hot-swapping HDDs (pata not sata)

[cathodraytube]

OK i have a problem with a HDD ...i was moving/backing up large files back and forth from one comp to another getting redy to clean install my older HP insted of using its "recovery" feature.

i was just hot swapping the drives and connected/disconnected the drive from bothe computers like 5 times without any problems but now the drive quit working... it was working fine, i shut down the computer (the HP) and disconnected the drive and went to plug it into my new comp to get the last fiew drivers etc from it and to re partition/format it. when i went to plug it in again , it dident do anything , it dosent even spin up, it worked fine a second ago but now its compleatley dead and wont work oreven spin up in ether computer...

i was grounding myself each time i moved it and dident touch the bored on the bottom and i have no idia whats wrong...or why it quit working...

i was hot plugging the drive ...is this safe and if not is that what killed it?? or is it a mystery?

like i sead ,the drive is getting power...but it wont spin up on ether computer and the one small chip on it gets verry hot , too hot to touch...

why did my drive quit working all of the sudden??

[rkapsi]

(P)ATA is not hot plugging capable. I.e. you cannot remove or attach a (P)ATA device while the computer is turned on.

[Peerless]

was this drive in a hot swap box (I assume it was...)

I guess it would be worth a try to take the drive out of the hot swap tray, and mount it in your box, connect everything, and see if it works...hopefully you just fried connectors and such in the hot swap system, as opposed to killing the drive...

[cathodraytube]

mmm.....no its not in any box....i was just carrying the bare drive back and forth and plugging the ribbon and then the power plug into it while the computers were still on...and then going to device manager and "scan for new hardware changes" to get it to see it...

i guss i killed it myself.... this may be one of those things that you onley have to do once to learn the lesson...like sticking your finger in a plug...

but how could it have been damaged so badly that it now wont even spin up? and it worked like 5 times before??

did i surge it or somthing by plugging the power cable in while everything was on ??

why exactley did it break???

[rkapsi]

Jeez, PATA is not hot plugging capable (without extra hardware)! You had just luck with the 5 times.

"The current standard-based design of the PATA device connector is not capable of supporting hot-plug since its pin lengths are not staggered (Figure 3). This means that when an HDD is inserted into the host system slot, it will simultaneously connect power, ground and data signal contacts. This does not provide a "controlled" connection between the host system and HDD, and may damage the HDD."

[cathodraytube]

OK that link explains it verry well, thank you

this was the first (and now last) attemt i ever tride to hot plug a pata drive...im not going to try it again...

hopefuley i dident damage the motor ,heads or platters themselfs and i can get away with just buying/installing a new circut bored without buying a whole new drive...

thank you

[Peerless]

I gotta say d00d..you really hosed it...I mean really, hot swapping an unenclosed HDD???...firstly, your grounding technique applies to boxes that are shut down (and the power cord disconnected, or the power supply switch flipped to 0)...a running box is a totally different animal...second, the underside of a HDD has all those little contacts from the back side of the board...so if you touch those, you are probably wrecking havoc (even with the HDD out of the box and disconnected...oily hands d00d!)

in a nutshell, you did something very, very, stupid...live and learn

[cathodraytube]

"firstly, your grounding technique applies to boxes that are shut down (and the power cord disconnected, or the power supply switch flipped to 0)...a running box is a totally different animal"

errm im not shur what you meen there...my grounding technique is to touch the metal parts of the case and or the ground *****/middle prong on an outlet....i thought thats how it was supposed to be done...please correct me if im wrong because i dont want to fry anything els...

"second, the underside of a HDD has all those little contacts from the back side of the board...so if you touch those, you are probably wrecking havoc "

i never touched the bored at all.

"in a nutshell, you did something very, very, stupid...live and learn"

now i know....and i wont ever make the same mistake again...

*feels stupid and a little sick to stomach*

[Peerless]

the first comment was about this: the grounding technique you describe (and which I use all the time) is as noted "for a box that is disconnected from electricity'...you had your box ON, i.e. flowing full of electricity...hence, IMHO, grounding doesn't do a damn thing, as there is live electricity floating around...(OK, I could be totally wrong here)

second was about the back of the Hard Drive (aka HDD), not your MoBo...

in essence, computers are very delicate pieces of machinery, which are very susceptable to damage by errant electricity...

I truly hope there wasn't any super important data on that drive...I know the 'sick to the stomach' feeling when presented with the thought of loosing such type of data (I have a 250GB drive stuffed full of important stuff...at first I thought it was dying, then I became very, very happy when I determined it was a heat related issue (which WILL kill if not dealt with), my solution was to get a new case, shove 4 fans in it, and things seem to be OK now)