i have a seagate barracude model ST3250823A which might need a new pcb board. i am wondering what information is required when looking for a replacement seagate barracuda pcb. obviously the model needs to be the same, but is there anything else that needs to match up like the S/N, P/N, Firmware, etc. and are there any issues with removing and installing the board itself (such as having to cut wires or anything that goes beyond simply taking the screws out and putting the new board on). im asking because i don't want to screw the drive up worse than it already is. if anyone has any experience with this i would greatly appreciate your help. thanks.

The information you need is eveywhere on this forum. try the search facility.

What makes you think the PCB is bad?

Symptoms?

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it powers up and everything seems to be fine and it sounds perfectly normal. however; my computer does not read the drive. every once in a while it will read the drive for a few moments when i connect it but then it will crap out again. i was using a sketchy external enclosure that might have screwed it up. honestly i dont know much about this kind of stuff. i just don't have the money to get it fixed at a professional place. i figure this is my only option aside from spending a ton of money. at the same time i dont want to mess it up any worse than it already is.

You can save a lot of money by using your years of experience, or you could save yourself years of experience by spending money. Money = Experience. We can try and help, but we can't do it for you, and we can't make you an expert in 1 or 2 messages.

Now that you know the limitations.... How are you connecting the drive to the computer? If you're still using a USB enclosure, try connecting it internally to a computer. If you only have a laptop, get access to a desktop. You can also try to get/make a Knoppix CD (Google!), and see if you can see the data then. Also, are you sure you're setting the drive jumpers correctly?

You could also try exchanging the PCB. That's a popular choice, as people tend to look at a solution in terms of what they can do, as opposed to what is required. No wires to deal with, just remove the screws (They are 'Torx' in case you're not familiar with them), and the board comes off. Be sure to use proper antistatic procedures (Again, Google!)

I know who can help you...

You mean actaully start to read data? If it's recognised well enough to start to read data, then it's very unlikely to be the PCB

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yes sometimes it will start to read the data. i only know this because a window pops up. its the same window that pops up when you connect an external media device like a dvd, an external hd, or a flash drive. however when and if this happens it just freezes up. i suppose i can always just wait until i get a career and then just pay for a professional repair. but that could be years down the road. hehe.

i've tried connecting it both ways. i know the jumpers are on correctly. i know that much about computers. i have restored hard drives in the past using a program call "get data back" which worked beautifully however this drive seems to have a completely different problem. my computer(s) does not connect with the drive.

when the drive crashed i was using only the connector part of the enclosure and not the case part because i was using it for multiple hard drives and it made it easier to leave the cover off so i could quickly change from drive to drive. the enclosure was a cheap piece of crap as well. i think the problem occurred from either removing the ribbon cable to often or it might have been the power cable. i think that the power cable might have screwed things up because i remember having problems with it. sometimes i would have to wiggle it around in a certain angle for the drive to work properly. i know i should have known better but i was pretty clueless as to how fragile hard drives could be at the time. so it might be possible that a surge of electricity shot through the power cable and did some damage. obviously i don't know this for sure but i can't think of any other reason why it stopped working. i've definitely learned my lesson about buying cheap crap and using it improperly. i always back up my important data now and use one enclosure for one drive.