[petrol]

So I just got a new G4, and I tried moving the hard drive from my old G3 into it. After having some poblems getting it to mount, I realized that the hard drive wasn't even spinning up anymore. I put it back in my G3, but it still didn't work. Now I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do.

Does anyone have some tips for how to get a hard drive to start spinning again?

My new G4 is stunningly fast, but I would trade having bought it to get my 5 years of files back. I just called to get an estimate for recovery, and it was $575 - $1900. I'm a student, I just spent all my savings on a new system, I can't afford to pay thousands more to get my work back.

Thanks for any help.

Phil.

[denim]

Didya connect the power? Did you reconfigure the jumpers to go with the drive which came with the new system?

There are two connections to a drive: data (generally a ribbon cable plug) and power (a 4-hole plug). Gotta do them both!

If it's not that, your drive may have failed. Restore from backups directly to the new box.

[nana4]

There are several things you could try. From reasonable to extreme.

You could replace the drive controller circuit board with one from an exact same model drive.

You could try and spin the drive in your hand, to get the platters moving.

You could tap it gently.

You could put it in the freezer for a little while.

Denim: sounds like he has no backups.

[denim]

Originally posted by nana4:
Denim: sounds like he has no backups.

Betcha he will next time.

[Mastrap]

Denim: It's not nice to make fun of people who are close to tears - I know I would be.

After configuring the jumpers correctly for your G4 try and see if it spins up in there. If if doesn't, try in your G3 again, remember to put the jumpers back into their original position.

If it doesn't spin up in either Mac you know it's unlikely to be a power cable problem. Check all your jumpers again, have you knocked anything whe taking the drive out? Pulled a lead?

If all of this fails you probably need an expert. How about tech support at your school? If they're nice people they might be able to help.

With respect to nana I would not go the freezer route. Condensation is evil.

[denim]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
Denim: It's not nice to make fun of people who are close to tears - I know I would be.

I'm not. I'm just being factual. I hope he doesn't take it as mocking!

I mean, this happens all the time! I even put what I have in my .sig to remind people to do this, but it still happens all the time!

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

The first method tried should be replacing the drive's circuit board.

If the drive is totally non-responsive, it sounds to me like this is the best course to take anyway. It's a GOOD thing if the drive isn't responsive and making nasty sounding clacking noises. Sounds in this case that a board replacement would have a great chance of success. Whatever you do though, don�t knock the drive around trying anything else in the meantime!

Actually the freezer trick does work... but should only be used as an absolute last resort. (As Nana listed it, to the extreme end of the spectrum)

If **all** other attempts at revival fail, about half an hour in the freezer (inside of a Ziploc bag) will allow the platters to contract just enough for a possible 'last spin before total drive death'.

Leave the comp open, remove the drive from the freezer, plug it into the IDE chain as quickly as possible- don't waste time securing it, just lay it inside the comp, and fire the system up- don't even bother closing it. (Best setup: boot the comp from another drive and hook all this up via a Firewire bridgeboard). That the drive not warm up is crucial for this to work. Of course have a second drive already hooked up and properly working for file transfer.

Again, this is last ditch territory because after this, the drive will be permanently hosed. Typically with the freezer method (which I've used myself to recover data from otherwise hosed drives) you've got about a 10 minute window TOPS to recover your data so work fast. (Best to not waste time trying to boot from the hosed drive). Save the most important data first. After the drive begins to heat up, the platters will expand and the heads will park permanently and kill the drive for good.


Professional data recovery costs a lot but basically you�ll have someone who knows all the possible recovery tricks and exactly which order to try them in, and in a well equipped clean room.

[denim]

Originally posted by denim:
I mean, this happens all the time! I even put what I have in my .sig to remind people to do this, but it still happens all the time!

In fact, I've just created a web page to help with this. It's not done yet, but it's a start.