[NBLUG/talk] Re: reviving dead hard drive

[Andrew]

Jim Bianchi wrote on Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:54:44 -0800 (PST):

> On Sun, Feb 08, 2004 at 10:40:51AM -0800, Andrew wrote:
> >> Anybody have any experience
> >> breathing a little life into dead drives?
> 
> >One trick that sometimes works is the "freezer" trick where
> >you freeze it for a half hour to an hour, then try it again. 
> >Also, you might have a better chance getting data with a dd
> >operation than actually mounting the drive.

Thanks for the replies. I had actually heard vague rumors a while
ago of a "freezer trick"; you've now confirmed it for me. dd may
be good for getting an image, but before I can use it, I have to
overcome a more fundamental problem: getting the system to
recognize the disk and the two partitions it contains. Last
night, I booted the system with Apple's bootable OS installation
CD-ROM, which runs a skeletal OS, and after much grunting and
wheezing (well, actually, it was clicking), the two "drives"
appeared on the Desktop. But when I tried to run the Disk First
Aid utility on the two ailing Volumes, each operation came back
with a "Cannot mount selected Volume" error. After that, the two
drive icons on the Desktop were "grayed-out" and couldn't be
accessed. Subsequent reboots failed to recognize the drive at
all. That's the problem I'm struggling with.

> One problem that stands out about the above 'freezer trick' is
> that condensation can easily form on the unit when it is
> removed from the freezer and worked on in a warmer place.

Yeah. I had thought of the condensation problem and have been
thinking up ways to combat it, such as wrapping the drive in
plastic and/or wrapping it in a towel. I figure the less air that
is allowed to flow around the drive, the better.

> Good luck.

Thanks. I expect I'll need all the luck I can get. By the way,
I'm still open to other suggestions, even if they involve waving
a rubber chicken over the drive and chanting an incantation that
you heard on "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" (although I would prefer
something which has at least a slight chance of working). I doubt
I'll get around to working on the drive until later this week.

A.