WD laptop drive with no spin-up, Beyond hope?

[Zeldaman]

Hi everybody,

I've got a WD3200BEVT laptop 2.5" hard drive, Western Digital 320GB SATA.

There's no spin-up, there's a "kla-KLUNK", then for a split-second it whirs, as if it were going to spin, but never does. It repeats the "kla-KLUNK" and whir in an endless loop.

The laptop this came from was dropped on the ground, this drive definitely has loose or broken components, but is it beyond repair?

Is a component swap worth a try, and if so, will any SATA 2.5" work for swapping? I'm guessing it's the spindle motor that got damaged.

I know I have a strange way of explaining sounds, so I'll try to record and upload the sound later.

[harddrivespecialist]

If you need data refer to a data recovery pro.
If you don't need data, get a new drive and move on.

[drc]

What he said.

[BlackST]

It is not beyond repair, it is beyond AVERAGE JOE repair. And it will be quite expensive, if the failure is what I think is.

[Zeldaman]

BlackST, how expensive is "quite expensive" in your book? A 2.5" 320GB ranges $39.99 -- $69.99 where I'm at.

I wouldn't describe myself as an average joe, I'm a PC repair technician with 2 years experience. Most of the people here, obviously have many more years experience than I, but I'm not new at this.

My business mainly revolves around hardware diagnosis and replacement, virus/spyware removal and data recovery. In cases such as these, where the drive can't be accessed, and disassembling is required, most clients give up on it, because I have to charge pretty high to justify the time and effort it takes.

This time though, it's for a good friend of mine, who has photos of sentimental value on the drive, and I want to do everything I can to recover them.

Some of the tools I have at my disposal are precision screwdrivers of varying sizes, a 15W soldering iron, and compressed air. I have a clean desk free of dust.

[N.C.]

I wouldn't describe myself as an average joe, I'm a PC repair technician with 2 years experience. Most of the people here, obviously have many more years experience than I, but I'm not new at this.

....

Some of the tools I have at my disposal are precision screwdrivers of varying sizes, a 15W soldering iron, and compressed air. I have a clean desk free of dust.

Hi,

I don't want to make a joke from you, but i can easily.

Listen...
If you really want to help your friend, stop at this point, don't power up the drive again, and seek for really professional help!
Based on my experience, WD have the most sensitive heads in the notebook hdds...
A damaged surface in wd drives are in the most complicated range!
I don't have any chance to solve the problem alone, but you have great change to render the drive unrecoverable! (if you not have done this allready...)

Read this, if you want to learn a little to get at least "average Joe" level.

results-the-yourself-solutions-t11912.html

Janos

[hddguy]

BlackST, how expensive is "quite expensive" in your book? A 2.5" 320GB ranges $39.99 -- $69.99 where I'm at.

The cost of the parts and the cost for the repair/recovery will be completely different.

I wouldn't describe myself as an average joe, I'm a PC repair technician with 2 years experience. Most of the people here, obviously have many more years experience than I, but I'm not new at this.

2 Years experience in my book means you are quite new at this.

My business mainly revolves around hardware diagnosis and replacement, virus/spyware removal and data recovery. In cases such as these, where the drive can't be accessed, and disassembling is required, most clients give up on it, because I have to charge pretty high to justify the time and effort it takes.

Are you even able to offer a fair service? You will charge customers a high fee for at attempt at work that will likely fail due to inexperience and incorrect tools, and do nothing but incur additional costs when a real pro is consulted.

This time though, it's for a good friend of mine, who has photos of sentimental value on the drive, and I want to do everything I can to recover them.

I recomend you outsource. At least until you are in a better position to do these jobs yourself. there are many pros in this forum that will give you special 'hddguru' discounts assuming you have not opened and further damaged the hard disk.

Some of the tools I have at my disposal are precision screwdrivers of varying sizes, a 15W soldering iron, and compressed air. I have a clean desk free of dust.

A clean desk 'free of dust'? This is exactly why you should not attempt the work yourself.

There are a number of things that could be faulty here, diagnosing the wrong fault could have serious consequences. At the very least you should get the correct diagnosis from someone who can actually evaluate it properley for you.

[BlackST]

No comment. Don't want to be eligible for a free ban from Dmitry.

P.S. one of these days I have to re-qualify myself with my decades (plural) of experience and a lot of thousand EURO tools. I am too modest for this forum

[rowan194]

My business mainly revolves around hardware diagnosis and replacement, virus/spyware removal and data recovery. In cases such as these, where the drive can't be accessed, and disassembling is required, most clients give up on it, because I have to charge pretty high to justify the time and effort it takes.

So you've just said that people don't want to pay an expert (you) for your time when it's a complicated fix? You're in the exactly the same situation with this drive, except you're now the customer who doesn't want to pay! It will take time and a professional with extensive knowledge to repair (and even then it may not be recoverable). Read some threads on this forum and you'll see that it's nearly impossible to DIY... and that a clean desk doesn't really mean anything.

[Zeldaman]

I've attached an MP3 with a recording of the sound, it's like a pendulum... bzz, click, click...bzz, click, click. The bzz is the whir I mentioned in my OP.

I wouldn't describe myself as an average joe, I'm a PC repair technician with 2 years experience. Most of the people here, obviously have many more years experience than I, but I'm not new at this.

....

Some of the tools I have at my disposal are precision screwdrivers of varying sizes, a 15W soldering iron, and compressed air. I have a clean desk free of dust.

Hi,

I don't want to make a joke from you, but i can easily.

Listen...
If you really want to help your friend, stop at this point, don't power up the drive again, and seek for really professional help!
Based on my experience, WD have the most sensitive heads in the notebook hdds...
A damaged surface in wd drives are in the most complicated range!
I don't have any chance to solve the problem alone, but you have great change to render the drive unrecoverable! (if you not have done this allready...)

Read this, if you want to learn a little to get at least "average Joe" level.

results-the-yourself-solutions-t11912.html

Janos

Thank you Janos,

The article was very good, I know you said there are a few others you could add to the list. The first one that popped into my head when I was done reading: "Why not put the hard drive in the freezer?"

A couple days ago I read a thread on this forum started by someone who did just that, -- placed it in freezer. Some people seem to think this will magically "revive" the drive.

Although I enjoyed it, it didn't tell me anything I didn't know before I came here. I started this thread knowing full well I might irrevocably damage the drive with dust lint, or simply by opening it. I haven't opened it yet, but as you can tell from the recording it's bad enough shape already...

Attachments

Clicking_noise.zip

(1012.87 KiB) Downloaded 342 times

[N.C.]

Unfortunatey i should say, the recording time of this sound is enough to this drive to render itself to unrecoverable.

Don't do that again, if you need the data!
This drive needs professional care or refurbishing...

Janos

[Zeldaman]

Janos,

What's making that sound? Are there a few causes you can narrow it down to?

I agree, it should not be powered up. I've only powered it up twice, including the recording. If the heads are scratched (and there's a good chance they are) then each time it's powered up, it ruins more more data.

I don't intend to power it up anymore, but I will point out, that Mike (my friend) powered up the drive before he ever took it to me. What worries me more than that, is the condition of the laptop where the drive came from. It's destroyed, Mike dropped it from about 1 meter onto a concrete road.

The trauma was so much, that screw mounts popped off the chassis, and the LCD broke. It would not surprise me if this hard drive was completely beyond hope, especially when you say Western Digital has very sensitive heads. That makes it very difficult to imagine there's any hope, even from a professional DR company.

[Zeldaman]

So you've just said that people don't want to pay an expert (you) for your time when it's a complicated fix? You're in the exactly the same situation with this drive, except you're now the customer who doesn't want to pay!

1. I'm not a hard drive "expert", and I never said I was. In fact I don't put it on my business cards. I own a PC repair business, the only DR that I do is recovering deleted, corrupted or formatted files. I prefer it this way, I don't want to gamble with important data. If I'm ever asked to open a drive, I tell the customer it could make things worse, ruin any chances, and they'll have to sign a disclaimer. So far, no one has been willing to. I called it "giving up", because there's not a lot of DR specialists in South Austin. However, of the 2 that I know of, and recommend, they also have disclaimers, nothing is guaranteed in this business, and penny-pinchers don't like that.

2. I'm not a customer. If this were my data, I'd certainly be willing to pay a specialist, to assume I wouldn't is presumptuous of you.

It will take time and a professional with extensive knowledge to repair (and even then it may not be recoverable). Read some threads on this forum and you'll see that it's nearly impossible to DIY... and that a clean desk doesn't really mean anything.

3. I read these forums often, at times on a daily basis. As you can see, I didn't join yesterday.

4. This is not a "DIY" question. This is an "is there any hope here?" question. A simple Yes or No, along with an educated guess of the sound is all I'm after. You've given neither.

5. Chef Masaharu Miyamoto once said: "I've been doing this for 30 years, and I'm still learning." This does not contradict your point, I agree, a specialist is needed. However, no one is infallible. Not I, nor you, nor anyone.

6. Two years is how long I've had my business and made money from fixing computers. However, I've been fixing stuff since I was a kid, just never got paid all those times! We all have to start somewhere.

7. You're absolutely right, a clean desk doesn't mean anything. What matters is who is sitting in it. I know a specialist named Sam who has more than a decade experience, and does PCB swaps ad-hoc on his desk. Not standard procedure, some people on this forum might call him a fraud, I wouldn't go that far, but his customers seem happy. And they pay him a hefty $1 USD per GB without complaint.

8. I'm here to learn, and share my knowledge if the opportunity presents itself. I don't judge or doubt you or any specialist on or off the forum.

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Well ,
No Comments Man ,you Might Be a Tech guy But this Drives Needs a Head Swap for sure And Its not a Easy Job and even People With Many Hears Experience in DR field Can Fail Many times With WD HDD Drives .

[N.C.]

Janos,

What's making that sound? Are there a few causes you can narrow it down to?

I agree, it should not be powered up. I've only powered it up twice, including the recording. If the heads are scratched (and there's a good chance they are) then each time it's powered up, it ruins more more data.

I don't intend to power it up anymore, but I will point out, that Mike (my friend) powered up the drive before he ever took it to me. What worries me more than that, is the condition of the laptop where the drive came from. It's destroyed, Mike dropped it from about 1 meter onto a concrete road.

The trauma was so much, that screw mounts popped off the chassis, and the LCD broke. It would not surprise me if this hard drive was completely beyond hope, especially when you say Western Digital has very sensitive heads. That makes it very difficult to imagine there's any hope, even from a professional DR company.

Just to be clear:
A good pro can do a lot of secret magic wich are much beyoud your fantasy.
It depends on the clicking time, the drive can be completely recoverable or totally unrecoverable too.
Only a pro can precisely diagnose it and judge it is worth a try or not.
Anyway this drive is really hard just because it is WD, so you have 0.000000001% chance for partially recover it with your skills.

If the data have any value, than ask a local pro near you for price i suggest again....

Janos

[Zeldaman]

Janos,

I'm asking your opinion on what is not letting the drive fire. Is it the heads? Or is the SA damaged?

Is it impossible to tell based on the MP3 file?

As I said before, I don't intend to open it. And I'm not going to power it again, because if the heads are so delicate, then it would be stupid to move them.

Your intentions are good and I appreciate the advice about the heads.

[drc]

If the drive doesn't spin up then it can't possibly be an SA problem.

[unknown]

maybe the heads are stucked then you have to be
very carefully to release them again to work

good luck