Seagate 500GB ST3500320AS

[burn1out]

1. I have searched for hours.
2. I am perfectly capable of replacing heads and/or pcb.
3. I may just want a pro to do it for success in data recovery.
4. I suspect the heads are the actual fault.
5. Backups? Yeah, I've got backups of a lot of years, but I failed to backup a lot of specific data during the last 2 server changes, I usually do mirror setups in addition and again failed to set this one up in mirror, I don't know why and a lot of things have affected this outcome.

I have a Seagate ST3500320AS with FW: SD04. Serial 9QM02QMJ
I have read some crazy ideas and great ideas, but I truly believe the heads may be faulty. Drive has always been secure and never dropped, smacked, hit, etc...
When powering up, the drive will spin quietly and the heads try to position, then you hear "click of death" occurring and after a few clicks, the drive gracefully spins down and after a few moments more the drive is able to be detected by seatools and drive detect, however no further action can occur with proper tools i have gotten my hands on. Nothing destructive has been attempted with this drive and I would like:

1. A Drive that matches so I can do the head replacement
or
2. Someone that is as honest as I am and will repair the drive for a reasonable fee. Shipping is ok, reputation is expected and I will provide the same info for myself. Security of my data is a must, mostly the pictures of my kids are what is important.


Of course data recovery houses will not be an option for me.

Thanks for any responses in advance!

[drc]

What do you call "reasonable"?

[burn1out]

What do you call "reasonable"?

I don't think loaded questions are needed to the potential customer.

A PM with the going rate a pro here charges repairing the HDD is fine, assuming he/she can do the work, has the parts and positive feedback in some form.

I am a professional in several areas and expect the person that wants the work to be reasonable and not rob my wallet.

Obviously the data is important to me or I wouldn't care and I'd send the drive back to seagate and get it gracefully replaced. Between now and the post I have actually recovered 20% of the data I lost on this drive from another drive I used to have it on, so it's beginning to lose its value on my end, however, if it could be recovered by replacing the components/heads, etc.. that would be awesome and I'm willing to pay someone to do it properly.

Thanks

[drc]

Except that you said you were absolutely not willing to have a real data recovery firm work on it. So I'm not really sure what you're aiming for.

[burn1out]

Except that you said you were absolutely not willing to have a real data recovery firm work on it. So I'm not really sure what you're aiming for.

I see what prompted your question. Thanks for the clarification.

I am not looking at multiples of 100's dollars / highway robbery, I'll forego the data if that's the case.

[Doomer]

So you are looking for internal recovery for under $100
I think you can forget about it
I think lowest you can find is around $500 and it's usually non-professional service

[harddrivespecialist]

I don't think any pro here will do it for $500.00
Maybe I am wrong....
Donor drive/s will cost $100-$200, and a lot of time....
its not mentioning necessary equipment....

[jono-ats]

Well, I'd like to buy a brand new Lexus for $5,000. I don't want to talk to any thieves or robbers.

Any takers out there?

[burn1out]

1. Didn't say less than 100.00..... I said Multiples of 100's of dollars...
2. I understand the cost of the donor drive and know finding it is part of the battle.
3. I realize what equipment is needed to every spec and detail, which is the point in being a pro and I don't currently have that environment or the resources which is why I'm seeking a price quote for said drive.
4. The time consumed for a pro in the pro enviroment is not great, I'm not stupid and I'm not a consumer.

I'm simply asking for a quote for that particular drive and all I have is questions about what I'm willing to pay and smart-ass comments. So far, I have no quote, reasonable or not, going rate or otherwise and harddrivespecialist has been the only reasonable attitude in his/her reply so far.

I'll just delete my account tomorrow if I get no quotes for the make/model/fw/serial involved and move along.

[jono-ats]

Why play games? Multiples of $100 . . . hmmm . . . does that mean $200? $300? But not $500?
Say what you are willing to pay and be done with it. If someone wants to accept your offer, great. If not, oh well . . . you can always rely on your own (professed) knowledge and capabilities, right?

It has been my experience that customers who start off any transaction thinking that they know everything about your business and exactly what you should charge them for the privilege of their trade, are also a complete pain during the process and after the sale.

The fact that you are threatening to close your account tomorrow if you don't get your way strikes me as both childish and presumptuous. I don't think there will be dozens of folks lining up to help you out, but I may be mistaken . . .

[burn1out]

I am not playing games, but it certainly appears this community and specifically this exact (HDD hardware repair) industry does.

Who said I wouldn't pay 500.00 or even 1,000.00 or any number for that matter. Do you know how many horror stories my customers come to me with just for software data recovery (Which I do locally)??

Look, I'm simply asking for a quote (again and again), and I mentioned that data recovery houses (advertised on the internet) were not an option because many of them aren't pros and sometimes never work. I've had customers tell me horror stories over and over again and some of them never get the HDD back. Sad, yes I know.

After some research, I found this community and it appeared to have some educated people on-board, however, I'm beginning to have different thoughts. It's not a threat to cancel my account, nor is it childish. It is a simple choice that may be made by me based on the sour results of the community and if I choose not to be part of it, that's certainly my call.

If you guys (responses so far for the most part) will quit treating me like some kind of drive-by like the majority of your new users, there might be something in it for all persons involved and we can all just move along.

I dont give up easy, but you guys came out swinging hard and I only asked for a quote, hell even a range quote is good for me long as it doesn't spread over a great span and I'll certainly agree with a final number before I give it to anyone.

While I truly have nothing to prove, I have over 27 years working with PC's, Servers, Networks, so many different areas and products of design, engineering/reverse to component level, not just an integrator. I've worked in mechanics (not limited to vehicle engines, if that's what you are thinking), woodworking and of course software since my real love is working with high tech networked devices, not just computers and servers. My career started in reverse-engineering, first job out of college, while all my buds went into card level replacement and software. So I have no doubt that over time I can find the HDD in question (the good specimen) and go find a small enclosure to work in and make the repair, but after I open the drive, I certainly don't plan on using it after the recovery if I perform the work myself. Of course I'd probably let it run just to see how long it lasts, but I wouldn't keep anything on it worth 2 cents, HDD's are just too cheap.

You would have saw a level of respect, but instead you guys poked at a non-drive-by.

[EDIT]
BTW, I just got a PM with an offer. I will speak with him/her and feel them out and check posts here on their account. The offer was more reasonable than I expected, but non-the-less, just looking for an offer.

On another note:
As for the data, pictures of your own kids would generally be priceless, although I have 8x10's of anything I truly wanted and didn't want to lose and CD's of major events, I just wanted the raw data for the future. When we invite family over, we don't have photo albums, we have a media center

[Doomer]

I'm not stupid and I'm not a consumer.

hmmmm

PS: One free suggestion: After you stop chasing the real deal try to find a real pro, if you still need you data at that time of course
PPS: smart-ass comments is my credo

[burn1out]

I'm not stupid and I'm not a consumer.

hmmmm

PS: One free suggestion: After you stop chasing the real deal try to find a real pro, if you still need you data at that time of course
PPS: smart-ass comments is my credo

Note taken, but had to re-read several times because of spelling errors , I just had to play spelling police.

Last edited by burn1out on December 5th, 2009, 0:19, edited 1 time in total.

[jono-ats]

Doomer knows his stuff. You'll have to excuse his spelling errors, though. I suspect his English is a lot better than your Russian . . .

[burn1out]

Doomer knows his stuff. You'll have to excuse his spelling errors, though. I suspect his English is a lot better than your Russian . . .

Right, I can't touch that, don't ask me about a different language... Only thing I can do is count in German.

[Doomer]

Note taken, but had to re-read several times because of spelling errors

Looks good for me though, except for "your"
Maybe you meant grammar errors? Cannot beat this stuff

[burn1out]

You guys really make it challenging for technical people that think they are technical, that I can tell. While is was frustrating at first, you guys may be O K after all.

I'm not just looking for a deal, as was mentioned, but in my professional duties, I also provide bang for the buck, but do not cut myself short. I realize that you guys most likely do this for a living and love the challenge when they come along and often take down the know-it-all when he comes around. I was fishing for the guy like me that doesn't rip the customer. If there are none here, I will likely wait until I find the donor.

Oh and thanks for the initiation./smirk

[Doomer]

I was fishing for the guy like me that doesn't rip the customer.

I really doubt that you understand the situation with data recovery
For you it's "ripping" but for us it barely covers expenses, sometimes
Anyway good luck with youR search

[burn1out]

I was fishing for the guy like me that doesn't rip the customer.

I really doubt that you understand the situation with data recovery
For you it's "ripping" but for us it barely covers expenses, sometimes
Anyway good luck with youR search

In that case, maybe so. I have plenty of expenses in the different fields I support as well, and yes, expenses become very expensive.

Well, if I already had a drive, an exact donor, perfect working condition and tested, is the price still extravagant? This question is only for the pros that have been involved in this thread that WANT the work.

I have about 18 HDD's stored on my shelves and about 4 of them have head issues and the rest of them are operational, some just have bad sectors. I am certain that I can practice the head surgery with success and may break one open tomorrow and give it a shot just for the heck of it. While they are 20G, 40G and 120G, they are good for practicing and I know I'll be doing nothing else with them.

[drc]

I am certain that I can practice the head surgery with success

FYI I'd say that this is probably the attitude that is ruffling people's feathers the most. You're talking about what real DR people spend a lot of personal time, money, blood, sweat, and tears on and then trivializing it by saying what sounds like "I've never done this before but I'm sure I can do it just fine but I want someone else who does it for a living to do it for me anyway and I want it cheap".