0_0 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) Tripp Lite has a demo video on their page, scroll down to USB Hard Drive Adapters Demonstration. It's a 62MB mp4 video maybe it will help. Edited May 20, 2011 by gUiTaR_mIkE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Now, the reason this is confusing, it sounds like you're talking about the SATA cable, but you seem unsure what the SATA cable is - as far as I know there should not be 2 red cables on this adapter - only one and it's the SATA cable - one end should connect to the drive (assuming it's SATA), the other end should connect to the adapter. No, No, No, we've just established that the drive is NOT SATA, but the universal adapter kit, of course has a SATA cable (otherwise it wouldn't be universal) which is unused. The connection chain is DRIVE --> Universal adapter head (PATA side) --> USB cable --> working PC 100MB seems very small for a partition on any hard drive, unless it's a boot loader partition. It's a strange size and odd that nothing is visible. I would expect to see at least some folders, even if system files are hidden. As Tarun says, it's a bit difficult, without being able to interact directly, but I think a screenshot of what can bee seen of the drive properties in Disk Management would be useful. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0_0 Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 No, No, No, we've just established that the drive is NOT SATA, but the universal adapter kit, of course has a SATA cable (otherwise it wouldn't be universal) Geez Louise loosen up the girdle - I removed the confusing info from my post, it's all yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 Now, the reason this is confusing, it sounds like you're talking about the SATA cable, but you seem unsure what the SATA cable is - as far as I know there should not be 2 red cables on this adapter - only one and it's the SATA cable - one end should connect to the drive (assuming it's SATA), the other end should connect to the adapter. No, No, No, we've just established that the drive is NOT SATA, but the universal adapter kit, of course has a SATA cable (otherwise it wouldn't be universal) which is unused. The connection chain is DRIVE --> Universal adapter head (PATA side) --> USB cable --> working PC 100MB seems very small for a partition on any hard drive, unless it's a boot loader partition. It's a strange size and odd that nothing is visible. I would expect to see at least some folders, even if system files are hidden. As Tarun says, it's a bit difficult, without being able to interact directly, but I think a screenshot of what can bee seen of the drive properties in Disk Management would be useful. . here is a screenshot of Disk Management Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Ah, it's as I thought. We are NOT looking at the USB connected drive. Basically we are looking at Drive 0, which is the 1-Terabyte hard drive installed in a Hewlett-Packard computer. It has three partitions on that single drive, which are labelled: SYSTEM, OS and HP_RECOVERY. If your old drive shows up in Disk Management, it will be like Disk 1, 2, 3 or 4, which is to say, "Removable". Maybe it will be Disk 5? Since your old drive is a Seagate Barracuda, perhaps it's best to change direction and use a Seagate tool to look at it. Please go to http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools and download SeaTools for Windows Please download and install SeaTools for Windows in accordance with the instructions given by Seagate on the download page. Before using, I strongly advise reading the User Guide. This can be downloaded separately as an Adobe PDF file. There are download links on the web page given above (click on Learn More) and again on the download page (click on Download User Guide) or just use the following link: http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/seatools/user%20guides/SeaTools_for_Windows.EN.pdf IMPORTANT: You are looking for a drive that shows up under the USB-1394 section, NOT under the PATA-SATA section in SeaTools. See the screenshot on page 4 of the User Guide. That's because the drive is (or should be) connected via a USB port. In the User Guide screenshot, that would be the FreeAgent or Toshiba drives. If there is nothing there, we have a problem: either the drive is not running, or it's not connected properly. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Here's a cropped copy of the screenshot I am referring to in my last post: The second and third drives are listed under USB-1394 because they are connected via USB (or FireWire, but that's not relevant). . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 I will download that item and get back to you. Thanks for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 A correction to my last post (#30) - your USB disk will probably not be shown as "Removable". Just because it appears as a "USB Mass Storage Device", does not automatically mean it is "Removable". It all depends on the adapter hardware. Flash drives usually are "Removable", hard drives usually are not "Removable". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 here is the printscreen of the scan completed by the Seagate tools for windows. I don't see where it found the usb drive. Am I missing screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 My old computer had two hard drives. I connected the 2nd hard drive which was the master drive on my old PC. When I plugged it into my new PC's USB it gave me the message "Installing Device Driver Hardware". I opened Windows Explorer and the USB drive wasn't visible. I then went to "disk management" to find the drive and it is there and has this information: "orginal Hard drive, Disk 5, Unknown, 19GB, Not initialized, 19.00 GB unallocated". Not sure what we need to do. I ran the seagate programs and it visible as you can see in the screen shot but I couldn't run any tests on it. Any suggestions are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Thanks for the screenshots. The first, for the Seagate drive, is not looking good at all, because the SeaTools software has failed to "see" the drive at all. That can only mean a faulty connection or a faulty (or dead) drive. Can you hear (or feel) that the drive is spinning at all? Touching the top with your fingertips can usually pick up the vibration of a spinning drive. Listening with your ear close to the top surface can usually hear it spinning. Even if signs of "life" can be detected, no response could also mean that the driver control electronics (on the green circuit board usually visible on the underside) has failed. The second drive, the Maxtor, is more promising because it has been detected by SeaTools. We can see that it is a Maxtor 6L020J1, so it will say something like Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X on the label. It's a 20GB Ultra-ATA/133 (i.e. a PATA) drive. Giving a result of 19GB sounds about right. It all depends on whether a GB is 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes (as used by Windows) or if it is 1000 * 1000 * 1000 bytes (as used by drive manufacturers). I do not know why SeaTools should say "Test unavailable". At least one of the Basic Tests should be available once the drive has been selected in the check-box (on the left). However, the Short Drive Self Test may not be available as this drive is connected via USB. However, "19GB, Not initialized, 19.00 GB unallocated" suggests that Windows thinks the drive is empty. This could be either because it actually is empty or simply because the very first sector of the disk (holding the Master Boot Record, or MBR) is corrupted, or some other form of corruption. Only further tests will determine what the situation is and it is very difficult indeed to carry those out remotely, through a forum. If the data is very important it may be best to ship the drive(s) off to a specialist data recovery company. The level of investement needed by those, including use of a "clean room" to disassemble the drive, means that their prices are not cheap. Otherwise, I too, am open to suggestions. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted May 28, 2011 Administrator Share Posted May 28, 2011 I admit, I find myself wondering what the jumpers are set to on these hard drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 The data is important but not critical. I will continue trying to access it and will remain open to suggestions. Would connecting it directing to my new PC's motherboard change anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 I admit, I find myself wondering what the jumpers are set to on these hard drives. Good point. Both Maxtor and Seagate drives have four pairs of jumper pins between the data and power connectors. To set the drive as Master, the jumper should be set on the pair of pins nearest the data connector (= furthest from the power connector). On the Maxtor drive that's referred to as the DS jumper pair. In the illustration below, that's the top-left of the six alternatives shown: That should be correct for both drives. Incidentally, the Maxtor product manual (which took ages to find) shows the drive in the upside-down position. I've never understood why they do that. Please let me know if either drive is jumpered differently. They might, for example, be set in the CS position. I am doubtful that connecting direct to the motherboard will help in any way. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 here are pictures of the drives. this is the master (19GB). next post has pic of other drive. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Slave drive. see prior post for other drive. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Those drives are jumpered as you say: Master has the master jumper set, slave has no jumper, which means slave. It is just possible that the PATA/SATA--USB adapter cannot "see" a drive set to slave (=with no jumper), so it is worth putting a jumper on the slave drive just for the purposes of testing. You can "borrow" the jumper off the master drive and place it on the slave drive in exactly the same position for testing purposes. Those pins are at a 2mm pitch and the jumper is a spring-grip that just pulls straight off using a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers. It needs very little pressure to push it on the other drive, just the tip of a fingernail is sufficient to push it over the pins. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Thanks. I will give it a try and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Those drives are jumpered as you say: Master has the master jumper set, slave has no jumper, which means slave. It is just possible that the PATA/SATA--USB adapter cannot "see" a drive set to slave (=with no jumper), so it is worth putting a jumper on the slave drive just for the purposes of testing. You can "borrow" the jumper off the master drive and place it on the slave drive in exactly the same position for testing purposes. Those pins are at a 2mm pitch and the jumper is a spring-grip that just pulls straight off using a pair of tweezers or needle-nosed pliers. It needs very little pressure to push it on the other drive, just the tip of a fingernail is sufficient to push it over the pins. . I replaced that jumper you mentioned to the slave drive and I was able to access my old files. I think the master drive is dead because when I connect the power cable to it I don't hear any noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted May 29, 2011 Administrator Share Posted May 29, 2011 Making a backup of the old slave drive should be very easy. As easy as making a folder and copying everything to that folder. Were you able to feel any vibration or similar activity from the master drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Making a backup of the old slave drive should be very easy. As easy as making a folder and copying everything to that folder. Were you able to feel any vibration or similar activity from the master drive? No vibration, I guess maybe it got fried with that power surge that killed my old PC? I will reconnect later to give it one more go. I am backing my files as we speak. taking a bit long. I guess I don't have it connected to a 2.0 usb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Tarun Posted May 29, 2011 Administrator Share Posted May 29, 2011 Or the old file system is FAT32 instead of NTFS (a possibility) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddie57 Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Or the old file system is FAT32 instead of NTFS (a possibility) I tried to reconnect the old master drive to my new PC. The drive is working (I can hear it running) but I am getting the message that the drive is not recognized. Any options? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0_0 Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I tried to reconnect the old master drive to my new PC. The drive is working (I can hear it running) but I am getting the message that the drive is not recognized. Any options? Where is the old Master on the cable inside your PC, if it's the Slave position remove the jumper, and double check the cable at the drive - is the cable properly seated? There should be Primary Master/Slave and Secondary Master/Slave IDE connectors on your motherboard, locate the drive correctly on the cable. You may need to check the BIOS settings, if your old settings are Type [user Defined] (or some variation), set the hard drive detection to Type [Automatic]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_A Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I replaced that jumper you mentioned to the slave drive and I was able to access my old files. I think the master drive is dead because when I connect the power cable to it I don't hear any noise. Wow! If I've read this topic correctly, it was the slave drive (the Seagate) that you had all your working files on. So does that mean you have finally had succes in recovering your working files? If so, it's worth noting for everyone's future reference that at least one brand of PATA-USB adapter doesn't work if the drive is set to slave. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.