I have a client with a Seagate 7200.8 300GB HDD that is no longer accessible. The data is very important.
Mind you, I am NOT a HDD professional, but am technically proficient. When I test the bare drive in my shop,
it spins up fine, sounds normal and is identified, UNTIL you try to access the drive, at which point it starts making
a "pinging" sound, almost like a ping pong ball bouncing.

My question is, would this be a PCB problem, or a problem that would require professional repair(head replacement)
and/or data recovery?

Now, I realize a lot of you are "in the business" (from reading some posts here), and look out for each other's ability
to earn a living, but having taken some drives in recently for data recovery, I don't believe paying $1700 is a fair price
to swap a PCB that I can certainly do myself for the cost of a good, used drive. As such, I hope I can get some
fair and honest advice here.

Thank you!

Could be usefull if u upload that "sound" from this way we can check it and tried to got an idea

Regards

For the sake of your clients important data, please send to a professional. There is a lot more involved in Data Recovery than simply swapping PCB. Even PCB replacement requires specialised tools for ROM transferring, and many PCBs use 40 pin chips, which are even more difficult than the 8 pin ones, and disks such as toshibas require soldering of the microprocessor, definately not for a novice!

regarding this disk, the pinging sound is almost definately damaged heads. To be 100% you should post a sound here, but im willing to bet that you have a seagate with physically damaged heads. Again, if you not a profesional, send it to someone who is.

This is exactly what we try to avoid here. You say your not a professional, and you have a 'client' whose data is important, but do not agree to the costs of data recovery. So instead, you will attempt something yourself which will likely fail, then one of us 'real' professionals here will have twice as much work to do to get the data back.

Believe me, your best option is to outsource this job.

Thank you for the advice. I would like to clarify, though, that I am not unwilling to seek professional data recovery. What I was stating was that these shops typically charge a flat rate for data recovery, and if it was something as simple as replacing a PCB, I have certainly done that before. I have not tinkered with the newer drives and have researched and read that drives nowadays are not so easy to replace just the PCB, as the processor needs to be changed too, which is usually soldered to the PCB.

So, while I am not a complete PC noob (22 years in the computer business), I am not up to the task, as some here are, of changing processors and analyzing codes from drives with serial hookups (I could, but don't have the time or inclination to do so!).

I just wanted some advice from those who have the experience to give some direction. Since professional recovery is very expensive, I wanted to be sure that was my only option and an easy, quick fix wasn't a possiblity!

Seems me, BAD HEAD/MEDIA Scratch/unreadable
proper diagnose can state the real

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The pros here have all the experience you need but can't remotely fix your drive or your customer's drive, surely not for free. The "PRO" solution is THE ONLY. The "pinging" sound is like slightly picking a guitar chord or a faint click. If the motor is seized you can't hear the drive spinning.

To tell the truth, every computer store wants to make GREAT revenue from such problems, but even with a special price from a pro DR, you won't be able to markup and resell the service at a "customer-reasonable price". So, be honest : you can outsource and make a small markup for your interest about the case and have the drive serviced and data recovered, or try tinkering or seeking for a low price with all the risks involved. And of course, you won't get any other advice outta here.

I didn't ask for anyone to remotely fix the drive, and I didn't ask for anything free (but advice on whether it would require PRO service). As I also stated, the motor spins fine, and the drive is ID'd fine.



I have my own business, and I do get a reseller discount from the DR serivce company, and unlike the DR service companies, I don't plan on making a killing on getting my clients data recovered. My objective is purely to get the data recovered and help my client.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Then it seems, sir, that you have gotten the answer you are looking for. It sounds like damaged heads but by just your description no pro will guarantee the cause failure. We all have specialized recovery tools that could tell us the exact problem with this model. Your statement/question:


The answer to the question:

Consensus says damage to heads or media
Not a PCB swap (though PCB swaps are still nothing to "just do" on your own)
Seek professional help if the data is important because further recovery will require complete diagnosis of the drive and more than likely opening and replacing of components inside of the drive, which you have stated you are not interested in

As soon as you find yourself saying this you should stop what you are doing and send it to a professional. The issue with attempting to fix things yourself is that there is a quite reasonable chance of causing additional damage, up to and including rendering the data unrecoverable. Part of the premium paid for professional DR service is for the knowledge that the people you send it to aren't going to screw up your data.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Agreed. Thanks.

Where are you based?

Maybe we can point you in the direction of a local pro, who won't rip you off.

Sean

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I'm in San Diego. I took the drive in yesterday to a local DR shop.

OK

Good luck!

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