Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology.

emwar1 · 08-03-2009, 03:22 AM

I recently brought a 1tb WD hard drive which was working fine for weeks but has suddenly stopped working. Its not detected in my computer but is in device manager and the safely remove hardware appears when its plugged in.
I've been searching loads of forums for the answer and tried running testdisk to find the lost partition.
I've followed the instructions for testdisk to search for data it just comes up with "read error" and says no partition has been found.
It also appears as a 2.1tb hard drive when its only 1tb. I've looked at the geology that its detected and it has a rediculously huge number for the cylinders, and 1/1 for head/sector.
I would assume that if its wrong in finding the size of the hard drive then that might result in it not being able to read it to find the data, but I don't know how to find the correct number of CHS for my model to change it in the geology to then run the search again.
PLEASE HELP! I desperately need the data on my hard dive (plus it was expensive so I want to try and get it working again)

**raptor_pa** · 08-03-2009, 05:22 AM

It could be a firmware issue with the drive. The problem with firmware in drives, is after the drive fails, it is usually impossible to access the service area of the disk to change the firmware. The CHS settings are often not printed on drives anymore because they are logical, a drive may report 63 heads, and have only 4 physical heads. You could try partition find and mount to see if it can locate the partition and then copy the data out to another disk, but if test_disk can't identify the disk properly, then it is probably going to fail. As far as the disk itself, it shoulod still be under warranty from WD so they will replace the disk, the issue is going to be getting your data off. What is the model number and how is it reported in BIOS?

emwar1 · 08-04-2009, 01:28 PM

My BIOS doesnt seem to be detecting it. I've never been in BIOS before (I'm a bit of a newbie) but I can only see the laptop's hard drive and my cd-rom drive.
The model number is WD10000EB035-01.

emwar1 · 08-04-2009, 01:36 PM

I've just tried partition find and mount. Like testdisk it detects my hard drive but says its over 2tb, instead of 1tb, and it also says no partitions found. I guess this means it must be it a problem with the firmware, it just puzzles me that it worked for a few weeks and allowed me to transfer 100gb of files then suddenly stopped one day.

Txuma · 10-15-2009, 03:25 PM

I`ve the same problem ... have u solved it?

Please help ¡

Bye

**raptor_pa** · 10-15-2009, 05:51 PM

@Txuma
Please start a new thread for your issue and post a rundown of what you are seeing.

08-03-2009, 03:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
emwar1 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. I recently brought a 1tb WD hard drive which was working fine for weeks but has suddenly stopped working. Its not detected in my computer but is in device manager and the safely remove hardware appears when its plugged in. I've been searching loads of forums for the answer and tried running testdisk to find the lost partition. I've followed the instructions for testdisk to search for data it just comes up with "read error" and says no partition has been found. It also appears as a 2.1tb hard drive when its only 1tb. I've looked at the geology that its detected and it has a rediculously huge number for the cylinders, and 1/1 for head/sector. I would assume that if its wrong in finding the size of the hard drive then that might result in it not being able to read it to find the data, but I don't know how to find the correct number of CHS for my model to change it in the geology to then run the search again. PLEASE HELP! I desperately need the data on my hard dive (plus it was expensive so I want to try and get it working again)

08-03-2009, 05:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,753 OS: XP	Re: Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. It could be a firmware issue with the drive. The problem with firmware in drives, is after the drive fails, it is usually impossible to access the service area of the disk to change the firmware. The CHS settings are often not printed on drives anymore because they are logical, a drive may report 63 heads, and have only 4 physical heads. You could try partition find and mount to see if it can locate the partition and then copy the data out to another disk, but if test_disk can't identify the disk properly, then it is probably going to fail. As far as the disk itself, it shoulod still be under warranty from WD so they will replace the disk, the issue is going to be getting your data off. What is the model number and how is it reported in BIOS? __________________

08-04-2009, 01:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
emwar1 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. My BIOS doesnt seem to be detecting it. I've never been in BIOS before (I'm a bit of a newbie) but I can only see the laptop's hard drive and my cd-rom drive. The model number is WD10000EB035-01.

08-04-2009, 01:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
emwar1 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. I've just tried partition find and mount. Like testdisk it detects my hard drive but says its over 2tb, instead of 1tb, and it also says no partitions found. I guess this means it must be it a problem with the firmware, it just puzzles me that it worked for a few weeks and allowed me to transfer 100gb of files then suddenly stopped one day.

10-15-2009, 03:25 PM	#5 (permalink)
Txuma Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 6 OS: XP	Re: Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. I`ve the same problem ... have u solved it? Please help ¡ Bye

10-15-2009, 05:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,753 OS: XP	Re: Testdisk detecting wrong hard drive geology. @Txuma Please start a new thread for your issue and post a rundown of what you are seeing. __________________