Wow... that's a lot to digest !
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Easy way to test IBM based PCBs including HGST, ARM BASED, ETC ....
First, what is an
ARM ?
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- Plig the PCB only to your firmware tool or laking that plug it to the system and run something like Victoria, MHDD, HRT DEMO, etc on the port where you do have the PCB connected.
Victoria appears to be a powerful but quite complicated tool, and the manual is in russian... There are several warnings when it's launched, are they important ? (“Uknown error or driver not exist”, “PORTTALK Error. Invalid driver handle”, “PortTalk driver not installed! Available only API access”) On my main machine (running on Windows 7) I can get SMART status for the connected drive, with my former machine (also running on Win7, based on a Pentium Dual Core E5200 and a GeForce 9300 motherboard, Nvidia storage controler), which I prefer to use for potentially hazardous stuff which may cause a system freeze or shutdown, I can not. When I plug that drive (I tried on the old computer through internal SATA and on the current one through USB), the whole thing or the PCB only, nothing noticeable happens.
HRT Demo apparently runs only on... Windows 98 ?!
How come this hasn't been updated to run on current OS if it's still relevant to current drives ? I could do a Windows 98 install if that's necessary, but would it be any useful if the system doesn't recognize the drive at all ?
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- Power it up and check register status.
What is the register status ? With which one of the aforementioned tools can I check that ?
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- If the PCB goes to BSY for a while and then later it reports DRDY and DSC you should be able to try the Super On combination to access memory (arch M24) or normal Super On on ARM and read NVRam.
That's a lot of acronyms in one sentence !
But I guess it's all moot if the drive doesn't even appear in the list, right ? (I plugged a working drive – well, defective but still spinning – on the same SATA cable, it was identified as number 4, then unplugged it and plugged the Hitachi 2.5" 250GB to the same cable, no more number 4.)
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- If the PCB doesn't report BSY and then DRDY and DSC the PCB is NOT working as expected.
Maybe I should run some tests with a known working PCB to verify if there's anything wrong with my configuration.
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- If you don't have specific firmware tools and you don't know VSCs to use with HRT DEMO for example you can simply check register status and it should provide a clue ...
Again, how can I check the register status ? I don't know any VSC, and wouldn't know where to find them, unless someone here is willing to share...
Could HDDSuperTool be useful in a case like this ?
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- Most IBM/HGST will have a FUSE that will blow up on the PCB and if that is the case there will be no power to the MCU, etc and you will not be able to gain ATA access. Most IBM/HGST will not have shorted TVS (like we see allot on WD PCBs)....
So, technically, and practically, what is the difference between a fuse and a TVS diode ? Don't they serve the same purpose ? What does a fuse look like on a HDD's PCB, and do you see one on the picture I provided ?
How can I check if there's power to the MCU ?
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- IF TVS/diode is shorted your PSU will shut down. That is exactly the function of the TVS .... It prevents the power from entering the drive by shuting down the PSU due to the short. It will be like if you apply power to ground. A fuse will just stop the power from flowwing as there will be an open "cut" on the circuitry, it's like when you lift a switch ... Power will not be able to flow but PSU will not shut down as there will be NO short circuit. You can "bridge" the fuse and the power will flow again but on the TVS case you should REMOVE IT to remove the short and you need to bridge any fuse that is broken ... Of course that if the PCB does have further issues or the power supply is got stable you will fry the rest of the PCB ....
Alright, that somewhat answers the question above. But again, how can I locate a TVS diode or a fuse on the circuit ? What is the safest and/or easiest way to bridge a fuse ? (If there is one, it must be tiny...) How can I check if it's working properly before reconnecting it to the drive ?
After stripping the defective cable I managed to get my multimeter reading a 4.97V value in F1 on the plugged PCB ; I get 0,00V in D1, although I'm pretty sure that it was 4,97V as well yesterday (sure it's impractical with a stripped wire but I checked several times in both directions) ; 0.00V in F2. Beyond that I'm kinda stuck... So far I've used that thing mainly to check batteries !
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- As my experience goes when i do have damaged HGST/IBM PCBs that do not report BSY/DRDY/DSC and when i try to "fix" fuses on those they tent to ALLWAYS blow somewhere else so i don't bother anymore, i just replace the PCB.
You mean they tend to blow somewhere else
right away, or does it usually leave enough time to image the data ?
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- You need to move ROM chip (on ARM) + ROM chip and NVRam chip on older IBM based drives from the broken PCB to the new one, assuming the code on the chip is ok.
And so am I correct in assuming that the ROM chip is located in “U6”, on the thinner portion of the PCB ? Where would the NVRam chip be ? On that particular model, what would it be ? Moving one of those tiny chips seems to be a tricky procedure, especially on a 2.5" drive ; what kind of tool is required to perform this safely ?
I may have to get this done by a trained professional, but I need to be sure that this can be the cure.
(There's a computer repair shop nearby managed by asian guys who seem to have good soldering equipment and abilities – they have a full-blown soldering bench and seem to actually repair motherboards and the like which is very rare nowadays – but what is not reassuring is that the boss doesn't even know what a SMART status is and how to find the number of bad sectors on a HDD... and he doesn't even have Internet access in his shop, so I couldn't even have him download some free analysis tool ! (I just asked him to establish a certificate of failure for another HDD a few months ago, as requested by the insurance ; I had to re-edit the document to add the specific information measured by myself.) (In another shop I went to before for that same purpose, the technician did know how to get SMART data with Crystal Disk Info, but he told me that there were “200” bad sectors, which is the normalized value, I had to show him how to get the actual count – and they were asking 25€ just to print the document. It's amazing how such incompetent people can make a profit in that kind of technical field.))Quote:
- If you have a drive with damaged NVRam you should still be able to see the DRDY and DSC and you should be able to use the VSCs to read/write NVRam.
How can I know if the NVRam is damaged (assuming there's a NVRam chip in the first place) ? Can this be checked with Victoria after plugging the PCB only ?
@jono-ats
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No spin could also be caused by bad heads.
In that case, wouldn't there be at least a faint noise, indicating that the drive is attempting to start up but is failing to do so ? Could it happen so suddenly, on a drive which was performing without issue up until then ?