WD5000AAKS dead (pcb suspected)

[fdkaplan]

Hello everyone,

So, SMART was showing the HDD to be just fine and then one day, no noise, no spins, no nothing. Tried with an external USB enclosure, still nothing.

Drive is WD5000AAKS-65TMA0, dated 13 MAR 2007, DCM: HBNCNV2ABB.

My PCB is 2060-701477-001 Rev A; however since the BIOS for these drives is stored in the IC chip, I would have to remove the IC chip from the current board and replace it in the donor board.

Now, I can find a donor board for $36 online but while I can handle myself with soldering discrete electronics, an IC chip is a bit of a different beast due to its miniaturization. Would you recommend even trying this?

Barring that, I've heard that the easiest approach is to swap the PCB and then rebuild the ROM from the SA, which is obviously something I cannot do myself since I don't have the equipment.

So, the question is: anyone knows the approximate cost of doing this within the USA? A clean lab in California quotes USD 700 flat fee for images and up to USD 2,000 for all data. Either way, the price is really more than I'm willing to pay since the data in this HDD is not that critical (just time consumed in ripping my CDs and DVDs). So, I'd gladly pay something to get it done, but within reason.

Anyway - any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[HaQue]

Hi, not TVS diodes? or a fuse? Quite a few posts relating to them if you search.

Is there any signs of burns on any components?

[fzabkar]

hdd-parts.com have a PCB repair service (US$75).

There is also an outfit in the Dominican Republic (?) that offers a cheaper service, but I know nothing about them.

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