I just setup my array with the Norco 4220 and something crazy happened. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but I'm pretty sure that I bricked at least 5-6 of my 4TB hard drives in the array. My movie collection is up in smoke, but thank god I used Crashplan to protect my family pictures, and kids videos.

 

Here's what I did (and I think my mistake may have been delivering too much power to the hard drives).

 

After hooking up the motherboard, I just used 2x cables (each cable has a P4 connector --> 3 daisychained 4-pin molex connector). I powered all 5 mini-SAS ports on the chassis using these two cables. I wonder in hindsight, should I have had a separate modular cable for each mini-SAS connector on the chassis?

 

After I set it up, the unit powered up, but the bios would never recognize the hard drives. I did start to smell a burning smell -- and then I shut down the server. Afterwards, some of the hard drives had a small burning smell to it, and when I tested them on my PCs, all these hard drives were bricked (ie. I cannot feel spinning up to the back of my hand, when power is delivered, and my PC BIOS never recognizes them either).

 

I'm not sure at this point where the problem was. Was it a problem with my PSU connections? Or do I have one of those defective backplanes that caused the problem. I removed all the backplanes and examined them and nothing appears to be burned.

 

I think I'm in a shock state -- since this was 6 years worth of movies that I lost in 1 day. Thank God for Crashplan, otherwise I would have lost lasting memories of my family and kids as well.

 

I'm obviously going to brush myself off, pick up the pieces and rebuild it. I'd love some help about where to begin the process. Should I start with getting the backplanes replaced? Or does this seem like an idiotic thing I did with the power unit.

 

I'd love some expertise from anyone who had assembled one of these chassis earlier.

 

Thank you.

Mini-SAS, Norco 4220?  Not sure I follow where a Mini-SAS comes into play with this case.  Could you take a picture of how you had it setup?  What lead you to believe these were "bricked" when you connected them to the PC?

 

That's bad luck for you  .

 

Although I can't exactly follow how you wired your drives, there may be hope after all.

Perhaps you can elaborate what electric tension you put on the drives pins.

If you fried only the PCB's (that's highly probable) you might be able to swap them and get the drives up again - at least to get the data off. Check the PCB for burns.

 

Search the net for instructions how to swap the PCB on your type of hard disk.

You can also search this forum. There was an user who also killed his PCB.

I think I'm in a shock state -- since this was 6 years worth of movies that I lost in 1 day.

 

It's good you had your more important family memories backed up ... but I'd think losing 6 years worth of movies is also a pretty good indication that backups would have been well worth the modest additional cost      [My thoughts on backups are here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=31020.0 ]

 

As for what happened -- it sounds like you did one of two things (or perhaps both):

 

(1)  The modular connector (P4 from your description) should have been keyed so you can't plug it in wrong;  but if you forced it in the wrong way; or perhaps plugged it into a connection designed for a PCIe auxiliary cable instead of a molex cable; then you may have provided 12v on the 5v line.  Needless to say this is NOT good.    Modular PSUs are nice for neat cable organization (I use them a lot) ... but you DO have to be very careful that you plug each of the modular cables into the correct output.

 

(2)  You may have simply overloaded the cable you were using to power the drives.  This wouldn't provide "too much" power to the drives .. it would provide too little; but it could also have damaged the bus on the PSU and THAT can cause unpredictable results ... including excessive voltage if the regulators burn out.    If that's what happened, your PSU is also ruined.  Under-volting can cause

 

To really evaluate exactly what happened, you need to provide more detail on exactly how you had the power cables connected; and the make/model of your PSU so we can look at the modular connections it has.

 

 

I think I'm in a shock state -- since this was 6 years worth of movies that I lost in 1 day.

 

It's good you had your more important family memories backed up ... but I'd think losing 6 years worth of movies is also a pretty good indication that backups would have been well worth the modest additional cost      [My thoughts on backups are here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=31020.0 ]

 

 

I agree with garycase here and am building my system with backups in mind. Checksums are also a good investment. Thanks for that writeup, really opened my eyes.

 

And ... sorry for your loss, let's hope you CAN manage to retrieve maybe part of it.

So here's a bit more detailed description. I'm pretty sure that I used the right connector on the PSU side.

 

 

Shown above, the HX750 has black modular slots labeled "Peripheral/SATA" and each of these cables have 3x 4-pin molex female connectors that fit into the power socket on the Norco 4220 backplane.

 

The actual cable looks like this.

 

 

The other end I hooked up the 3x molex connectors to the backplane as shown below (it is a single connector to the PSU that has 3x daisychained 4-pin female molex connectors on the other end). I've shown this with the backplanes taken out of the chassis.

 

 

So I don't think the PSU is destroyed. In fact I used it to test the working hard drives and was able to identify a few.  What I'd like to know is that should I consider buying new backplanes from Norco or should I assume that the current ones are probably still working.

 

Also, do you think this is the mistake I made? Because I'd like to really avoid doing the same mistake twice.

 

I agree with all of you. Lesson learned. I'm definitely buying an off-site backup service whenever I get this thing back up running again.

 

 

 

 

 

Were you moving an existing server into a new Norco 4220 case?  Perhaps the backplanes were defective.

 

Can you provide your hard drive model numbers? I'm not clear on whether your drives connect via SAS or SATA technology.  I see on NewEgg's site that the Norco 4220 is supposed to handle both SATA and SAS, but the backplanes in the photo look like SAS to me.

 

I agree with the others who have chimed in... it sounds like 5V and 12V may have been swapped somehow.

 

You might want to double check everything with a power supply tester.  I have this model, which works well and costs less than $20.  It will alert you to any issues with voltages being higher or lower than spec.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261023

 

You will probably need a SATA power extension cable to properly check the power from the backplane.  I use one like this, where I've broken the extra plastic tabs away from the connector so I can plug it into a socket in a tight space.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189190

 

That said, I can't say that I use it every time I'm about to hook up a drive.  After hearing of your experience, I may start doing so.

 

Good luck - I hope you can recover the data.

 

-- stewartwb

Search the net for instructions how to swap the PCB on your type of hard disk.

You can also search this forum. There was an user who also killed his PCB.

The forum post referenced wasn't from me, but I have done this.

Four screws and the circuit boards fall right off. Connections to the platters are just little copper fingers. Easy to replace the boards.

It can be a pain to find the same circuit board with the same 'Rev' number, though.

 

If you've six years worth of media, you probably have some old data drives...those can be hard to source.  eBay might work.

Search the net for instructions how to swap the PCB on your type of hard disk.

You can also search this forum. There was an user who also killed his PCB.

The forum post referenced wasn't from me, but I have done this.

Four screws and the circuit boards fall right off. Connections to the platters are just little copper fingers. Easy to replace the boards.

It can be a pain to find the same circuit board with the same 'Rev' number, though.

 

If you've six years worth of media, you probably have some old data drives...those can be hard to source.  eBay might work.

 

I agree with DaleWilliams - and if all of your dead drives are the same model / revision, you should be able to swap the same PCB from one drive to the next and recover data from all of them.  That would be a neat trick!

 

If you go this route, please keep us posted.  Here's hoping that only the externally-accessible PCB was fried.

 

-- stewartwb

After reading the detailed explanation of what you did (unfortunately the external pics are blocked here) it doesn't seem like a simple user fault to me.

PSU is delivering the right voltage - tested after the incident.

(presupposing the wiring remained the same...)

 

There may be an issue with the backplane.

Perhaps a short-circuit somewhere? In the sata plugs? On the PCB? On the power side of a drive?

If possible, use a multimeter and check the backplane.

Or get a tester as linked above and check the backplane.

 

 

 

Another thought. Since this is a modular power supply, could you have possibly used power cables from a different modular power supply? There is no standard in the connections to modular power supplies and if you get them mixed up you will wind up delivering the wrong power to the wrong place.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261023

 

 

I hate this things with a passion, but they do work.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261023

 

 

I hate this things with a passion, but they do work.

The real problem with them is that they can only tell you when the power supply is bad.  But if the tester green lights the power supply it can still be bad.  The testers don't put a load on the power supply so a PSU that is bad only upon a load would pass but still cause problems if installed in a PC.

 

Thank you for all the helpful replies.

Just to be safe, I think I'm going to change up the PSU. I then need to figure out if I can get new norco backplanes. I have a feeling they maybe the culprit. Part of the reason I think the PSU is working is that some of my hard drives survived this. When I connect them directly to the PSU via the SATA connector and SATA cable into the motherboard, the hard drives are recognized by the BIOS and I can feel the drives spin up when I touch it.  But this is only true for some drives. Some of the other drives, just don't spin up with power and are obviously not recognized by the BIOS either. There were like 2 drives, that probably have short circuit causing the motherboard to reboot or just not start up when it is connected.

 

For reference, this is what the end of the modular cable looks like. It's just a 4-pin molex, but there are 3 such 4-pin molexes per modular cable.

 

 

So my question to you is that should I have connected ONE modular cable PER molex connector in the back plane? Or was my error trying to daisy chain this by using a single modular cable for 3 x molex connectors in 3x backplanes?

 

Thanks!

I hate MOLEX...its VERY easy to reverse the plugs...

The 'key' shape on the plug/socket is very easy to get backwards...and typical material is so soft that its easy to make a polarity mistake.

I'd definitely at least test the PSU ... and replacing it is an even better idea.

 

As for the connections, I wouldn't put more than 6-8 drives on a single molex cable from the PSU.    I'd use at least 3 lines to ensure there's ample current-carrying capacity for spinup currents.

 

While molex connectors ARE keyed, it IS, as Dale noted above, possible to plug them in in reverse if you force them a bit => and note that if you did that it would put 12v on the 5v line (clearly this would account for "frying" your drives).

 

If in fact that's what happened (12v on the 5v line), then it's very likely there's no physical damage to the platters themselves -- you likely just "fried" the circuit boards.    If you have other drives with the exact same make/model, you MAY be able to recover the data with a PCB swap, as mentioned already.    This would be a fairly simple job for a professional data recovery company ... but would likely cost ~ $400/drive.

 

I've had a drive with a burned pcb board.  Not only do you have to swap with a similar make/model and revision, but the drives also have to be on the same firmware.  If they are not on the same firmware then you will also need to swap the eprom chip from the burned board to your new/donor board.  I didn't have the tools to do that, so I took it to a shop that reballs chips, like someone who fixes ps3 or xbox360's.

I think you both hit the nail.

 

I do believe it is VERY possible that I plugged in the molex in reverse. The fact is that there was the fan plate in the way, and I couldn't see where I was plugging the molex (and I wasn't aware that they were keyed), so I pushed them in.  This may have very well accounted for the "frying of the drives".

 

I'm not sure spending $400 /drive is going to make it worth my while. For a bunch 1, 2 and 4 TB drives that is looking close to $3200 for all my fried drives, and they were just movies and TV shows, which frankly I can download again. The most important thing is that my family stuff was protected.

 

So assuming I did that (and I think it very well might be what I did),  which of the PSU, Backplanes do you think need replacing? Or do I need to replace both?

 

Thanks so much for your help on this. Very important lesson learned.

 

Also, out  of curiosity, what are the backup options you recommend for a large capacity media server? I doubt Crashplan will allow me to backup 22TB of movies to their cloud for $5/ mo which is what I pay now....

 

r.e. backups => read what I wrote here:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=31020.0

So assuming I did that (and I think it very well might be what I did),  which of the PSU, Backplanes do you think need replacing? Or do I need to replace both?

 

With any luck, you may not have damaged either -- you may have simply fried the circuit boards on the drives.  I don't know if the backplanes have any active components, or simply distribute the power to the drives -- if they simply distribute the power, they're likely okay.  Connect power (PROPERLY) to ONE of the backplanes, and use an old known-good drive to test each of the drive bays.    If that works okay, repeat for the other backplanes.

 

r.e. data recovery =>  I'd call Gillware (an excellent recovery outfit with reasonable -- by data recovery standards -- pricing).  https://gillware.com/    While I suspect they'd normally charge you ~ $400/drive (this is actually lower than many companies charge) ... they MAY do it for significantly less if it's only a PCB issue and you're doing a lot of drives at once.

 

... or you can try the PCB swaps yourself.  Note that as mentioned above, the drives must be identical ... both in make and model, but also in firmware revision.

 

If you want to see a deja vu type thread, check out mine from last year:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=26825.msg235082#msg235082

 

I did end up RMAing the backplanes in question with Norco which was easy enough. I also RMA'd the Norco 4224 and got a new one which has worked flawlessly. I now have the replacement backplanes on a shelf in case I need them in future.

 

All I can say is good luck. Thankfully I didn't lose as much data as you have, but it was definitely a chore to get everything back again.

Thanks! I just called Norco and they were happy to give me replacement backplanes. I'm taking mine over to their office/warehouse (I live in So Cal) and they said they will test it and if the backplanes are bad I should get replacements.

 

For my data, I called Gillware... They were very helpful, although exorbitantly expensive. They wanted $900/drive for data recovery. That doesn't make sense to me since, in all likelihood I need to replace the PCBs to recover the data.

 

Has anyone had any experience with this company called Donor Drives? (http://www.donordrives.com). They have a bunch of youtube videos about how to replace the PCB and replace ROM chip in most hard drives. I gave them a call and were happy to replace PCB/transfer ROM chips for the drives at $60/drive. If there's anything worse, then they will have separate pricing and will notify me before attempting to recover any data. I think I'm going to send my drives out to them.

 

This has certainly been a crazy experience. But I'm thankful to all of you for helping me through this.

 

I didn't use them but that is roughly what I ended up paying.  I bought the pcb boards online (don't remember from where) and then I had to pay someone to swap/reball the EPROM chip.  In total it might have been around $75.  At the time I did it, not too many places did the swap.  Looks like there are a few more outfits out there that sell you the board and swap it for you. www.hdd-parts.com  and www.onepcbsolution.com  they look to be about $50 and include the firmware transfer.  I've never used those sites just something I saw googling now.

I'm surprised at Gillware's pricing.  I've never had to use them [i'm exorbitantly well backed up  ] ... but have recommended them to others in the past; and they've always been very good and usually charged in the neighborhood of $400 or so for anything that didn't require a cleanroom (only necessary if you have to break the seal to access the platters).

 

Sounds like they've gone way up in price as their reputation has grown !!

 

On the other hand, Donor Drives sounds like a real find.    For drives where you're fairly sure the issue is the PCB, that's an amazing price.  Hopefully that's all that's wrong with yours, and you'll be able to recover your data.

 

Hello,

 

I bought a XFX modular (XPS-850W-BES) power supply last year and one of the molex connectors on the strand was wired in reverse to all others.

(two molex connectors held side by side ... notches up ... had the colours in reverse order going to the pins yellow-black-black-red and red-black-black-yellow)

 

So it may not have been anything you did. 

All black cables would not help in seeing that type of wiring error.

 

Bobby