Question Seagate Archive HDD Failure. No Crash, No Spin, Silent. Troubleshooting Advise…

needspractice

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I have a Seagate Archive HDD (Seagate (STEB8000100) Expansion Desktop 8TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop). It was in an external enclosure. I have several external hard drives including a WD. I may have accidently used my WD power adapter for my Seagate Archive HDD. Nevertheless, my Seagate Archive HDD is no longer working.

I bought several of these Expansion Drives. I opened another one and it is a Seagate Barracuda instead of a Seagate Archive HDD. I was just hoping to have a Donor for parts but no luck there.

I went ahead and ordered from an online website the exact match PCB boards to see if I can get this hard drive working by myself. I am not looking forward to sending this off to a Data Recovery Service, but I am thinking about it.

If someone could help me troubleshoot this a little beforehand to see if I can get this working without having to send it off that would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my thoughts.

The drive is completely silent, there was never a horrific ending to the drive. Like it is spinning up and crashing, knocking, beeping, whatever. Just one day I plugged it in and nothing.

Now here is the odd part. It seems like something is barely connecting because in keeps connecting and discounting in windows. You hear the Windows Notification that it connects and then disconnects. Sometimes it stays connected and you can see in “Computer Management” under “Disk Management” the drive. It is like it is barely connected on a sub low level.

What will happen is that in “Disk Management” a window will pop up and say you must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it. MBR vs GPT. Of course, after doing this, I get the error “The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error”.

Disk 2, red down arrow, Unknown, Not Initialized

Most of the time the partition data or the available space does not show up in disk management, but rarely it does show up, i.e., size of partition and available space to create a disk partition. However, even when that shows up it still gives me the error “The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error”.

My thoughts are that the drive is fully functional, but I may have blown a diode or something. The hard drive was sitting in an enclosure and had an extra PCB Board that was a bridge between the power supply and the hard drive. This other PCB board on the external enclosure is working perfectly. I popped out another Hard Drive from another enclosure used it on the bridge and everything works perfectly. So, I am not sure how the Seagate Archive HDD failed even when the External PCB power supply which held it did not.

This is what leads me to be that somehow the PCB Board is no longer working on the Seagate Archive HDD and this may be a simple solution. I ordered a new PCB Donor Board and was hoping all I must do is transfer the “Bios” and install the new Donor Board and everything works.

My question is troubleshooting.

Before messing around with my vital “Bios” chip. Can I just swap out my Donor Board to just see if power is restored and the drive spins up? I know I will not be able to access the Data however, I would be able to confirm that my other original PCB board is the main culprit. Then proceed to swapping the “Bios” chip on the Donor Board.

Will swapping the PCB board without swapping the “Bios” chip cause any “Data” loss or damage the Seagate Archive HDD?

Troubleshooting Steps

-1 Order Donor PCB Board
-2 Swap Original Board with Donor Board without Swapping Bios Chip
-3 See if Seagate Archive HDD powers on whatsoever, spins, etc.
-4 If powers on and spins up, swap out Bios Chip
-5 If Bios Chip is swapped and drive is still not responsive begin consultation with “Data Recovery Service”.

Another question is do I simply just send this off to a “Data Recovery Service” I would hate to swap out my Bios chip and make it more difficult for them to recover. However, if it is a simple PCB Board Swap and Bios Swap, I would prefer to do it myself.

Please feel free to give me any other pointers. I am just trying to perform some basic troubleshooting tactics before sending this drive off for an expensive recovery. I just have a feeling that this might be as simple as a PCB Board/Bios swap because the drive was never dropped, and in perfect condition. It is not that old either.

Thanks!
 

popatim

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You'd need the boardpart number which typically starts with 100 and is 9 digitis (usually)

This is one such board found in the archival Seagates and the TVS Diodes are noted
https://www.hddzone.com/100769673_seagate_pcb_repair.html

I suspect the 12v line is open or even burnt which may be obvious to the naked eye.
Can you remove the board and link us to a pic of the other side of it?
Also grab the part number of the board.
 

needspractice

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You'd need the boardpart number which typically starts with 100 and is 9 digitis (usually)

This is one such board found in the archival Seagates and the TVS Diodes are noted
https://www.hddzone.com/100769673_seagate_pcb_repair.html

I suspect the 12v line is open or even burnt which may be obvious to the naked eye.
Can you remove the board and link us to a pic of the other side of it?
Also grab the part number of the board.

Here is the Board Number: 100769673 Rev A

PCB Specification:

Model: ST8000AS0002
Part Number: 1NA17Z-569
Firmware: RT18
PCB Sticker: 9666 J
PCB Number: 100769673 REV A

Here is a link for the photos:

Front:

https://ufile.io/89t3dg39

Back:

https://ufile.io/r8487cz0

These images are incredible. I used my scanner. Lol. You should be able to see them as if they were in your hand. Let me know what you think. I really, really appreciate your help. Thank you very much.
 
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needspractice

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@fzabkar I'm not very fluent in Seagate. Seen any info on this board?

Someone else mentioned the TVS Diode's. I did buy a Multi Meter. What would be the best way to Test those? If I find a bad one can I just replace it or take it out and not replace it. Seems to me the best option if it might be a bad TVS Diode is to replace the whole board with a Donor Board and swap the BIOS unless you can just take out a Diode that is blocking a current without replacing anything.

The last thing that is on my Brain is that I am new to this and I do not want to mess up my BIOS chip when swapping it onto the Donor Board. I have some other hard drives lying around that I don't care about. I am sure I could practice on them.

Do you have a beginner article that tells you everything you need in order to do this? The Basics? I can order everything and start practicing.

Update:

Oh I see. You did post that hddzone article which lets you know which basics tools you need. I apologize for asking again, I just saw the top of the article.
 
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I've never heard of anyone damaging a Seagate hard drive by using a PCB with a foreign "ROM".

The behaviour in Windows could be due to Windows detecting the bridge but not the drive behind the bridge. How does Windows deal with a drive-less enclosure?

I suspect that WD's adapter has the same specs as Seagate's, probably +12VDC, 1.5A, 2A or 3A, centre pin positive, There should be a diagram on the adapter.

This Seagate model does not have TVS diodes. Instead it has two electronic fuses.

MP5010S, Monolithic Power, 5V, 1A - 5A Programmable Current Limit Switch, marking AGK, QFN10:
https://www.monolithicpower.com/DesktopModules/DocumentManage/API/Document/GetDocument?id=1422

NIS5132, 3.6A 12V Resettable Electronic Fuse, marking 32:
http://www.diodes.com/datasheets/NIS5132.pdf
http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/NIS5232-D.PDF

If either e-fuse is faulty, it can be bypassed, provided that there are no other faults.

@needspractice, if you have a multimeter (~US$5), I can help you to determine where the problem is.

Be aware that PCB supplier hdd-parts.com includes a free ROM transfer in the price.
 

needspractice

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I've never heard of anyone damaging a Seagate hard drive by using a PCB with a foreign "ROM".

The behaviour in Windows could be due to Windows detecting the bridge but not the drive behind the bridge. How does Windows deal with a drive-less enclosure?

I suspect that WD's adapter has the same specs as Seagate's, probably +12VDC, 1.5A, 2A or 3A, centre pin positive, There should be a diagram on the adapter.

This Seagate model does not have TVS diodes. Instead it has two electronic fuses.

MP5010S, Monolithic Power, 5V, 1A - 5A Programmable Current Limit Switch, marking AGK, QFN10:
https://www.monolithicpower.com/DesktopModules/DocumentManage/API/Document/GetDocument?id=1422

NIS5132, 3.6A 12V Resettable Electronic Fuse, marking 32:
http://www.diodes.com/datasheets/NIS5132.pdf
http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/NIS5232-D.PDF

If either e-fuse is faulty, it can be bypassed, provided that there are no other faults.

@needspractice, if you have a multimeter (~US$5), I can help you to determine where the problem is.

Be aware that PCB supplier hdd-parts.com includes a free ROM transfer in the price.

Foreign, ROM... Aw, that is good news, because I will be getting some boards in soon. I will pop it on and see if it at least boots up because it is dead silent right now, doesn't even turn on. I know I wont be able to read the data, however, this will give me hope that its not a major issue like a crashed platter or something.

Yes, I can confirm that the diagrams match on the adapters. The WD is 3.0 A and the Seagate is 2A.

Have no idea about the two differences between TVS or Fuses, is one better than the other in this situation?

Yea, I can try to bypass something, what is the best way to do that? What do I need?

I did by a brand new multi-meter, so hopefully I am ready to go.

I have seen that, about them installing the ROM however, I am nervous about putting this rom in the mail. If this thing gets lost its over right? If I burn this ROM by swapping it out to another board or it gets lost in the mail its game over. Well unless a professional does a full platter swap or something. Big Bucks.

Again, thank you so much for your help, greatly appreciated.
 

needspractice

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I would measure the following voltages. Use a screw hole as the ground reference.

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST8000AS0002/

wow. this is cool.

Ok so I hope I set my multi meter right after watching a video.

Mosfet:

High current passes through Vb, Vc, and Vd however, it appears that Va is dead; it reads 0.0 or maybe for a second .01 and then 0.0

Vneg:

Plenty of current running through it

efuses:

no issues here, plenty of current running through everything.

regs:

no issues here as well; lots of current running on these. However, both V2's maxed out at .650

Recap:

So it seems the only issue is Mosfet: Va could this really cause the entire drive to not operate?
 
What are the voltage readings? +12V? +5V? +3.3V? +1.8V? -5V? +0.9V?

etc, etc

Edit:

Before you get into trouble, take an alkaline AA or AAA or 9V battery and use your multimeter to measure their voltages. Once you achieve the correct results (1.5V / 1.6V or 9V), then you're ready to go. Also see what happens when you reverse the probes.
 

needspractice

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What are the voltage readings? +12V? +5V? +3.3V? +1.8V? -5V? +0.9V?

etc, etc

Edit:

Before you get into trouble, take an alkaline AA or AAA or 9V battery and use your multimeter to measure their voltages. Once you achieve the correct results (1.5V / 1.6V or 9V), then you're ready to go. Also see what happens when you reverse the probes.

Gotcha, here you go:

Mosfet:

Va = 0.0
Vb = 3.2
Vc = 3.2, 3.1 now at 1.7 (this was seems to be going down and like it is about to die)
Vd = 0.2

Vneg:

Vneg Diode = .2 for seconds and then 0.0

Efuses:

12Vin = Goes up to 1.2 and then down
Switched 5V = .2
5Vout = 0.0
12Vount = Goes up to 1.2 and then down

Regs:

V2 = 0.0
V3 = 0.0
V1 = 0.0

I mean "regs" will have something for like a split second and stay at 0.0; I don't think this section is working at all.

What do you mean reverse the probes? Ground the red wire and test with the black wire?
 

needspractice

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Gotcha, here you go:

Mosfet:

Va = 0.0
Vb = 3.2
Vc = 3.2, 3.1 now at 1.7 (this was seems to be going down and like it is about to die)
Vd = 0.2

Vneg:

Vneg Diode = .2 for seconds and then 0.0

Efuses:

12Vin = Goes up to 1.2 and then down
Switched 5V = .2
5Vout = 0.0
12Vount = Goes up to 1.2 and then down

Regs:

V2 = 0.0
V3 = 0.0
V1 = 0.0

I mean "regs" will have something for like a split second and stay at 0.0; I don't think this section is working at all.

What do you mean reverse the probes? Ground the red wire and test with the black wire?

Also, if I am doing this all wrong, just let me know I will try again.
 
If 12Vin (and 5V) is shutting down, then this could be due to a short on the PCB, assuming you are measuring everything correctly.

Set your multimeter on the 200 ohms range and measure the resistance between 12Vin and Ground (a screw hole or SATA power Gnd).

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST8000AS0002/SATA_power_in.jpg

WARNING: Resistance measurements should be taken in the absence of power.

These are good tutorials:

https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Resistance
https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Voltage
 
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needspractice

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If 12Vin (and 5V) is shutting down, then this could be due to a short on the PCB, assuming you are measuring everything correctly.

Set your multimeter on the 200 ohms range and measure the resistance between 12Vin and Ground (a screw hole or SATA power Gnd).

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST8000AS0002/SATA_power_in.jpg

WARNING: Resistance measurements should be taken in the absence of power.

These are good tutorials:

https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Resistance
https://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Voltage

95.5
 

needspractice

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If you are measuring 5 ohms between the 5V pins of the SATA connector and a screw hole, then the PCB is shorted.

In fact if you are measuring 5 ohms at all those other test points, then everything is shorted. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your results. :-?


Edit:

If you do purchase a replacement PCB, try making the same measurements and compare the results.
 
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needspractice

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If you are measuring 5 ohms between the 5V pins of the SATA connector and a screw hole, then the PCB is shorted.

In fact if you are measuring 5 ohms at all those other test points, then everything is shorted. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your results. :-?


Edit:

If you do purchase a replacement PCB, try making the same measurements and compare the results.

I may be using the multi meter wrong. Its an Automatic One and not a manual one. If I select ohms and put it on manual mode I hear a beep on the GND and nothing on 5VIN or 12VIN I am assuming that open loop is good?