Lacie Cloudbox 3TB not accessible

[JimmyJackson]

Typed in both commands. This is the output:

root@fvdw-sta-kirkwood:/ # dmesg | grep ata
[ 0.000000] CPU: VIVT data cache, VIVT instruction cache
[ 0.000000] Memory policy: Data cache writeback
[ 0.000000] Memory: 249952K/262144K available (5904K kernel code, 217K rwdata, 1576K rodata, 1932K init, 232K bss, 12192K reserved)
[ 0.000000] .data : 0xc093c000 - 0xc0972680 ( 218 kB)
[ 7.088436] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[ 8.129034] sata_mv sata_mv.0: version 1.28
[ 8.129085] sata_mv sata_mv.0: cannot get optional clkdev
[ 8.134525] sata_mv sata_mv.0: slots 32 ports 1
[ 8.141140] scsi0 : sata_mv
[ 8.144385] ata1: SATA max UDMA/133 irq 21
[ 13.696540] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 18.196537] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[ 23.746538] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 28.246539] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[ 33.796539] ata1: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0)
[ 63.256546] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[ 63.260574] ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps
[ 68.266546] ata1: SRST failed (errno=-16)
[ 68.270562] ata1: reset failed, giving up
root@fvdw-sta-kirkwood:/ # fdisk -l

Disk /dev/mtdblock0: 0 MB, 512000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 0 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/mtdblock1: 0 MB, 4096 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 0 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk /dev/mtdblock1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

[fvdw]

I am afraid that your disk is dead :(
At least the sata interface of the cloudbox can not read from it.
There is a small chance that the interface of the cloudbox is broken and not the disk.

To check that you have two options.
Option 1: Put another hard disk in the cloud box if you have one and test if you can access that with the standalone kernel.I f that works than the original disk is very likely dead. If it also fails with same error then option 2 might be a solution.
Option 2: put your disk in your usb hdd docking station and connect it to a pc running linux to see if you can access it.
If the disk can not be accesed via that way I am afraid it is dead and your data is lost.

[JimmyJackson]

This would be very bad news. Unfortunately, I have no other HDD to test with the cloudbox, but I will try the old one with Linux. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that, or where I can find information about that?

Two more things:
1. If you say dead and data lost, does that mean that a data recovery company is also unable to restore any of the data?

2. Have you ever seen something like that before and what could have been the reason for this disaster? The cloudbox worked for several years now and suddenly died. How can that be? I have tried the factory reset a couple of times. Could that have caused the disk to fail completely?

Although I am extremely frustrated I really have to thank you for all your efforts and a donation is under way.

[fvdw]

The easiest way is to use a "knoppix" bootable CD or DVD.
Knoppix is a linux based OS. You insert the disk and boot from CD. Do a google search and you will find plenty info.

You could also try to use your windows PC. It should detect the disk. In disk manager from windows it should be visible but windows will not be able to read the content. If it doesn't show upin disk manager it is again an indication that it is dead. There are also some programa that run under windows that are able to read disk made on linux system. How reliable those are??

To your questions.
Add 1. It depends if the electronics are damaged then yes if they are able to replace that. If the disk is crashed meaning the heads have touched the surface then it becomes difficult but still they might be able to get something from the disk, but I think they will not give any guarantee.

Add 2. Yes I saw this before. Sometimes hard disk dies, this can be from overheating (the cloudbox has no fan) or if you have dropped it or hit while it was spinning, power failure, lightning strike on the power grid, or just a mechanical failure. It is why it is always sensible to make backups of important data.The way your disk failed looks like a gradual dead as result of mechanical failure. Most of the time that starts with some bad sectors causing boot failure and after some time complete failure.
The actions you did like factory reset can not have caused this failure.

But do the test with your usb hdd bay, there is nothing to loose

[fvdw]

I edited my post an important word was missing. The factory resets can NOT have caused a disk failure like this

[JimmyJackson]

I will try out the things you suggested, but I have little hope that i will be able to solve the problem. I might ask a data recovery company for their opinion.

Thank you for all the infos about possible reasons for this catastrophe. And how to avoid/minimalize it next time :pound
The most probable reason for the dying disk might be overheating together with long term usage., since I never dropped it or something like that. The missing fan, however, seems to be a design mistake, if this can caus this damage.

Anyway, I have learned my lesson... The hard way...

Going :z) & :sob

[JimmyJackson]

Tried to donate, but always end up at a paypal page where it says "transaction invalid...". Will try again tomorrow.

[Jocko]

Hi JimmyJackson,

As Paypal uses a new interface, I checked it and I succeeded to make a donation.

So your issue seems to be on your side : email address, pwd, bank reference (valid credit card or bank account)

[JimmyJackson]

Checked it again and was able to donate now.

Thank you again for your support.

Cheers.
Jimmy