Strange HD Issue

A

abudhu

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 28, 2004
Messages
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(Note: I checked about 10 pages worth on the search and wasn't able to find anything, so If there is something simlar discussed, please link me to it for possible solutions)

Issue: Western Digital (WD4000AAKS) 400GB Drives won't spin up, shows as an empty slot in BIOS and non-existant in Windows Vista. However, if I start up my Ubuntu Partition the drive will click on, and then after a restart will appear in the BIOS list.

Details:

These 4 Western Digitals drives were part of a RAID 5 array soley for testing purposes. They contained no data, save for an OS, and were meant to just check out the RAID capabilities of the PCI card I Purchased.

Having no need for the RAID anymore, and being in the middle of a Move, I removed the drives, and inserted 1 into my Desktop Machine. (Note: All the drives exhibit this same behavior).

On Boot, the bios will show:

SATA 1: ASUS (DVD)
SATA 2: Seagate Drive
SATA 3:
SATA 4: NONE
SATA 5: NONE

Windows Disk Manager will then show no drive.

If I boot into Ubuntu First (before windows) I can Feel, and hear the spin up. After restarted from Ubuntu the BIOS will show:

SATA 1: ASUS (DVD)
SATA 2: Seagate Drive
SATA 4: WD Drive
SATA 4: NONE
SATA 5: NONE

Windows will then show the drive. After that, the drive works fine. I can move data, copy, save, etc. On multiple restarts it will still Show in BIOS. But on shutdown and boot up again it will dissapear.

I thought it could be a power issue, so I tried it in the another computer with the same issue. I thought it could be that specific HD, but all of them give that same problem. I thought it could be my BIOS, but I am running the latest version. I thought it could be a corruption with the HD's so I did a Simple and Extended Test via the WD Diagnostic Tool. Both of which passed with no errors.

I have also thought it could just be a problem with my PC in general, so I put one in my parents iMac and OS X displays it as a blank non-existant drive as well. If I load up a Linux Live CD and then go back to OS X it will show the Drive.

I then Zeroed out the drives but they still do the same thing. Blank in BIOS, Spin Up on Linux Boot, Shown in BIOS after. S.M.A.R.T doesn't show an indications of errors either.

I am starting to think that it could have just been the manner of which they were removed. That is to say, they were part of a RAID and then I just removed them and stuck 1 in a new computer. I thought, perhaps it was looking for the remainder of the RAID array or the PCI card to perform the spin up. But after Zero'ing out the drive and still not having any luck I am at a loss of what the problem may be.

Thoughts, suggestions?
 
Aside from zeroing out the drive and formatting it, have you tried deleting and recreating partitions on the drive, as well as clearing out the MBR on the drives?
 
xenotype said:
Aside from zeroing out the drive and formatting it, have you tried deleting and recreating partitions on the drive, as well as clearing out the MBR on the drives?
Click to expand...

I have not attempted to partition it multiple times, but I did partition them when I get them to turn on. I will give the Wiping the MBR a whirl and report back tomorrow.
 
I tried wiping the MBR's as requested.

Didn't have any effect. Still blank in the BIOS. Spins and Clicks on only after I start up Linux, then it will appear in BIOS.

Any other suggestions? I forgot to mention I also tried to swap the cables for a completely different pair, but that had no affect.
 
Am I understanding this right: the drive doesnt show up in the bios, your system will boot into linux, linux can see it, then if you restart, the bios will show the drive?

Thats pretty freaking odd.
 
well, it seems like you've tried the drives in completely different computer with different operations systems, and no matter what, consistently, the drives are not detected without linux first "powering" them on.

There has to be something wrong with those 4 drives. Either your raid did something really funky to them or they're a bad set from WD (but i'm assuming they worked fine when you got them...). Check to see if wd doesn't have any firmware updates for the drives. I don't know the inner workings of linux and windows drive recognition to give you a better answer.
 
try using different sata cables just in case.

Do you have your sata controllers set in AHCI/sata mode or ide/legacy/compatability mode. If its sata, try ide. If its ide, try running in sata mode (note: you will have to install sata drivers on your boot drive before you do this, otherwise the OS will simply not boot) and try plugging the drive in while os is already booted (Sata is hotswappable, not in ide/legacy mode though)

also, this is more for my curiosity than anything, and if you dont feel comfortable doing it, dont bother. see if you can power the drive itself on BEFORE you turn the computer on (using a second PSU connected to a different motherboard, or using a second PSU and short the green wire and any black wire the main motherboard 20/24 pin connection. After waiting a bit, turn the computer on, and see if bios recognizes.

this is fascinating, i tried researching it online and only similar thing i've found was some guy who couldn't get his bios or dos to detect floppy drive, but win98 saw it fine... no solution.
 
Replies Incoming:

xenotype said:
Am I understanding this right: the drive doesnt show up in the bios, your system will boot into linux, linux can see it, then if you restart, the bios will show the drive?
Click to expand...

Correct. :)

serpretetsky said:
Either your raid did something really funky to them or they're a bad set from WD (but i'm assuming they worked fine when you got them...). Check to see if wd doesn't have any firmware updates for the drives. I don't know the inner workings of linux and windows drive recognition to give you a better answer.
Click to expand...

I checked WD's site, but they list no Firmware, even going so far as to say: "There are no downloadable USB, Firewire, or eSATA drivers available on our Downloads page."

It also mentions: "In addition, any operating system not mentioned here, is not supported by Western Digital, including Windows XP 64-bit, Vista 64 bit, and Linux. "

Though they worked in 64 bit Server Edition and they work under Linux. They even work under Vista 64 bit...after the power on :-P

serpretetsky said:
try using different sata cables just in case.
Click to expand...

Tried, no luck.

The drives have a jumper setting for PM2 that allows spinup via spinup command per ATA Standard. I tried that out (as well as every other jumper setting) with no luck.

I haven't tried a totally new PSU, as I have to locate one in the garage :). Will report back when I give that a go.

Would you all think that, perhaps if I get the RAID Card again, put it in my system and attach all the drives they may come back on?
 
Disk drives in general require a lot of start up current. Most RAID controllers are aware of this and control the spin up sequentially as to not tax the PS. I would think that your PS can be eliminated as the culprit by depressing the "reset" button once in the bios. At that point your other drives are already spun up and wouldn't cause an additional drain on the 12V whereas the only drive to be spun up at that point is the missing one.
 
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