On 9/30/20 9:11 AM, H wrote: > On 09/30/2020 12:03 PM, Simon Matter wrote: >>> Since you have taken the disk apart it will now be useless as within the >>> enclosure there could have been a vacuum or an inert gas. >> From what I know gas filled disks didn't exist in the times when 3X0GB was >> on a 2" drive. >> >>> You will never be able to recover any data on the disk unless you go and >>> pay >>> for a professional data recovery organisation to read the platters. >> No, if he did care that the disks didn't become dirty then the drive >> should still work quite well to recover what is on it. Of course the cover >> should be put on ASAP. If you don't believe me, just try it our yourself. >> >>> The price for a replacement 340GByte USB disk is about $25 which would >>> give >>> you a better product than your old disk. >> The OP wanted to recover what is on the disk, not use it as a normal disk. >> >> Simon >> >>> Mark >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: H >>> Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 4:47 PM >>> To: centos at centos.org >>> Subject: Re: [CentOS] External harddisk >>> >>> On 09/30/2020 05:40 AM, John Pierce wrote: >>>> On Tue, Sep 29, 2020, 8:33 AM H <agents at meddatainc.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I have an old external harddisk, Toshiba 320 Gb, with a USB connector >>>>> that >>>>> I wanted to check for contents. It did not start up when connected and >>>>> I >>>>> could not hear the motor spinning. After leaving it in the freezer >>>>> overnight the motor spins but it is not recognized by my computer. I >>>>> disassembled it and could see that the head assembly rests outside the >>>>> disk >>>>> but when it is powered on, the head first moves to the center of the >>>>> disk, >>>>> then to the periphery and finally back to the resting position. This >>>>> happens every few seconds and leaving it connected overnight changed >>>>> nothing. >>>>> >>>> That repeated seeking suggests it's not passing its self test, and is >>>> constantly retrying. It's probably searching for servo data on the >>>> disks, >>>> and not finding it. >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> CentOS mailing list >>>> CentOS at centos.org >>>> https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >>> I see. I have not searched for any low-level disk utility from Toshiba, >>> the >>> manufacturer of the disk. Do you think that might be worthwhile to >>> hopefully >>> fix this? >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> CentOS mailing list >>> CentOS at centos.org >>> https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> CentOS mailing list >>> CentOS at centos.org >>> https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> CentOS mailing list >> CentOS at centos.org >> https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos > Simon, you are correct in all the above and I replaced the cover as soon as I had ascertained the movements of the head assembly. > > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos Opening up disk drives outside of a lab environment is NEVER a good idea if you expect the device to be useful. I'm thinking this disk problem is tied to your more general usb problem. There is a guy with a shop in NYC called Louis Rossmann who MAY be able to help with your data recovery. Look him up on youtube or just google the name.