I have a harddrive, a seagate barracuda 7200.7, model st3120022a, that
stopped working. I was doing a routine virus scan and got a blue
screen (I'm using XP, so this was abnormal), and the drive was broken.
It wouldn't detect it in bios, and the drive was spinning and clicking
periodically. Same thing on a different computer. I figured the
controller board had gone bad, so I bought an identical working drive
and switched out boards, and still the same thing. Since I could hear
the platters spinning, I knew they weren't locked up, but the periodic
clicking got me thinking that the heads were possibly stuck on
something (made sense at the time, I don't know why). In a last ditch
effort to get a few files off this drive, I opened it to see if the
platter/heads were free, and both were. I know this drive is now
ruined, I just hoped that the heads had gotten stuck or something, and
I could get it running for a minute or two to get a couple peices of
info off of it and then send it on it's way to the junk box. The
heads just move out onto the platters from the center and immediately
return to the center, about once a second. Now I'm just curious what
could cause this? Any Ideas?

Thanks
Steve

In article ,
cajuncalibration wrote:

I have a harddrive, a seagate barracuda 7200.7, model st3120022a, that
stopped working. I was doing a routine virus scan and got a blue
screen (I'm using XP, so this was abnormal), and the drive was broken.
It wouldn't detect it in bios, and the drive was spinning and clicking
periodically. Same thing on a different computer. I figured the
controller board had gone bad, so I bought an identical working drive
and switched out boards, and still the same thing. Since I could hear
the platters spinning, I knew they weren't locked up, but the periodic
clicking got me thinking that the heads were possibly stuck on
something (made sense at the time, I don't know why). In a last ditch
effort to get a few files off this drive, I opened it to see if the
platter/heads were free, and both were. I know this drive is now
ruined, I just hoped that the heads had gotten stuck or something, and
I could get it running for a minute or two to get a couple peices of
info off of it and then send it on it's way to the junk box. The
heads just move out onto the platters from the center and immediately
return to the center, about once a second. Now I'm just curious what
could cause this? Any Ideas?

For most drives, the read amplifier (a chip) is inside the sealed
enclosure (not for environmental protection; to get it as close as
possible to the heads). If it has failed, changing out the main board
won't help. Look for it soldered to the orange flexible circuit "board"
that exits the enclosure.

Isaac

cajuncalibration wrote in message
...
I have a harddrive, a seagate barracuda 7200.7, model st3120022a, that
stopped working. I was doing a routine virus scan and got a blue
screen (I'm using XP, so this was abnormal), and the drive was broken.
It wouldn't detect it in bios, and the drive was spinning and clicking
periodically. Same thing on a different computer. I figured the
controller board had gone bad, so I bought an identical working drive
and switched out boards, and still the same thing. Since I could hear
the platters spinning, I knew they weren't locked up, but the periodic
clicking got me thinking that the heads were possibly stuck on
something (made sense at the time, I don't know why). In a last ditch
effort to get a few files off this drive, I opened it to see if the
platter/heads were free, and both were. I know this drive is now
ruined, I just hoped that the heads had gotten stuck or something, and
I could get it running for a minute or two to get a couple peices of
info off of it and then send it on it's way to the junk box. The
heads just move out onto the platters from the center and immediately
return to the center, about once a second. Now I'm just curious what
could cause this? Any Ideas?

Thanks
Steve

Probably the head amplifier chip on the head assembly failed, or it could be
one of the heads itself. I've had some luck putting drives with this problem
in the freezer for a few hours then powering them up to copy the data off,
now that you've opened it it might be too late though.

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 04:58:10 GMT, "James Sweet"
wrote:


cajuncalibration wrote in message
.. .
I have a harddrive, a seagate barracuda 7200.7, model st3120022a, that
stopped working. I was doing a routine virus scan and got a blue
screen (I'm using XP, so this was abnormal), and the drive was broken.
It wouldn't detect it in bios, and the drive was spinning and clicking
periodically. Same thing on a different computer. I figured the
controller board had gone bad, so I bought an identical working drive
and switched out boards, and still the same thing. Since I could hear
the platters spinning, I knew they weren't locked up, but the periodic
clicking got me thinking that the heads were possibly stuck on
something (made sense at the time, I don't know why). In a last ditch
effort to get a few files off this drive, I opened it to see if the
platter/heads were free, and both were. I know this drive is now
ruined, I just hoped that the heads had gotten stuck or something, and
I could get it running for a minute or two to get a couple peices of
info off of it and then send it on it's way to the junk box. The
heads just move out onto the platters from the center and immediately
return to the center, about once a second. Now I'm just curious what
could cause this? Any Ideas?

Thanks
Steve

Probably the head amplifier chip on the head assembly failed, or it could be
one of the heads itself. I've had some luck putting drives with this problem
in the freezer for a few hours then powering them up to copy the data off,
now that you've opened it it might be too late though.

Just tried freezing it, of course it didn't work, I'm sure the drive
is totally gone now. Anyway, worth a shot.

Steve