Hard drive crash problem.. TRAINZ files lost..need help !

[JimDep]

Different link this time with a PSU and the one connector for the Drive, this or one like it would do the job, I forgot about the 3.5" drives needing a PSU. PSUs are usually 12 volts DC, not needed if it comes with a PSU though.

The pictures on this one simplify how its set up.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Benfei-Driv...1956856&sr=8-3

Thanks Malc !

[JimDep]

Found this on Ebay, Jim. Just what you need. Take a look at all the pictures associated with this device. The second one shows how to use the IDE to SATA power cable, and the third shows how to hook the whole thing up.

The URL looks huge, but it works.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28414085188...Cclp%3A2047675

Bill

Thank you ! I just ordered it. That's the same place from where I ordered the last one that didn't fit. I obviously ordered the wrong one but they refunded me right away, even before sending it back.

I'll post again after I get it and we'll see how this all works out.

[JimDep]

The adapter arrived.......got it all hooked up and the old drive didn't fire up at all. I called that computer repair place back and told them that it wasn't working at all. They said to bring it and they'd test it. The guy disappears into their back room, comes back out a few minutes later and said it's " deader than a doorknob and even started smoking". He hands it back to me. No burnt smell that I can detect. I said it WAS working before I brought it to them and reminded them of the reasons I took the computer to begin with ( original post). He argued that " that hard drive never worked while it was here". I responded " then why did you offer to put it back in when I told you I wasn't satisfied ? " He got snooty again and said " that was your choice". Anyway, yeah I'm not happy.
More time wasted. Need to take a longer break. Thanks again for your responses.

[HiBaller]

Aw, man. That's a shame. At least you have a good way to attach spare drives if you need one. I have around twenty of them in my garage, both IDE and SATA. Most are small drives (250MG to 2.5GB). They make great repositories for saving old software you "might use again."

Bill

[clam1952]

Yes that's a great pity that the drive seems to have died, I suppose it could have been about to expire and the attempts to fix it took it over the edge.

Another hoarder here, I have 12 assorted Sata and IDE drives sitting in a drawer here with stuff stored on them, largest disk is 800MB smallest 20MB never know when they may come in handy.

Thoughts probably too late now though:

Linux can often detect and run drives that are seemingly dead according to the bios.
Sticking a drive in the fridge for a few hours in a plastic bag can sometimes bring it temporarily back to life in the case of a failure due to an overheating chip or as I did once stuck a heat sink on the offending chip with a G clamp! worked long enough to get the files off it.

[HiBaller]

I've used that freezer trick several times. Worked most of the times. When a drive finally dies, I take it apart and salvage the head magnets, all the discs, the drive motor, and the aluminum case itself. I have a small smelter where I can melt the case down and cast ingots and other things in aluminum. My wife uses the discs in her crafting work. Make great bird deterrents for your garden as well as they flash a lot in the sun.

Bill

[JimDep]

I wish I'd gotten files off of the old hard drive before I down loaded that Resolvo software ....(or whatever it's called ) to fix the START menu problem. When I took it into the repair shop, I told them I was most interested in getting the computer to boot up again without the password that the Resolvo was looking for. Next thing I know, they've put in a new hard drive, but said not to worry , in that my files would all been transferred to the new hard drive, except that I'd have to re-install the programs. Well, those files didn't transfer.

Thanks for the tip on putting the old drive in the fridge. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try.
It still seems weird to me that the repair guy said my drive was smoking like a chimney, yet I didn't smell anything.
You can probably guess that I don't trust anything these guys told me.

I do like the idea of taking old computer frames and using them as an old hard drive library with the adapters attached. At least I now know what USB adapter to use.

Once I'm over the shock of losing all that work on my on-going route and custom made content, I'll get my back up loaded from another external hard drive. The problem with that is that I haven't made a proper back up in months. Not a real smart thing to let go for that long.

I don't know how I feel about using old computer parts for landscaping a garden, but I'm more inclined at the moment to use them for rifle target practice.

[HiBaller]

I know how you feel, Jim. Hindsight is a real bear isn't it? Being an author, I back twice a day, once around 1000 and once again around 1800. Once every two weeks, I do a complete backup of the entire system to a spare 2TB drive partitioned into 1TB partitions.My main drive on the writing computer (as opposed to my gaming computer) is 1TB, so imaging is easy. My "drive farm" as I call it, is an old computer box fitted with nothing but the original PSU. More than enough 5- and 12-volt power for drives. This box now has six dongles in it and an 8-port USB dock in it. Just the wall power and 1 USB line come out of it, yet I can see all six drives easily.

The external USB line runs to the center of a two-way USB manual switch so I can go between a Windows Machine and a Linux machine. I can write with either OS and the backup coordinates between both of them. Kind of an odd setup, but it works just fine. I've been messing around with computers for far too long. Started in 1962 and haven't left the field since, even at 80.

Bill

[JCitron]

Hindsight an all that..., there's nothing much you can do about it now if the drive is really dead, but I need to ask. When you plug the drive in now, does it click, or is it not doing anything?

A clicking drive indicates the drive lost its 0 sector and can't be accessed. When that occurs, the drive is dead.

A non-spinning drive is usually a power issue. Just for kicks, check your cables again and try your disk again. Make sure you do have your power cable plugged into the drive fully. I've done that before and spent quite a bit of time going through panic, sweating in fear as I thought about the implications of data loss, then checked connections again and found I hadn't plugged in the power!

What does concern me is the janky tech. He said there was smoke coming out of the drive. I hope he didn't force the SATA power cable, the larger connector, on to the drive upside down then powered up the system. That will toast the drive because the pins are now backwards. Drives run on +12 and -12V!

Seriously, if I was close by, I'd come over and take a look. I think we all would do that, I'm sure.

[JimDep]

Thanks John, I appreciate that. When I plugged the drive in at home before taking it back to the computer place, it didn't make any clicking sound. Completely quiet as if it wasn't getting any power. I didn't rule out that the new adapter I'd just received might be faulty, so I took it with me to have both tested . He wasn't interested in testing the adapter, he took only the hard drive into their back room. Within ten minutes, he came back out and said " deader than a doorknob" and that a "bunch of smoke" came out of it ( like he'd never seen before, he added ). When he handed it back to me, I gave it a sniff and smelled nothing. It wasn't even warm. I said " I don't smell a thing" and he got mad again and "it's dead", and that was it. There was no point to continue talking to him, as I was boiling mad inside. I'm still not convinced that I'm getting the truth.
I've tried to put it all out my mind for a few days as I'm getting too depressed all over again.