HDs vanished after power outage!

[Primus]

Please help, serious trouble here.

Specs: IC7 Max3 mobo, Antec 550w power supply, Intel 3.0G cpu, 2G RAM (Corsair), 2 WD Raptors in RAID0 on SATA interface, 2 HDs - let's call them A and B (160G and 200G) on IDE1 controller, 2 other HDs - let's call them C and D (120G and 160G) on a Promise IDE controller on a PCI card and a DVD burner and CD on IDE2 on the mobo. OS is winXP pro, SP1a

Here's what happened. Computer was running photoshop, a file on HD A was open. There was a power outage, lasting for a minute or so (not uncommon on Long Island). The computer turns off - I have two surge protectors in series before the computer, but no UPS. I restart, now I hear this musical alarm beeping for a minute or two, stops after windows boots up (it is a five-note pa pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa pa that repeats itself several times). Everything seems to be okay, except I cannot see HDs A and B in windows!

I reboot, enter BIOS, the IDE1 controller reads 'none'. Windows starts normally, all my other HDs are there (including HDs C and D on the Promise controller), but no A and B.

I change the missing drives to IDE2 controller and the DVDs to IDE1, reboot. The DVD shows up, no HD - so the fault is not with the IDE controllers on the mobo. I then change the IDE cable itself, again no luck. I connect the HDs A and B to the Promise IDE controller and C and D to the mobo, reboot, can see C and D but AB are still missing. I disconnect all IDE devices, only plug in HD A (the 160G one), change thr jumper from cable select to master, still no luck. I think maybe the power to the HDs is not going, so I change the power connectors, still no go. I ran the Maxtor powermax utility from a floppy in DOS, it doesn't see the drives either.

So what happened? How did the power outage do that? Are my drives fried? Terrible if so, since I have a lot of my pictures on those drives (the reason why I have so many different storage drives). Any solutions/suggestions?

Thanks.

[PrntRhd]

Some of the experts here may be able to help you recover some of the data. You did not think the power goes out in NY? See this: dslreports (http://www.dslreports.com/faq/8463) particularly the first part of the list regards power protection.

[Primus]

I guess I relied on the surge protectors too much. Thing is, power outages are so common here and with my machine running all the time, I have never had a problem in the past. What puzzles me is how of all my drives (6), these two on the same IDE channel chose to die, no other component of the (pretty complex) system failed!

I will see if I can recover some of the data. Could someone help? Are the drives really fried? I guess so, since they are not recognized in the BIOS.

[Paul Komski]

Without the drives being detected in the bios (and neither the mobo nor the controller card's bios have been able to detect them) I would say there is no chance of DIY recovery. Sometimes when a drive is beginning to fail it will be a bit intermittent and one can sometimes be lucky enough to boot up and for the drive to be recognised for just that occasion. If that happens you may have only that one chance to grab any data. With these two drives going down suddenly that would also seem to be an unlikely hope. Its professional recovery I'm afraid.

It certainly appears that whatever causes such failures can bring down two connected drives simultaneously. Only last week I went over to my aunt's house where there was a problem with no dial tone on one PC after a lightening strike had taken down the telephone lines. It transpired that it wasnt the modem but the motherboard that had failed/was failing. I put in a slave drive of my own and managed to image their drive. I should have removed it there and then but was tricking around playing with other settings when "clunk clunk clunk" went my slave - but more than that - both my slave and that pc's master were fried. I took everything home and both HDDs were as dead as dead can be and the mobo wouldn't post. Only the floppy, the cdrom and the cpu were salvageable.

With important data one just cant backup enough and it has to be onto removable media. I am a sinner myself using HDDs to backup stuff because of speed and storage space - but the REALLY important stuff is also on CDRs and/or tape or written down with pen and paper.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

written down with pen and paper.
:confused: :confused: :confused: What's that?

Just press print... :rolleyes: Written,,, you probably meant bad cursive too... ;)

[Paul Komski]

he he - artistic licence - pen and paper = hp laser jet!

[Primus]

ALL is not lost!

One of the HDs is working. Drive B was set up as slave (jumper setup as cable select) on the same IDE channel. Both were not showing up in Bios or whatever. I assumed both drives were fried. I removed drive A from the computer, connected drive B alone, and it works just fine. it seems that the defective drive A was preventing the okay drive B from being recognized.

Question: If you have two drives set up on one IDE channel, both jumpers set as cable select, if the drive in the master position gets fried, why should the slave drive not be recognized?

Now I am getting a musical alarm from the dead drive - will post that as a separate thread. Thanks, y'all.

[PrntRhd]

Really glad you have one working.
:)

[Paul Komski]

A failing or failed HDD can cause all sorts of problems including an inability to POST at all and the ability to also destroy the other drive on that controller. When electricity starts flowing where it shouldnt go or at the wrong voltage/current - just about anything can happen. I don't think there are any fixed rules in this area.