# Hard drive is making beeping noises



## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

Hello, I just found this forum via google and thought you might be able to help.

My hard drive tipped over today and shut off. When I turned it back on I hear 2 tones of beeping noises. I opened it up and nothing was out of place so I recorded this video so you could hear the sounds.

You might have to turn the volume up a bit:





It does this for about 30 seconds and then stops. My computer fails to recognize the hard drive so I am concerned about retrieving the data on it. The external hard drive is buslink brand but the actual hard drive inside is western digital 160gb.

Does anyone have any ideas of what this is? How to fix it? Or whether or not the data might be salvegable?

Thanks for any advice you might have.


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## FijiJohn (Apr 2, 2006)

Almost positively the drive is kaput. That sounds like it is trying to seek and cannot. Likely data CAN be taken off by specialists but that is quite expensive (~$1,000 US).


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

What did you open? Hopefully not the drive itself but just the enclosure. In any case I'd try removing the hard drive from the external box and connecting it directly to an IDE or SATA connector inside your computer to rule out the external box as the cause of the drive failing to spin up correctly.


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

I opened the casing I didnt open the hard drive... not even sure how.

From looking at the back of the hard drive it has different connections then the 3 that are in my computer now. Is it still possible to connect it directly to my computer? Im really not sure how to do that since hte circuit board is all different.

Thanks for your reponse.


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## robohawk (Jun 29, 2008)

does your computer have ata hard drive connections


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Whats the actually model number of the drive?

For that matter as a quick first test, just connect the power connector to the drive if you can and see if it still makes the same noises and don't bother connecting the data cable. If it makes the same noises then we don't need to go further, if it sounds normal then we can try getting it connected tot he PC completely.


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## comer (Jul 4, 2008)

You may got a physical problem on your hard disk. 
there are some information maybe helpful:
http://www.easeus.com/resource/data-recovery-tips.htm


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

How can I tell if it has ATA connections. Is there a picture of one I can compare too?

I connected the power to the external hd and I received no noise. It only happens when I plug in the data cable in. 

Thanks everyone for your responses.


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

Sorry, I forgot to add its Model number CO-120-U2FS.

http://www.superwarehouse.com/BUSlink_3_in_1_120_GB_External_Hard_Drive/CO-120-U2FS/ps/711745


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

The drive enclusure has a SATA interface so chances are its a SATA drive, but we'd need to know what the moel number of the hard drive to confirm.

Is the connector like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

Heres a picture of the external hard drive opened up:









The model number of it is: WD1200BB

Also here is the picture of my desktop hard drives:









The model number is: seagate ST3250823AS


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

I connected that blue wire in the bottom picture with 7 holes into the 4th connection from the left in the top picture and plugged the power in and it does the same thing.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Ok, so it appears to be a PATA/IDE drive: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=703&p_created=1037222838

The drives in the bottom pic are SATA drives.

When I was saying that you need to connect the drive internally I meant you have to fully remove the hard drive from the enclosure. And find any 4 pin power connector with the red, 2 black, and yellow wires to see if it makes the same noises. If you are just connecting the SATA cable to the enclosure then thats still using the enclosure electronics which could the source of the fault.


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

I plugged the 4 pin power connector into the device with no noises. 

However when I plug in the 40-pin IDE connector the noises start again.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Ok, so you did find he right cable inside your computer. If so then it sounds like you are out of luck unless you resort to a company or computer store that can attempt data recovery. I thinkl WD also offers a service like this but you'd have to contact them directly for the details if any.


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## xiosen (Jul 3, 2008)

Thanks for your help everyone. Do you know of any good do it yourself data recovery lessons? I know thats probably not the best option but it is only chance for me without paying thousands.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Well the only home option in such as case to find the exact same hard drive and swap the circuit boards hoping thats where the issue is, but when it comes to the mechanical parts you need to resort to a professional recovery company.


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