T
TheComputerFailedAgain
20180629
System:
Dell Latitude E6230 (Laptop)
CPU Intel i5-3320M @ 2.6 GHz
RAM: 8GB
SSD 128GB
OS: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
Equipment:
External HDD:
Seagate Backup Plus, 2.5", 4TB, USB 3.0 (Almost one year old)
Issue:
When HDD is connected to computer, the computer will not boot until I remove it from the USB port.
The disk is unreadable, unmountable and (near) inaccessible in OS.
How this progressed:
Was using the computer like a regular Joe.
Using Tor (was installed on the disk in question) to browse the web, and at the particular moment, using Stylus; a CSS program for Firefox (and other browsers) to code a theme for the browser (webpages).
Took a screenshot, and pasted it into Paint, where a picture was already active - which was stored on the HDD in question.
During paste, Paint froze.
Going back to Tor, Tor also froze.
Went to Explorer - Explorer froze.
Next, my system began to lag, and nearly froze. I checked the Task Manager to check details on the hickup, but due to excessive load, this took a minute.
When taskmgr.exe finally showed, Tor (as usual) spent 1.9GB of RAM (which is a lot, but not uncommon).
Waited a bit, then forced-closed Tor, as it carried the heaviest load. -Then Paint.
Ran a quick test with Malwarebytes, but it detected nothing.
Checked Task Manager again, and now I noticed near half of the apps open (about 5 of 12) was Not Responding - all of them was on the disk in question.
After clicking about, the entire machine froze up - proper this time, and nearly didn't respond at all.
This is the first time a hang of this magnitude has happened (been using the disk for 11 months), and now found myself at front of a completely overloaded system.
Even the Start Menu froze and created an invisible artifact where it would normally be.
Through Ctrl+Alt+Delete (had to wait around a minute) I was able to access the magic menu, and from there being able to reach the Restart option, as nothing else worked.
BUT, computer would not restart. It (too) got stuck at "force-close-various apps" - the ones that was completely unresponsive in tune with the rest of the system.
I waited for a while longer, but the computer and OS was now completely dead, and no buttons, nor activity showed any response whatsoever - even the Scroll-/Num-/Caps-lock where locked up - a perfect freeze, just like in the good ol' days...
So what does a human do?
Wait further? -Check.
Click a bit? - Check. (Unresponsive)
Wait even further - (as long as it takes) - Not checked. Most regrettably so, but I'm human.
-So I pulled the USB-plug...
Lo' & behold - the computer restarted immediately.
I had a bad feeling about the whole deal, surely, and first symptom displayed was an unresponsive computer during boot.
This came as a somewhat surprise, for what failure would cause the computer boot to hang?
Diagnostics thus far:
As I disconnected the USB HDD, the machine immediately booted into OS.
-This problem is recurring; if the disk is connected to the computer, it will not boot.
Connecting the drive in OS, 4TB HDD is not visible in any of the recovery programs I've got at hand.
I tried checking further into the issue, and switched to another USB 3.0 cable as well - the disk remains an "unknown device" in Device Manager and is not listed in Disk Manager either.
When I connect it through a MicroUSB on the other hand, Windows pops up a notice "This device can perform faster...", disk runs for 8 seconds, then stops spinning.
I now get the option in Disk Manager to choose to Initialize Disk (MBR-Master Boot Record or GPT-GUID Partition Table).
Whichever I choose, I get the error "Virtual Disk Manager - The system cannot find the file specified"
-The disk is always at rest by this point, but is now visible in Disk Manager as "Unknown - Not Initialized".
Available disk information:
Disk Properties:
-Reveals (erroneously) the status; "This device is working properly", and is even listed by it's proper name, in this case "Seagate BUP BK USB Device".
Volumes tab:
Disk: Disk (Number here)
Type: Unknown
Status: Not Initialized
Partition Style: Not Applicable
Capacity: 0 MB
Unallocated space: 0 MB
Reserved space: 0 MB"
The "Properties"-button is unavailable.
Details tab (select):
Device description:
Nothing
Hardware Ids:
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_BUP_BK__________0304
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_BUP_BK__________
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_
USBSTOR\Seagate_BUP_BK__________0
Seagate_BUP_BK__________0
USBSTOR\GenDisk
GenDisk
Manufacturer:
(Standard disk drives)
Friendly Name:
Seagate BUP USB Devices
Power data:
Current power state:
D0
Power capabilities:
00000019
PDCAP_D0_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_D3_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_WAKE_FROM_D0_SUPPORTED
Power state mappings:
S0 -> D0
S1 -> D3
S2 -> D3
S3 -> D3
S4 -> D3
S5 -> D3
To add irony to injury, I changed a disk option the day before (under Disk Properties - Policies), switching from "Quick Removal" (where it's been at since July last year!) to "Better performance" - to gain better performance for some intermittent larger downloads.
Typically, the disk started acting up today, as if some Lemming's been waiting for the perfect time to **** up my system - it's been working flawlessly 'till now.
On top of that; all my data is stored on that thing, so there's no "buy another disk"-option out of this one, and I desperately need access to the data, as I've not backed it up for a while.
Help...?
Continue reading...
System:
Dell Latitude E6230 (Laptop)
CPU Intel i5-3320M @ 2.6 GHz
RAM: 8GB
SSD 128GB
OS: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
Equipment:
External HDD:
Seagate Backup Plus, 2.5", 4TB, USB 3.0 (Almost one year old)
Issue:
When HDD is connected to computer, the computer will not boot until I remove it from the USB port.
The disk is unreadable, unmountable and (near) inaccessible in OS.
How this progressed:
Was using the computer like a regular Joe.
Using Tor (was installed on the disk in question) to browse the web, and at the particular moment, using Stylus; a CSS program for Firefox (and other browsers) to code a theme for the browser (webpages).
Took a screenshot, and pasted it into Paint, where a picture was already active - which was stored on the HDD in question.
During paste, Paint froze.
Going back to Tor, Tor also froze.
Went to Explorer - Explorer froze.
Next, my system began to lag, and nearly froze. I checked the Task Manager to check details on the hickup, but due to excessive load, this took a minute.
When taskmgr.exe finally showed, Tor (as usual) spent 1.9GB of RAM (which is a lot, but not uncommon).
Waited a bit, then forced-closed Tor, as it carried the heaviest load. -Then Paint.
Ran a quick test with Malwarebytes, but it detected nothing.
Checked Task Manager again, and now I noticed near half of the apps open (about 5 of 12) was Not Responding - all of them was on the disk in question.
After clicking about, the entire machine froze up - proper this time, and nearly didn't respond at all.
This is the first time a hang of this magnitude has happened (been using the disk for 11 months), and now found myself at front of a completely overloaded system.
Even the Start Menu froze and created an invisible artifact where it would normally be.
Through Ctrl+Alt+Delete (had to wait around a minute) I was able to access the magic menu, and from there being able to reach the Restart option, as nothing else worked.
BUT, computer would not restart. It (too) got stuck at "force-close-various apps" - the ones that was completely unresponsive in tune with the rest of the system.
I waited for a while longer, but the computer and OS was now completely dead, and no buttons, nor activity showed any response whatsoever - even the Scroll-/Num-/Caps-lock where locked up - a perfect freeze, just like in the good ol' days...
So what does a human do?
Wait further? -Check.
Click a bit? - Check. (Unresponsive)
Wait even further - (as long as it takes) - Not checked. Most regrettably so, but I'm human.
-So I pulled the USB-plug...
Lo' & behold - the computer restarted immediately.
I had a bad feeling about the whole deal, surely, and first symptom displayed was an unresponsive computer during boot.
This came as a somewhat surprise, for what failure would cause the computer boot to hang?
Diagnostics thus far:
As I disconnected the USB HDD, the machine immediately booted into OS.
-This problem is recurring; if the disk is connected to the computer, it will not boot.
Connecting the drive in OS, 4TB HDD is not visible in any of the recovery programs I've got at hand.
I tried checking further into the issue, and switched to another USB 3.0 cable as well - the disk remains an "unknown device" in Device Manager and is not listed in Disk Manager either.
When I connect it through a MicroUSB on the other hand, Windows pops up a notice "This device can perform faster...", disk runs for 8 seconds, then stops spinning.
I now get the option in Disk Manager to choose to Initialize Disk (MBR-Master Boot Record or GPT-GUID Partition Table).
Whichever I choose, I get the error "Virtual Disk Manager - The system cannot find the file specified"
-The disk is always at rest by this point, but is now visible in Disk Manager as "Unknown - Not Initialized".
Available disk information:
Disk Properties:
-Reveals (erroneously) the status; "This device is working properly", and is even listed by it's proper name, in this case "Seagate BUP BK USB Device".
Volumes tab:
Disk: Disk (Number here)
Type: Unknown
Status: Not Initialized
Partition Style: Not Applicable
Capacity: 0 MB
Unallocated space: 0 MB
Reserved space: 0 MB"
The "Properties"-button is unavailable.
Details tab (select):
Device description:
Nothing
Hardware Ids:
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_BUP_BK__________0304
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_BUP_BK__________
USBSTOR\DiskSeagate_
USBSTOR\Seagate_BUP_BK__________0
Seagate_BUP_BK__________0
USBSTOR\GenDisk
GenDisk
Manufacturer:
(Standard disk drives)
Friendly Name:
Seagate BUP USB Devices
Power data:
Current power state:
D0
Power capabilities:
00000019
PDCAP_D0_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_D3_SUPPORTED
PDCAP_WAKE_FROM_D0_SUPPORTED
Power state mappings:
S0 -> D0
S1 -> D3
S2 -> D3
S3 -> D3
S4 -> D3
S5 -> D3
To add irony to injury, I changed a disk option the day before (under Disk Properties - Policies), switching from "Quick Removal" (where it's been at since July last year!) to "Better performance" - to gain better performance for some intermittent larger downloads.
Typically, the disk started acting up today, as if some Lemming's been waiting for the perfect time to **** up my system - it's been working flawlessly 'till now.
On top of that; all my data is stored on that thing, so there's no "buy another disk"-option out of this one, and I desperately need access to the data, as I've not backed it up for a while.
Help...?
Continue reading...