[plug] Help needed ...

[Peter]

On 18/07/10 12:43, David Dartnall wrote:
> /Thanks Richard but I can't access the disk.   fdisk and testdisk  
> don't find it either, Peter.
>
> It proved to be getting power when the other two disks were 
> disconnected and power switched on - it spun up, but with a slightly 
> gravelly sound which settled down after a few seconds but the closest 
> the system has come to recognising it was when I tried to mount it...
>
>     "sudo mount /dev/sdc -t ext3 /mnt"    and got the response   "no 
> medium found on /dev/sd3".
>
> So there it is - a dead duck disk which I bought on 22nd of April 2009!
>
> Is it worth taking it back to MCG Technology to see if they can do 
> anything?
> What can you at Linux It do Scott?
> Do you think your guy might be better able to get access to it, Peter?
>
> Regards
> Dave Dartnall/

Dave,

If the drive was working fine and showed no indication of failing....  
and then just failed from one moment to the next, ... is not 'seen' by 
Linux but does spin up ok, then I suspect it could be the PCB as 
previously noted.

You have a few options:

1. Return it to the place of purchase and trust that they know what 
there are doing.
2. Send it to a specialist Disk Recovery workshop: Expect to pay $1000+
3. Find another drive with the same Firmware version as yours and use 
that PCB to access your drive (may be an option with a drive that's only 
15 months old).
4. Contact Kevin at http://onepcbsolution.com/ and see if he can help.  
Kevin is in Canada (yes, we are part of a global community).  He seems 
to focus on Seagate and Maxtor drives but it's worth a try.

If you can send me a photo of the label on the drive, I can check to see 
if I have anything close (I have a couple of 500GB WD drives floating 
around, although I have more 1TB drives).

I used option 4 a few months ago: I sent Kevin a PCB for a broken 
Seagate drive (4 years old) and got it back about 2 weeks later.  
Attached it to the drive and away she went.  Perfect.  Kevin can extract 
the firmware from the chip on your pcb and then re-flash a similar 
(working) pcb with your firmware, thus making it compatible with your drive.

Personally, I would try options 3 or 4 before trying option 1 or 2.

In then end, I guess it all depends on how valuable you data is.

Cheers,
Peter

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