[SOLVED] HDD repair help needed

[mirdza83]

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

 

[fzabkar]

Right now the donor platter is under my coffee . Just kidding.. its on the shelf and its been there for three days. It is not damaged physically but it Is dirty. Can I clean it and return in the patient drive just for the test?

Yes, because we won't be loading the heads for this test. In any case I no longer trust the patient's heads, so I would prefer to use the donor drive for recovery purposes.

 

[Ralston18]

Just general FYI:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456341374711638364/

View: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456341374711638364/


https://ericscomputerservices.com/never-open-failed-hard-drive/

 

[fzabkar]

If you are prepared to pay for professional recovery, you could approach hddsurgery.com. They are based in your country and are internationally respected.

 

[mirdza83]

If you are prepared to pay for professional recovery, you could approach hddsurgery.com. They are based in your country and are internationally respected.

Actually I'm not. I was well aware of the risks before I started all this and I am also prepared that all this might not work in the end. I am very grateful that you are helping me knowing all this and if we are unsuccessful in the end, so be it.
BTW i like your signature 😉

 

[mirdza83]

Yes, it is spinning up. If i can guess it is going from 5000 to 7200RPM and does that every half a second than stops for a sec and repeats this all over again. Windows loaded very slow probably searching for a drive and I didn't hear the heads moving. No clicking noise, just a motor.

 

[fzabkar]

That's good. It means that we can purge the donor drive before we allow it to load heads (after patching the ROM). When I used to do this on mainframe hard drives, I let them spin for an hour. I was very paranoid because a full set of 20 heads cost $2000 and a disc pack cost $1000. Then there was several hours of labour, including head alignments. I'll let you decide how long is long enough for you to feel comfortable.

Maybe there would be a better chance to dislodge contaminants if the drive were mounted vertically?

 

[mirdza83]

Ok. I will let it spin all night if I have to. Now I can reprogram the donor PCB with the modified ROM you send me, right?
I plan to use windows 7 32bit for this. First I need to read the guide you send me.

 

[fzabkar]

Yes, good luck. You might need Windows XP, I don't know.

 

[mirdza83]

I think i have XP on some old machine... Thanks

 

[fzabkar]

After writing the ROM, read it back immediately. Then use a hex editor (eg HxD freeware) to compare the ROM dumps. Don't power off the PCB until you are sure that the ROM has been written correctly. If you do power down and then power up again, the PCB will try to start from the bad ROM and you will no longer be able to access it. As long as the PCB remains powered up, the original ROM is still in RAM, even after the ROM contents have been updated.

 

[mirdza83]

In the HxD editor, there is a command to compare two files and if they are identical I can safely turn off the PC. If not I should attempt to write the ROM again, right?

 

[fzabkar]

Yes, that's right.

Analysis -> Data comparison -> Compare

 

[mirdza83]

I run into some problems.
Following the guide I connected the donor PCB after the windows was fully loaded.
In custom port selection I have two IDE and two IDE/SATA ports(f700 and f900)

https://imgur.com/S5l8UVG

View: https://imgur.com/S5l8UVG


f900

https://imgur.com/GhSg1EC

View: https://imgur.com/GhSg1EC


f700

https://imgur.com/rq1WANB

View: https://imgur.com/rq1WANB


Both ports report Hitachi drive (this is my system drive) when i select HDD/WD-ROYL. You can see the difference between ports in WD_ROYL report in images. F900 has only DRDY and DSC on. F700 all kinds of errors.
Not sure if I can proceed in this state.
Also there is a WD-MARVEL option bellow WD-ROYL but it report the same information.

Can I use WDMarvel demo if this doesn't work?

Maybe I can try mounting donor PCB to patient drive again with VCM pads covered and see what happens?

This is from the guide:
"If some firmware problem is causing the drive to loop intro busy state there are some procedures that might help like starting the drive intro safe mode, insulate the head stack contacts on the PCB, etc, but it's absolutely necessary that the drive stays at DRDY and DSC so that the ROM operations are possible."

 

[mirdza83]

In the meantime, i tried without the PCB connected and WDR reports the same information on port F700. And I also tried with donor PCB mounted on patient drive. Its the same. I think WDR doesn't recognize the PCB at all.

I found some info that WDR doesn't work with some modern drives.. hm

 

[mirdza83]

I had successfully written the ROM. Double and triple-checked it, even after power down. Now I'm not sure how to make the motor spin for a long time. Right now it does spin up and down but as soon as the windows load it stops. There is an option in WDMarvel: Other/Spindle motor/Start(stop) but when i press start it gives me an error.

 

[Ralston18]

For the record:

"Maybe there would be a better chance to dislodge contaminants if the drive were mounted vertically? "

No: contaminates are not simply dislodged and pushed out of the way regardless of orientation.

The Read/Write heads actually float on a cushion of air just above the platter's surface.

The tolerances are very strict.

Quite okay to experiment and otherwise learn about how the drives are designed and work. 👍

Do not expect to recover any data or make the drive useful/trustworthy again.

When done, properly recycle the electronics etc. But keep the magnet. Very strong and quite useful.

 

[fzabkar]

Does the drive keep spinning if the SATA data cable is not connected?

It could be that the MCU is spinning down the motor when it fails to detect a servo pattern on the platter. If this is the case, then I don't know how to force the drive to keep spinning. :-(

For the record:

"Maybe there would be a better chance to dislodge contaminants if the drive were mounted vertically? "

No: contaminates are not simply dislodged and pushed out of the way regardless of orientation.

I am not suggesting that the contaminants be dislodged by slamming them with the headstack. That's the very thing we are trying to avoid. The OP has now disabled the voice coil so that the heads remain parked on the ramp as we spin up the motor. The idea is to rely on the air turbulence to blow the contaminants off the platter and into the drive's filter, while the heads remain parked. I am merely speculating that the contaminants would have a better chance of falling off the platter if the platter were vertical rather than horizontal.

 

[mirdza83]

Does the drive keep spinning if the SATA data cable is not connected?

Yes but it spins shorter than with the data cable plugged in. Well I guess that's that... I will try and see what happens🤔

 

[mirdza83]

Unfortunately, the drive doesn't get detected in windows. It does spin up and down just like before and I can hear the heads moving(clicking) but nothing extraordinary. Just like that are supposed to sound.

I don't know if we can do anything else with the ROM. I can access it just like before. As a matter of fact, I read it again and compared it with the one you sent me, they are the same.

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(like should have been done in the first place before I f**** things up)

I don't know. I'm thinking a have nothing to lose at this point 😕

https://imgur.com/X4WPrV5

View: https://imgur.com/X4WPrV5

 

[fzabkar]

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

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.

 

[mirdza83]

Ok. Fzabkar. I will try that and if I am successful I will let you know. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you one more time for your tremendous help. I wish there are more guys like you willing to share their knowledge selflessly. 😉 🏆🏆🏆

 

[fzabkar]

The data recovery professionals talk about the potential for introducing "alignment problems" when transplanting platters from one drive to another, but I'm not sure if single platter models are also vulnerable.

See this thread:

Platter Swap Without Alignment Issues:
https://www.recoveryforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=565

There was an earlier WD model (BB and JB series) which would develop an alignment problem if you simply removed and replaced the cover screw that held the headstack in place.

One other possibly I can think of is runout. When you disturb the position of the platter, it may end up being a little off-centre, so the tracks now have a wobble. If the wobble is large enough, perhaps the servo is then unable to lock onto it???

 

[mirdza83]

The data recovery professionals talk about the potential for introducing "alignment problems" when transplanting platters from one drive to another

I agree, that's why I want to return the platter in original patient body. There is probably a small to zero chance of success but I can't think of anything else.

There is a possibility of "wobble" but I can't confirm that. The housing is very sturdy, when I was mounting the platter I applied minimal pressure on top of the nut holding the platter, and also there is no noticeable unusual vibrations when the drive is spinning. If that's is true and the platter does wobble it has to be in microns.

I tried donor unmodified ROM and patient ROM but the same symptoms remain.

 

[USAFRet]

There is a possibility of "wobble" but I can't confirm that. The housing is very sturdy, when I was mounting the platter I applied minimal pressure on top of the nut holding the platter, and also there is no noticeable unusual vibrations when the drive is spinning. If that's is true and the platter does wobble it has to be in microns.

There is a specific torque value on that.
I do not know what it might be, but don't be too loose or too tight.

 

[mirdza83]

I do not know what it might be, but don't be too loose or too tight.

Well... I did try to tighten the screws as close as I can to the original but without a tool that can measure torque that is impossible.
At least I learned a valuable lesson... what can i say 😕