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Is my hdd dead beyond repair?

11K views 40 replies 5 participants last post by  cowpuncher 
#1 · (Edited)
Okay a few months ago..I was on facebook, left my laptop on my bed, came back and had a BSOD, so I just said hey whatever, i'll just reboot. Once I rebooted I got the pxe-e61:media test failure check cable error and haven't been able to boot windows since, I was sure the HDD was just dead....my laptops just been rotting away in my closet. So I got it out to fiddle with it a little bit...and put in my win7 disc. I'm at the win7 system recovery options and opened command prompt(this laptop didn't have win7 before, it had xp on it.)

I was messing around...then realized that drive D: allowed me to do a chkdsk...which means the HDD isn't dead...right? Anyway, the problem is, when I try to run the chkdsk /f after running chkdsk itself, I can't because I get " The type of the file system is UDF. Cannot lock current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected." BIOS detects the HDD too...

How can I fix it or is it really gone? The whole cmd prompt is below, thanks!


The type of file system is UDF.
The volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk might report errors when no corruption is present.
Space Bitmap Descriptor at block 0 is corrupt or unreadable.
Volume GRMCHPFRER_EN_DVD is UDF version 1.02.

CHKDSK is verifying ICBs...
ICB verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying ICB links ...
ICB link verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying link counts and parent entries ....
Link count and parent entry verification completed. CHKDSK is checking system files.
CHKDSK is checking the directory tree for cycles.
CHKDSK is identifying lost files.
lost file identification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying object size for ICBs with alternate data streams...
Creating new space bitmap descriptor at block 1307
Correcting file count to 776 in Logical Volume Integrity Descriptor...
Correcting partition free space for partition 0 to 227 in Logical Volume Integrity Descriptor
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /f (Fix) option to correct these.

2442648 KB total disk space
2441182 KB in 776 files.
858 in 201 directories.
154 KB in use by the system.
454 KB available on disk.
2048 bytes in each allocation unit.
1221324 total allocation units on disk.
227 allocation units available on disk.

This space isn't a recovery partition, it doesn't have a recovery partition. That is the size of the HDD itself.

I ran seatools for DOS and after attempting to run both long and short test, I get "The drive is not responding to commands, check cables and drive power connection. and an error reporting a sector repair failure. If I run the acoustic test, I can hear the harddrive spinning.

That was alot of typing, any ideas?
 
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#2 ·
I would try the Windows XP CD and not the Win 7 to repair the file system, However I assume the drive is a seagate ? what brand model is the drive and laptop ? If the drive is a Seagate and seatools fails then the drive has failed time to replace and re-load the OS
 
#3 ·
Seagate ST9250315AS and a lenovo g550....

I don't have a windows XP disc...just a win7 disc. I used to have a burned windows xp disc but not anymore- although i could boot from USB, should I try it that way?

And as you said if seatools isn't really helping then theres really no point in trying anything else?

I would just get a new hdd for $42 from newegg but unfortunately I'm barely getting by as it is...I can't afford a new one.
 
#4 ·
Borrow a cd from someone if bios supports boot from USB try that. It's a long shot from what info you have provided if drive is dead you need a new one then put it back into the closet and wait till you have the funds
 
#5 ·
What are the symptoms of a dead hdd? Not sending any signal whatsoever? I mean it obviously knows that theres an hd but the whole harddrive not responding to commands thing from seatools...yeah...thats what makes me think I'm gonna need a new one.
 
#7 ·
Well, dealing with first things first, UDF is a format used for OPTICAL DISKS; I suspect the information you've posted from CHKDSK is from the Win7 DVD, and NOT from the Seagate HDD.

Google tells me that the Win7 DVD is labeled as "GRMCHPXFRER_EN_DVD", which means you might have mis-READ it or mis-TYPED it; your label is missing the letter "X"...

You didn't indicate that you were instructing CHKDSK to read the C: drive; the command would be "CHKDSK C:" (no quotes). If you didn't SPECIFY the C: drive, then you ARE in fact seeing the results from the DVD, and NOT from the HDD.

Try the CHKDSK command as I've typed it; I don't know if there is a difference between the way CHKDSK handles WinXP and Win7 file systems, but do NOT use the /F or /R switches with the command. You do NOT want to attempt to FIX or REPAIR a file system that might NOT be "broken", so ONLY run CHKDSK to TEST the file system on the C drive.

When I see systems with a PXE error, I usually find that the CMOS settings have become corrupted. A new motherboard battery will probably make the laptop bootable again, though simply removing it and reinstalling it WITH NO POWER to the system, so REMOVE THE POWER CORD and THE LAPTOP BATTERY BEFORE you do this.

Follow these steps:

1. REMOVE POWER CORD

2. REMOVE SYSTEM BATTERY

3. PRESS POWER BUTTON to help drain capacitors on motherboard

4. REMOVE MOTHERBOARD BATTERY, and wait at LEAST 15 minutes

5. INSTALL MOTHERBOARD BATTERY

6. INSTALL AC POWER CORD and try to boot the system. The motherboard battery MIGHT have enough power left to reset the CMOS to the DEFAULT settings. If not, you'll have to find a replacement motherboard battery before you can make the laptop bootable again.

7. Go to a local drugstore and buy an IDENTICAL replacement motherboard battery; shouldn't cost you more than a few dollars.

8. Follow steps 1-5 when you replace the old motherboard battery with the new one.

Good luck with this; please be sure to let us know how this turns out.
 
#11 ·
You wrote in your first post: "BIOS detects the HDD too..."
What exactly do you see in the BIOS Setup Menu with regard to the hard drive? If it is detected in BIOS ... that is a good sign ... and there may be hope.
 
#13 ·
That is very good.

What happens when you boot with the Windows 7 DVD and at the command prompt, type:
cd C:
and then press <ENTER> ?

If that is successful in getting you to a C:\> prompt ...
What happens if you then type:
dir
and press <ENTER> ?
Do you see a listing of all the files and folders in C: drive (your Windows system drive)?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Indeed ... that is not good.

Anything you do with the hard drive now has the possibility of damaging it further and making the recovery of data &/or the operating system impossible (if it is not already). I therefore need to ask/establish:
  1. What are your recovery options for the operating system (presumably still XP) on this laptop? Do you have XP disks to re-install Windows XP (I believe you wrote earlier that you did not ... ) or is there a recovery partition on the troublesome hard drive that is intended to be used to restore the operating system to "out of the factory" state?
  2. Is there any data of value to you on the troublesome hard drive that you need/wish to recover?
 
#16 · (Edited)
There is no recovery partition...and i've installed XP via usb many times on different computers...so that's probably how I'd do so.

As for data...theres really nothing on here that I couldn't live without. If I were asked to trade either the data or a clean, working laptop, i'd take the laptop.

I was messing around with DISKPART in command prompt and basically it just keeps telling me that there is no volume and/or partition selected.
If I do LIST VOLUME the only thing that shows is the win7 disc.
If I try LIST PARTITION then I get there is no disk selected to list partitions. Select a disk and try again.
If I try LIST DISK, it's basically showing no disk.

Could it be possible thats it's just a huge unallocated space somehow?
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was messing around with DISKPART in command prompt and basically it just keeps telling me that there is no volume and/or partition selected.
If I do LIST VOLUME the only thing that shows is the win7 disc.
If I try LIST PARTITION then I get there is no disk selected to list partitions. Select a disk and try again.
If I try LIST DISK, it's basically showing no disk.

Could it be possible thats it's just a huge unallocated space somehow?
I just noticed that you edited your first post to add some more ...

There is often a problem using a Windows disk when the file system is corrupted and the hard drive has a problem. In situations like this it is then often necessary to resort to other tools/bootable CDs based on Linux to find out exactly what is going on or repair or recover data.

So, what you are seeing after booting with the Win7 disk is not unusual. It is not "just a huge unallocated space" ... otherwise Win7 would report it as such.

If it wipes all of the drives, would it still be possible to do that from a usb stick?
That's a good question ... and one for which I do not know the answer. I would have to investigate the possibility of running dban from a flashdrive ... if it was imperative. Is it imperative?

Note: It is just about time that I hit the sack for the night.

If it wipes all of the drives, would it still be possible to do that from a usb stick?

Disregard this, just found out how to do that.
Create a DBAN USB Flash Drive from Windows | USB Pen Drive Linux

No worries!
 
#17 ·
We have nothing to lose in that case by mucking about with that troublesome hard drive: It pretty much amounts to flogging a dead horse, but for the curious, it is something we do for fun.

There is a chance ... just a chance ... that by wiping the hard drive it might just re-vitalise the sectors that are apparently giving some trouble (assuming no mechanical problem). If that is successful .... again just a chance ... that you could either:
  1. Format the hard drive (Full format ... not Quick) and use it.
  2. Test again with SeaTools for DOS and come back with a passed (after repair) result > format and use it.
I don't want to raise you hopes to any great extent: There is a chance, and that's about all it is.

If you wish to go ahead and wipe the hard drive ...
Download dban (Darik's Boot and Nuke):

"Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction."

If you do not already have a suitable burning program for writing .ISO images to disc ...
  • Download and install ImgBurn.
    Ensure that you UN-check the box agreeing to install the Ask toolbar during the installation.
  • Place a new (blank) CD disc in the drive tray.
  • Choose Write image file to disc.
    • Under Source, click on the Browse button: Navigate to and select the .ISO file that you wish to burn.
    • Place a check-mark in the box beside Verify.
  • Click


    When the CD has been burned and verified as successful, it will be bootable.

Boot from the CD, and with ONLY the one hard drive connected to the system ...
  • Warning: This will completely wipe ALL drives connected to the system!
Type autonuke at the prompt and press the <ENTER> key.
Allow to complete.
  • Be patient: It may take some considerable time, depending on the size of the HDD.
    (autonuke will wipe the HDD three times, by default)
 
#21 ·
Ahhhhhhhhhhh .... not good!

DeadDead!!!

dban would have taken close to 24 hours .... perhaps.

/dev/sda was your hard drive

/dev/sdd is likely to have been your flashdrive.

Notes: The DBAN autonuke feature may also Nuke the Flash Drive (and as usual, any other drive it detects). To prevent DBAN's autonuke feature from wiping the thumb drive, pendrivelinux subscriber Lee Sonko suggests the following:

"Remove your thumb drive after dban has loaded, but before it has started wiping drives."
Source: Create a DBAN USB Flash Drive from Windows | USB Pen Drive Linux

The only thing I can suggest .... is to try autonuke AFTER removing the flashdrive. If you still get "ERROR /dev/sda (Process crash)" ... then you are in trouble.
 
#25 ·
Don't give up yet; I've used GParted (the Gnome PARtition EDitor), to wipe "dead" or "defective" drives and return them to functional condition. You can download Gparted from here:

GParted -- About

Screenshots:

GParted -- Screenshots

Burn a CD / DVD or create a bootable USB drive with it; then set the BIOS to boot from the appropriate device, and use GParted to examine your system. If you've ever used a program to partition an HDD, such as Partition Manager, you'll have no problem figuring out how to use GParted. Use it to examine the HDD; you could always use GParted to reformat the HDD in NTFS (or FAT32, if you prefer), then install XP on it.

The point I'm trying to make here is that you are NOT limited by Windows or Windows-based tools; your options expand greatly with Linux, and I don't want you to give up on making that HDD functional again simply because you can't accomplish some task with the limited Windows command-line programs you have on the DVD. I've used GParted to repartiton / reformat many devices, including flash drives. GParted works with multiple file systems, so as has been mentioned previously, you still have a chance to "rescue" that HDD from the scrap pile even if the MS tools at your disposal don't work.

Keep punching; let us know what you learn, and we'll help you figure out your best options. As AustrAlien has pointed out, you've still got Linux tools to help you.

Try using GParted when you get the chance; if nothing else, you'll have added another potent weapon to your arsenal of tools...
 
#26 ·
Don't give up yet; I've used GParted (the Gnome PARtition EDitor), to wipe "dead" or "defective" drives and return them to functional condition. You can download Gparted from here:

GParted -- About

Screenshots:

GParted -- Screenshots

Burn a CD / DVD or create a bootable USB drive with it; then set the BIOS to boot from the appropriate device, and use GParted to examine your system. If you've ever used a program to partition an HDD, such as Partition Manager, you'll have no problem figuring out how to use GParted. Use it to examine the HDD; you could always use GParted to reformat the HDD in NTFS (or FAT32, if you prefer), then install XP on it.

The point I'm trying to make here is that you are NOT limited by Windows or Windows-based tools; your options expand greatly with Linux, and I don't want you to give up on making that HDD functional again simply because you can't accomplish some task with the limited Windows command-line programs you have on the DVD. I've used GParted to repartiton / reformat many devices, including flash drives. GParted works with multiple file systems, so as has been mentioned previously, you still have a chance to "rescue" that HDD from the scrap pile even if the MS tools at your disposal don't work.

Keep punching; let us know what you learn, and we'll help you figure out your best options. As AustrAlien has pointed out, you've still got Linux tools to help you.

Try using GParted when you get the chance; if nothing else, you'll have added another potent weapon to your arsenal of tools...
As I was putting it back into the closet....lol.
108MB would take about 10 minutes on my slow sprint MiFi 2200...time to leave but i'll be sure to try this as soon as I get home in a few hours- thanks alot!
 
#28 ·
Look at the MENU bar (directly below the TITLE bar) and click on the word "Device"; the drop-down menu will open and you can select the DEVICE (the HDD probably listed as HDA, or HDA1, depending on how many partitions it has) you want GParted to check.

GParted might APPEAR to be complicated, but it really isn't; the MENU bar is the key to your happiness... Take your time with this and you'll soon be a GParted expert, helping others with similar problems...
 
#31 · (Edited)
What cable is there to replace? It's a laptop..the connector is basically built into it. I'll upload a picture of it without a case if you'd like

I gave the hdd a little shake...nothing seems to be loose inside it.

(Excuse the whole "connector" thing, i just really can't think of the name for it lol)
 
#32 ·
Well, we had a power outage in the neighborhood; just got this system up again, but I lost work in progress, which annoys the hell out of me! My UPS is on loan to a friend; guess it was the wrong time to help someone...

Haven't even taken the time to run CHKDSK yet; I'll wait until we know where we are with your rig.

Gave you BAD instructions last time; working from a POOR memory... I even forgot that you're trying to repair a LAPTOP...

OK, go to MENU bar > GParted > Devices, and select your laptop HDD, if it isn't grayed out. GParted will show you any partitions on the drive; let us know how many partitions, what file system is being used, and anything else you think we should be aware of to help solve this.

One last request; keep your fingers crossed that the power stays on...
 
#34 ·
OK, stupid question time; did you try the REFRESH option? MENU bar > GParted > Refresh Devices... I realize you probably DID try that, but I have to ask since you're not really familiar with GParted yet...

Can you take a minute to restore the CMOS settings to the default condition? I'm wondering if some of the settings aren't corrupted; you might not even be aware of that, but it will often cause unusual problems... so it is worth the effort to check it now...

Reset the CMOS, then reboot the system and see if it can still detect the HDD; it SHOULD find the HDD, but let's make sure we're not chasing our tails here before we decide the HDD is toast.

FWIW, it is entirely possible that the HDD controller committed suicide, or an important chip bit the bullet; in that case, you might still be able to use that laptop HDD as a SLAVE in an IDE configuraton with an adapter in a desktop system, but it might not be worth the effort. My old 350MB Quantum HDD went down swinging back in 1996/97, and I used it as a slave in a desktop for several years after that... but then again, I'm notoriously cheap...
 
#35 ·
Ahhh crap...thats a problem. It'd be really hard to get anywhere near the mobo battery...without screwing the laptop itself up(for me anyway). I've never restored the CMOS setting on a laptop before and from the looks of this....doesn't look like i'll be able to.
 
#37 · (Edited)
OK, the power went out here AGAIN; a neighbor called and told me there are trucks from the power company in the neighborhood, so it is probably going to be a while before the power problems are fixed.

Because I don't want to deal with any more system crashes, I'll answer this, then shut down until I know the trucks are gone. Sorry to abandon you this way, but I dislike having corrupted data; I checked the other rig with GParted and the third (of four) partitions on the other system is now UNREADABLE. I will have to do some data recovery tonight, which means I won't be able to watch MNF... NOT GOOD!

OK, the GOOD news is, the CMOS is finding the HDD when you reinstall it; the BAD news is, the drive controller MIGHT be toast, so you might as well fire up Seatools again to see if you can get the drive to respond properly. You never know; run a few SHORT tests and see where that leads you.

If the drive CONTINUES to fail the Seatools tests, you're probably going to have to bite the bullet and drop some coin on a new one. If you can't swing it right now, set that HDD aside and make another bootable Linux flash drive. I'd suggest trying Puppy Linux, which is an excellent distro and will run on just about anything. That way, you can STILL get some mileage out of the laptop until you can save enough for another HDD.

Let us know what you decide to do, but keep in mind that this is an OPPORTUNITY to experiment with various Linux distros, and best of all, you DON'T need an HDD to do that. Just about any 2GB flash drive will work, although a 4GB or larger would give you more options for storage. I use Linux almost exclusively because I don't like doing things "The Microsoft Way"; I use Windows ONLY so I won't forget how to fix the problems!

Good luck, and thanks for being patient with me. I'm typing as fast as I can because I'm TERRIFIED that the power will go off BEFORE I get the chance to send this... Keep punching...
 
#38 ·
Guess it's just done for good....But isn't it a little weird how BIOS and seatools detect the hdd but nothing else will? And since seatools says the hdd isn't responding to commands....it sounds like it WOULD be the controller. Guess I'll just have to wait for a new hdd.
 
#39 ·
You've raised a good question here and I'd like to answer it now. Hopefully, this information will help you understand some of the results you're seeing from the testing you've done as we attempted to make that Seagate HHD functional again.

You asked:

"...isn't it a little weird how BIOS and seatools detect the hdd but nothing else will?"

VERY good question; there is a very good reason WHY that is happening. EVERY piece of hardware in a PC has a ROM chip which identifies itself to the motherboard BIOS chip during bootup, AKA the POST process. Floppy drives, optical drives, hard drives, modems, monitors, NICs, soundcards,... you name it., it has a chip to identify itself during the POST process. Those ROM chips store important information about the particular device, much as a motherboard BIOS ROM chip does. For example, one device might identify itself as a Creative Labs soundcard, while another identifies itself as a Lite-On DVD drive; obviously, that and the other information provided helps the motherboard BIOS to determine which hardware device takes priority, in what order, during the POST process. The fact is, most of those ROM chips are actually BIOS chips, even if they aren't referred to as such in the documentation.

Think about that for a moment and you'll realize that the videocard MUST be considered a very high priority device; if it didn't have a high priority, you wouldn't be able to see anything on the monitor during bootup! When the motherboard polls the hardware to find out what devices are attached, and what resources they require to be activated, the information provided by the videocard tells the motherboard to activate the videocard, and that allows the user to observe the POST process. That is only one example of how the POST process works; another device with a high priority is the HDD, which is where the OS is stored. Obviously, once the bootstrap process is completed, the HDD is given priority over most other devices so the OS can be loaded.

This is logical; things have to happen in a certain order for a computer to boot. The ROM chips I mentioned also store other information, such as the date of manufacture or the serial number of the device. When you run a hardware diagnostic program, how can the program possibly "know" what devices are attached, or what the make and model of the motherboard is? That information comes from SOMEWHERE, and now you know where it is stored.

Knowing this, we can understand why the motherboard BIOS and the SeaTools program can identify the HDD; the HDD ROM chip is responding to the request to identify the hardware. Unfortunately, that seems to be ALL that your HDD is doing right now; it has another chip, commonly known as the Integrated Drive Controller, which might have failed. You can test this by installing the HDD into a desktop system as a slave to another IDE device (the controller in an IDE optical drive should be able to take control of your laptop HDD), but I don't know if you have the resources to do this.

One really good alternative way to test your HDD would be to make a bootable flash drive with Puppy Linux on it; LuPu (Lucid Puppy) in an excellent distro, though it is VERY small and will fit on a 256MB flash drive, even though a drive THAT small is probably a USB 1.1 device, instead of USB 2.0.

If you boot the system with Puppy, you should be able to mount the Seagate HDD and use a file manager such as Rox-filer (which is included in Puppy) to see if you can access the files. Other Linux distros use other file managers, known by various names, although they all work fundamentally the same way as Windows Explorer does. I'm sure you've used Explorer; knowing how to use Explorer means you already know how to use Rox-filer. If you can use Windows Explorer, you can use every file manager I've ever seen in any Linux distro.

This is up to you now; I can't force you to follow my advice. You might not be interested in learning how to use Linux, but I wouldn't want to have to fix Windows systems without it. Linux gives you options you simply don't have with Windows; best of all, you can run many distros from a CD / DVD / USB flash drive, so you don't have to install it. In fact, you can use Linux without having an HDD in the system at all!

You can learn more about some of the recent Puppy distros here:

A Review of the Amazing Puppy Linux 4.31, 5.10 and 5.25 Operating Systems

One thing to keep in mind: you do NOT have to become a Linux "guru" to use it; simply make a bootable flash drive and start exploring... you'll be AMAZED at how easy it is to test your system with Linux, but you'll NEVER know that until you take Linux for a test-drive.

Of course, Puppy isn't your ONLY choice, but it is SMALL and FAST, which is why I recommend it; it will run in only 256MB of RAM, so you DON'T need a NEW computer to use it. There are other distributions (distros / versions) of Puppy which will work on very old hardware, such as a Pentium 133 with 64MB of RAM, which would be a dinosaur from the W95 OSR 2 era...

Give this some thought; I realize you're a student and might not want to devote any more time to working on this Lenovo laptop, but if you follow my advice, you will KNOW without a doubt whether or not there is a chance you'll be able to use that HDD in the future. Right now, it is nothing more than an expensive paperweight; testing it with Linux will let you know if it is still somewhat functional, or just junk ready for some hacks and experimentation.

I wish you the best; I'm still hoping you'll get that HDD working under Linux and at least be able to recover some files from it and use the drive space for storage. If so, you're ahead of the game; if not, at least you'll know for CERTAIN that the drive is dead and that it is time to start saving your pennies for a new one.

Keep punching; please let us know what you learn.
 
#40 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well....I just started trying puppy linux a few hours ago....and for a few hours....i've been trying to get the WLAN drivers to work.
Hardinfo says I have a broadcom BCM3412 but lscip says I have a 4315.

When I first tried to start it, I somehow got the wireless to find my network...and after that, not sure what happened but I can't get it to work again.

So if you can, starting from a clean, fresh copy of puppy linux, how can I get this working(noob friendly, please)

Forgot to mention....linux can identify the hdd but shows no type of storage.
 
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