Hard drive causing startup freeze

Hi there,

Back in late 2008, I bought myself a 1TB WD Caviar Black Sata HD. Maybe a couple weeks to a month after I bought it, the system started getting connection failures from it. The computer would freeze up for a while, and I'd usually have to restart the machine. When I did that, the computer no longer saw the HD's partitions.

So I turned it off, opened up the tower, wiggled around the data and power cord, started up the machine, and then they showed up again. And then the same damn thing happened again days later. I tired replacing both the power and data cables, but the same things kept on happening.

I thought the whole issue was my fault; maybe I just couldn't get the cords to stay in correctly. So I didn't bother to take it back. Eventually, I got into a routine of of leaving the tower's walls off so I could reach into the computer from where I sat, and jerk around he data cord every time there was a freeze. That did the trick for close to a year and a half.

Then, finally, I got a message telling me the system was unable to save something to the registry, and the partitions once again vanished. I restarted the machine, and once again fiddled with the cord, but the partitions wouldn't come back this time around--the bios couldn't even see the drive.

I tried again later on. This time, the system saw it, but the startup was suffering a massive slowdown until it finally froze up on WindowsXP's startup screen. I thought it may have been moving very slowly, but I left it there for a full day. It didn't move.

As soon as I unhooked the hardrive, the system started up fine, so I know the HD is what's causing it. In fact, I tested it out on another computer and got the same results.

A couple times, I was able to get the system into Windows before the computer actually found the HD (probably some fluke that had to do with the platters not spinning until later). In which case, I told the system to import it. For some reason, it was unable to do so. And with that, I ran out of conventional ideas.

Obviously, the problem isn't the platters. It must be the logic board. In the midst of my dimwitted jiggery-pokery with the data cable while the computer was still turned on--for a year and half straight--I must have fried the damn thing or something.

So what I'm thinking is that I actually have to open it up and replace it--something I really don't want to take the risk doing.

So does anyone have any other ideas besides that? If not, does anyone know of a way to test to confirm the problem is the logic board? If so, what would be the best advice for replacing it after the test?

 

If retail store SATA HD's have any known failure, it's those dang'd sata data connectors. On top quality name brand PC's, those connectors have a little metal latch on them, that keeps the connector ON the drive.

A fix I've used is HOT Glue. I jam the cable connector ON TO the drive as hard as I can, after thoroughly cleaning the connector on the drive, and then HOT Glue it in place.

A good alternative, is a new cable, where the power and data lines go into one large connector. They stay in place very nicely.
I only have two of them, but I'd love to have some more.

On the other side, the drive could be bad. Look that drive up on Google.
There are some terrabyte drives that are on a recall list. (or something like that).

WD has a very good warranty exchange policy. If your drive is still in the WD warranty, they will replace it.....no questions asked. It can all be done via their web site. I've had to replace several of them in the last year or so.

Good Luck, and Happy New Year!

The Shadow :cool

 

I'm aware of the cheap connector problem now. In fact, I went out and found a connector with a latch to try it out, but it it still had the same problem. So I'm far beyond the point of actually fixing the connection issue.

I'm also aware of WD's good warranty policy. I've got until 2013 to get a replacement. But I have 80 gigs of data on this HDD I don't want to lose.

 

Western Digital controller boards are easy to replace if you can get one, but it must be an exact replacement.
The current variants seem to be remarkably short lived.

 

Is it really that easy? I've heard from some sources that the process i extremely risky so I'm a tad worried.

 

I have attached a phot of a WD caviar SATA drive.

There are 4 security headed screws to remove (shown dashed).
You can then lift the board bodily off - all contacts are made with spring loaded contacts - and replace. The springs are fixed so you won't loose them.

 

Ah. Okay then. I should be able to work with that.

Thank you for the help. Now all I have to do is find a new logic board.

 

I think I found a hard drive I could use for replacing logic boards. However, I'm not totally sure what needs to sync up between the two HDs before trying the switch.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

This is definitely the brand and model, but the back doesn't look the same:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image... 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

My model number says "WD1001FALS-00J7B0."

The one in the link ends with a different number after the dash. Is that too much of a difference?

Aside from the voltage, there are no other similarities, so I'm not sure if I'm just looking at this the wrong way or if I'm overthinking it.

 

They both seem to have the same board I showed in my pic.

 

The Firmware (controller software) on the board is usually the biggest problem.
The manufacturer may use the same board for different sizes of drives, but the firmware on the board will be different for each drive type or size.
They might even change the firmware in the middle of a run, to fix some little problem.
If the model number is NOT exactly the same, it probably won't work.

I have a drive here that passed all drive tests, even with Spinrite, but was causing me problems with Windows installed. Go figure!

I removed the controller card from the drive and washed it aggressively in Denatured Alcohol, using an old toothbrush to scrub with.
I'm ready to install an OS on it and see if it works any better now that it's nice and clean. I've been washing ram sticks and video ram for years with 99.99% success, so now I'll see if that does any good on a HD logic board. It sure couldn't hurt!

Cheers Mates!
The Shadow :cool

 

Okay, WD is officially a pack of jerk-stupid idiots.

I decide to call them up today to get them to verify the type of firmware that's on my drive's logic board so I can match it up with a replacement.

Their answer: NO ONE KNOWS!!!!

How can an accredited hardware company that spits out thousands of these products a day not know what kind of software is put inside these friggin' drives!?

"Bu-bu-but the software keeps changing all the time. There's no way for us to know."

Then call the factory in Malaysia and ask them! I mean--what the hell! Every other drive I've bought in the past has actually had the product's firmware stamped on the back for crying out loud. Why do they abstain from doing this?

It's like they want me to pay $600 for data recovery.

 

You won't cause any damage by trying the an incompatible board, it just won't work.
I've had this happen with WD drives, but I've also seen boards from different capacity drives work fine.

 

Alright. I just got the replacement a couple hours ago. The board looks identical. I'm gonna give it a shot.

 

Didn't work.

BUT! Even if the OS couldn't detect the drive, I still noticed that the new HD had the same lag problems at startup with the troublesome logic board. I believe this vindicates my suspicions about the problem lying with the board.

Slight progress. Joy.

 

Well at least you have a working new drive.