drive... recovery process/services

Fri Jun 20 12:27:46 UTC 2025

On 6/20/25 07:02, bruce wrote:
> ps.
>
> when i say "old" the drive is 5-4 years old 1tb 2.5 internal
>
> bruce

I appreciate the info, but that is old enough that everything

I've written s/b applicable. A 1T that old was bleeding edge

stuff in a 2.5" form factor. Possibly with more than one platter

in it. That would also likely have 4 heads, stuffing all that in

a 2.5" form factor would not be as dependable as a single

head design.  I personally am in favor of removing the

mechanical stuff, putting in SSD's with no moving parts.

The sweet spot for spinning rust here, is the single disk

250Gb 3.5" drive, I do have one of those with over 100k

spinning hours on it.  Its in one of my 2 milling machines.

> On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 6:59 AM bruce <badouglas at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Gene.
>>
>> The issue is, the drive is in the "insignia" it's attached to the new
>> test linux system via usb.
>>
>> This works with other 2.5" drives. With the error one, no response.
>>
>> Now, as a curiosity, I did the same thing with a windows/usb and with
>> the insignia with/without drive in the dock slot, got diff information
>> in the "disk management" app.  it may have been drive id data.
>>
>> Also, the drive/dock slot light was lit on the insignia when drive inserted.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 6:42 AM gene heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> wrote:
>>> On 6/20/25 05:36, bruce wrote:
>>>> Hi All.
>>>>
>>>> This continues the issue/problem of the drive having the "no bootable
>>>> device" error.
>>> Then next thing is to determine if the drive is spinning, which may be
>>> done by touching its frame with a long screwdriver while listening by
>>> sticking the handle in your ear, using the screwdriver for a
>>> stethoscope. You should be able to hear a faint humming sound from a
>>> spinning rust drive, which I assume this old drive to be.  It may be
>>> difficult to do this while in the old computer but it could also be done
>>> while plugged into the insignia via its usb cable.  Ideal if  you do
>>> this while powering it up. You should hear it spin up, then do a couple
>>> seeks to calibrate track zero, if all is well. If you hear it seek many
>>> times and the data is important, seek a repair/recovery firm, either the
>>> head has fallen off or the logic board has failed.
>>>
>>> If no seeking sounds, I'd just plug in an SSD and reinstall a recent
>>> noble, You will be impressed by how much faster that old computer feels,
>>> as small data read/write speeds will be at least 5x what the spinning
>>> rust drive could do. On half or less the power input.  If the data is
>>> important, then send the drive to a recovery service, get a StarTech usb
>>> drive adaptor and use that to copy the recovered drives data back to the
>>> old machines new SSD. I've had other brands of usb adaptors fail, but
>>> the StarTech Just Works. Good luck!
>>>
>>>> If one has a drive in this situation, where when inserted into the
>>>> "insignia" drive dock, the drive doesn't appear, how do you even begin
>>>> to "see" the device at all. And then how do you go from there.
>>>>
>>>> I'm asking about all of this, as it relates to the operation of ubuntu
>>>> for the person that might run into this problem!!
>>>>
>>>> And while it is "easy" to say -- try A, or try B, and then maybe a
>>>> data recovery service, have you looked for "data recovery", 'scam" on
>>>> google!!
>>>>
>>>> It's better to be prepared to have as much of an understanding as
>>>> possible before talking to a "service" that you have no clue about
>>>> other than what you may have seen online. And, it's not as though you
>>>> can make a copy of the drive that's having issues!
>>>>
>>>> So, I'm trying to get into the depth of -- how does one, (even if the
>>>> resource has a lab, etc) -- how do you start to get the drive to show
>>>> the data? I've yet to see anything online, other than - "we use
>>>> magic", and we've done this for a long time"..
>>>>
>>>> So, if you don't mind, if you have skills in this area, if you're
>>>> curious (as you might want to know, just in case), please add your
>>>> information, or any service you've used that's worked, or failed.
>>>>
>>>> thanks all!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 12:45 AM gene heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> wrote:
>>>>> On 6/19/25 20:05, bruce wrote:
>>>>>> the 2.5" drive in the original centos was plug-in,  no cables.  using the
>>>>>> drive with insignia device, fresh usb interface cable provided by insignia.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I know it works as a different test dive works correctly.
>>>>> Rules my idea out then, so it does sound as if the drive has failed. I had
>>>>>
>>>>> a pair of 2T 3.5" seagates do that at only 10 days from 1st powerup 3 yrs
>>>>>
>>>>> ago.  Simply disappeared from the ends of 2 new cables.  Almost all drives
>>>>>
>>>>> at this site, are now 4T SSD's.  Around 9 of them, but 12 are powered up,
>>>>>
>>>>> they last longer when they aren't being power cycled. With continuous
>>>>>
>>>>> pwr, they can auto-correct their alpha hit errors for long periods of time.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sitting powered down, the errors accumulate until the drive dies.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can't recommend a data recovery, the last time I used one was around
>>>>>
>>>>> 27 years ago when a drive containing lots of  tv station ID gfx we didn't
>>>>>
>>>>> have backed up needed to be recovered, done successfully, they
>>>>>
>>>>> repaired the drives PCB, I think.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Jun 19, 2025, 8:01 PM gene heskett <gheskett at shentel.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 6/19/25 16:02, bruce wrote:
>>>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Got an old drive. In an old system, and when doing an off/on cycle,
>>>>>>>> got a "no bootable system" err.  Thats bad. Tried again, same thing.
>>>>>>>> Turned it off.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Got an Insignia dock device -- tested with another 2.5 drive, the test
>>>>>>>> box/Insignia showed files.
>>>>>>> Different data cable to drive when connected to the Insignia device?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Old one reddish magenta? Try a new cable, preferably not that same
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> brilliant red. Something in that dye causes the copper wire to oxidize,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> turning the metallic copper into rust colored dust, a lousy conductor
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Takes 3+ years.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> So tried the target 2.5" drive.  Nothing. The insignia did show drive
>>>>>>>> light being on.  But no data/usb to the box.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Any thoughts?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Any possible data recovery services you can recommend?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> thanks
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>>>>>>>      soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
>>>>>>> -Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
>>>>>>> If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
>>>>>>>      - Louis D. Brandeis
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> ubuntu-users mailing list
>>>>>>> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>>>>> Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
>>>>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>>>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
>>>>> --
>>>>> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>>>>>     soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
>>>>> -Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
>>>>> If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
>>>>>     - Louis D. Brandeis
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ubuntu-users mailing list
>>>>> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>>> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>>> Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
>>> --
>>> "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>>>    soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
>>> -Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
>>> If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
>>>    - Louis D. Brandeis
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ubuntu-users mailing list
>>> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
>>> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
  soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
  - Louis D. Brandeis