ST3750330AS

[freeballt]

So... last night when I was watching a movie, I yanked my headset cord and it knocked my hard drive off a 3 inch ledge. The movie stopped immediately, along with the hard drive.

It stopped rotating complete and was no longer listed on windows hard drives. When I disconnected the hard drive, and reconnected it it still did not function. It is not showing up bios on reboot, reconnected it on diff sata ports with diff power connectors.

Due to the fact that it fell off a 3 inch ledge and immediately stopped working what likely the problem? A bad PCB, a seized motor, what?

Will I be able to fix it? I have some important data on the hard drive, and I need it recovered, I don't care much about the hard drive itself.

Model: ST3750330AS
Firmware: SD15

[phishin_ca]

It could be one of a few things. Your best bet is to get it evaluated by someone who knows what they are doing. Then you can determine the next step. The last thing you want to do is try this and that before taking it to someone. That could turn dirt cheap into very expensive.

[freeballt]

Getting a new PCB would cost me around 70 dollars (for a new hard drive), and that would be cheaper then having some one one look at it.

I have a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, but no experience with hard drives and how they work. I just want to see if I can have this fixed myself without going to some one or having it sent in for data recovery.

I feel there can be 3 problems, with the individual components. Either a bad PCB, seized motor or destroyed platters. If its a bad PCB, replace it with the exact model/make, seized motor - transplant it, destroyed platters... end game.

I just need some suggestions the symptoms I had described above.

[phishin_ca]

Getting a new PCB would cost me around 70 dollars (for a new hard drive), and that would be cheaper then having some one one look at it.

I have a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, but no experience with hard drives and how they work. I just want to see if I can have this fixed myself without going to some one or having it sent in for data recovery.

I feel there can be 3 problems, with the individual components. Either a bad PCB, seized motor or destroyed platters. If its a bad PCB, replace it with the exact model/make, seized motor - transplant it, destroyed platters... end game.

I just need some suggestions the symptoms I had described above.

There are definitely more than 3 possible problems, but anyway. I would be willing to bet that 2 of the problems can be handled by someone who does know about hard drives for around $100. With a degree in EE, you should definitely not be looking at replacing the PCB to fix the problem. While the issue may be there, it is not always as simple as just swapping the board. Even when there is a 100% match visually, data that is unique to each disk is stored onboard. You would be better off pulling out a meter and start checking. Start using that EE to find the issue. If it is not on the PCB, I give you a .1% chance of repair. Sorry, but that is the way it is.

[pcimage]

Very very unlikely to be a bad PCB, in any case you will NOT be able to simply swap the PCB as this series have ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE data in the ROM on the board.

Much more likely to be seized motor, which will require pro intervention.

.1% chance is very generous, if you don't want to pay for professional service then forget about the data and bin the drive.

[phishin_ca]

.1% was what I considered to be a "fluke"

[freeballt]

Very very unlikely to be a bad PCB, in any case you will NOT be able to simply swap the PCB as this series have ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE data in the ROM on the board.

Much more likely to be seized motor, which will require pro intervention.

.1% chance is very generous, if you don't want to pay for professional service then forget about the data and bin the drive.

Apart from coating getting flaked, another commonly found problem with Seagate ST3750330AS hard drives is damage to the circuit board (PCBA) components. Hard drives in general are very vulnerable to overheating, power spikes and surges. The use of unstable power supply combined with power streak can lead to damaged or burn of the spindle motor controller driver (SMOOTH chip) on the circuit board. In this case the hard drive would not spin up at all, even when powered ON.

Yet it must be kept in mind that non-spinning of the hard drive can also result from a seized motor, apart from damaged PCBA. The Seagate ST3750330AS would make a buzzing sound as it tries to spin up. If the cause is a seized motor, data recovery will require a platter transplant from the bad drive into a working donor spindle in our class 100 clean room environment.

ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE data in the ROM on the board, lovely.

[BlackST]

Try to convince the drive that you are more than him, maybe works... Jokes apart, it's not DIYable.

[phishin_ca]

Seriously, just take it to someone to see what it would cost. There is no harm, and this really isn't something you should know because of your background. It takes a long time to even make baby steps in this realm. It is well worth it if you do! My background is identical to yours BTW.

[phishin_ca]

Where are you in the US?

[freeballt]

SouthWest

[phishin_ca]

I am mideast, maybe someone else can give you a suggestion...