There is some weird mojo going on...
Okay, here's what happened: I was messing around with the HDDs in my PC (mental note: rather than "plug WindozeXP/unplug Linux boot HDD", there has to be an easier way to get the 'doze running... albeit it locks the instant it smells the linux partition... ugh. Solution? Don't use 'doze.)
Anyways, I was unplugging and plugging the 220V power cable rather than using that button on the back of the power supply (dumbass mistake, but, hell, been doing such stuff for what, a decade? And no problems), and, as I plugged it in for the last time, turned the comp on... brief flash of light on behalf of the fans... and death.
That is, turn the PC on - nothing. Stop the flow of power, wait a few secs, and then the same - brief attempt for life (fan tries to spin and lights glow)... and death again. Meanwhile, the light on the Mainboard/built-in LAN card glows nicely.
/In retrospect, the typical internal short circuit protection activation scenario./
So naturally,I suspected and replaced the power supply (had a spare, 400 W.), and, well, after unpowering two of the HDDs and the DVD, the machine ran fine.
Next, I went to buy a 750W, powered all... and to my horror, the situation was the same.
However, unplugging one of the drives - of course, the biggest, most expensive, and the one containing info I'd rather not have anyone tinkering with (office backups etc.) - a 750 gig Hitachi solved the issue.
Now, on every machine I've tested the drive, it does the same - activate the internal short-circuit protection of the power supply. That model has both a SATA power connector and a molex, and both behave the same way.
On top of that, when you wave the drive even very gently in your arm, it produces a, well, the sound of a metal bolt in a tin can (well, that's a bit exaggerated, but still).
erm... any suggestions? I can't see any possible correlation between unsafely turning on and off the 220V AC at the back of the power supply and a sudden mechanical failure of the HDD. Is there any way to determine, whether say the drive is/was indeed about to have a head crash, but luckily enough I prevented that by frying the electronics? In which case, a well placed controller might be just what I need to get the info off of it, before the mechanics decides to die.
P.S. I tried disconnecting that 4-wire(transparent) cable running from the circuit board of the HDD towards (the motor?). Didn't help.
P.P.S. (sorry if my English is bad, I was born that way you know ;) )