buddd wrote in news:1183847601.898143.267220
@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

Hello,

I have a what I believe to be a physically damaged hard drive with
data on it. (My guess it is the heads). When I turn the drive on, one
hears a knocking sound for about 30 seconds and then the drive
automatically shuts off.

The data on the drive is not important enough to pay a professional to
fix it, and software recovery tools won't work.

I would like to take the opportunity to open and try repairing the
disk myself (as a learning process).

Any suggestions / recommendations?

Thanks,

buddd


http://www.glumbert.com/media/irack

Actually, best advice is to take it apart and salvage the magnets.
If you open the case, outside of a clean room, you have just ruined the
heads and the platters.

As for the clicking sound, it is the heads trying to find their position.
Electronic problems are just as likely to cause the clicking as a head
problem.

It has been many years since a technician in the field could replace the
heads in a hard drive. I did it back in 1982. But those heads were much
larger, flew higher and unloaded physically from the platter. That meant
the platter spun up to speed and then the heads would load. A few pieces of
loose dust got blown off during the spin up.

Now, the heads STAY on the platter. Everything must be ultra clean or the
heads will crash before they get to flying speed.

Then there is the problem of aligning the heads, even if you could replace
them. In 1981 it took a scope and the right software to put the heads over
an eccentricly written track that was special for alignment. I have no idea
how the tiny hall effect heads are aligned.

Good luck.








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bz 73 de N5BZ k

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