depends on how "urgent" you need that data, if you send in the HDD to Maxtor you cannot be sure of the data on the drive and if they give you a new one so you better get rid of some money and buy that external housing, they are not that expensive and you can easily find out if your drive is still working.
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MagerValp
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1066 |
Yep, just connect the IDE drive inside directly to the motherboard, or buy a new external USB cabinet. The drive is probably fine.
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algorithm
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 705 |
Ok. i have took out the harddrive and connected it to my desktop
now the desktop will not turn on. It turns on only when removed. I attempted to change jumper settings and even removed a few items just incase it was too much power for the desktop to run the harddrives,cd rom etc
funnily enough when i now plug in the usb controller section via adaptor to the mains, i get a bright light
So what is the problem here? did the power surge somewhat damage the harddrive circuitry instead of the controller?
aaaargh |
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MagerValp
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1066 |
Wow, that sucks. Sounds like the HD controller board is toast. You have to transplant the board from a working HD to fix it :/ |
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algorithm
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 705 |
Yes. Looks like this is the only option available.
Its funny how the powersurge did not damage the controller at all. I have connected an IDE cd rom and the controller is supplying power to it no problem, yet when i connect the harddrive, absolutely nothing and the controller led does not turn on.
The controller would obviously have to be for exactly the same harddrive (but would the capacity matter?) eg 200gb, 320gb etc
The only problem here is that perhaps the type of harddrive inside may differ from the one i have.
It was a Maxtor 3200 320gb external usb drive which has a seagate barracuda drive inside, but i have heard that there may be different models of harddrive inside each unit.
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Zer0-X
Account closed
Registered: Aug 2008
Posts: 78 |
Those USB cases usually feed the 12V from the PSU directly to the drive. But the 12V is also routed through a regulator to get the 5V for the drive and whatever voltage the rest of the USB-board requires. Regulator can take more voltages than V12, just generating more heat in the conversion process, until blowing up if you give it too much voltage. That's why the board is still working and the drive not. |
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