Load of bullshit Ataho. You say the read/write heads are stuck on the platters and cant move ( classic stiction situation relatively common for 2.5 inch drives) , yet ur platters spin and the heads click ( impossible since the heads will prevent the platters from moving) . All in all u are a troll here to make sure ppl kill their drives. Also , u are in the DR business for 7 years and and u call read / write heads "armor"? ... Cant even blame the language barrier for that.

Dont feed the troll ppl.

Let's suppose -- just for argument -- that you actually saw 12 drives with this problem.

The odds are that at least some -- if not the majority -- of them will have damaged media and heads. In which case returning the heads to the ramp will not solve the problem and you will not recover the data simply by powering the drive back up.

Most of the WD drives that we see with the problem you describe have been dropped and there is head and media damage.

Is is bad for everyone when people give out misleading or false info -- not the least the fellow with the bad drive!

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Out of curiosity : did all the so-called "recoveries" ended without a bad block / bad file and heads working after getting data or what ?
That's why I don't believe it either, until I see it and REPLICABLE. I would have put some other info in support of my thesis, but it would mean educate / feeding other people for free over the internet, and it's not Sunday today.
A good way to prove the theory would be re-creating the condition and then applying the "fix" as stated. To me it would end with a destroyed drive most of the times, and honestly I don't like it.

Friends, a few days ago I received a WD My Passport 320GB drive (don't actually remember the model but it's for sure different than mentioned in this topic) however, after connecting to USB it produced exactly the same sound like Ataho put in his mp3.
I can only say that heads were stuck on platter, after careful parking them on the ramp, the drive worked, data has been saved and now the future will show how long the HDD will be alive?
The reason why I wrote this post, is to confirm that guy Ataho didn't lie. I don't care if he recovered 12 drives or not, in my opinion he said true according to his experience and there is no need to argue or call him a liar.
Beginners shouldn't try these steps, unless they don't care about their data or hdd.

Oh really?

Yesterday a customer just brought us a 320 GB WDC Passport drive with the heads stuck on the platters. When we returned them to the ramp, we noticed that the read-write head for head 0 was missing.

There is NO WAY that this drive could work without head stack replacement.

You might be lucky once in awhile. More often not.

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Seems like I need to start playing the lottery?

Fortunately it was my sister's portable HDD, after warning her of possible consequences, she decided to take a risk and try.

I don't know if this is the right place to ask something about my wd mypassport, but please help me, otherwise I will try the sata way.

what is this thing because it burned on my pcb and i don't know what is it to replase it

Is it 'Lxx'? As it looks like an inductor. I might be wrong though as the photo is not very clear.
I would remove it and check the board for any short circuits to ground across the +5v rail on the usb connector. If board seems ok then use a suitable replacement and check again. Do not use a solder bridge!
You might just be lucky!

This is the only way out

Hi Ataho2011 or any kind soul,

Have you any experience of the WD5000BMVV 500GB Passport?

wd5000bmvv-connector-t16203.html

I am desperately trying to recover it's data freely for a friend. Have been using Testdisk and Getdataback for NTFS and have recovered some 70GB to date. With another 200GB remaining but can no longer access the HDD. The white light is static, and it spins but is not recognised by any 4 of my pc's. Have normally been able to access it by Device manager or Testdisk 6.11.0.0 but it just does not read the drive anymore. It just spins. (White light does not blink it remains on) Need some advice please, will be happy to dismantle with the correct instructions. Thanks oakwood63atblueyonderdotcodotuk

Im pretty sure these images are taken from the instructions released by Acelab....

If the spindle motor does not stop, then it is likely that the problem could be related to the service area. In this case you need specialist equipment and experience which I am assuming you do not have.

Assuming the problem is a hardware related problem then you will still need specialist equipment, access to donor parts and a clean room. Even if successful, the recovery of the data itself can be extremely difficult and unstable.

Your main problem here is identifying what is actually the problem.

But should anyone even give you dis-assembly instructions I have a feeling it will be no use to you as instructions alone, no matter how accurate and illustrated, will not be enough.

these drives can be tough for seasoned pros, you should not attempt DIY on this HDD if data is of any value at all.

Thank's for advice 'hddguy'. Much appreciated. Fortunately data remaining is no longer critical and can be replaced. There is nothing to be lost anymore except ''the cost' if the HDD were to be sent to a specialist recovery centre.

As a forum I would appreciate any more advice but fully accept from 'hddguy' this could be an impossibility.

Can you please let me know if creating the connection to the SATA connection will get help me get to my data on a clicking drive? I get one then three clicks using the USB connection. Then nothing afterwards except for a steady light.

No, for more than one reason

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

Thank you. Could I buy a same model unit and replace the heads accordingly? I know I would have to obtain access to a clean room environment.

changing heads needs more than clean room specially for those hdd`s

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

occasionally, one of these WD will work with original heads (after afflicted with stiction) but a lot of this relies on many variables which we as technicians cannot really control. There is always RLF (Random Luck Factor, haha) in how the heads became stuck. If the initial impact was "soft" then there is a good chance that the heads may live; if the impact was hard, from say a drop or something; then the chances are reduced greatly, in addition the chance of media damage in this case also increases dramatically.

The other factor is DIY attempts/other pc shop, etc. IF they make many attempts to power on the drive, and do not know what to look for (you should know what to look for, i really shouldn't need to mention it, it has been covered many times on these forums). IF these shops "beat the drive up" with these useless attempts, then the chances of recovery are reduced greatly, I often see these that you can tell have been powered on after stiction, with light you can see on the platters the mark left by slider, and can see where it was "ripped" from its place under microscope. I see cases where multiple sliders have been ripped off of the HGA, and also where sliders are still "fused" to the platters because of the amount of friction, etc heating up the slider causing it to become even more stuck then usual (these are my favorite, NOT).


Anyways, while stiction may seem like a "simple" mechanical failure. It really is not. There are tons of complications that can occur. Any DIY is always at the users own risk of their data, and they should understand that non-refundable fees, and higher overall recovery costs should be expected if any DIY is made in failure; furthermore if a DIY is made in failure, the chances of recovery reduce greatly depending on the procedures attempted, and a laundry list of variables with that (cleanroom/no cleanroom, compatible parts, missing parts when shipped, etc)

Hi, gurus!

Have the same problem with my HDD, but the model is WD10TMVW, need to get my data.

I hear that it spinned OK, I suppose that the problem with controller. The instruction posted above dosnt have the same pins to connect to SATA.

I am very gratitude for help! Any help, any methods.

Best Regards,
Boris Glebov

If it spins ok then PCB is less likely, more likely to be a firmware issue or bad sectors preventing windows/smartware mounting it properly.

That said, recently I've had a few cases of drives from WD Essential cases that refuse access via the USB and had to be converted to SATA. Not had one like that from WD Passport thankfully, as we'd have encryption to deal with.

I suggest you get it looked at professionally.

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