Iomega External Drive Issue

I have something going on with an Iomega MDHD320-T external hdd that has had me like this for hours. :cry

If I have the drive powered on, and not the computer, outside of the initial "spin up" sound, there is no clicking or anything that sounds amiss.

I've got an old alienware desktop, and once I try to power it up, if the Iomega is connected, it will sometimes not go past the first screen that I get before I have the ability to go into the bios. Sometimes it will logon to Windows (still using XP Pro)

If it is one of the rare instances that I can get into Windows with the Iomega running, the drive does not show in My Computer, Device Manager, or anything else that I can think of. While this is going on, the external is doing something weird...it spins and clicks over and over. It almost sounds as if it is trying to boot from the external. If I am watching in Device Manager, it refreshes over and over in time to what the external is doing. If I am watching My Computer, for a split second, right when I power the external down, the drive appears.

I went into the bios, and made sure that the boot sequence was first the CD player, then the internal drive. Everything else is disabled.

The external is not plugged in through a hub; it is directly into the back of the computer. The power source is directly into an outlet.

I have a Hiren's CD, and using it to boot, I was able one time to see the drive using TestDisk 6.11.3. When I told it to proceed, it didn't do anything.

I tried the external on a Dell xps laptop using Vista, and it kept the OS from loading on it as well.

Any suggestions on what I can try? Of course, the disk has stuff on it that will be a real pita if I can't recover.

I am not great with hardware stuff, and have exhausted the meager store of knowledge that I have.

 

I take it the alienware PC and the Dell xps boot normally when they aren't attached to the IOmega obviously...

Clicking sounds are very bad from a hard drive...

Is this the first time you've use the IOmega in a while?

Is there an operating system partition on the IOmega? If there is one, you could try booting to it and use Hiren's to see if you can move your data. I guess you would have thought of that.

If you can't get at your data, sounds like it might be worth a visit to the local tech to see if he can do anything you haven't tried. Maybe he can scavenge your data...

 

Yes, both the laptop and desktop boot normally when they are not connected to the Iomega. When it is not connected to them, it sounds nice and quiet. It also sounds quiet when I have it turned on, and am booted off the Hirens CD.

I've known there was an issue with the drive for a few months, but I forgot about it until today when I realized that all the work stuff I needed was on it. It had been powered off during that time.

I don't think there is an OS system partition on it, but this is where my knowledge base starts going down the slippery slope of being clueless. I honestly am not even sure what a partition is, outside of I know that computers have them. So I wouldn't have thought of trying to boot to it. I do know that when I was in the bios, and it was connected, it didn't show up, if that helps answer your question any.

Thanks for the input!

 

Apologies, I guess I missed the part about it not showing up in BIOS.

A partition is just an operating system installation. When you install an OS, first the drive is formatted (cleared) and then the OS is installed into a partition that is created on the drive specifically for the OS. That keeps things neat for the OS I guess...

Hope it's nothing stupid like your connector. I'm sure someone will come along with better advice than I. I just happened to be here and decided to give it a try...

If you get to the absolute end and a tech can't even help. Give the IOmega one good kick and see if it will show up one time...

:major

 

You didn't miss it; I probably didn't have it in there. It has been one of those days where the technical universe has just conspired against me in multiple forms. A long, frustrating day where I got not one thing done that I planned to, and culminating in me watching my Galaxy s3 lay on my desk and flash mysteriously at 3:15 a.m. I'm afraid to wonder what might go wrong it, so I am trying to pretend like it doesn't exist. ~lol~

I *totally* appreciate you giving it a try! I'm brain dead now. And if I would have had to guess at the meaning of a partition, it would have been a container for the OS. So I guess I wasn't that far off. Thanks for that too! It's encouraging, because I feel all kinds of stupid right now. A little sleep should take the edge off that, I hope.

And if all else fails, I WILL be doing the kick method. Or the freezer. Maybe both.

 

Sounds like some R & R are needed.

It would be nice if there were a way to only think of the things that can't go wrong with computers and electronics. I would but I can't think of a single thing that can't go wrong...

Good luck with the HD. Sometimes they can mysteriously come to life one more time after a long spell or repeated attempts to use them. Freezer method sounds promising, but I would think more along the lines of the oven maybe (definitely NOT the microwave :major)...

 

I'm going to keep trying. I don't know if it would be worth it to take it out of that case and put it in a computer, if I can figure out how to do that. My level of desperation will depend on whether someone else has copies of the most essential stuff.

I know...backups are our friend.

 

I just wanted to come back and update this, in the event that it could help someone in the future.

I took the Iomeg casing off the external drive, and found that it was an Hitachi. I have an old computer that I keep for when things go horribly awry, and I used it to slave the former external drive.

I then booted from Hirens, and ran HDD Renerator. It recognized the drive right away, and found 0 bad sectors. So I took the CD out, rebooted, and sent up a silent offering to the Gods of Technology.

BOOM! Drive was instantly recoginized, not a single clicking sound, and files are in process of copying from the old test computer, and once there, will be uploaded to my server for transfer to my main system.

I could be wrong, but I really don't think there is anything wrong with this drive. I wouldn't trust it for anything important, but I may get a new housing, and use it to store things that are not a big deal if I lose or not.

I think it was something in the external casing. I don't know if it was the power supply, a connection, or what. But the moral of the story is, don't assume that an external is automatically dead. Take it out, play with it, and see what happens.

 

Thanks for the update...

Sometimes with PC electronics (other electronics, too), I've had that experience where you get a bad boot perhaps with a power surge. Then after the device becomes unusable even though all it needs is to be reset somehow.

Hope it keeps working for you



:major