Question about HDD Shock Resistance

[Xyloriuphon]

So, I have finally bought my PC parts yesterday! And im waiting for my friend to come over on monday to show him how to build the system, but, lately today, i was moving boxes and the HDD slipped off the top and landed on the ground sideways beside the wall, Im guessing about 10-15 inches, and well, I'm not sure if its "Borked" now, I tried connecting it to my usb 2.0 Drive mate (Which, sadly, isnt very reliable, It works 1/64th of the time) and i didnt get anything, so, the only way im gonna make sure its gonna work is Monday.

Anywho, Can a Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 Survive that much? It wasn't opperating, just a slight drop. Though, i have had my Dog jump onto the table, catapult a WD laptop drive, and took a hard landing, and it still works.

 

[getochkn]

It might be borked, hard to know until you test it. They're like bones, can take 100 hard, hard hits in the right spot and never break, take 1 soft hit in the wrong spot and it's broken.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

It might be borked, hard to know until you test it. They're like bones, can take 100 hard, hard hits in the right spot and never break, take 1 soft hit in the wrong spot and it's broken.

Well, It fell onto more or less on the corner of the Metal case, Not the cover, I shook the drive a few minutes ago and heard no rattle, So, I hope i am good...

EDIT: I do have a Sata/USB pluggin on my laptop, i could try that

EDIT: The pluggin doesn't allow a SATA cabble, IVE BEEN LIED TO 😀 Ah, Hopefully it works on Monday, I just want to make sure it works, What are some tests i can do when i boot the system up?

 

[getochkn]

don't shake it, it's not a snow globe. lol. If the head bounced off the platter, it could have scratched it. Providing power to the drive, you could heard if the head was jammed or not, as you would hear a small squeaky noise.

 

[TyrOd]

Don't waste your time testing it. This is obviously no coincidence that it stopped functioning after you dropped it.
Hard drives can endure a lot, but there's no coming back from this kind of instability once it happens.

ANYTHING and everything you do at this point besides take it to a professional data recovery lab can only make things worse.

Of course, if the data is disposable or you have a proper backup(you should), then the drive is as good as trash.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

don't shake it, it's not a snow globe. lol. If the head bounced off the platter, it could have scratched it. Providing power to the drive, you could heard if the head was jammed or not, as you would hear a small squeaky noise.

I didn't shake it hard, Like just a little nice shake 😀 The thing though is, The power mate thing i have doesnt work half the time, So, the only way to test it is if i connect to another computer, which, i don't have one that i can tear apart right now.

 

[getochkn]

Don't waste your time testing it. This is obviously no coincidence that it stopped functioning after you dropped it.
Hard drives can endure a lot, but there's no coming back from this kind of instability once it happens.

ANYTHING and everything you do at this point besides take it to a professional data recovery lab can only make things worse.

Of course, if the data is disposable or you have a proper backup(you should), then the drive is as good as trash.

did you read anything?

It's a new drive that hasn't been installed or put in a PC yet. There is no date to recover.

They only tested in a crappy USB encosure, so it may work fine, they didn't say they tested and it wiouldn';t come up, just wouldn't work in the enclosure.

Try reading a post next time before you comment.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

Don't waste your time testing it. This is obviously no coincidence that it stopped functioning after you dropped it.
Hard drives can endure a lot, but there's no coming back from this kind of instability once it happens.

ANYTHING and everything you do at this point besides take it to a professional data recovery lab can only make things worse.

Of course, if the data is disposable or you have a proper backup(you should), then the drive is as good as trash.

Hey, The HDD Is Brand new, Still in its Static Bag, ive had many HDD survive drops and they work still great! I do have a In Product Replacement Plan which I could go and get it replaced, But i want to make sure this one still works before i do that.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

Don't waste your time testing it. This is obviously no coincidence that it stopped functioning after you dropped it.
Hard drives can endure a lot, but there's no coming back from this kind of instability once it happens.

ANYTHING and everything you do at this point besides take it to a professional data recovery lab can only make things worse.

Of course, if the data is disposable or you have a proper backup(you should), then the drive is as good as trash.

did you read anything?

It's a new drive that hasn't been installed or put in a PC yet. There is no date to recover.

They only tested in a crappy USB encosure, so it may work fine, they didn't say they tested and it wiouldn';t come up, just wouldn't work in the enclosure.

Try reading a post next time before you comment.

Your close, it wasn't in an enclosure, its more LIke:

EDIT: I just hope it can survive that much of a fall, It was onto hard wood plastic stuff in my room, so, Its not as hard as concrete, but, I dont know...

 

[getochkn]

Don't waste your time testing it. This is obviously no coincidence that it stopped functioning after you dropped it.
Hard drives can endure a lot, but there's no coming back from this kind of instability once it happens.

ANYTHING and everything you do at this point besides take it to a professional data recovery lab can only make things worse.

Of course, if the data is disposable or you have a proper backup(you should), then the drive is as good as trash.

Hey, The HDD Is Brand new, Still in its Static Bag, ive had many HDD survive drops and they work still great! I do have a In Product Replacement Plan which I could go and get it replaced, But i want to make sure this one still works before i do that.

Like I said though, just because many have survived a drop, it doesn't mean every single one in existence will. Every hit does things you don't see, distance doesn't matter, it's how much the case and floor absorbed vs what was transfered to the guts of the HD.

Ever see people who drop their cell phone 10 times a day from arm height on the ground and the screen never breaks, and then drop it 10 inches and it cracks. Same concept. Too many variables to say this height is safe, etc.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

Well, I guess i may as well just connect the drive to a sata cable, turn on the system, and listen to the drive, basically, it should: Spin up, do a few click to calibrate or whatever, and then be good?

EDIT: So, I connected the drive to an old EMACHINES I got, Powered it up, Heard the disk spin, the head move, No noticeable squeaks other then the Drive, and yeah, I think were good 😀

EDIT2: So, I guess if i didn't hear anything bad at startup, I'm fine?

 

[TyrOd]

Well, I guess i may as well just connect the drive to a sata cable, turn on the system, and listen to the drive, basically, it should: Spin up, do a few click to calibrate or whatever, and then be good?

EDIT: So, I connected the drive to an old EMACHINES I got, Powered it up, Heard the disk spin, the head move, No noticeable squeaks other then the Drive, and yeah, I think were good 😀

EDIT2: So, I guess if i didn't hear anything bad at startup, I'm fine?

No you're not fine, and you're "best answer" is total nonsense. A drive cannot experience a drop from a foot and NOT experience degradation of the alignment of the heads whether they are parked or not. It can experience incremental damage and not cause an immediate failure(or data loss), but it will 100% of the time cause the drive to be less stable due to the increased turbulence to the heads.

If you've got Seagate's rescue and replace plan, then you should replace the drive.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

Actually, I just have Memory Express's 2 year IPR plan on the drive, So, i guess I'm screwed, I'm gonna have to take the chances of building with the drive, and keep a weekly backup of everything till the drive dies, Though, Even if it was to become unstable, It still has a chance of living quite long?

 

[getochkn]

Well, I guess i may as well just connect the drive to a sata cable, turn on the system, and listen to the drive, basically, it should: Spin up, do a few click to calibrate or whatever, and then be good?

EDIT: So, I connected the drive to an old EMACHINES I got, Powered it up, Heard the disk spin, the head move, No noticeable squeaks other then the Drive, and yeah, I think were good 😀

EDIT2: So, I guess if i didn't hear anything bad at startup, I'm fine?

No you're not fine, and you're "best answer" is total nonsense. A drive cannot experience a drop from a foot and NOT experience degradation of the alignment of the heads whether they are parked or not. It can experience incremental damage and not cause an immediate failure(or data loss), but it will 100% of the time cause the drive to be less stable due to the increased turbulence to the heads.

If you've got Seagate's rescue and replace plan, then you should replace the drive.

So every hard drive that has fallen ever in the history of computers has been damaged? Ok there.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

Well, I guess i may as well just connect the drive to a sata cable, turn on the system, and listen to the drive, basically, it should: Spin up, do a few click to calibrate or whatever, and then be good?

EDIT: So, I connected the drive to an old EMACHINES I got, Powered it up, Heard the disk spin, the head move, No noticeable squeaks other then the Drive, and yeah, I think were good 😀

EDIT2: So, I guess if i didn't hear anything bad at startup, I'm fine?

No you're not fine, and you're "best answer" is total nonsense. A drive cannot experience a drop from a foot and NOT experience degradation of the alignment of the heads whether they are parked or not. It can experience incremental damage and not cause an immediate failure(or data loss), but it will 100% of the time cause the drive to be less stable due to the increased turbulence to the heads.

If you've got Seagate's rescue and replace plan, then you should replace the drive.

So every hard drive that has fallen ever in the history of computers has been damaged? Ok there.

Exactly my point, In all my life, All the HDD's I've dropped, are still working, The only HDD i had that stopped was when i was backing stuff onto it, (it was an external HDD) and i was resting my foot on it, Baaaaad idea 😀 Oh well, I will let you guys know if the HDD is fine (I will build Monday, install the HDD and such, install windows 8.1 on it, and run a chkdsk. So, There shouldn't be any re-allocated sectors after installing anything correct?)

 

[fzabkar]

The impression I get from watching the professional storage forums (eg HDD Guru) is that HDDs can sustain damage to the spindle bearing, or the headstack can come off its unload ramp or move out of its landing zone and onto a smooth section of the platters, resulting in stiction. Some HDDs (eg Toshiba ?) have a SMART attribute called "Disk Shift" which reflects the "distance the disk has shifted relative to the spindle (usually due to shock or temperature)".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.#Known_ATA_S.M.A.R.T._attributes

Seagate's product manuals specify the maximum operating and non-operating skock that a drive will withstand.

Product Manual, Seagate Desktop HDD, Formerly Barracuda 7200.14:
http://www.seagate.com/www-content/product-content/barracuda-fam/desktop-hdd/barracuda-7200-14/en-us/docs/100686584j.pdf

"The non-operating shock level that the drive can experience without incurring physical damage or degradation in performance when subsequently put into operation is 300 Gs based on a non-repetitive half-sine shock pulse of 2 ms duration."

According to my calculations, that figure would be equivalent to a drop from 1.8 metres.

dv/dt = 300G

dv = 300 x 9.8 x 0.002 = 6 metres per sec per sec

v^2 = 2 x g x h

h = 36 / 2 / 9.8 = 1.8 metres

Of course the duration of the shock pulse largely determines the severity of the impact. A hard surface would have a short pulse whereas a soft surface (eg a carpet or cushion) would have a longer duration. Hence the latter would be able to withstand a fall from a greater height.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

The impression I get from watching the professional storage forums (eg HDD Guru) is that HDDs can sustain damage to the spindle bearing, or the headstack can come off its unload ramp or move out of its landing zone and onto a smooth section of the platters, resulting in stiction. Some HDDs (eg Toshiba ?) have a SMART attribute called "Disk Shift" which reflects the "distance the disk has shifted relative to the spindle (usually due to shock or temperature)".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.#Known_ATA_S.M.A.R.T._attributes

Seagate's product manuals specify the maximum operating and non-operating skock that a drive will withstand.

Product Manual, Seagate Desktop HDD, Formerly Barracuda 7200.14:
http://www.seagate.com/www-content/product-content/barracuda-fam/desktop-hdd/barracuda-7200-14/en-us/docs/100686584j.pdf

"The non-operating shock level that the drive can experience without incurring physical damage or degradation in performance when subsequently put into operation is 300 Gs based on a non-repetitive half-sine shock pulse of 2 ms duration."

According to my calculations, that figure would be equivalent to a drop from 1.8 metres.

dv/dt = 300G

dv = 300 x 9.8 x 0.002 = 6 metres per sec per sec

v^2 = 2 x g x h

h = 36 / 2 / 9.8 = 1.8 metres

Of course the duration of the shock pulse largely determines the severity of the impact. A hard surface would have a short pulse whereas a soft surface (eg a carpet or cushion) would have a longer duration. Hence the latter would be able to withstand a fall from a greater height.

Okay, so, according to your calculations, If i have dropped the HDD 1 foot, it would be 0.3048 Metres, so, It should be fine. I have the HDD installed into the system, and its running fine.

 

[fzabkar]

IMHO the shock specs are essentially useless because they cannot possibly reflect what happens in reality. ISTR that Seagate's specs stipulate that the drive under test is to be subjected to a side impact, and that it is to be restrained in a special jig. One would have to wonder how the drive would cope with falling on its cover, or its base, or a corner. My calculations were merely an attempt to translate the specs into a form that would be familiar to us, namely a drop from a height.

For example, if the drive hits the ground at a speed of 10 m/s, and if the impact lasts 1 millisecond, then the drive would decelerate from 10 m/s to 0 m/s at a rate of 10,000 metres per sec per sec. That is equivalent to 1000G.

If the impact lasts 10 ms, then the shock would be 100G. Hence it makes no sense to say that a drive can sustain a fall from a particular height unless we know the duration and nature of the impact.

 

[Xyloriuphon]

IMHO the shock specs are essentially useless because they cannot possibly reflect what happens in reality. ISTR that Seagate's specs stipulate that the drive under test is to be subjected to a side impact, and that it is to be restrained in a special jig. One would have to wonder how the drive would cope with falling on its cover, or its base, or a corner. My calculations were merely an attempt to translate the specs into a form that would be familiar to us, namely a drop from a height.

For example, if the drive hits the ground at a speed of 10 m/s, and if the impact lasts 1 millisecond, then the drive would decelerate from 10 m/s to 0 m/s at a rate of 10,000 metres per sec per sec. That is equivalent to 1000G.

If the impact lasts 10 ms, then the shock would be 100G. Hence it makes no sense to say that a drive can sustain a fall from a particular height unless we know the duration and nature of the impact.

Well, I might as well say, Good job 😀 Anywho, i did run a couple of SMART test's, and they all came out fine, and i did run through the SMART data and it all seemed normal, Soo, I guess it did survive 😀