Trying to get Samsung SP2004C 200GB HDD to detected as a DIY

[Faisal.]

Hello HDD Gurus and experts!

A little bit of back ground:

The manufacturing date of this drive is January 2006 and I think I bought it back in 2006 or 2007. I used for like a year or two but then one day we had power surge due to storm situation in my area and my entire PC was burnt. The mobo, the RAM, the PSU and the samsung HDD, everything got burnt. It was Lenovo Pentium 4 PC at that time. Didn't care about the PC so I bought a another one and tried connecting the Samsung HDD but it didn't show up in PC Bios. It didn't show any sign of life like HDD spinning or anything else. So, I, thinking its fried, stored it without opening or giving it for check up to anyone as back then, I didn't know what to with it but still kept it as it had data of sentimental value for me on it,
Fast forward to recent years, stumbled upon some HHD repairing video on YT and learnt that the HDD can be tried on to get it to detect on the PC. so after learning a thing or two, I opened the logic board and the internal connectors of the board with attach to the mechanical part of the HDD was covered with carbon which prevented the mechanical parts (platters, head Arm etc.) of the HDD to spin, move. So I cleaned them and connected the HDD to the MOBO of my PC and it started spinning but didn't got detected in bios but this time it made constant clicking noises (I'll post a vid here for the clicking noise which occurs even if If connect it on the mobo or via usb externally if the forum allows it). as for the clicking, it made me to open (which I shouldn't have) the mechanical part of the hdd out of curiosity to see if the if moving head arm didn't scratch the platters if the arm heads were broken. but everything seemed to be fine.
Now if the mechanical part is damaged, I won't spend any money on it to get it fixed cause it could cost me a lot and is not worth it. but since it wasn't dropped or shocked so now I am thinking it might just only be the logic board with damaged component due to power surge which it not letting the HDD to get detected.
I wanna take a chance on fixing the logic board to see if it gets detected.
after searching further online, it seems I have two options to try;
1. Try to find out the faults on the logic board and get it fixed (and ironically, logic board doesn't seem to have and burnt or blown component on it to an hdd which hit by a power search.
2. Get a same logic board for this drive and swap the bios chip my HDD to the donor board to see if it gets detected.

PCB board number of the logic board is BF41-00086A with Rev.06

Questions:
.1 which method I should go for? fixing the same board which I don't have the tools/understanding for or do the logic board swap?
.2 if I go the
.2 and most importantly, if the HDD somehow gets detected, will it show data? I mean its more then 15 years old so I don't know if the data will be there.

I will post the PICs of the HDD here n case of option one and for the experts here to guide what to check on the board, please point out which component needs to be checked for fixture and if you recommend PCB swap, please point out which one is BIOS/firmware chip on the logic board to be swapped as its a must in order for HDD to get detected with data.

Any help/guidance will greatly be appreciated!












Let me know if you want a detail pic of a specific part of the PCB.
Not sure if I can post a vid here of the clicking sound of the HDD for a better idea for the experts but I will try.

[pepe]

Hi,

As the power surge took all the pc with it, it is very likely that the 5V supply line got an overvoltage, which may have killed the preamp causing the clicking.
It is very unlikely you can overcome such problem with no tools and experience, so if you don't want to pay an expert to do it, just try to swap pcb. Even if it stops clicking (if preamp is not the culprit), it is unlikely to start with the donor pcb because of fw version difference, which you won't be able to resolve unless you get a board with the same fw.
not very nice prospects...

pepe

[fzabkar]

Measure the resistance between each of the +/-5V preamp supply pins and ground (any screw hole).

(image from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Samsung_SP2004C-5666.jpg)

Attachments

[Faisal.]

Hi,

As the power surge took all the pc with it, it is very likely that the 5V supply line got an overvoltage, which may have killed the preamp causing the clicking.
It is very unlikely you can overcome such problem with no tools and experience, so if you don't want to pay an expert to do it, just try to swap pcb. Even if it stops clicking (if preamp is not the culprit), it is unlikely to start with the donor pcb because of fw version difference, which you won't be able to resolve unless you get a board with the same fw.
not very nice prospects...

pepe

Hi Pepe,

Thank you so much for taking interest and replying!
I will try to swap the PCB as a last resort when I find it and of course, I or most likely an expert will have to swap the FW Chip as the FW is housed with in the 4x32= 128 legged square IC on the PCB unlike the usual 8 legged FW chip on other brand HHDs. for now, I will test the 5V supply which you and @fzabkar pointed put. For me its a start as I didn't where to even start... will keep you updated.

[Faisal.]

Measure the resistance between each of the +/-5V preamp supply pins and ground (any screw hole).

Hi fzabkar,

Thank you for replaying. Could you be kind enough to point out exactly where the red needle of my multi meter needs to be touched for +5V and -5V on the PCB? Thanks to you I know where the black needle of my multi meter will be touching on the PCB for the ground after which, I will post the resistance readings here.
also, resistance should be checked while the hdd is powered on or off?

pcb PIC of my is linked below for your convenience to point out

https://postimg.cc/gwQJjGnD

[SWM]

This is an old Samsung. Three jumpers in the back (master, slave and next to it) and it should be detected even without a block (ROM mode). fzabkar posted a program for reading and writing ROM without soldering (SHT or SHTR).

[Faisal.]

This is an old Samsung. Three jumpers in the back (master, slave and next to it) and it should be detected even without a block (ROM mode). fzabkar posted a program for reading and writing ROM without soldering (SHT or SHTR).

Hi, SWM
While this is true that my old samsung drive has jumper settings but its a serial ata interface hdd with 3.gbps data rate (SATA II) and the jumper settings on those sata hdds in the olden days were typically used for limiting the data rate to 1.5gpbs (SATA I) most likely to make it compatible with older mobos with SATA plugs of those times.
And that's exactly what its says on the front sticker of my samsung HDD if you look at the first pic in my OP.

SO I am not sure about the significance of your comment here in this regard but I am hoping you will further extend our knowledge regarding your comment.

[SWM]

Hi, Faisal.,
Sorry, you are right. No jumpers are needed. It was a long time ago...
A working board without a hermetic block simply gives readiness in the ATA register when power is supplied (DRSC+DRDY).
I just checked it on the board HD082GJ.

[fzabkar]

Test points

Attachments

[Faisal.]

Test points

Thank you fzabkar
I will get back with the readings as soon as possible.

[Faisal.]

Ok the readings are in, they are 309.7 ohms and 5.627K Ohms respectively

[fzabkar]

No need to hurry.

[Faisal.]

No need to hurry.

I am so sorry for not being able to reply in a timely manner, fzabkar. life's been very busy for me for the past couple of weeks. but readings are as follows, they are 309.7 ohms and 5.627K Ohms respectively. pics are also attached in the previous reply.
discrepancy is surely there. hope this might be it.

[fzabkar]

I'm not sure about 300 ohms. It's not a short, but I have nothing to compare it against. Good luck with your PCB swap. BTW, I have a lot of bad things happening now, too.

[Faisal.]

I'm sorry to hear about that fzabkar. You deal with what you have to deal with. I am in no hurry. we'll continue this when you are able to.
btw resistance across the other preamp line is 56000 ohms I don't know if that's normal.