Clicking drive in a factory PC: a firmware fault, not the heads
A clicking WD 160GB drive from an old factory PC turned out to have a firmware fault, not failed heads. After the firmware repair, a long sector-by-sector pass produced a bootable copy that ran the original system again.
| Service | Hard drive data recovery |
|---|---|
| Drive | 3.5" hard drive, 160GB |
| Make and model | WD 1600BB |
| System | Factory PC running Windows XP |
| Symptom | Clicking |
| First suspicion | Failed read/write heads |
| Diagnosis | Firmware fault; the heads were also weak |
| Work done | Firmware repair, then a sector-by-sector copy to a working drive, giving a bootable copy of the whole disk |
| Outcome | All sectors holding data were corrected. The copy booted in the original machine and ran all its software. |
| Priority | Emergency |
The drive and what the customer noticed
A WD 1600BB, a 160GB 3.5" hard drive, came in as an emergency. It was making clicking noises.
Why the job was delicate
The drive sat in an old PC that ran a factory's main machinery. Its software had been tailored to that hardware long ago and was no longer supported. The aim was to get that machine running again, not only to get the files back.
What R3 proposed
A bootable clone: a copy of the whole disk, including the operating system (Windows XP) and the installed software, not only the data.
What the clicking suggested, and what examination established
The engineers first expected failed read/write heads. Examination found a firmware fault instead. What exactly was wrong in the firmware isn't recorded in the write-up. Firmware is the software stored on the drive that controls it. Firmware-level repair is part of R3's lab work.
What changed the approach
Because the cause was firmware, the first step was a firmware repair, not a head swap.
What the lab did
- Repaired the firmware fault.
- Started copying the failed disk sector by sector to a fully working drive.
- Found the heads were weak, so some sectors couldn't be read at first. A long pass corrected all the sectors that were initially unread. (bad sector)
- Fitted the copied drive in the original machine.
Engineer's notes
We discovered that the clicking noise was not related to failed heads as we were expecting in the 95% of such cases but to a very uncommon Firmware problem. Once solved such problem, we have been able to start the cloning process of the failed disk to a fully working one. As the heads were weak we had to perform a long work to correct all the sectors initially unread; luckily for the customer, at the end of the process all the sectors containing data were corrected.
The frequencies in Lucio's note are his expectations at the time, not measured figures.
Outcome for this case
All the sectors holding data were corrected. The copy booted in the original machine and ran all its software.
What this case shows
Clicking is a symptom, not a diagnosis: here it came from firmware, not failed heads. A drive can also have more than one problem: weak heads made the copy slow even after the firmware was fixed. When a system runs on unsupported software, a bootable copy of the whole disk can be what the customer needs, not only the files.
What it doesn't show
How often clicking is caused by firmware. That every firmware fault can be repaired, or that weak heads will always allow a full copy. How long the work took, or what it cost.
Related: clicking hard drive · HDD
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