Dead ST2000DM008, I think.

[picobit]

Hello everyone!
My first post here and I don't have much technical knowledge about HDDs, so I'm asking for your help.
First of all, thank you for all the useful information and downloads available here for repair purposes. Also, thanks to the people who contribute to helping other users.
I've been looking for information in various places because my 2TB HDD has died, and I'm considering trying to repair it by myself. I know it's generally recommended to take it to a professional, but honestly, I can't afford the cost of a professional repair. I would be very grateful if someone could guide me.
Let me explain.
The HDD in question is a ST2000DM008 model. When I power on my PC, it stays stuck for a while during POST, and eventually, the BIOS doesn't detect the drive. If I put my ear close to the drive, I hear a faint "click" or "clack" repeating maybe every one or two seconds. From what I've read, this is most likely the "click of death," possibly due to a heads issue although I’m not entirely sure.
There are some files I’d like to recover, although they’re not critically important. I've read the information on this same site about how to replace the heads. It seems like a complex process, but maybe doable with some practice. I need to know how many heads my drive has, but the information I’ve found is a bit confusing and doesn’t always match what's listed under the S/N. How can I reliably find out this information? I don’t have access to the drive, so I assume I’d have to get this data through a serial connection using a CH341A.
I’ve found some second-hand drives that are identical to mine, although some details don’t match, such as the S/N or P/N. So I’m not sure whether they’re compatible.

I’d appreciate any help in clearing up my doubts.
Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.

Drive details:
Model: Barracuda ST2000DM008
S/N: WFL5EX85
PN: 2UB102-300
FW: 0001

Potential donor drives:

Donor 1
S/N: ZFL5NKL7
P/N: 2UB102-300
Firmware: 0001

Donor 2
S/N: ZFL38FTN
P/N: 2FR102-300
Firmware: 0001

[michael chiklis]

That is SMR drive, not conventional CMR drive.
Search on google what's the difference to understand it. Those clicks could be due to some bad heads, but could also be releated to bad media cache, which is very important on this type of drives.

However to fix it you need pro tools, can't be fixed at home. Sometimes could also be some issue on the pcb as bad joints on some component or oxidized contacts.
This drive has locked terminal and if heads do need to be swap, it is important to find the head map + preamp version.
This drive can have 2 or 3 heads, you need terminal access to know head map and preamp, but terminal is locked on this one.

[picobit]

Thank you for your reply.
I didn’t know the difference between SMR and CMR, but I’ve just been reading about it now to get a clearer idea.

I posted my question in this section because I saw that other users with the same drive model had also asked here. But if it would be better to move it to a different section of the forum, I’d appreciate it if an admin could kindly do so.

So, what tool could I use to find out whether it’s a head issue or something else? Would Pro Tools be useful for that? I’ve also seen some users using F3 ROM Explorer to modify and repair ROM damage, but I haven’t been able to find the software yet.

I’ve been reading in other forums too, but I’m still not sure which tools are typically used in these cases. I ordered another PCB with the same serial number, thinking that replacing it along with the ROM might work — although I’ve read that firmware adjustments may be required. I haven’t received the donor PCB yet, so I haven’t done any tests with it.

I also read recently about how some users unlock the heads via terminal commands, but it’s still not clear to me whether they use exclusive software that’s hard to obtain.

In any case, I’ll keep reading as much as I can until I have a better understanding.
Thanks again, and have a great day.

[michael chiklis]

Firmware tools are needed to unlock terminal (not the heads) via rom patch, with these tools you can also check head maps, preamp value and their reading/writing quality. This are pro tools (as pc3000, mrt) which are used by data recovery company, are very expencive... and can do many other things as smr media cache fix.
The best think you can do is to send the drive to one of those company or just give up!

P.S.
However, i don't believe that F3 ROM Explorer may help you in this case because i don't think the rom is corrupt.
I don't know if F3 ROM Explorer would be able to analyze these "closed" roms.

[michael chiklis]

If you want to give a try for rom analyzing, you can try F3Rom Explorer
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/SpRqMHhE3Vqkvq

it will not help you to solve your hdd problem!

[picobit]

I’ll try to extract the firmware to see if I can spot any issue. Although it might turn out to be another problem that I won’t be able to fix myself.
Even so, if in the end I can’t recover the data, it won’t be a big problem.
Thank you for helping me with the F3 ROM Explorer link. And thank you very much for at least helping me understand what I’m dealing with.
Have a great day.

[michael chiklis]

F3 ROM Explorer doesn't extract the firmware from the hdd service area, for that you need pc3000 or mrt.

[picobit]

I see. The drive is still in a drawer and I’m not in a hurry to work on it, especially since the data isn’t critical though I’ll miss some old games that will be hard to find again.

Thanks for your reply. I notice heads are usually replaced, but rarely the platters. Wouldn’t swapping the platters from the patient drive to the donor be “easier” and avoid head, ROM, and cache compatibility issues? Or would the data be unreadable after such a swap?

[michael chiklis]

If your car has broken tires, could you fix it by changing the road?

If heads or MC or ROM are faulty, how it would help to swap platters?
You need to manage this faults, avoiding them is not the solution. ROM and MC are unique for single drive, so using those from a donor is not an option.

[picobit]

I think I didn’t explain myself well.
I’m approaching this from the perspective of a regular user, not a professional. This is purely out of curiosity and a desire to learn.

My HDD doesn’t work, possibly due to the heads or the logic board — I’m not sure yet (and maybe I’ll never know for sure).

If I get a donor drive and I know that its heads and logic board are working fine, and my only goal is to recover my data from the patient drive (just to copy it to another drive), could the platters be swapped from the patient into the donor? Are there any incompatibilities? This is just a curiosity question. I can’t afford to buy a PC-3000 or MRT.

[picobit]

Sorry. I guess these are just newbie questions. I'll keep checking back.
Thanks for everything.

[pepe]

I’m approaching this from the perspective of a regular user, not a professional.

conradicting

my only goal is to recover my data from the patient drive (just to copy it to another drive), could the platters be swapped from the patient into the donor?

regular users don't swap platters or touch the internals of a HDD. Or at least they shouldn't.

pepe

[picobit]

So maybe the correct term wouldn’t be “regular user.” I’m more like someone who’s curious about how things work and, whenever I can, I fix them myself both for the satisfaction of seeing them work again and to save money. Sometimes I’ve failed, and other times I’ve succeeded. Maybe the right term would be “DIY enthusiast,” although I’m not completely sure.

In any case, in this forum I’m asking questions as a beginner to learn, because I thought this was the right place for it. If I don’t get answers, that’s fine. I’ll keep searching and learning from other sources, as I’ve always done. After all, we’ve all been beginners at some point.

If in the end I can’t fix it and it gets ruined, that’s okay too because the data is mostly my son’s games and some photos with his friends, which aren’t that important. Still, if the data can be recovered, that would be great.