Mechanical HD failure, typical causes? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 11:28:56 pm
content: So I've taken apart hundreds of HDs over the years, rarely do I find this. Usually just some other unknown issue that's not obvious or a zillion bad sectors etc.The spindle/armature appear slop free, but.....HD experts, f_e, any comments as to some of the typical mechanical failure methods?(Drive is a 1TB ES2 Seagate, failed at about the 5 year mark, Linux box with almost 5 year continuous uptime. In a cluster with 16 brothers still spinning, rack rarely touched)Edit: when I say typical, aside from some dumbass smacking the box around etc.

author: elgonzo
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 11:45:00 pm
content: The concentric marks on the platter seem to suggest that the HDD suffered from one or more sticky heads... But it could also be a red herring since the platter surface looks very dirty. Perhaps the scratches come from someone toying around with the exposed platter stack.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 12:00:39 am
content: Just a guess (I am no HD expert), but the head loading ramp may have gotten broken or stuck? Most of the surface damage seems to be around the edge.

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 12:08:06 am
content: Quote from: elgonzo on February 01, 2015, 11:45:00 pmA pile of "dust" fell out when I ripped the cover off. Grinding dust from the failure.

author: sahtis
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 12:12:37 am
content: One of the failures with similar kind of end results that I've had, is simply the r/w head being ripped off from the stress (an old hdd, 8 years old).The remaining carnage was from the bare metal mount scraping the disk, peeling off the coating.One of the causes could also be blocked breathing hole, causing the air density in the drive to be too low to keep the heads "flying".

author: electronics-whiz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 04:39:07 am
content: I've seen many failure modes on HDDs.I've seen the PCB on them fail on both IDE and SCSI models.I've seen some old maxtors you format put something on next spin up it's raw. Sometimes a low level format helps this, but often only for a few months. I'm not sure what causes that i'm pretty sure related to the platters, and how stuff is recorded. This is the most common failure I see in HDD. Seems common for drives from late 90s, early 2000s.Usage also has huge affect I have a bunch of old removable IDE HDD like probably 6 of 50 have died because were not handled well. Drives from other stuff close in age still work fine. I have 16GB SCSI HDD from 01 still work fine even being older than most these IDE HDD.I think sometimes too something mechanical like a bearing or some other mechanical thing fails. I sometimes give them a rattle test if things make really odd noises it usually indicates it's near the end. Some that don't park the heads and lock the heads can rattle some. I have seen some though shake more top bottom then rattles that's likely an issue.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 05:11:38 am
content: The controller PCB connects to the mechanism with simple pads and spring loaded contacts. Corrosion on the pads made the drive inoperative. Taking the board off, rubbing the contacts clean with a pencil eraser restored operation.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 06:35:10 am
content: Quote from: dr.diesel on February 02, 2015, 12:08:06 amThat is no dust, it's data

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:51:14 am
content: Ouch!I saw this exact same thing occur to a friends external USB hard disk (I believe it was just a Seagate cheapy). He left it connected to his machine one day and when he got home from work he discovered an awful screeching noise (which I also heard while he was on the phone to me).However, I'm all for leaving hard disks running 24/7 as I'm of the opinion that there is strong correlation between drive longevity and stable temperatures. I run Hitachi Ultrastar drives in my file server at home and have only 1 fail (began developing bad sectors). I have in the past used both Seagate and Western Digital drives with mixed results (and yes, I know that WD now own HGST).See the attachment for an interesting read; This paper is getting a bit old now but still interesting and probably still very relevant.Quote from: electronics-whiz on February 02, 2015, 04:39:07 amI wouldn't rely on this at all. Quite often drives will have some moving component inside that will rattle when shaken. In fact many drives are labelled with "Rattle noise is normal when handled" for this very reason: So people don't mistake a rattle for something broken or faulty. Increased spin-up time or start-up current is often a sign of worn bearings or a failing spindle motor.