Whirring and repeated seeking
The characteristic head-instability sound: the drive seeking and failing to lock onto servo data. Less alarming than clicking, which is why it gets left running far too long.
Stop it
Hitachi bought IBM’s hard drive business in 2003, renamed itself HGST, and was acquired by Western Digital in 2012. Which era a drive comes from determines almost everything about how it is handled.
IBM’s drive division went to Hitachi in 2003, became HGST, and was bought by WD in 2012. The underlying families carried straight through, which is why donor matching works at all — and why it has to be exact.
Because the drive in front of you may predate two ownership changes.
The IBM Deskstar line passed to Hitachi in 2003, becoming Hitachi Deskstar and later HGST. Western Digital acquired HGST in 2012, and the technology now underpins a good deal of WD’s enterprise range.
That history arrives on the bench regularly. IBM-era Deskstars still turn up from archives and old machines, and the 75GXP generation in particular earned a poor reputation and a nickname it never shook off. Those drives are elderly now, and the faults are age rather than the original defect.
At the other end, current HGST-derived Ultrastar units are among the highest-capacity drives made — and they are helium-filled and hermetically sealed, which changes who can work on them mechanically.
Relevant on anything at high capacity, and worth asking about before sending one anywhere.
Helium is less dense than air, so heads fly with less turbulence and more platters fit in the same height. That is how 14TB and beyond became practical, and HGST pioneered it.
The hermetic seal is the point of the design. Once broken, the helium escapes and cannot simply be replaced, so these cannot be opened on a standard clean-air bench and closed again. Mechanical work requires an environment built specifically for the purpose, and not every laboratory has one.
Where the fault is electronic or firmware rather than mechanical — which covers a large share of failures at any capacity — none of that applies, because the drive never needs opening at all.
The characteristic head-instability sound: the drive seeking and failing to lock onto servo data. Less alarming than clicking, which is why it gets left running far too long.
Spins normally, reports nothing. The drive cannot describe itself and the data is untouched. Reached through the diagnostic interface without opening it.
Deskstars from archives and old machines. Age-related wear rather than the original defect, and donor sourcing is the slow part rather than the recovery.
High-capacity array disks, frequently helium-filled. Usually arrive as a degraded array nobody was monitoring.
Model, capacity and firmware revision determine donor compatibility and whether the unit is helium-sealed. It genuinely speeds things up.
It sounds like the drive working and it is the heads failing to find their position. Every attempt passes them across the surface.
Not every laboratory can open them, and it is a fair question. Single drives in Manchester are from £300 +VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic.
Effectively. Hitachi bought IBM’s drive business in 2003 and later renamed the division HGST; Western Digital acquired HGST in 2012. A drive may carry any of those names depending on when it was made.
Usually the heads seeking repeatedly and failing to lock onto the servo data that tells them where they are. It sounds like the drive working, which is why it gets left running — and every attempt passes the heads across the surface.
Yes, though mechanical work needs a controlled environment built for the purpose, because the hermetic seal cannot simply be broken and remade. Electronic and firmware faults do not require opening the drive at all.
Regularly. They arrive from archives and old machines, and the faults now are age rather than the original defect that gave that generation its reputation. Sourcing a correct-revision donor is the slow part.
Generally the higher-capacity enterprise units — the label and model number identify it. Photograph the label and ask before sending it anywhere, because not every laboratory can open them.
From £300 plus VAT for a single drive after a free 48-hour diagnostic, with a 50% deposit where clean-air work and donor parts are required.