Hi again all,

Persevering with diagnosis on a Samsung HN-M750XBB. USB connection directly on PCB.

Drive Beeps rapidly for about 3-4 secs, Does not spin, LED on PCB then flashes 3 times pauses then three times again.

Drive was not knocked or dropped.

Suspect stiction as no trauma. PCB looks undamaged.

Anyone else have experience with LED codes for this. Couldn't find this model on a forum search. Perhaps just me?

Look forward to you replies.

Best

Logical.

Stiction is easy to diagnose with the ear with some experience, and then a quick look inside to confirm. If you have a cleanroom environment the easiest way to confirm/rule out stiction is to open it. If stiction then with the correct action it should easy to free heads and get a good image, even with a USB-only connection.

It's equally easy to bodge it up if you don't know the correct procedures though.

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your comments, IMVHO i believe it is stiction but have now only just received a mail to confirm from the lady that she is OK with me opening it up.

I would rather open it up once rather than twice and had hoped that the LED codes may confirm this, however it appears that no-one has had an issue with this drive family on the forum.

I do have PC3K and a new clean bench, which is small but adequate for one job at a a time.

Still learning, researching and persevering.

You, like me seem to be one for procedures and I would very much appreciate any advice on the correct procedures that you feel are best to follow.

I have recovered two 2.5" drives in my clean area, one stiction and the other stuck spindle. Perhaps the first was due to luck? (and being gentle)

Appreciate you input.

Kind regards

Logical.

As everyone else here will say I'm sure, the only way to become proficient in something is practice and R&D. In my early days when practicing on dud drives, I would wreck heads on stiction more than I would save them. However, more practice and experimenting with different methods, some different thinking, and things change. If I look on record at the last 10 stiction cases I've dealt with (2.5" for the majority) I'm pleased to say 9 out of the 10 were successful, with original heads. The 1 which was not successful with original heads was a 7200.11, but was successful with a head swap. So, with some practice and a good method your confidence in stiction jobs should rise. On that note, practice and R&D should most certainly only be done on non-client drives. The amount of drives I see where a 'computer shop' or 'friend who knows computers' has unstuck stiction jobs by spinning/hitting/knocking/opening them and ruining them is growing.

Regarding the actual process, you really do need to figure out what works best for you. Get a functioning, practice drive and get the heads off the ramp and onto the platters to simulate stiction. Perhaps leave them to settle and then give it a shot. Do your magic then fire up the drive and try and image and see which methods work, and which don't. A basic rule of thumb I go with is to apply equal force rotating the platter (anti-clockwise!) and moving the heads towards the ramp by using a tool on the far edge of the voicecoil end of the assembly. For 2.5" you can normally get a T6 into the centre of the platter/s and use that to turn, whilst using your other hand to manage the movement of the assembly on the voicecoil end. A soft hand and a 50/50 split of force between the movements serves me well. You'll get to know that certain drives are easier and more resilient to stiction than others. You'll find a WD5000BEVT will be at the top of your 'successful stiction list' whilst a Hitachi might be on your not-like-these-so-much list. Saying that, did a Hitachi HTS725050 yesterday with nor problems at all. It's crucial to check the condition of the sliders though, really is.

There are many ways to skin a cat, so practice practice practice and good luck!

_________________
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Data Recovery Cape Town

Nick,

Just to say the information you have supplied was very much appreciated and most useful. I have taken your guidance in this case using the screwdriver and applied equal force in the torque and movement of the read write heads.

I am not sure of what tool I would prefer to use to move the arm. In my last case I used my grounded latex gloved hands to rotate the platter and move the assembly. (which indeed worked.)

This time I used your screwdriver method to rotate the platter and my hand to guide the arm back to the ramp. This to me does seem a much more accurate method and shall follow this procedure in the future.

I have now just completed the recovery of 8000+ documents with no errors.

So in short a Samsung HN-M750XBB which has not been dropped, is not spinning, Beeps rapidly for about 3-4 secs, blue LED on PCB then flashes 3 times pauses then three times again has shown itself to be stiction in this case.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge.

Regards

Logical.