Maxtor 98196H8: What's the next step, shall I dare it?

[gamez]

Hello there,

this is my first post here, so please bare with me.

Since 5 years, I have a dead Maxtor 98196H8 in my cupboard (clicking, not recognized in BIOS), and reading an article in latest german computer magazine Chip I decided to give it another try.

I have tried hint 6, where the system was powered up with the identical donor drive I have, pausing it with revoSleep and then swapping the drive controler over to the broken drive (after removing its own controler, of course). This worked in some way (I didn't break anything, and the broken drive motor came back up after "unsleeping"), but then the clicking started again and the drive letter disappeared in WinXP.

(I also tried the controler of the broken drive with the donor drive; it worked fine, so both controlers are still OK).

So I guess that I can diagnose that the problem must be somewhere "further down", ie. at the level of the heads or the platters of the broken drive.

Now here's my question. What type of problem is more likely: something with the heads (electronics) or with the platters (mechanics); and what are my better chances for repair: moving the heads from the donor to the broken drive (hint 7 in Chip), or moving the platters from the broken to the donor drive (hint 8 in Chip)? Both would require to open the drive, of course, and taking into account that I don't really have much experience with this, nor the required tools, I am wondering what would be the most promising next step.

Also, if you can recommend anything to more precisely diagnose the problem, I would appreciate.

Thanks for your comments and advise.

g.

[jono-ats]

The problem could be a weak or bad head or corrupted firmware. Maxtors are not easy to swap heads and this 80 GB drive has four platters and eight heads. If the firmware is bad and you somehow magically swap the heads, you will end up with no improvement.
Recovery could be a simple matter with the right gear, such as the PC3000.

If you want to get your data back, send it to a pro.

[pepe]

I am wondering what would be the most promising next step.

If U need the data, send it to a pro. 8 heads are a challenge even for them, not to mention U without any tooling and experience.

regards,
pepe

[pepe]

PS: I really think it is at least head related.

pepe

[gamez]

Given the situation described above, what is more reasonable:
- moving the heads from the donor to the broken drive or
- moving the platters from the broken to the donor drive?

Kind regards,

g.

[pcimage]

Forget platter xfer

If you've never done head swap, definitely forget it too.

Like Pepe says, 8 heads are an absolute nightmare even for professionals