Seagate ST31500541AS Platter Exchange

[zhunter]

I have a Seagate ST31500541AS that died when a power supply cable was crushed on the case of my sons PC. The PCB is dead, burn mark across ~10+ components. I have a donor drive and replaced the PCB, but I get a constant clicking sound when I power it up. I sent the drive for repair and they reported the PCB and Head Stack needs to be replaced (motor spins up and RPM fine). The repair cost is ~$1,800. Since I'm cheap and I won't be devastated by the loss of my high school/college work from the 90's, I want to attempt to do this myself "on-the-cheap". Here is what I'm considering doing, but I want to get some professional feedback before I do anything.

Option #1
---------------------------
1. Replace the PCB
2. Replace the Head Stack


Option #2
---------------------------
1. Swap platters

Option #2 sounds like it would be a bit painful since there are 3 platters and there is no "low cost" tool that can be used to keep the platters in position. I'm thinking option #1 is my safest solution, but I'm not sure which would offer a higher probability of success.

As a side note, this will be my first time opening a drive since 1988/ Knowing this, I also think option #2 feels safer since I would be touching fewer parts (right?).

Thanks!

[lcoughey]

Option #1
---------------------------
1. Replace the PCB
2. Replace the Head Stack

1. Do you have the tools to move the stored ROM information from the old PCB to the donor?
2. Do you have the tools and a space to do this without causing contamination inside the drive?

Option #2
---------------------------
1. Swap platters

Option #2 sounds like it would be a bit painful since there are 3 platters and there is no "low cost" tool that can be used to keep the platters in position. I'm thinking option #1 is my safest solution, but I'm not sure which would offer a higher probability of success.

1. To do this, you'll first have to do the PCB repair of #1, as you need to have the original drive's ROM with the platters, plus you'll need to remove the heads from both hard drives in order to remove the platters, plus you'll need specialized tools to remove the platters without affecting the alignment.

So, in short, option 2 is a lot more work.

As a side note, this will be my first time opening a drive since 1988/ Knowing this, I also think option #2 feels safer since I would be touching fewer parts (right?).

Wrong. You might get lucky with Option 1, but Option 2 will only ensure that both drives are 100% destroyed.

If you can get the heads changed, the PCB reprogrammed and the drive does detect, you had better be sure to use a very good drive cloning tool. (ghost and acronis are not what I'm referring to)

Good luck

[drc]

On a 4 platter 7200.11 with no experience? No chance, sorry

[poehere]

Good luck on this one. Guess you can use a bean can like they show on you tube to do this one. But your chances of making it work are zero to none. Sorry. Plus this is your sons HDD as you are saying. Is it not better to buy him a new one and install the OS on it and let him play again. I am sure there is not that much data on it that he can not replace by his friends in a few hours. Sorry.

[zhunter]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll look into finding the "ROM Informaiton" on a dead PCB. If I'm able to to do this, I'll attempt option #1 in a clean room at work. I'm not too worried about loosing the data or the drives, but if I can save my old documents (10+ years old) on my sons PC then it'll make for a cool success story.

lcoughey, just to confirm... if the drives are an "exact" match and every number (make/model/version/etc...) are the same, I still need to backup the ROM Information... right?

Thanks for all the feedback.

[Russwinters]

ROM is unique and chances of finding a lucky matching ROM is VERY low. Not impossible, but nearly.


You will not easily find a software for free that can read and write ROM, but for seagate the ROM is typically still external, so if you are handy at soldering you can remove the ROM and solder it to a new board, although you mentioned at least 10 components where damaged on the board, so the ROM may be damaged as well, if so then this will be impossible without professional.

heads transplant on Seagate is very difficult, there is no ramp.


Chances of success are greatly reduced doing this in a non clean room environment (a plastic tote cutout with a hole for your hands does not count)


Do not even worry about attempting the platter transplant, it will not work, I would not tell you this if I thought it was even possible. Save yourself time, and if ROMswap + head replacement doesn't work, then this recovery is over unless you would like a pro to work on it, and even then your chances are greatly reduced after working in the drive.


I do not mean to sound negative; I just want you to be properly informed before you make a decision that could very likely cost you your data.


Best Regards,

[fzabkar]

The ROM is an 8-pin serial flash memory, usually with a marking code beginning with "25". If you upload a detailed photo, one of us will identify it for you. If this chip survived, then your local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transplant it for you.

These URLs should help you identify the components:

http://hddscan.com/doc/HDD_from_inside.html
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/HDD_ICs.txt
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diodes.txt