Hard Drive will not Initialise and Clicks

[leachim]

I have a Samsung HD501LJ 500Gb Hard drive that will not be read

 

Here is the clicking video

 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bt2b54565fx7y4h99aziz/2024-05-19-14.24.35.mp4?rlkey=cdg2d5687azhi3ub5wqawi1hv&dl=0

 

The computer will beep as you can hear in the video but is not recognised and it will not initialise

 

I have an exact same working model and have swapped the outside circuit board and also the inside arm and magnet to no avail...

 

Any suggestions ?!

 

Cheers

Edited May 19, 2024 by leachim

[LeMarchand]

Find your backup?

[3s-gtech]

It’s dead. Expensive professional data recovery or you’ll need to rely on backups/doing without that data.

[Roberto]

This hard drive is no more! It has ceased to be! it’s expired and gone to meet 'its maker!

 

It’s an ex-hard drive…

[leachim]

This hard drive is no more! It has ceased to be! it’s expired and gone to meet 'its maker!

 

It’s an ex-hard drive…

 

 

Ha!

 

So I am guessing the problem lies with the Platters, as I have replaced everything else.... ?

 

But it still clicks

[6Foot2]

Ha!

 

So I am guessing the problem lies with the Platters, as I have replaced everything else.... ?

 

But it still clicks

 

As you have replaced everything else, the likely cause would indeed seem to be a problem or problems with the disks. Bad sectors, maybe, with the clicking noises coming from repeated attempts to read the affected area(s)

 

All indications are not positive.

[ticktock]

This hard drive is no more! It has ceased to be! it’s expired and gone to meet 'its maker!

 

It’s an ex-hard drive…

 

I think you have to be of a certain age to laugh at this one.

Edited May 19, 2024 by ticktock

[dmj]

The drive's dead for sure. If you put it in a freezer overnight, you might have enough time to be able to get a partial image from it if you are lucky. I've seen that work and not.

[Roberto]

Yeah, the clicking is indicative of a mechanical hardware fault. I’m guessing that if you had backups you would not need to ask.

 

DMJ’s suggestion is a good one but if it’s a lot of data and you really need it then I’d be contacting a data recovery company

[Davit2005]

Clicking drive and no initialization defo sounds like the drive is near dead. You might be lucky and clone it to a new drive but not guaranteed I've managed that once when a field engineer and as a last resort.

[Dos_Box]

No one memed this thread yet?!

 

 

I've had more than a few drives over the years suddenly not want to play anymore. Currently workign on a freinds dads all-in-one PC that is refusing to play. Lots of bad sectors and now planning this as a life saving operation before it too finally dies and takes all his stuff with it.

[6Foot2]

Remember when the clicking of a hard disk while it worked was reassuring, even expected?...

 

 

[PotNoodleTech]

It's likely the drive is totally dodo - as others have said a recovery company will be your only option now if you do really need that data.

 

Talking about hard disks clicking anyone used to run the old WD Raptor 15k drives? Used to take them an hour to spin up to a seemingly never ending concorde engine RPM and the head movement sounded like a tin box full of marbles being thrown down a flight of steps.

 

Aah them were the days.

[Pottsey]

This works rarely but might be worth a go. Put the drive in a sealed zip bag and put it in the freezer overnight. Then with a lot of luck it will work for a brief period the following day allowing you enough time to pull any data off your require. If it works it might be hours or it might be 10min so make sure you have some sort of data storage ready to go. This will fail more often then it works. Double bag it as if any moisture gets in the drive you will increase the damage. I wouldn't do this if you plan to professionally get data recovered. Its a last resort. Edited May 20, 2024 by Pottsey