www.deadharddrive.com

akse · Active contributor Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Posts: 5

I posted this on another non-hardware forums so theres quite a lot material that you already know of.. but here it is copy pasted.

The Problem
Well as the topic says my hard drive went broken. It was a couple of weeks ago that I was starting up my PC and it wouldn't start up. After pressing the startup button a few times a sudden BZZZZT sound came from inside and something got fried.

I knew my Power Supply Unit was going on its last hours since it had already kept a weird sound for some time and after I opened it I found out that one of the components had its fluids came out which probably caused the spike.

Anyways I bought I new PSU (Zalman 600W) and started up the computer and WTF BIOS didn't find my main system Hard drive, then the cold sweat came on and I tought "god damn when was the last time I took backups", it was too long ago. A lot of my precious photos, school works and save games was trapped inside that fried hard drive.

The Research
Then I started the huge information search on the web for what to do in this kind of situations. Of course the first thing I did was to seek out some recover companies for the prices and those were quite huge. One company took 150€ for analysis only and 600-1500€ for recovery job, ok I don't have that kind of money as a student. Then the other company took 450€ - 2000€ and the analyzis was free and they gave 50% discount for students too, so that was the company I would choose if there is nothing else to be done.

Then I googled a lot about broken hard drives and found a site called www.deadharddrive.com that had a guide on how to change the PCB (logical chip) of a hard drive. It seemed quite simple and cheap solution to my problem. I would have to get another hard drive and change the healthy PCB to my broken one. The only problem about it is the amount of models there are around and that my hard drive was about 1.5 - 2 years old. The older your hard drive is, the harder it is to find an exactly the same kind of hard drive.

If you go down with this route you have to find a hard drive with preferably:
*Same model number
*Same P/N(part number)
*Same firmware
*Same site code(production country),

these variables are different depending on the manufacturer. In my case Seagate Barracuda 320Gb it wasn't easy. The computer part shops that I use didn't have the same model that I have and I had to start searching some used hard drives from the web.

Then I happened to find one on finnish version of ebay, but the bidding was to end on 25th december 11 am and I forgot to raise my bid so that drive was gone. Then I advertised in some finnish boards about needing a hard drive and got one but it had different production country so I wasn't all that sure if it would fit. I would probably have to change the ROM chip in my dead PCB to the new PCB or something like that according to what I read about.

But then I happened the find these boards http://forum.hddguru.com/ that had a lot of information about recovering your lost data. Almost all the fried cases they suggested to remove a TVS diode component if it was dead. You should try a multimeter if there wasn't any visible damage on the component, which luckily in my case there was.

The Solution and Recovery
The TVS chip is there to protect the drive from power spikes and such, and my component had short circuited because of the damage from the power spike. So I went on and took my Hard drive and took some cutters as I was to cut it in half to have no contact left. In some cases you might want to smolder it off but I didn't have the tools for that.

So anyways i took the part off the PCB and quickly went at my computer to put it on. I was ready to cut the power from the machine if something odd happened since now the HDD wasn't protected anymore and could cause some other hardware failures. Luckily I had the brand new PSU that I trusted to work flawlessly.

I turned on the computer and whum the hard drive started and windows started load up *WOHOO* yelled Then I quickly went on my photo folders and started to copy them to another hard drive along with the rest of my important files.

Now I just have to get another HDD for where I install windows and I send the other one to warranty if I'm still able to get a new one back.

Note1: warranty might void if you remove that TVS chip from the PCB.
Note2: Do not use a broken hard drive since it might cause more failures inside your computer.

The Conclusion
So instead of paying 275€-1000€ to recovery company or about 30-50€ for replacement harddrive for PCB change I only spent some time in the discussion boards to find a cheaper solution for my problem And the next time this happens, I don't have to do so much research and I might be able to recover the data in about 5 minutes, thats quite a nice amount of money for 5 minutes if I'd charge some 500€-1000€ in a company.

Anyways from now on I will keep my backups up to date and in a several different locations. DVD, another hard drive and probably some web storage.

tonyrs · Posted once Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 1

hi mate just read your details ,looks like i have the same problem can you tell me where the TVS diode please

kingpomba · Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:12 pm Post subject:

I seem to be in the same boat.

abulhasanlakhani · Posted once Joined: 19 Jun 2009 Posts: 1

Kitarist · Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:45 pm Post subject:

Yep i'm also interested where the DIODE is on WD1600JD - 00HBB0.

Thanks!!!

fzabkar · Deadharddrive regular +3 Joined: 02 Apr 2010 Posts: 210

[quote="Kitarist"]Yep i'm also interested where the DIODE is on WD1600JD - 00HBB0.[/quote]
Can you upload a detailed photo of the component side?

I don't believe your board has any protection, but I need a photo to confirm it.

Kitarist · Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:43 pm Post subject:

Ok i'll take a pic tomorrow Smile

sunnydreamspace · Deadharddrive regular +5 Joined: 04 Jan 2009 Posts: 540

as my experience this kind of PCB few chance happen with diode. yellow parts always get problem. if you want to repair it. focus on it Smile

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corbingravely · Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 11:09 am Post subject:

This is a problem faced by many. If you have a different PCB which does not support the clock speed of you HDD, then it is highly likely to get fried. So keep this in mind, that you will always have to do a compatibility check before fixing it.

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corbingravely · Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 11:31 am Post subject:

I am not sure about this particular model. But I had the one just before this and I was too lucky to get some parts from my cousin’s old computer in his backyard. It is sometimes all about luck and good timing. I cannot deny it.

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