Whirring and repeated seeking
The typical head instability sound: the drive searches but fails to lock onto the correct servo data. This noise pattern is less alarming than clicking (which is why it gets left running far too long).
Stop it
Hitachi purchased IBM’s hard disk business in 2003. Hitachi then changed its name to HGST. HGST was then purchased by Western Digital in 2012. The time period that a hard drive came into existence will determine almost everything as to how the hard drive will be treated.
In 2003 IBM sold its disk drive unit to Hitachi, then in 2012 Hitachi's disk drive unit, by then called HGST, was sold to WD. The underlying families carried straight through — therefore the old family can be matched with the new family. But when you match an older family to a newer family you have to do it exactly.
Your current disk drive may have been manufactured prior to two ownership changes.
When Hitachi purchased the IBM Deskstar line in 2003 they called them Hitachi Deskstars. They were later renamed HGST. When Western Digital purchased HGST in 2012 they also got their disk drive technology and now use it for much of WD’s enterprise range.
We see that history on our test bench quite often. Old IBM-era Deskstars keep coming out of old boxes or archives, and the 75GXP generation in particular earned a poor reputation and a nickname it never shook off. Those drives are elderly now, and we would say that their faults are due to their age rather than the defects built into those products when new.
On the other hand, some of the newer HGST-based Ultrastar units are among the largest capacity units available today — and they use helium as a gas inside them; they are also sealed from the outside world, which has implications on who can physically disassemble these units.
This is relevant to anything at a high enough capacity that you will want to send away for testing; it's worth asking about before sending one anywhere.
Because helium is less dense than air, there is much less turbulence in the head as it moves across the media and therefore many more disks can be stacked within a given height. This is why you saw the introduction of 14 TB and larger storage capacities become possible; HGST was the company that pioneered this technology.
Sealing is part of the design. If you open it and let the helium out, you can't just put the helium back in; therefore, they can’t be opened by your average bench and sealed up again. Mechanical work requires a specific environment, and not every laboratory has one.
If the failure was with firmware or electronics versus mechanical – which accounts for many failures at any capacity – then none of those factors apply because the drive does not need to be opened under any circumstances.
The typical head instability sound: the drive searches but fails to lock onto the correct servo data. This noise pattern is less alarming than clicking (which is why it gets left running far too long).
Spins properly, reports nothing. There are no descriptions from the drive regarding its own characteristics and the data is still intact. It may be accessed using the diagnostic interface without needing to open it.
Old Deskstars found in old computers or archives. The faults are age-related wear rather than the original defect, and finding an old machine with a donor drive can take longer than recovering the data.
Large capacity disks used in arrays. They are frequently helium-filled, and usually arrive as a degraded array that nobody was monitoring when it started to fail.
The model number, size and firmware version determine donor compatibility and whether your drive is helium sealed. This will greatly speed up the process.
This will look and sound as though the motor is still spinning but it is actually the heads failing to find their position. Every attempt passes them across the surface.
It is reasonable to ask if a lab can open a large drive. Single drives in Manchester are from £300 + VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic.
Effectively. In 2003, Hitachi purchased IBM’s hard disk business unit, and later renamed it HGST. Then in 2012, Western Digital purchased HGST. The name you see on the drive depends on when it was produced.
Generally the head will seek back and forth across the platters, failing to lock onto the servo data that tells it where it is. It appears as though the drive is operating correctly so it gets left running — and each time the head continues to cross the platter surface.
Yes, though mechanical problems need a controlled environment designed specifically for such work since the hermetically sealed case can't just be opened and resealed. However electronic or firmware problems do not require the drive to be opened.
The answer to your question is yes. The drives come from archives and older computers, so while there were design flaws in those generations of product, they are failing now because of their age. Finding the right revision of a donor is usually the time-consuming bit.
In general, you will find that the larger capacity enterprise models — the model identification number or label on each unit identifies it as such. Take a photograph of the label and ask before sending the unit away, since not every laboratory can open the unit.
The cost varies, but for a single drive once you have had a free 48-hour diagnostic, you can expect to pay from £300 plus VAT. If mechanical work and donor parts are required then a 50% deposit will be requested.