Need To Do PCB (Circuit Board) Swap For Western Digital My Passport Portable Drive

[goldensun87]

I'm looking at having to do a firmware chip transfer. Micro Center and Best Buy cannot do this, so I would have to send it into a service center which specializes in this. Or, I am hoping I can buy another of the exact model, and I will not have to do the firmware transfer, which requires unsoldering and resoldering. Here is what I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B006Y5UV4A/

The model number and year of release match, but will the serial number make a difference? What are the chances that a direct swap will work?

 

[Pinhedd]

I'm looking at having to do a firmware chip transfer. Micro Center and Best Buy cannot do this, so I would have to send it into a service center which specializes in this. Or, I am hoping I can buy another of the exact model, and I will not have to do the firmware transfer, which requires unsoldering and resoldering. Here is what I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B006Y5UV4A/

The model number and year of release match, but will the serial number make a difference? What are the chances that a direct swap will work?

The EEPROM contains drive-specific information such as bad sector maps within the service area of the hard disk. Sometimes a PCB swap is sufficient, but often times the EEPROM needs to be moved.

 

[goldensun87]

I'm looking at having to do a firmware chip transfer. Micro Center and Best Buy cannot do this, so I would have to send it into a service center which specializes in this. Or, I am hoping I can buy another of the exact model, and I will not have to do the firmware transfer, which requires unsoldering and resoldering. Here is what I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B006Y5UV4A/

The model number and year of release match, but will the serial number make a difference? What are the chances that a direct swap will work?

The EEPROM contains drive-specific information such as bad sector maps within the service area of the hard disk. Sometimes a PCB swap is sufficient, but often times the EEPROM needs to be moved.

The clicking actually started a while ago, but the drive was still managing to boot fully, and all my files were still accessible. The drive actually still boots, it has just become extremely slow, and at least one of the folders I could not enter because of input/output problem. Can I assume that my disk has no bad sectors, and the fresh PCB and ROM chip will be able to access my data?

 

[Pinhedd]

I'm looking at having to do a firmware chip transfer. Micro Center and Best Buy cannot do this, so I would have to send it into a service center which specializes in this. Or, I am hoping I can buy another of the exact model, and I will not have to do the firmware transfer, which requires unsoldering and resoldering. Here is what I found:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B006Y5UV4A/

The model number and year of release match, but will the serial number make a difference? What are the chances that a direct swap will work?

The EEPROM contains drive-specific information such as bad sector maps within the service area of the hard disk. Sometimes a PCB swap is sufficient, but often times the EEPROM needs to be moved.

The clicking actually started a while ago, but the drive was still managing to boot fully, and all my files were still accessible. The drive actually still boots, it has just become extremely slow, and at least one of the folders I could not enter because of input/output problem. Can I assume that my disk has no bad sectors, and the fresh PCB and ROM chip will be able to access my data?

No. The drive's operating system is located within the service area. This is an inaccessible section of the disk. The ROM contains the initial boot code needed to load the drive's operating system, and includes information about its layout that is unique to that particular drive. If the drive is used with a different ROM there's the possibility that the drive won't boot.

 

[goldensun87]

Hmm. Ok, so if I have to unsolder and resolder, I need to know: are unsoldering and soldering both done with heat? If so, I need a blower small enough that I do not damage any other parts of a PCB. This is mainly because, I'm thinking of switching chips twice. That is, in order to prevent buying a donor drive, or sending my drive into a hard drive specialist center, I want to use one of the working PCBs I already have at home. Since I have files on that drive, I will back up those files in case I damage the good board. Then, I want to transfer the bad board's chip to the good board, retrieve the files on the bad board's disk, and then tramnsfer the good board's chip back. Yes, I know that sounds like a lot of work, but if I can pull it off, it would save me the trouble of having to ship my drive anywhere.

 

[Pinhedd]

Hmm. Ok, so if I have to unsolder and resolder, I need to know: are unsoldering and soldering both done with heat? If so, I need a blower small enough that I do not damage any other parts of a PCB. This is mainly because, I'm thinking of switching chips twice. That is, in order to prevent buying a donor drive, or sending my drive into a hard drive specialist center, I want to use one of the working PCBs I already have at home. Since I have files on that drive, I will back up those files in case I damage the good board. Then, I want to transfer the bad board's chip to the good board, retrieve the files on the bad board's disk, and then tramnsfer the good board's chip back. Yes, I know that sounds like a lot of work, but if I can pull it off, it would save me the trouble of having to ship my drive anywhere.

If you honestly have to ask if they're both done with heat then there's an extremely high chance that you're going to irreparably damage something.

The equipment that you will need to even attempt to perform the transfer will cost you twice as much as a new drive. At a minimum you will need:

1. A desoldering station with controllable airflow and temperature. These start at about $60 for one that's good enough to get the job done.

2. A soldering station with controllable temperature. These start at about $100.

3. A fine point or screwdriver tip for the soldering iron. $5

4. A fume extractor with an activated carbon filter. These start at about $50, anything less is a health hazard.

5. Solder wick to help with cleanup. $10

6. A roll of 63pb/37sn 0.4mm 3% flux core solder. Fortunately solder comes in all shapes and sizes, so around $10 minimum

7. A tube of non-corrosive solder flux. Another $10

That's what you'd need to get started. Then, you'd need to get some practice and that can take some time. I've coached tons of people on soldering techniques and transferring small surface mount components is god-tier stuff that I usually end up doing on my own.

What you ask can be done, but it's best done by either a professional or a hobbyist that's comfortable with SMT rework. Even then, there's always the possibility that there's nothing wrong with the PCB itself. I highly recommend considering either just buying a new drive, or evaluating the cost of a professional data recovery service.

 

[goldensun87]

Heh heh, thanks for the info. Well, a WD Rep on my other thread said the same model and same PCB number would be enough. So, I'm gonna try buying the drive I showed above. Of course, you're saying this swap may not work, so I'm aware that I'm taking a gamble with buying this drive. But, if it doesn't work, I will at least have a fresh working drive for future storage. Then, there are services which will perform the ROM chip transfer, and for now, whatever the cost, it's not worth the risks of trying to perform the transfer myself. I'm planning on opening my own computer repair shop, so I'll invest in all the equipment you stated above, after the business picks up. Thanks for your help .

Oh yeah, what does SMT stand for?

 

[Pinhedd]

Heh heh, thanks for the info. Well, a WD Rep on my other thread said the same model and same PCB number would be enough. So, I'm gonna try buying the drive I showed above. Of course, you're saying this swap may not work, so I'm aware that I'm taking a gamble with buying this drive. But, if it doesn't work, I will at least have a fresh working drive for future storage. Then, there are services which will perform the ROM chip transfer, and for now, whatever the cost, it's not worth the risks of trying to perform the transfer myself. I'm planning on opening my own computer repair shop, so I'll invest in all the equipment you stated above, after the business picks up. Thanks for your help .

Oh yeah, what does SMT stand for?

If the WD rep said that a straight PCB swap might work then doing just that may be worth a shot. Best of luck!

 

[goldensun87]

Heh heh, thanks for the info. Well, a WD Rep on my other thread said the same model and same PCB number would be enough. So, I'm gonna try buying the drive I showed above. Of course, you're saying this swap may not work, so I'm aware that I'm taking a gamble with buying this drive. But, if it doesn't work, I will at least have a fresh working drive for future storage. Then, there are services which will perform the ROM chip transfer, and for now, whatever the cost, it's not worth the risks of trying to perform the transfer myself. I'm planning on opening my own computer repair shop, so I'll invest in all the equipment you stated above, after the business picks up. Thanks for your help .

Oh yeah, what does SMT stand for?

If the WD rep said that a straight PCB swap might work then doing just that may be worth a shot. Best of luck!

Thank you