[SOLVED] HDD repair help needed

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mirdza83

mirdza83

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May 12, 2019
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I'm trying to fix a dead hard drive (WD2500AAJS) that won't spin up.
I checked the PCB for shorts and i couldn't find any also the board doesn't have any physical damage. So i suspected that maybe the motor is dead.
I bought another drive with the same model number and identical PCB to perform a platter swap. I couldn't swap the bios/firmware because it's incorporated in the IC.
I moved the plater and PCB from my old drive to the new one but the drive still won't spin up.
At this point, I'm pretty sure that the old PCB is not working properly.
I checked the voltages across the board of both PCB's and they are identical.
I suspect that maybe the spindle controller is bad but I'm not sure.

Any help, please..

https://imgur.com/a/LCVtunK
View: https://imgur.com/a/LCVtunK
 
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Solution
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mirdza83 said:
Maybe I can copy the original ROM from patient PCB and write it on the donor PCB or move the platter in patient housing with the donor PCB and patient original ROM
Click to expand...

That's sad news. Clicking and spinning down is usually a symptom of a failure to read the servo information. Like you say, you have nothing to lose by trying the original, unmodified patient ROM. If that fails, you could try the unmodified donor ROM, but I don't know how it will go.
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mirdza83 said:
The data. I know platter swap is risky but I wanted to give it a try. I was very careful and the drives have only one platter so it was a fairly easy job
Click to expand...
And outside a clean booth and proper procedures, you've introduced dust particles onto that platter.
If you were to give this to a data recovery company, what you've done so far added a zero or two to their cost estimate.


Why was there not a backup of this data?
 
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The cost of repairing the drive at the professional company doesn't justify the importance of the data on the drive. I hope that this answers your questions. I did what I did I took the risk... And that its not the problem...yet. The motor wont spin up...
 
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That might and might not be true. I already sad that i knew the risks and i made i call. If you can help me with the problem I have thank you if not please don't waste my time
 
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Of course. New drive was working perfectly. I moved the platter and the PCB from old to new.
Old drive spins up with the PCB from the new drive. Even tho it doesn't have a platter inside at the moment. I cant use the new PCB with the HDD that has the old platter inside (the new one) without reprogramming the firmware or I will lose all the data for sure. And I don't have the equipment to do that. My only option is to repair the old PCB or maybe swap the firmware from old to new PCB but I'm not sure I am able to do that without proper BGA rework station
 
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fzabkar said:
You've complicated things greatly by swapping the platter. :-(

Can you read the ROM and SA firmware modules with WDMarvel demo, using either PCB?

https://wdmarvel.com/en/demo/
Click to expand...
I know but I was pretty sure the motor was bad and I was very very careful so I give it a try. I didn't touch the actuator arm or the plater with my fingers. I used tape on the edge to move the platter. Under the bright light I dint see any dust particle. And if some did get inside I just hope it will work at least for a short time to backup my data.


Not sure. I will look into it. I understand I need special equipment for firmware backup and reprograming
Thank you
 
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fzabkar said:
Did you try spinning up the patient using the donor PCB?

Which voltages did you measure?
Click to expand...
Yes and its spinning up. I measured across the board. Diodes, capacitors... Near sata connectors, on connector pads, capacitors near the motor connector all the voltages are identical between old and new PCB
 
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Can you measure the voltages at L1, L2 and the anode of D2 near the SMOOTH IC? You should see 1.2V, 2.5V (?) and -5V.

Also measure the voltages at Q1 near the SATA connector. You should see 3.9V, 5V, 3.3V.

Please don't slip with your probes!!! Use a screw hole as your ground reference (black meter lead).
 
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fzabkar said:
Can you measure the voltages at L1, L2 and the anode of D2 near the SMOOTH IC? You should see 1.2V, 2.5V (?) and -5V.

Also measure the voltages at Q1 near the SATA connector. You should see 3.9V, 5V, 3.3V.

Please don't slip with your probes!!! Use a screw hole as your ground reference (black meter lead).
Click to expand...
Ok, thank you.
 
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fzabkar said:
Can you measure the voltages at L1, L2 and the anode of D2 near the SMOOTH IC? You should see 1.2V, 2.5V (?) and -5V.

Also measure the voltages at Q1 near the SATA connector. You should see 3.9V, 5V, 3.3V.

Please don't slip with your probes!!! Use a screw hole as your ground reference (black meter lead).
Click to expand...
https://imgur.com/a/WzHmbUY
View: https://imgur.com/a/WzHmbUY

But I'm not sure i can measure negative voltage. I does blink -0
 
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The missing -5V supply could be normal. This is the supply for the write circuitry inside the preamp on the headstack. The Marvell MCU briefly switches on this supply at power-on, and then switches it off when it is unable to detect the preamp.

In any case you may be able to read the ROM in this state. First see if you can detect the PCB with WDMarvel's demo version.

Just to be sure, is there any possibility that you may have enabled Power Up In Standby (PUIS), either via software or via the PM2 jumper?
 
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Likely a shot motor driver (L7251), the . You can change the IC to retain data and calibrations...
ac4NpEL.jpg
 
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