failure analysis: flickering light on brick for WD external
October 21st, 2008, 7:13
Hello, my external "elements" branded WD USB drive failed recently. I wasn't there when it happened, but when I found it, the green light on the AC power brick was flickering rapidly and making a soft ticking noise (the drive itself was silent, not spinning). I'm hoping I might present the symptoms here and see if anyone has an idea about what the failure might be.
The facts:
1. The external enclosure and its interface board are fine. I have a new drive running in there now. The problem is with the drive itself.
2. When power is applied to the bad drive, it does not spin up or make any movement. A PC will not detect it. All that happens is the power brick light flickers. I tried the bad drive on a *different* external interface and power adapter and got the exact *same* result: flickering light on the brick, no action from the drive.
3. There's nothing obviously burned on the drive's PCB. I don't have a multimeter or the skills to go poking around on it.
I'm hoping to try a PCB swap -- incidentally, the drive is a WD5000AAKS, firmware 00TMA0, so if you have a board for this, feel free to get in touch. In the meantime, do these symptoms point to anything in particular for you experts on the forum? One thing I'm hoping is that if the problem is limited to some simple power-related component on the PCB, I might just be able to swap that (with the help of a solder-capable friend) and not worry about finding an exact firmware/PCB part number replacement. Any help greatly appreciated.
The facts:
1. The external enclosure and its interface board are fine. I have a new drive running in there now. The problem is with the drive itself.
2. When power is applied to the bad drive, it does not spin up or make any movement. A PC will not detect it. All that happens is the power brick light flickers. I tried the bad drive on a *different* external interface and power adapter and got the exact *same* result: flickering light on the brick, no action from the drive.
3. There's nothing obviously burned on the drive's PCB. I don't have a multimeter or the skills to go poking around on it.
I'm hoping to try a PCB swap -- incidentally, the drive is a WD5000AAKS, firmware 00TMA0, so if you have a board for this, feel free to get in touch. In the meantime, do these symptoms point to anything in particular for you experts on the forum? One thing I'm hoping is that if the problem is limited to some simple power-related component on the PCB, I might just be able to swap that (with the help of a solder-capable friend) and not worry about finding an exact firmware/PCB part number replacement. Any help greatly appreciated.
Re: failure analysis: flickering light on brick for WD external
October 21st, 2008, 7:46
I assume that WD customer care is the last resort. Don't know why.
Here are the facts : case 1) the PSU trips because of protection. Drive is sinking more current than allowed. If you are lucky enough only some protection device on the drive PCB is K.O. (please don't ask for a step by step guide, search this forum, the argumet was covered more than one time). After servicing the drive, reassemble and cross fingers. IF it worked, I'll charge you only a barrel of beer for this kind advice. And if you don't send me the beer your conscience will haunt you FOREVER
Case 2) Reassembled, the drive makes a clicking noise. In that case, 90% head stack has to be replaced : prepare to spend from 1500$ up if yu want your data back. There's still the hope that the PCB is K.O. and the heads are working, in case you need an EXACT replacement and maybe you have still to do a chip swap. It's worth a try when nothing left to loose. This advice is for free
Sorry for being near rude, but these are the facts.
Here are the facts : case 1) the PSU trips because of protection. Drive is sinking more current than allowed. If you are lucky enough only some protection device on the drive PCB is K.O. (please don't ask for a step by step guide, search this forum, the argumet was covered more than one time). After servicing the drive, reassemble and cross fingers. IF it worked, I'll charge you only a barrel of beer for this kind advice. And if you don't send me the beer your conscience will haunt you FOREVER
Case 2) Reassembled, the drive makes a clicking noise. In that case, 90% head stack has to be replaced : prepare to spend from 1500$ up if yu want your data back. There's still the hope that the PCB is K.O. and the heads are working, in case you need an EXACT replacement and maybe you have still to do a chip swap. It's worth a try when nothing left to loose. This advice is for free
Sorry for being near rude, but these are the facts.
Re: failure analysis: flickering light on brick for WD external
October 21st, 2008, 8:43
PCB(NOT ONLY REPLACE WILL WORK)
MOTOR Seized.
NEED TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE HDD MORE TO DELIVER THE SPEECH WITH NEAREST ISSUE
MOTOR Seized.
NEED TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE HDD MORE TO DELIVER THE SPEECH WITH NEAREST ISSUE
Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group.