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how to shuck drive from WD Easydrive that makes clicking sounds that never stop

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philb2

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May 26, 2021
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So this 2.5" 4 TB drive is 3-4 years old, used as backup whenever I travelled, which is not as often as before Covid-19. Last week, the drive worked OK. Today all I got was click-click-click like forever. I took off the small rubber feet as much as I could, but that wasn't enough to locate any screws, etc. Is it even worth the effort to shuck these drives? I want to smash the drive so no one can recover sensitive data that is on this drive.

Is there any way to shuck this drive? I have shucked any number of 3.5" WD drives no problem.
 
Specific model? Picture of the outer case? There might be a seam you can jimmy open. Chisel the corners to crack the plastic, maybe, if you aren't going to use the thing again as you say.

On the other hand, it's a 2.5" portable drive from WD. There's a 90% chance that the USB connector on the outside is the drive connector itself (i.e. no SATA port inside), and shucking will just lead to disappointment.

On the gripping hand, it sounds like you don't care about recovering the data and you just want to smash the drive. Well, a car can do that pretty quick, or pretend it's your least favorite person and have at it with a hammer...or some other solid, heavy object to hulk out your favorite stress relief fantasy.
 
When dealing with 2.5" spinners, first thing to change is the cable. Everytime you bend the cable micro cracks form in the copper, these increase resistance and can can create problems. Next, if it isn't that, pull the drive out of the enclosure and see if you have one that has a SATA port (meaning it isn't one of the models that has ONLY a USB connector.) Plug it in and see if it posts. If none of that works, the drive is (most likely) toast.
 
OK, so I tried this drive with a known good cable. Same clickity-clickity-clickity, so I guess I need to smash the case open and then smash the drive.

Thanks to all who replied.

What p---es me off is that this 4 TB drive hasn't been used that much, and hardly ever outside of my house. Fortunately I have an copy of the contents on my system.
 
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I'd buy a replacement and back up your system again before smashing it, but yeah smashing it is what I'd do. I pretty much have a zero tolerance policy for spinning rust throwing errors. If it doesn't work correctly I don't try to squeeze a little more life out of it and deal with errors unless I really need some data off of it. That hasn't happened in years since all my important stuff is on an SSD, usually with a cloud backup except for financial stuff & identity theft risks. I just disassemble or smash dud drives and move on. I'd do the same to an SSD that messed up.
 
philb2 said:
OK, so I tried this drive with a known good cable. Same clickity-clickity-clickity, so I guess I need to smash the case open and then smash the drive.

Thanks to all who replied.

What p---es me off is that this 4 TB drive hasn't been used that much, and hardly ever outside of my house. Fortunately I have an copy of the contents on my system.
Click to expand...
Post pics.
 
The Mad Atheist said:
Post pics.
Click to expand...
There is nothing to see. The case is the same as it was when new, outside of a few rubs and scratches. IOW, the damage is all internal to the drive, and I don't have the equipment or the knowhow to photograph a defective drive platter.
 
mwroobel said:
When dealing with 2.5" spinners, first thing to change is the cable. Everytime you bend the cable micro cracks form in the copper, these increase resistance and can can create problems. Next, if it isn't that, pull the drive out of the enclosure and see if you have one that has a SATA port (meaning it isn't one of the models that has ONLY a USB connector.) Plug it in and see if it posts. If none of that works, the drive is (most likely) toast.
Click to expand...
While reasonable advice for "it just stopped working", clicking is a mechanical problem: the read head hitting drive platters.

If you had data on it you wanted to recover, but not enough to spend a few grand shipping it out to a professional data recovery service you could try the 'freezer trick'; stick it in the freezer for a few hours, take it out, and if it works frantically copy data off. Differential thermal contraction might shift the head just enough to avoid hitting the platter; if not the attempt resulted in more head strikes and more permanently destroyed data. (The additional permanent data loss is why if you're willing and able to spend a few thousand dollars you should skip directly to that and bypass any sketchy DIY recovery options.)
 
zandor said:
I pretty much have a zero tolerance policy for spinning rust throwing errors.
Click to expand...

One of the drives in RAID1 in my main PC:

Code: 
SATA /dev/sdb ST2000VN004-2E4164: 36°C (FAILING)
Power On: 55968 hours
Power Cycles: 333 (168 hours/cycle)
Reallocated Sectors: 184
Load Cycles: 407638 (174/day)

1751844402042.png
 
DanNeely said:
While reasonable advice for "it just stopped working", clicking is a mechanical problem: the read head hitting drive platters.

If you had data on it you wanted to recover, but not enough to spend a few grand shipping it out to a professional data recovery service you could try the 'freezer trick'; stick it in the freezer for a few hours, take it out, and if it works frantically copy data off. Differential thermal contraction might shift the head just enough to avoid hitting the platter; if not the attempt resulted in more head strikes and more permanently destroyed data. (The additional permanent data loss is why if you're willing and able to spend a few thousand dollars you should skip directly to that and bypass any sketchy DIY recovery options.)
Click to expand...
There is no data that I need to recover, so I'll just smash the drive case with a sledgehammer until I draw "blood." Then recycle the scraps.
 
philb2 said:
There is no data that I need to recover, so I'll just smash the drive case with a sledgehammer until I draw "blood." Then recycle the scraps.
Click to expand...
That's what I'd do. Or maybe use an axe. Usually I disassemble dead drives and play with the platters and magnets, but if I couldn't get one apart I'd just smash it.
 
zandor said:
That's what I'd do. Or maybe use an axe. Usually I disassemble dead drives and play with the platters and magnets, but if I couldn't get one apart I'd just smash it.
Click to expand...

Most of mine were dismantled, degaussed, and then either bent or shattered depending on the platter type. I might have a few newer platters that post-date my leaving the job where I had them degaussed.

(My never remembered to cook in a bon-fire at my parents pile was the largest our security guy was given by far when someone decided to offer NSA approved destruction of personal drives to all employees. Lucky for him I'd disassembled the lot a few at a time over a number of years.)
 
DanNeely said:
While reasonable advice for "it just stopped working", clicking is a mechanical problem: the read head hitting drive platters.
Click to expand...
With 2.5" USB-connected drives, clicking CAN mean a mechanical problem, but often it is a power problem. You hear the drive attempt to spin up, draw too much power (or more power than the port and/or cable can offer) and then click and spin down. It occurs from cables that have microscopic cracks in the copper, which increases resistance and can cause the failure. I have a stack of 5TB WD's that had these problems. The drives become starved for power as the cables age and then die early.
 
mwroobel said:
With 2.5" USB-connected drives, clicking CAN mean a mechanical problem, but often it is a power problem. You hear the drive attempt to spin up, draw too much power (or more power than the port and/or cable can offer) and then click and spin down. It occurs from cables that have microscopic cracks in the copper, which increases resistance and can cause the failure. I have a stack of 5TB WD's that had these problems. The drives become starved for power as the cables age and then die early.
Click to expand...
Thanks. In my case, I substituted a different cable. No luck. But OK, I'll try a third cable.
 
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