He saw what mattered most. The drive in question, a Seagate 3TB pulled from a LaCie d2, has "become uninitialised and is inaccessible", showing "as a 3-4GB drive" when connected to a PC or Mac. In addition, Seagate's own software found nothing. A notable side note was: "the drive makes several creak/squeak noises as it attempts to spin up which doesn't sound normal." A drive showing the wrong small capacity while creaking on spin-up has a mechanical failure, and the creaking noise is the priority, because the capacity issue indicates the drive cannot properly identify itself, and the creaking indicates that this will need to be stopped and given attention on the bench, rather than using additional software.
| Media | Seagate 3TB drive from a LaCie d2 enclosure — showing as a 3-4GB drive on PC and Mac, inaccessible, and making creak/squeak noises as it attempts to spin up. |
| Reported situation | Drive uninitialised and inaccessible · reporting a tiny 3-4GB capacity instead of 3TB · no files found by Seagate's recovery software · abnormal creaking and squeaking on spin-up · recovery of the data sought. |
| Fault class | A mechanical spin-up fault — the creaking indicating the mechanism struggling, and the wrong-capacity reporting a drive failing to identify itself correctly; platter condition the determinant, further running the hazard. |
| Equipment used | Not run further on spin-up attempts — the creaking indicates mechanical struggle that risks the platters · powered from a current-limited bench supply with the draw profiled · mechanism opened in clean air under laminar flow, spindle, bearing and heads inspected under stereo microscope for the source of the noise · seized or struggling components addressed with matched donor parts · read on PC-3000 UDMA once spinning cleanly, imaged on DeepSpar Disk Imager, data validated. |
The most critical symptom of this failure was the creaking, and it changed everything. When a healthy hard disk drive (HDD) is spun up there are no unusual sounds: it spins up silently and smoothly. If the HDD produces creak or squeak noises when being spun up then it indicates to us that the mechanism in some way is struggling: either a spindle bearing that is failing or partially seized, or the read/write heads are not moving freely. This noise tells us the failure mode is mechanical and physical, not merely logical, and each time you try to spin an HDD up again, it will be stressing a mechanism already under duress. In fact, his recognising the anomaly, and noting it was not normal, is exactly the observation that guides all aspects of our process.
Incorrect capacity is the drive failing to identify itself, not data loss. Reporting as being 3-4GB with a 3TB drive is an incorrect identification of the drive by itself. This means the drive cannot properly initialise, often because either a mechanical or firmware error is preventing it from reading the internal information which tells the operating system what actual capacity the drive is. The tiny figure is the drive failing to come up correctly, not a measure of the data that has survived. The actual 3TB of data still exists on the disk; however, the drive cannot present itself in order to report it.
The continued attempts at spinning up the unit are the active hazard, and stopping the unit from operating is urgent. A repeating cycle of applying power to a creaking mechanical system may cause damage to the platters (a failing bearing could allow for platter wobble, and struggling heads may make contact with the surface, with possible scoring on the very platters holding the 3TB of data). The single best action to take is to cut off all power to the unit and let it see only current-limited, monitored power in the laboratory, so that the cause of the creak can be found prior to anything being forced.
The route is mechanical work on the bench that is routine and established. Recovery is getting the drive open on the bench, using magnified inspection of the spindle, bearing and heads to find out where the noise came from, and dealing with it using matched donor parts: a donor mechanism when the bearing is seized, donor heads when the heads are the problem. The LaCie case is incidental, since the drive itself is a standard Seagate and can be recovered on its own terms once the drive spins cleanly.
The platters set the honest ceiling, and it is stated before the work. If the mechanical problem is fixed before any of the surfaces were marked, then the drive will read and the 3TB comes back. If there was already damage from those creaky spin-ups that scored the surfaces, then recovery narrows to the parts that are still intact, based upon inspection under magnification (not assumption), with this reported before any charges are made. The fact that he stopped at the first abnormal noise is what gave his platters their best chance.
The drive was not run further on spin-up attempts, and was powered from a current-limited bench supply with the draw profiled. The mechanism was opened in clean air under laminar flow and the spindle, bearing and heads inspected under stereo microscope for the source of the noise, seized or struggling components addressed with matched donor parts. Once spinning cleanly, the drive was read on PC-3000 UDMA and imaged on DeepSpar Disk Imager, the data validated.
Mechanical spin-up fault located and corrected on the bench, the drive read once it was turning cleanly, and the data validated. The diagnostic costs nothing and is completed within two working days of receiving it, and the quote is one fixed written figure with VAT already in it. Since opening a drive is a form of invasive work, 50% of the quote will be required up front to purchase donor parts and to pay for lab time, with the balance being due only if the data comes back. The decode: the creaking is the actual fault, and the incorrect 3-4GB size indicates the drive cannot properly identify itself, not that data has been lost. Stopping when you heard the creaking protected the platters, and addressed on the bench, your 3TB comes back.
Stop powering it: creaking or squeaking when spinning up means your drive's mechanism is struggling, and each time you attempt to run it the risk to the platters that contain your data increases. Do not use any recovery software on this drive; a drive reporting the wrong tiny capacity isn't presenting correctly, so there is nothing healthy for the software to scan, and running recovery software will only spin your failing drive further. The wrong size indicates that the drive can't identify itself, it doesn't indicate lost data. This needs mechanical work on a laboratory bench, so set the drive aside unpowered, get a quote for the work, and have it assessed.
Our case files are written up from genuine enquiries our lab has handled for customers across Swansea and South Wales, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery approach our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.
Diagnostic provided at no charge. Fixed quote. In most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Start now or call the freephone.