confusing hard drive problems

[tonimajmun2001]

First of all, sorry for the wall of thext but this issue is so wierd that if i dont explain it in detail then it wont help anyone help me so PLEASE, PLEASE read everything cause i explained everything i did before each of this wierd issues started happening

 

So here is what happened and all wierd symtoms i got

 

i punched the table that laptop was on with my fist and once hit laptop with palm of my hand but not really too hard and everything continued normaly and after few minutes windows reported some bad blocks in event viewer

 

I put my ear on hdd to hear if head was maybe touching and damaging platters but no wierd sounds, after some minutes windows crashed and i tried to shut it down but had to force turn off laptop during shutdown because it froze and after that windows wont boot

 

I take out hdd and put it in external usb enclosure and connect it to my old windows 7 laptop and as soon as i connect it it shows up as drive with letter G and asks me to format and i click canel then open disk managment and see that all smaller partitions created by windows were here and are fine but biggest partition with all my files shows up as RAW filesystem

 

I once had usb hdd that i unplugged while it was writing files and it also showed as RAW after that but i was able to read it on linux

So after i rememberd that, i tried this one on linux too and when i connected to usb at first nothing, then i unplugged it and plugged it in again and then it shows up as 999gb volumen and all my files were there and everything i tested was accesable. i even watched some videos to confirm they were not corrupted

 

After that i also tried it on my smart tv that runs some sort of os based on linux and after a bit tv recognized it too even tough filesystem was raw and i was able to watch videos and view photos on tv

 

I decided to check for physical damage by running hd sentinel surface READ test on this drive and it found 33 bad blocks and rest was fine even after running it two times (hard disk sentinel results) but even tough hd sentinel has option to show what files and file paths are located on what blocks and sectors it didnt show anything on any block even tough files are there, i guess its because windows cant recognize raw partition

 

Now i left disk overnight to think if i should give it to data recovery company or just backup it myself trough linux since it looks like most of these files will be recoverable by copying them using linux (ubuntu)

 

Now here is interesting thing, today i plugged it in again on linux and got nothing and had to plug it in few times to finally get some access, same when trying on tv again

 

Sometimes when i plug it in my main data partition is shown as unknown (screenshot) with all other partitions perfectly visible and sometimes it would appear pereftly fine (screenshot) and mount without problem but also sometimes it wont mount even if it shows up fine and will just return back to unknown

 

I tried using Rstudio and here is more wierd things

So here is how this disk shows up in windows and device manager (LINK) and when i click cancel on format windows (LINK)

Now here is the view in r-studio, this WD 10JPCX is my drive conected using usb enclosure, there are few logical drives and partitions (mainly those created by windows when it was first installed to this drive) but our main suspect here is drive with letter G:, and as you can see there is a small arrow for opening dropdown menu on drive with letter G: (here is link to photo) when clicking on that arrow dropdown menu opens and allows me to choose disk with just letter G: or Basic Data Partition, when G: is selected there is nothing in file system column and size is 930.14GB (this is 1TB hard drive) here is photo

Here is error i get when i select G: and then click open drive files, also notice that when G: is selected there is nothing in file system field, its just empty

When Basic Data Partition is selected instade of G: then in filesystem field NTFS appears and upon clicking open drive files after few minutes and some errors in the log my files appear and can be recovered (photo1) (photo2)

 

To test if files really work i opened random video and tried playing it and it played without problem

 

What could have caused it to start acting like this and mess up partitions so that even linux now wont open it most of the time, as i already said, after i damaged hard disk it was still being recognized in linux and properly mounted and working on both my linux PC and tv that runs linux based software, linux and tv started seeing my data partition unknown only after i ran hard disk sentinel surface read test linux and tv started having hard time opening drive

 

So if my wall of text confused you let me quickly recap what exactly happened and in what order

 

HDD was fine then i hit table and laptop with my fist wihch caused windows to crash few minutes later, then i take out hdd and put it in usb enclosure and connect it to another laptop to see if it will read my files but it only saw disk partition as raw in disk menagment but my TV and linux (ubuntu) were still able to access drive and all its files without problem even if windows couldnt and were showing it as RAW

Later i ran hard disk sentinel surface READ ONLY test twice (well actually one and half time cause i had to cancel first test because i needed to reboot computer) and both times i got 33 bad blocks and rest was okay, only after finishing hard disk sentininel read test only then hard disk now shows uknown partition in llinux and no longer works on tv either but it used to work on both tv and ubuntu before hard disk sentinel test

Now only way to get access it is to unplug and replug it on linux until i get lucky and it recognizes partition properly instade of unknow or by going to R studio to and clicking on logical drive with letter G: then clicking basic data partition and then open drive files

 

I know that initial issue of drive having bad blocks and being visible as RAW instade of ntfs in windows was caused by impact when i hit my fist against table but fact is that it was mounting fine on both my tv and linux on computer, it stopped mounting properly after hard disk sentinel test but it was read only test so i dont understand how it could have affected it

During test i made sure to put my ear on hdd from time to time so i can hear if heads are scraching platters but i never heard anything wierd and after so many hours of testing if heads were scraching platters then by now disk would be totally ruined but it isnt so that probably means heads are fine and are not damaging platters

 

 

 

I know many data recovery companies say to unplug disk and not use it as soon as issues start to avoid overwriting data or heads scraching platters but as i already said, this disk has gone trough 16 hours of hard disk sentinel testing and many more hours of me messing around trying to access data and if heads were damaging platters during that time it would be completley ruined by now and its not, r studio can read it and copy files so that probably proves that no physical damage is occuring by me running test and copying some data from it but again i cant be 100% sure

 

 

 

Whar do you think is my best option, is there a way to make linux at lest read it again

Do you think i did additional damage by running surface scan (again i never heard any wierd noise while it was running surface scan so heads probably werent touching platters)

Do you think it would be safe to backup entier disk using rstudio to another disk or do you think that would do more damage, if r studio stumbles upon any files that are on damaged sector is it just gonna copy it damaged or is it gonna at least skip it or somehow let me know so i dont have to go through thounsands of files checking them if they are good or corrupted after backup

 

Is there ANY way to see what files are on damaged blocks and sectors so i can at least know what i might possibly loose forever, i have over 5000 txt files with varous thing saved in them in my documents folder and tons of large iso files and rar and zip archives so going trough all of them to check if they were affected by sector damage will be huge pain in the ass

 

My current plan is this so plz tell me what do you think

So im thinking about getting new HDD and using rstudio (or linux if i can get this drive to mount again in linux, that would be perferable) to backup everything that can be backed up (basicly every single file that rstudio sees) and then store somewhere safe old damaged hdd so in case i find some corrupted or missing files in my backup later on that rstudio couldnt recover then send the drive to professional recevory company

What do you think about this idea

 

I would really like to avoid having to pay for data recovery if possible, i hoped i could just copy everything using linux since drive was being mounted fine in linux but after hd sentinel surface test even linux wont mount it anymore, only rstudio can copy my files now and i dont really know how reliable rstudio is....

Plus i am not the only one using this laptop, entier family uses it including my 15yo son and i once fucking caught him sending dick pics to girls from his class on this laptop and some girls from his class were even sending him nude pictures and he kep them on this computer, i was extremly angry when i caught him and made him delete everything

He claims that he no longer saved any of that shit on this computer but i dont really trust him and if he is lying and some data recovry company finds that then i might have trouble with police...

It boggles my mind how todays kids dont even think about what they are doing and what kind of problems it can cause....

 

Btw, logs of hard disk sentinel surface read only test are in attachments

 

Thanks in advance

20191023-115224_R_WDC_WD10JPCX-24UE4T0_WD-WX41A76PKX92_01.01A01.csv blocks.txt

[Electronics Wizardy]

FIrst thing with a bad hdd is make a image with ddrescue or similar tools, don't try to do anything to the orginal drive. It seems like what was done just made it worse.

 

Since it doesn't show up and clicks, its a hardware problem and there isn't much you can do without sending to a data recovery service. Id just not use it and ship it off to them if you cared about the data. Touching it will just make it worse.

[SpookyCitrus]

Don't do any more scans or testing, don't even leave it plugged in. Drive is physically worn out or damaged there are bad sectors and running it any longer will make it worse. Unplug it completely from the system and if data is absolutely essential send it in to Data Recovery Specialists. Like Gilware, or some of the others just know if they can recover the data it will be fairly pricey.

[tonimajmun2001]

9 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

FIrst thing with a bad hdd is make a image with ddrescue or similar tools, don't try to do anything to the orginal drive. It seems like what was done just made it worse.

 

Since it doesn't show up and clicks, its a hardware problem and there isn't much you can do without sending to a data recovery service. Id just not use it and ship it off to them if you cared about the data. Touching it will just make it worse.

Its not cliking, like i said in original post absolutley zero wierd sound, it sounds like any other working hdd, not a signle click or head scraching noise and it actually does kind of show up, at first windows just saw three small partitions properly and as ntfs (the ones thatare always created automaticaly when you install windows) and fourth parition (the one where all my files are) shows up as RAW in windows instade of ntfs but on linux i it was able to show up and mount even the RAW partition (the one thats corrupted) and i was able to copy files and watch my videos and listen music just fine and all files were there, same thing with my tv, my smart tv could see it without problem even tough it shows up as raw in windows

 

The only problem is that after running that hard disk sentinel surface read only scan it stopped properly loading in linux, now instade in linux it shows as unknown partition but it worked before that, maybe i managed to fuck up partition table somehow

 

But as you can see mentioned in my first post rstudio is still able to read it and copy files, thats why i asked if that might be good idea to avoid paying fro data recovery since rstdio can still see files and copy them

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, tonimajmun2001 said:

Its not cliking, like i said in original post absolutley zero wierd sound, it sounds like any other working hdd, not a signle click or head scraching noise and it actually does kind of show up, at first windows just saw three small partitions properly and as ntfs (the ones thatare always created automaticaly when you install windows) and fourth parition (the one where all my files are) shows up as RAW in windows instade of ntfs but on linux i it was able to show up and mount even the RAW partition (the one thats corrupted) and i was able to copy files and watch my videos and listen music just fine and all files were there, same thing with my tv, my smart tv could see it without problem even tough it shows up as raw in windows

 

The only problem is that after running that hard disk sentinel surface read only scan it stopped properly loading in linux, now instade in linux it shows as unknown partition but it worked before that, maybe i managed to fuck up partition table somehow

 

But as you can see mentioned in my first post rstudio is still able to read it and copy files, thats why i asked if that might be good idea to avoid paying fro data recovery since rstdio can still see files and copy them

Can you make a image then? Try making an image in ddrescue. Dont' try to run rstudio on the direct hdd.

 

But really, if this data is import stop trying stuff on your own, your just making it worse.

[tonimajmun2001]

13 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Don't do any more scans or testing, don't even leave it plugged in. Drive is physically worn out or damaged there are bad sectors and running it any longer will make it worse. Unplug it completely from the system and if data is absolutely essential send it in to Data Recovery Specialists. Like Gilware, or some of the others just know if they can recover the data it will be fairly pricey.

I know i should probably send it for recovery but software called rstudio can still see and access all files on it and copy them, do you think its worth giving it a chance to try and copy it with that and then if there are still files missing then i could send it to professionals

[Kilrah]

Doesn't change a thing. The fact it is not consistent, sometimes shows up sometimes not means something is seriously damaged. Each minute you run it increases the risk it will stop working at all, or damages sectors that were still good before.

[tonimajmun2001]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Can you make a image then? Try making an image in ddrescue. Dont' try to run rstudio on the direct hdd.

 

But really, if this data is import stop trying stuff on your own, your just making it worse.

I cold probably make an image, i will order new hdd to store the image and then i will try

What happens when ddrescue encounters bad sectors, does it copy them as is or does it skip them or just gets stuck, after all it has to have some bad sectors

 

Btw, any idea why linux and smart tv could properly see and mount that partition even after it started showing up as raw and not loading in windows and then after read only test linux cant load that partition either, only thing that can now read that partition is rstudio and probably just 1:1 image with ddrescue software that you entioned

[tonimajmun2001]

4 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Doesn't change a thing. The fact it is not consistent, sometimes shows up sometimes not means something is seriously damaged. Each minute you run it increases the risk it will stop working at all, or damages sectors that were still good before.

If heads are touching platter and damaging it, is that usually easy to hear?

[Kilrah]

ddrescue skips bad sectors pretty quickly to move on to recover as much good data as quickly as possible. Once it's gotten everything it could it comes back to the bad sectors, insists a bit more and completes the files if it manages to read some.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, tonimajmun2001 said:

I cold probably make an image, i will order new hdd to store the image and then i will try

Just store the image as a file on anouther system. Then you can do things like snapshots so the orginal image is always there if some method of recovering the image doesn't work.

 

1 minute ago, tonimajmun2001 said:

What happens when ddrescue encounters bad sectors, does it copy them as is or does it skip them or just gets stuck, after all it has to have some bad sectors

Skips bad sectors, then goes back and retrys them later.

 

1 minute ago, tonimajmun2001 said:

test linux cant load that partition eithe

Can it see the drive in /dev?

 

2 minutes ago, tonimajmun2001 said:

Btw, any idea why linux and smart tv could properly see and mount that partition even after it started showing up as raw and not loading in windows and then after read only

Not fully sure, but probably the drive isn't sending a correct responce, and linux + windows will both assume the drive is working correctly, and will drop the drive if there are too many errors.

[Kilrah]

2 minutes ago, tonimajmun2001 said:

If heads are touching platter and damaging it, is that usually easy to hear?

If heads were still touching your drive would have been grinding and stopped working at all long ago.

 

They likely touched when it was hit, caused some damage, and spread some dust that is now contamining and damaging other areas.

[tonimajmun2001]

12 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Just store the image as a file on anouther system. Then you can do things like snapshots so the orginal image is always there if some method of recovering the image doesn't work.

 

Skips bad sectors, then goes back and retrys them later.

 

Can it see the drive in /dev?

 

Not fully sure, but probably the drive isn't sending a correct responce, and linux + windows will both assume the drive is working correctly, and will drop the drive if there are too many errors.

It seems its visible in /dev (this is on bootable ubuntu from cd)

 

Here in attachments are pictures of what i see

 

Other system only has 300gb hdd so i defentily have to oreder new hdd for image because i dont have space anywhere right now

 

 

 

As you can see all other partitions are fine when vieweing on both linux and windows only the largest one turned into RAW on widnows but was still working fine on linux and smart tv until after surface test, maybe i damaged partition index when i forcibly canceled first surface scan so thats maybe why it wont show on linux anymore

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, tonimajmun2001 said:

Other system only has 300gb hdd so i defentily have to oreder new hdd for image because i dont have space anywhere right now

Id get a large external hdd and put the image on there.

 

I wouldn't touch that drive till you get the external hdd to copy it too.

[tonimajmun2001]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id get a large external hdd and put the image on there.

 

I wouldn't touch that drive till you get the external hdd to copy it too.

Yup wont be touching it anymore for now

 

Btw, when i saw parition turned into RAW on windows i got the idea to check if tv and linux can still read it because i had that happen already few years ago

I once had external hdd that i unplugged while it was writing some files and then thing just started showing up as RAW in windows and i once mistakenly connected it to linux pc and thing just worked without problem even tough windows always reported it as raw and wanted to format it

 

That thing still lives as my non important stuff drive for linux and its to this day still raw in windows but perfect in linux

 

Exactly same thing happened here with thiis one after that imapct, for windows it is RAW and for linux and smart tv worked perefctly until after performing that surface sacen, after that rstudio is last thing to be able to access files

 

Verry wierd situatuion lol

[SpookyCitrus]

If you have another HDD you can transfer the info to, GetDataBack or Roadkill Rawcopy can usually get it for you and transfer it to the new drive.

[tonimajmun2001]

12 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

If you have another HDD you can transfer the info to, GetDataBack or Roadkill Rawcopy can usually get it for you and transfer it to the new drive.

Thanks for suggestion but i think i will first make complete clone image like electronics wizardy has said and then recover my files from that image to avoid using and torturing original hard drive

[tonimajmun2001]

Thanks everyone for help, i will try to make image using ddrescue as soon as possible and then work from there

 

And if anyone ever finds out what can possibly cause such a wierd behaviour with partitions and one os reading it and one not please let me know, thats the most interesting thing to me right now and would defeintley like to find out

 

 

Physical damage could of course do that but it still doesnt explain it fully because that partition changed from ntfs to raw in windows the moment hdd sufered damage but despite that parition was still seen fine and mounted fine in linux and smart tv even while showing as raw and unformated in windows and then later stopped in linux and smart tv too, its really strange that it didnt work on windows but did on linux and smart tv (until it stopped after that scan)

 

Anyway thanks everyone for all your suggestion and help

 

For now i will leave that hdd alone until i can clone it and then after cloning it i will store it somewhere safe so i can send it to some data recovery company in case i dont succsed getting my files from clone image