www.deadharddrive.com

[Subzuki]

Some success stories...

Before I start though, I must say that if you should attempt this, you do so at your own risk! Pretty self explanatory.

I had a Quantum 10 Gig Fireball LCT10 given to me that had a burned chip on the board. (Seems to be a common problem with these, the chip isn't cooling properly. It is the medium sized one of the three on the board. I even saw one where someone had glued 2 dimes to it!! I am guessing to act like a heatsink.) Well, I initially had a hard time finding a replacement board even considering where I work. (More on that later.) Well I eventually came across one that was the same as mine. I don't know if the firmware was the same or not, but it was off of the same model. Well, it worked. It was as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. I was able to use the hard drive and I think I still am using it on a seldom used machine.

I was also able to rescue a 40Gig WD Model? with the board off a 60Gig WD from the same family. It was even recognized as the 40Gig instead of the 60. In this case, I suspect that it has something to do with the C.H.S. (Cylinders,Heads,Sectors). For example, If you take a look at the top of a Fujitsu MPE3064AT there is a sticker on it which shows the jumper settings and also lists the different size drives in that family or series of drive. They all start with the letters MPE on them but there are different numbers on it which denote the size of the drive. Looking back at the model I mentioned earlier you will find the 3064 means it is a 6.4GB drive. It also lists the C>H>S as 13410,15 and 63 respectively. There are also 10,13,17,20 and 27GB models in this family and the C>H>S for these drives are all 16383,16,63 respectively. You can also see this printed on the top of some older Quantum drives. So I got to thinking that it might be the same with WD drives. Apparently it was! Because they are all the same, I figured I had nothing to lose but try the board off the larger drive (which was full of bad sectors) but I don't know if the 6.4GB would benefit from this method because the C>H>S are different. As far as I know, that 40GB drive is still working. I bet if I had taken the board from a larger capacity Quantum LCT for the first drive I told you about, as long as it was the same family of drive with the same C>H>S, I think it would have had a good chance at working as well.

I have had my share of failures also for sure. It certainly doesn't work all the time. I kinda think it is like a crap shoot. If you have ever taken a hard drive apart before, you might have seen the chip on the ribbon that goes to the heads. I have no proof, but I think that if it (swapping boards)doesn't work, maybe the board is still good, but that chip was zapped instead and I haven't gotta clue if that chip is even replaceable or not. Reason why I think this is because I had a 10GB Fujitsu and when I swapped the board on it, it would not work either even though the replacement board was a known good unit. *Kicking!* myself for not opening the drive up to check that chip.

About where I work,

I work at Computer Recyclers in Ottawa Ontario Canada. We do End Of Life computer (and electronic) recycling. As a result, we come across a lot of hard drives. We wipe the drives and test the drives to make sure they are in good condition for resale. We also offer a secure destruction of the drive for sensitive data. When we get a drive that has bad sectors or some other errors to do with the platters, we know the board is good and recylce the drive. We keep the boards for resale also. If you are in need of a replacement board, call us at 613-723-3135 ext.111. Or visit us at www.computerrecyclersottawa.com and contact us from there.

Some boards we have...

Maxtor
DiamondMax Plus 8 40GB
Maxtor D740X-6L 20GB
Maxtor D740X-6L 80GB

Quantum
Fireball Plus AS 20GB
Fireball Plus AS 40GB

Seagate
Barracuda ST340016A ATA IV 40GB
Barracuda ST360021A 60GB
Medalist ST38420A 8.4GB
Medalist ST38421A 8.4GB
OEM U Series5 ST310211A 10GB

Western Digital
Caviar 100BB 10GB
Caviar 205BA 20GB
Protege WD80EB 80GB

Fujitsu
MPF3204AH 20GB
MPG3204AT 20GB

IBM
Deskstar DTLA-307020 20GB

Laptop Drives
Toshiba HDD2164 MK2018GAP 20GB
IBM Travelstar IC25N030ATCS04-0 30GB

SCSI
Quantum U160 LVD/SE 18.2GB 68Pin I think this one is 10000RPM
Seagate Cheetah ST39102LC 9.1GB SCA 80Pin 10000RPM
Compaq P/N 180726-003 36.4GB SCA 80Pin 10000RPM
IBM ST318451LC 18.2GB SCA 80Pin 15000RPM
IBM 9.1GB SCA 80Pin 15000RPM

Added Dec 1/05

IBM Deskstar P/N 07N9673 40GB
IBM Deskstar P/N 07N6654 41GB?
Seagate Barracuda ST380011A 80GB

Laptop IBM Travelstar P/N 07N8363 30GB
Laptop IBM Travelstar P/N 07N7353 20GB

SCSI
IBM Eserver P Series ST3146807LC 146GB U320 SCA 80Pin



Many more still to be cataloged!
I must mention here though, the largest hard drive we have seen so far is a couple of 80GB's. Except for the one SCSI board. We don't have anything larger than that, sorry.

Also like Toolhog mentioned in his post, you could try to find a recycler in your area who may have this kind of stuff as well.

Good Luck!
Subzuki

[Subzuki]

Forgot to mention that this method also works on laptop drives AND in at least one case for me, I was able to get a slower cd burner (48x24x48) going again with the board out of a faster (52x32x52) burner from the same series of models.

[nev]

Wow - looks like an excellent resource.

Thanks for your contributions Subzuki!