Author Topic: 2 small questions (Read 1053 times)

moot · « **on:** March 30, 2007, 07:42:08 AM »

This morning I found my computer, after leaving it on as always, as though it was in screensaver mode (blank screen, monitor on standby), except it wouldnt respond to anything I did, and the HDD LED was stuck on.
The reset button did not work, so I turned it off and back on after a few seconds. It did the same thing - monitor stays in standby, HDD LED stuck on.

The monitor is plugged in correctly, and there aren't any system error beeps.
HDD failure?

tia

HomeBoy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2007, 08:04:55 AM »

Hmm. I doubt it is your HD. The machine should at least POST. It doesn't do that huh? If it won't POST, it's probably either your motherboard or power supply. I would suspect power supply first.

You might try unplugging everything from the MB except the PSU. You should get the "BEEP-BEEP-BEEP." If you do, try it again with your video card and monitor connected and see if you can get it to POST. If it does, then your MB and PSU are probably ok. You can then start plugging things in one at a time till you find the culprit.

Hope that helps

AKDogg · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2007, 08:06:05 AM »

Sounds like the CPU burned up or possible the MB. If it was your ram u get a beeping sound. CPU and MB sometimes u don't. Possible it could be video card to. 1 way to check video card is put it in another computer just for test if u have another computer to test it.

I don't recommend swapping CPU with another computer as if it is bad, it could blow out the MB u testing it on and then u have 2 bad computers,lol.

moot · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2007, 08:15:47 AM »

I forgot to add the second question : Is one of these two is more reliable?:
Western Digital Caviar SE 250 7200rpm
Maxtor Diamondmax 250GB 7200rpm

I'm replacing the HDDs anyway, because they've made errors once or twice in the past (blue screen-inducing type of errors).

The video card is integrated.
I'm going to try a start with everything unplugged..

AKDogg · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2007, 08:18:01 AM »

WD are alot more reliable then maxtor. I never buy a maxtor drive. I build my systems with WD's. I only had 1 WD fail in my 14 yrs of building computers.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2007, 08:59:02 AM »

Uhmm, IDE/SATA hard drives are a crap shoot, quite frankly. I have had WD's fail in less than 30 days, but I have also had Seagate's, Maxtor's, and any other brand fail as well.

moot · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2007, 11:12:01 AM »

Skuzzy what would you recommend?
I've gotten to the point where I have so much valuable data, that price is little object to secure it all.

I waited an hour or two before touching the computer, and it booted normally (failed-to-boot warning prompts aside) with everything untouched and plugged in.. Does this eliminate anything?
I will most likely keep it shut down with the power connections unplugged untill I have the new storage parts ready to back everything up.

Thanks again,
m.

AKDogg · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2007, 11:35:02 AM »

the failed to boot is your c drive has failed or is corrupted. U either have to replace the drive or reformat it and start over. If u have alot of data on it then I would suggest putting that drive in another computer as a slave and see if u can access the drive and pull the stuff u need off.

moot · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2007, 11:42:01 AM »

Alright.. I'll buy a replacement as soon as I know what Skuzzy's alternatives are.

Another question: if a HDD fails, it is still feasible to have a tech open it up and retrieve the data from the disks, right?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #9 on:** March 30, 2007, 12:14:05 PM »

Moot, for my home system (which also has a lot of important data I really do not want to lose), I use whatever I need in the computer as far as capacity and have a separate file server which is stuffed with Seagate Cheetah SCSI disk drives.

I have Cheetah's which are 10 years old and still running like a top.

Right now, I am trying out the vertial recorded SATA drives from Seagate.

Basically, I keep the OS and program files on the internal SATA drive of my computer and all my data goes to the Cheetah drives. The file server makes an automated backup to another Cheetah, and once a week I burn off the data to DVD's.

OOZ662 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 30, 2007, 12:23:44 PM »

If you have lots of valuable data, I recommend setting up a mirrored RAID array. This makes it so that you have multiple hard drives all copying each other as files are added. If the main drive dies, there's most likely a drive in the array that isn't dead. Take out the dead one, move the other up and put a new one in as a secondary. Most people run a 2 drive array, but I think you can have as many as you want.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #11 on:** March 30, 2007, 12:38:35 PM »

I do not care for RAID arrays as done using the cheap onboard solution you find on PC motherboards. I have seen too many people have problems with them.

There is a reason why a good RAID array costs $10 grand versus the $2 part on the PC motherboard, which relies mostly on software.

moot · « **Reply #12 on:** March 30, 2007, 12:57:45 PM »

That's what I thought too. And I would rather use something that can last 10 years, than something built with parts whose failure are the cause of my problem already..

I'm going to cannibalize some old but functional PCs to build that file server. I had had that idea for a long time, I guess great minds think alike!

Can I retrieve a crashed HDD's data from the individual plates?

OOZ662 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 30, 2007, 02:06:32 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by moot
Can I retrieve a crashed HDD's data from the individual plates?

That should be left up to a technician. If you want to do that, there are companies that have controlled labs just for that reason. It can be pricey, but it works.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #14 on:** March 30, 2007, 02:26:24 PM »

Well, if you are going to build the file server, and use Linux, you can also make it your Internet router and firewall as well. Then you run Samba on Linux so the Windows machines can access it.

My Linux box is up 24 hours, 7 days a week with a couple of Cheetah drives in it and it has been running for about 7 years now. I put a backup power supply on it. It is a lowly 800Mhz P3 box with 256MB of RAM.