Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
August 12th, 2026, 0:02
I have a Seagate Ironwolf ST2000VN004 that was working fine until I moved it between computers. Well, I think it was before the move anyway. The drive gives me the happy ding when I connect it via USB/eSATA dock. I ge t along pause when accessing it via diskmgmt, which usually shows the drive needs to be initialized. I think once it showed the existing partition but can't remember for sure. If I try to initialize it I'll get an I/O error from windows. The platters re not spinning up as far as I can tell. It came out of my old SAS/SATA 24 bay drive enclosure with a hardware raid from a Dell Perc6e controller FWIW.
It was just some backup data. The data is no big deal it's backed up elsewhere but with the crazy price of drives these days, I have to lose even an old 2TB. I gather that some of these have fuses that can get blown. I have a quality Fluke VOM, and some electronic experience, but I'm not a repair tech by any stretch. I scoured the PCB and I don't see a component that looks like one of the fuses. several of what might be 0 ohm R's. I was hoping some of you guru's would have a look and point me to what to check, maybe which component to investigate. Its in the nothing to lose state, so was giving it a last look before it has an appointment with my drill press. Photo of what I believe is the relevant area of the board attached. Let me know if there is anything else I can add, or if you need better resolution.
Thanks,
Scott
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August 12th, 2026, 1:42
Measure the zero-ohm resistors and two diodes.
August 12th, 2026, 11:14
All the zero ohm R's test OK.
Not positive which are the diodes? I'm educated guessing the the ones marked VNH30/32 are the diodes based on seeing the polarity band marks like I'm used to seeing on a through hole diode. With my Fluke 179 set to diode test, the VNH30 reads 0 in one direction, and .659VDC in the other direction. The VHN32 reads differently at 0.589VCC in one direction and 2.164VDC in the other direction. If that's not the diodes, please point me to them.
Thank you for the help.
August 12th, 2026, 11:24
Both diodes test OK. If the drive doesn't spin, then you won't see any partitions.
August 12th, 2026, 12:14
So toss it then? Or worth a try to pickup a different PCB for it?
August 12th, 2026, 12:18
Your diagnosis has contradictory statements. If you place the drive against your ear, do you hear any faint sounds as if the drive is trying to spin? If so, then you may have a spindle motor or stiction problem.
August 12th, 2026, 14:45
Chances are that the old 2TB disk has worn out. See if CrystalDiskInfo can get anywhere with the disk in a USB box
August 12th, 2026, 14:47
Hardcore Games wrote:Chances are that the old 2TB disk has worn out. See if CrystalDiskInfo can get anywhere with the disk in a USB box
Yup, no spin = worn out.
You are very SMART - did you get it?
August 12th, 2026, 21:03
Hardcore Games wrote:Chances are that the old 2TB disk has worn out. See if CrystalDiskInfo can get anywhere with the disk in a USB box
It won't. Tried that first (well, second).
August 12th, 2026, 21:12
fzabkar wrote:Your diagnosis has contradictory statements. If you place the drive against your ear, do you hear any faint sounds as if the drive is trying to spin? If so, then you may have a spindle motor or stiction problem.
Sorry, didn't mean for it to. I may have experienced a one-time intermittent spin up the time I saw the volume for a moment.
I connected a SATA extension cable into my USB dock, and then to the drive. So I can hod it against my ear. When connected, I power up the dock with it's power button, the PC instantly makes the happy USB sound, but the drive doesn't make any sound at all. No hum, no click, nothing.
August 12th, 2026, 21:37
It doesn't appear to be an issue in your case, but check this anyway:
Power Disable Feature:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=2094
August 13th, 2026, 0:01
I knew about that, but don't think it's the issue FWIW. Because I never turned it on and it was working. Although it was in an enclosure that supported it. My understanding was it took 3.3v on one of the pins (11?) but with my sata temp-extension cable, it only has 5 and 12 wired. Suppose it could have gotten set somehow but unlikely. Thanks though, I'll look harder at that just in case.
August 13th, 2026, 9:38
If you want to try additional measurements, please upload a photo of the PCB.
August 13th, 2026, 11:31
Sure, here's the whole PCB
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August 13th, 2026, 17:02
Apologies for what I'm sure seems obvious to you, I assume you mean while plugged in? With or without the drive attached? And I assume V with ref to ground line. yes?
Thank you
August 13th, 2026, 17:08
Just power up the PCB on its own.
August 14th, 2026, 20:15
V2 = 1.029
V3 = .932
V1 = 1.796
Vneg = -0.001
August 14th, 2026, 21:28
I think they're OK. The negative supply may come up briefly immediately after power-on, then disappear within a second or two. That's because the MCU would be looking for a preamp (on the headstack) which it obviously won't find. The MCU switches this supply on and off.
One other possibility is that the drive may be configured to Power Up In Standby (PUIS). Linux can automatically spin up such drives. Otherwise HDAT2 can do it.
August 14th, 2026, 22:56
I'll stick in my linux box directly off a sata port and see what happens. The openSeaChest utility is supposed to be able to disable PUIS. If the linux box can talk to it at all. Thank you very much for taking the time to help. Looking like a magnet donor soon LOL.
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