Clicking Hard Drive Not Recognized

[trueliez]

Hi guys,

Got a very weird problem with my Samsung 2TB internal hard drive.

I am trying to connect my 2TB hard drive via the onboard mobo SATA ports but it fails to recognize it (not visible in the BIOS and DiskManagement). Upon start however, the hard drive makes loud clicking sounds with some bleeps in between. Eventually, the clicking and bleep sound stop and the harddisk basically stops working.

The (very) weird part though, is when I un-plug and re-connect the powersuply, which is located behind the hard drive, (gets power from the PSU) while making those clicking and bleeping sounds, the hard drive just works fine and shows up in the windows explorer and DiskManagment.

But when I restart my computer however, it again, fails to recognize my 2TB hard drive and makes clicking and bleeping sounds again.

Another strange thing is that the hard drive is working flawlessly on a SATA to USB docking station, so I could fortunately back-up all the data that was on it.

Is there anyone who could help me out?

Cheers,

trueliez

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, trueliez!

This is very unfortunate. It's a good thing that you could backup the data though!
I'd suggest to try testing the drive with a diagnostics tool, you can check your HDD manufacturer's website for that.
This tool will let you know of the HDD's health and SMART status.
You should also try a different USB cable maybe.
However you should know that the clicking sound is never a good sign, because it means that the damage on the drive is physical, thus troubleshooting the issue might not help.
I'd suggest you to get in touch with your HDD manufacturer and check if your drive is still under warranty.
You should be able to RMA it and get a replacement for it.

Hope this helped! Keep me posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[galactigus]

Sound like it's dieing have you tried a different cable and port for both the mobo and the psu cable?

 

[trueliez]

Hey guys, thanks for your fast reply!

I think my nightmare has come to reallity and the HDD is indeed dying 🙁

I will try Samsung's HUTIL diagnostic as SuperSoph_WD mentioned, checking the HDD for health and SMART status.
Will keep you guys posted of course!

*EDIT*

Great, Samsung's diagnostic program UTIL doesn't work on my Windows 8.1 machine.
Anyone has an good alternative?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey guys, thanks for your fast reply!
I think my nightmare has come to reallity and the HDD is indeed dying 🙁
I will try Samsung's HUTIL diagnostic as SuperSoph_WD mentioned, checking the HDD for health and SMART status.
Will keep you guys posted of course!
*EDIT*

Great, Samsung's diagnostic program UTIL doesn't work on my Windows 8.1 machine.
Anyone has an good alternative?

Check this thread, trueliez!
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

 

[trueliez]

Thanks SuperSoph_WD!

Installed and used SeaTools from Seagate and I've runned a couple of tests:

- S.M.A.R.T. check = passed
- Short DST = passed
- Short generic = passed

Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now to run the long generic test but as you can see, everything seems healthy. I'm a little bit confused right now why it isnt working 🙁

*EDIT*

Tried to initiate advanced test (fully erase hdd) but it failed, is this a sign of a dead hdd maybe?

*EDIT*

Installed CrystalDiskInfo and HD Tune and both gave contradicting results regards the "Spin Up Time". According to CrystalDiskInfo, the spin-up time seems good but according to HD Tune, the spin-up time has failed an reccomends me to replace the harddrive because the threshold has reached.

I'm very confused right now

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Thanks SuperSoph_WD!
Installed and used SeaTools from Seagate and I've runned a couple of tests:

- S.M.A.R.T. check = passed
- Short DST = passed
- Short generic = passed

Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now to run the long generic test but as you can see, everything seems healthy. I'm a little bit confused right now why it isnt working 🙁

*EDIT*
Tried to initiate advanced test (fully erase hdd) but it failed, is this a sign of a dead hdd maybe?
*EDIT*
Installed CrystalDiskInfo and HD Tune and both gave contradicting results regards the "Spin Up Time". According to CrystalDiskInfo, the spin-up time seems good but according to HD Tune, the spin-up time has failed an reccomends me to replace the harddrive because the threshold has reached.

Unfortunately, yes. Either way the clicking sound indicates that the HDD has failed or it is going to fail. 🙁
The best thing to do here is contact your HDD manufacturer's tech support for further assistance.
You cannot fix a physical damage on the drive by yourself.
If the drive is still under warranty you should be eligable for RMA and get a replacement drive.

Good luck! Hope I was helpful!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[fzabkar]

@trueliez, some Samsung SpinPoint models have a known firmware bug that results in detection problems with certain SATA chipsets.

https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Known_issues#Samsung_Spinpoint_F3_and_Spinpoint_F3EG_are_not_detected_on_AMD_SB850

"The drive will clunk every 2 seconds for 10 seconds and then power off itself when attached on the AMD SB850 southbridge."

Samsung F3 and F3EG Firmware Patch/Update:
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/223631en

 

[trueliez]

@trueliez, some Samsung SpinPoint models have a known firmware bug that results in detection problems with certain SATA chipsets.

https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Known_issues#Samsung_Spinpoint_F3_and_Spinpoint_F3EG_are_not_detected_on_AMD_SB850

"The drive will clunk every 2 seconds for 10 seconds and then power off itself when attached on the AMD SB850 southbridge."

Samsung F3 and F3EG Firmware Patch/Update:
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/223631en

You, Sir, are absolutely brilliant! I was not aware that it could be the fault of a firmware issue. I've downloaded the patch and updated the firmware and it works like a charm! To be sure though, I have frequently turned on and off my computer to check my mobo would recognize the hard drive and with succes!

I also would like thank SuperSoph_WD for the effort and fast response