HDD disconnects whenever I try to use it.

[Poraf]

Hi, I'm having this weird issue with my HDD that whenever I try to use it in any way or form it disconnects and reconnects from my PC.

The issue started about a month ago but it has gotten progressively worse the past week. Before that I was still able to use it and even play games from the drive. But the past week and a half it has gotten to the point that it's become unusable, I can't even run a disk check or scan because it disconnects as soon as anything is done with it. I've also gotten an occasional "UNEXPECTED STORE EXCEPTION" and "KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR" BSoD, but these have not been too frequent, I don't know if these have anything to do with this issue at all though. I was thinking about replacing the hard drive with an ssd but I can't even move the files I need. However my other SSD is working fine.

 

How should I approach this issue? All I've done so far is reseat the ram and reconnect/swap the SATA ports on the motherboard. I don't know how I should go with this, I didn't want to do anything drastic or spend too much money before I know how to move forward with this.

 

 

[FI Fheonix]

6 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Hi, I'm having this weird issue with my HDD that whenever I try to use it in any way or form it disconnects and reconnects from my PC.

The issue started about a month ago but it has gotten progressively worse the past week. Before that I was still able to use it and even play games from the drive. But the past week and a half it has gotten to the point that it's become unusable, I can't even run a disk check or scan because it disconnects as soon as anything is done with it. I've also gotten an occasional "UNEXPECTED STORE EXCEPTION" and "KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR" BSoD, but these have not been too frequent, I don't know if these have anything to do with this issue at all though. I was thinking about replacing the hard drive with an ssd but I can't even move the files I need. However my other SSD is working fine.

 

How should I approach this issue? All I've done so far is reseat the ram and reconnect/swap the SATA ports on the motherboard. I don't know how I should go with this, I didn't want to do anything drastic or spend too much money before I know how to move forward with this.

 

 

You can try chaning the USB 3.0 port to USB 2.0 port. If that doesn't work try using data recovery software to recover the lost data on the drive then reformat the Disk.

[Poraf]

Sorry, I'm not sure I quite understand, should I try taking out my HDD and try connecting it via a USB port and see if it connects properly there? Right now, the drive is being recognized by Windows but the moment I try to do anything with the files it disconnects/reconnects.

[DrMacintosh]

Try a different USB port on your computer and a different USB adapter/enclosure. Download Crystal Disk Info and see if you can get a health reading off the drive. I predict the drive is about to die though.  

[Godlygamer23]

15 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Sorry, I'm not sure I quite understand, should I try taking out my HDD and try connecting it via a USB port and see if it connects properly there? Right now, the drive is being recognized by Windows but the moment I try to do anything with the files it disconnects/reconnects.

If you read the SMART data off the drive using CrystalDiskInfo, or something similar, what shows up?

[Poraf]

9 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

If you read the SMART data off the drive using CrystalDiskInfo, or something similar, what shows up?

 

12 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Try a different USB port on your computer and a different USB adapter/enclosure. Download Crystal Disk Info and see if you can get a health reading off the drive. I predict the drive is about to die though.  

I've checked with Crystal Disk Info and this is what shows up right now.

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, Poraf said:

I've checked with Crystal Disk Info and this is what shows up right now.

Is it possible for you to put it in an enclosure and connect through USB? Have you tried switching SATA cables as well? 

[DrMacintosh]

8 minutes ago, Poraf said:

I've checked with Crystal Disk Info and this is what shows up right now.

This is very good, likely the issue is related to your cable, enclosure, or some other link in the chain. Your drive appears healthy. Replace said enclosure/sata cable/etc. and connect the drive, possibly to a different system and see if you can run check disk. Just because the drive is physically healthy does not mean the data on it is. 

[Poraf]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

This is very good, likely the issue is related to your cable, enclosure, or some other link in the chain. Your drive appears healthy. Replace said enclosure/sata cable/etc. and connect the drive, possibly to a different system and see if you can run check disk. Just because the drive is physically healthy does not mean the data on it is. 

 

10 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Is it possible for you to put it in an enclosure and connect through USB? Have you tried switching SATA cables as well? 

I don't have a spare SATA cable or USB enclosure right now, but I'll try and get one asap. I'll update you guys as soon as I get one. But for now what should I do? Should I leave it as is? Or disable the drive in devmgm or take it out completely?

[DrMacintosh]

21 minutes ago, Poraf said:

But for now what should I do?

I would take the drive out of your system to prevent any system instability or further potential damage until a new cable/enclosure arrives. 

[Poraf]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:40 AM, DrMacintosh said:

This is very good, likely the issue is related to your cable, enclosure, or some other link in the chain. Your drive appears healthy. Replace said enclosure/sata cable/etc. and connect the drive, possibly to a different system and see if you can run check disk. Just because the drive is physically healthy does not mean the data on it is. 

 

On 4/4/2023 at 5:31 AM, Godlygamer23 said:

Is it possible for you to put it in an enclosure and connect through USB? Have you tried switching SATA cables as well? 

Sorry I'm late, but I swapped out the SATA cable on the hard drive for a new one but unfortunately the issue still persists.

[Godlygamer23]

42 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Sorry I'm late, but I swapped out the SATA cable on the hard drive for a new one but unfortunately the issue still persists.

I wonder if the controller is at fault. It might work long enough to read SMART data off of it, and that portion might show to be "good" or "healthy", but that data is not including how the circuit board components are doing. 

Try running the Western Digital Dashboard utility, one to see if you can run the tests at all, and two, to see what kind of errors it produces.

https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/10346#gs=eyJndWlkZUlEIjozMDgsInF1ZXN0aW9uSUQiOjEsInJlc3BvbnNlSUQiOjE1LCJndWlkZVNlc3Npb24iOiJUQVVqQlUzcSIsInNlc3Npb25JRCI6ImFIamhCVTNxIn0.

[Poraf]

6 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I wonder if the controller is at fault. It might work long enough to read SMART data off of it, and that portion might show to be "good" or "healthy", but that data is not including how the circuit board components are doing. 

Try running the Western Digital Dashboard utility, one to see if you can run the tests at all, and two, to see what kind of errors it produces.

https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/10346#gs=eyJndWlkZUlEIjozMDgsInF1ZXN0aW9uSUQiOjEsInJlc3BvbnNlSUQiOjE1LCJndWlkZVNlc3Npb24iOiJUQVVqQlUzcSIsInNlc3Npb25JRCI6ImFIamhCVTNxIn0.

Hi, is there a utility app I can use for Seagate instead, my hdd is a barracuda 1TB.

[Godlygamer23]

26 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Hi, is there a utility app I can use for Seagate instead, my hdd is a barracuda 1TB.

I apologize. I was thinking of Western Digital. 

Seagate does have an equivalent called SeaTools. 

[Poraf]

3 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I apologize. I was thinking of Western Digital. 

Seagate does have an equivalent called SeaTools. 

Alright thanks. I ran the "self test" on Seatools and it marks the drive as passed though. There is something on the security tab when checking the drive details that says the drive is "Frozen"? Does this have anything to do with the issue or might this be completely unrelated?

 

 

 

 

Edit: On another attempt at a "Short generic test" it disconnects early or halfway through the test. I'm in the middle of running a "Long Generic Test" right now and somehow it isn't disconnected yet.

[kokosnh]

Why is the OP talking about a internal SATA HDD, and you guys are talking about external USB one, in a USB enclosure, What’s going on?

[Poraf]

Update: the hard drive sometimes passes the Long Generic Test and sometimes it disconnects halfway through. I can't manage to run the fix on SeaTools since it also cuts halfway through. I also changed the power cables and the issue is still the same.

 

I'm kind of lost now, could this be caused by malware? Should I just bite the bullet and try to format the disk? I can still transfer small files but it seems that trying to access or even view any large file size (about several GB) disconnects the drive.

[Godlygamer23]

9 hours ago, kokosnh said:

Why is the OP talking about a internal SATA HDD, and you guys are talking about external USB one, in a USB enclosure, What’s going on?

To be fair, I did not talk about that. I did suggest it as an option though, but I agree. Even if it wasn't clearly stated, it could be inferred that it's an internal drive.

[Godlygamer23]

49 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Update: the hard drive sometimes passes the Long Generic Test and sometimes it disconnects halfway through. I can't manage to run the fix on SeaTools since it also cuts halfway through. I also changed the power cables and the issue is still the same.

 

I'm kind of lost now, could this be caused by malware? Should I just bite the bullet and try to format the disk? I can still transfer small files but it seems that trying to access or even view any large file size (about several GB) disconnects the drive.

I doubt it's caused by malware. You can certainly try scanning your PC for malware, but I doubt it's software related. It seems like it's hardware related - probably the logic board, and I'd probably point to the controller as the root fault on the board, but it could be something else on the board that's at fault - cache perhaps, but I don't know if that would cause the drive to just instantly drop off. It might hang, or you would have corrupted data.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Godlygamer23

[Poraf]

48 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I doubt it's caused by malware. You can certainly try scanning your PC for malware, but I doubt it's software related. It seems like it's hardware related - probably the logic board, and I'd probably point to the controller as the root fault on the board, but it could be something else on the board that's at fault - cache perhaps, but I don't know if that would cause the drive to just instantly drop off. It might hang, or you would have corrupted data.

Alright thanks. If the controller is the likely issue, I assume formatting the disk won't have any effect? And if not, is this still fixable on my own or should I take it to a specialist?

[Godlygamer23]

3 minutes ago, Poraf said:

Alright thanks. If the controller is the likely issue, I assume formatting the disk won't have any effect? And if not, is this still fixable on my own or should I take it to a specialist?

You'll have to take it to a shop that works on hard drives. You can try formatting it, but that might make it worse, and now you'll lose your data.

[Poraf]

Alright, got it. Still, thanks very much for all these info. I'll probably take it to a shop and hope for the best.