Dead harddisks?

[Carceri]

Last night my computer suddenly turned off all by itself. I tried to start it again, but nothing happened. I disconnected everything except the ATX power connector and the system turned on, although I didn't even get into BIOS. I found out by trial and error that if I didn't connect the 8 pin power connector to the motherboard, the system would turn on, but not even get into BIOS. I changed the power supply and now the system would turn on and let me into the BIOS. So far so good... apparently the PSU had died (Seasonic S-12 500W)

I still couldn't boot the OS, but then I noticed that my harddisks didn't spin up (two WD5000KS in a RAID-0 array). I disconnected the harddrives, put them on my desk attached to a new PSU and turned the PSU on with my ear to the harddisks. Not a sound, they are not even trying to spin up. I took a spare harddisk and tried, just to check the SATA power connector on the new PSU, and it started up fine, so apparently the PSU is good.

Now I can't find any other explaination, than that the PSU died and took everything on the SATA power connectors with it. However, I have the feeling that I'm missing something. I mean... It's a Seasonic PSU and it killed two harddisks at the same time (and left all other components working), despite the problem being with the 8 pin connector to the motherboard. It just doesn't sound right to me.

I tried removing the print from one of the harddisks and checking it, but it doesn't look like anything is burned on it. At least nothing obvious by looking at it.

Any ideas, suggestions, ...?

 

[Zepper]

What brand and model are your HDDs?

.bh.

 

[Carceri]

Western Digital WD5000KS

 

[zig3695]

sounds like a voltage spike hit them hard enough to fry them out, but not enough to hurt the rest of the system. from my experience, harddrives are the most sensitive parts. do you run a battery backup with avr or anything with voltage regulation?

 

[Carceri]

They are definitely fried. One of them does not show any sign of damage, but I just tried removing the PCB on the second drive, and I immediately recognized the smell. A chip on the PCB (SMOOTH L6284) has was black on one side, and had scorched the PCB as well.

I assume that the second drive suffered the same fate, even though it was not violent enough to cause any visible damage - but they were connected to the same SATA power cable.

I didn't have anything with voltage regulation... I guess I will soon.

Since I need to get replacement drives anyway, would it be possible to just swap the circuit board from a new disk to the old one if I get the same model? I assume that all my data are still intact on the disks... I just need to find a way to get it.

 

[Zepper]

The PCB swap generally works best if the units are from the same lot, but it's definitely worth a try. And here's an idea. If you have homeowner's or renter's insurance, you might have a valid claim there. I certainly hope that it wasn't a seasonic that took other equipment along with it. Are you sure you didn't have a thunder storm in the last few days - lots of areas have been having them. If you have a decent brand surge protector, etc. It might be worth testing their loss protection - but usually the fine print makes those things worthless. Best to just unplug when storms are nearby.

.bh.

 

[Carceri]

There have been no thunderstorms here in the last few weeks. I had another computer running at the same time on the same wall outlet, and that just kept on running when the other computer suddenly turned off. However, it is a small ITX motherboard with an external 12V PSU, so that might have survived whatever happened better.

I'm not sure what actually happened and where the fault is... I just know that I have two dead harddisks, but luckily also a fairly recent backup. Maybe later I'll take the Seasonic apart and see if it can tell me anything about what happened.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Carceri

Since I need to get replacement drives anyway, would it be possible to just swap the circuit board from a new disk to the old one if I get the same model? I assume that all my data are still intact on the disks... I just need to find a way to get it.

RAID0 might be a fly in the ointment I don't know enough about it to tell you if the array can be recovered, but if nothing else it adds complexity to the operation.

 

[Zepper]

RAID-0 drives may need competent software (like R-Studio - www.r-tt.com ) to recover (assuming there may have been data damage as well) even if you can get them physically back to normal and you for sure the drives will have to be hooked in the same order to the same controller as before. Good luck.

.bh.

 

[Carceri]

Thanks for the replies. I will just see if the disks works with a new PCB, in which case the RAID array should work as well. I assume that either all data can be read or no data can be read, in which case I have to use the backup. The RAID controller does not care how the discs are connected btw. so that's one thing less to worry about.