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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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How hard is it to swap HD electronics boards
I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died.
I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room TIA Norm |
#2
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Norm Dresner wrote:
I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. If they are identical, (same model number), my guess is that it is A. If they're not, you also _have_ to get a new firmware onto it, wich is near impossible afaik. So...It is just to try. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room |
#3
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"Norm Dresner" wrote in message ... | I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. | I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me | $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I | also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed | around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to | pass on that route. | | I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of | the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. | | I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so | electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've | never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as | to whether it's | a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure | b) (a) + some minor unsoldering | c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room If you aren't going to crack the bubble, why would you need a clean room? Most likely to be (a). N |
#4
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I've done it successfully on older drives ... now I'm giving away my
age, the drives were 10Meg (that's Meg, not Gig) full height. Back then I didn't know what to do with all that storage space! I guess the software designers took care of that. Norm Dresner wrote: I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room TIA Norm |
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Art Todesco writes:
I've done it successfully on older drives ... now I'm giving away my age, the drives were 10Meg (that's Meg, not Gig) full height. Back then I didn't know what to do with all that storage space! I guess the software designers took care of that. All drives I disassembled (and it's over a dozen different types at this point, to get the magnets!) easily allowed for PCB swapping without cracking the seal. It's simple screwdriver work. Whether the firmware and media defect information is close enough to work may be another matter.... Certainly can't hurt and is unlikely to damage the drive assembly with your data even if it doesn't allow for reading the data. --- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/ Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/ +Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm | Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive traffic on Repairfaq.org. Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored. To contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites. |
#6
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I've taken the electronics off a few IDE hdd's and swapped them. I put a
board from one drive on another which was the same model, but a different revision.. It didn't work, but it didnt screw anything up either.. - Mike "Art Todesco" wrote in message news:yvW9d.211414$MQ5.199142@attbi_s52... I've done it successfully on older drives ... now I'm giving away my age, the drives were 10Meg (that's Meg, not Gig) full height. Back then I didn't know what to do with all that storage space! I guess the software designers took care of that. Norm Dresner wrote: I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room TIA Norm --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.775 / Virus Database: 522 - Release Date: 10/8/04 |
#7
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The two drives must be as nearly identical as possible; different revisions
will not work. Have you tried any of the other suggested methods for jump starting a dead drive? Freezing, twisting the drive in your hand as it begins to start up (that one actually worked for me; saved 80G of data from a stuck WD drive)...? |
#8
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"BWL" wrote in message
... The two drives must be as nearly identical as possible; different revisions will not work. Have you tried any of the other suggested methods for jump starting a dead drive? Freezing, twisting the drive in your hand as it begins to start up (that one actually worked for me; saved 80G of data from a stuck WD drive)...? So far nothing mechanical has worked. I need to do a little more experimenting to see if I can feel the motor turning before I even think about swapping the electronics. Right now one drive is sitting on my desk and the other is mounted in a drive frame with its label partially hidden. All I know right now is that they're the same model, i.e. Caviar 31200 but I can't read the label to see how "identical" they are. It's my vague recollection that I bought them at the same time -- I think I walked into the store and bought two from the shelf together -- so if that's true they'll be as "identical" as possible, 7 years after purchase (March 1997 date code). Thanks for the suggestions Norm |
#9
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 14:48:42 GMT, "Norm Dresner" wrote:
"BWL" wrote in message ... The two drives must be as nearly identical as possible; different revisions will not work. Have you tried any of the other suggested methods for jump starting a dead drive? Freezing, twisting the drive in your hand as it begins to start up (that one actually worked for me; saved 80G of data from a stuck WD drive)...? So far nothing mechanical has worked. I need to do a little more experimenting to see if I can feel the motor turning before I even think about swapping the electronics. Right now one drive is sitting on my desk and the other is mounted in a drive frame with its label partially hidden. All I know right now is that they're the same model, i.e. Caviar 31200 but I can't read the label to see how "identical" they are. It's my vague recollection that I bought them at the same time -- I think I walked into the store and bought two from the shelf together -- so if that's true they'll be as "identical" as possible, 7 years after purchase (March 1997 date code). Does the dead drive respond *at all* to the controller? Not sure if S.M.A.R.T. was available in '97 but try a readback of the status. A free for personal use tool to do this is at http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm Have you tried a different position on the cable? Changing from "cable select" to/from "master/slave"? A different cable? A different PC? If the drive fried the electronics then installing an identical board on the dead drive could result in two dead boards. Penultimate effort, if all else fails: give it a good whack (drop it a foot or so) on each axis, testing after each drop. If it *still* doesn't fire up, as a last resort go ahead and break the seal and give the platters a nudge. Once upon a time, some drives would fail to spin up because they didn't have enough torque to overcome the "stiction" that occurred between lapped read heads, polished platters, and a wee bit too much lubrication in the parking zone. The whacking (probably) and poking (certainly) methods are likely to damage an otherwise functional drive, so don't do these casually. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA |
#10
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 14:48:42 GMT "Norm Dresner" wrote:
Caviar 31200 but I can't read the label to see how "identical" they are. I THINK I have one of those here, too. I'll try to remember to look for it to see what revision level it is. - ----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney Madison, WI 53711 USA ----------------------------------------------- |
#11
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"Norm Dresner" wrote in message ... I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room TIA Norm Your mileage may vary, I've had success swapping the boards on 1gig Conner drives years ago, in this case swap the board and try, worst case it'll just not work. |
#12
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"Rich Webb" wrote in message
... Does the dead drive respond *at all* to the controller? Not sure if S.M.A.R.T. was available in '97 but try a readback of the status. A free for personal use tool to do this is at http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm I haven't tried it on more than one computer yet but the BIOS's identification code doesn't recognize that a drive is attached. Have you tried a different position on the cable? Changing from "cable select" to/from "master/slave"? A different cable? A different PC? The drive died on the computer after working for years. I doubt that a different position on the cable would make any difference -- and a completely different drive works perfectly on that same position on the cable. If the drive fried the electronics then installing an identical board on the dead drive could result in two dead boards. I understand the risks -- but I also appreciate the possible gains. I'll back up the alternate drive first. Penultimate effort, if all else fails: give it a good whack (drop it a foot or so) on each axis, testing after each drop. If it *still* doesn't fire up, as a last resort go ahead and break the seal and give the platters a nudge. Once upon a time, some drives would fail to spin up because they didn't have enough torque to overcome the "stiction" that occurred between lapped read heads, polished platters, and a wee bit too much lubrication in the parking zone. I've tried the hand-whack treatment. I haven't gotten to holding the drive to my ear to see if I can hear/feel/sense the motor turning yet but I'm obviously going to do that before I swap any electronics. The whacking (probably) and poking (certainly) methods are likely to damage an otherwise functional drive, so don't do these casually. Yeah. But the drive is already dead. Thanks for the suggestions Norm |
#13
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"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:_dpad.4743$gd1.440@trnddc08... "Norm Dresner" wrote in message ... I have two "identical" 1.2GB Western Digital HDs and one has just died. I've talked to one professional data recovery company and they quoted me $1100-$1500 for the 1.2GB MS-DOS HD -- I think my data was valuable -- but I also think that I've got most of the source code stored on it distributed around a half-dozen other computers around here and at work so I'm going to pass on that route. I could possibly do a board transplant to see if the drive died because of the electronics or not and if it did, I could recover the data. I'm an aerospace engineer with EE & CS degrees with 30+ years experience so electronics and repairing equipment is no real scary prospect, but I've never done this kind of work before and I was looking for some guidance as to whether it's a) unscrew + unplug, then reverse the procedure b) (a) + some minor unsoldering c) You'd better have your own factory and clean room TIA Norm Your mileage may vary, I've had success swapping the boards on 1gig Conner drives years ago, in this case swap the board and try, worst case it'll just not work. Well, no ... there's a possibility that swapping the boards would result in two dead boards. But crossing the street has risks too. Norm |
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