Hi guys

I had a friends Seagate External HDD here (SRD00F2) that contains a Seagate ST2000DM001 drive.

The drive doesn't spin up or detect, when plugged into an external caddy I can see the power light dimming on the AC adaptor so I was 99% sure this drive has an IC board or drive motor related problem.

The drive is still under Seagate warranty, but the data on it is quite important... Seagate state that the drive will be replaced under warranty, not repaired and offer no data transfer/recovery

I sourced a new drive that was a very close match so I bought one to swap the controller board to this faulty drive to attempt recover data/revive it.

Old 'faulty' drive:


New working drive:


According to the Seagate site this particular model of drive has several platter configurations, only through matching the model number, PN and FW are they compatible. As the PN was very similar I thought I'd give it a try - I figured trying a close match of a new disk (we can also use as a replacement) that worked out cheaper than sourcing an IC board (from the US/Chine as nowhere in Europe seems to supply) was the first option (before discussing with my friend about sending it off for expensive (£300+) data recovery).

Swapping the board makes the old drive spin... But it is unrecognised by windows so I'm guessing the firmware isn't compatible with the older drive head. Anything else I can try before sending for recovery/replacement? I know I've probably made the 'classic' mistake of trying a drive board that isn't an exact match

I've previously used Ontrack for recovery, but not for a number of years... Anyone else I should be going to in the UK?

Straight swapping PCBs on these newer Seagate drives will never ever work, due to specific "adaptive" data held on the ROM on the board. Even the S/N of the drive in embedded into it.

First thing to check is the TVS diodes (search this forum).

Next step would be to source an identical PCB and transfer the ROM over from the faulty drive.

If you don't feel confident with doing that, then send it to me!

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Check these items:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST ... 01_TVS.jpg

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Thanks for your replies guys!

The cost of a replacement PCB is higher than a replacement drive so my friend is almost certain to just replace the disk as I don't think the data is worth the cost of data recovery...

Ran my multimeter over the IC board (perfect image fzabkar!) and the top TVS (12v in picture) reports 02.7, the lower TVS (5V in picture) reports 1 (same as with multimeter not connected to anything). So I'm guessing its the 5V TVS which has shorted...

On the website linked it mentioned to 'snip' the diode off the board (removing overvoltage protection & the shorted TVS). As the power supply my friend has is questionable (it was a cheap replacement and this failure was after she had swapped it) am I likely to get this drive working enough to get the data off it?

By snipping the TVS I'll be voiding the Seagate (replacement) warranty, but I do have a new drive here I can use as a replacement for her (with a new external caddy). Obviously if removing the TVS regularly 'recovers' drives with this kind of failure I will go this route, if it does not then I won't (and will get a Seagate replacement).

I leave the choice down to your experience with this kind of fault guys!

Remove the 12V diode. It is shorted. The 5V diode is OK.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Thanks fzabkar! I've removed the 12V TVS and it's now spinning! Copying data from it before I go testing caddys to house it in!

How can I repay you for your help?! BTC?