WD800BB Hard Drive Failure

[crush3r]

My hard drive the other day started making a clicking noise and my computer almost instantly froze up. I shut it down, rebooted, and the bios could not identify the drive. The sound it makes is like a "click, click....pause....click,click...pause"

I checked the beginners forum and found a nice tutorial on how to check the L-Shaped WD PCB boards. I matched up the components the best I could. I measured R120 and it was fine. I went to check Q3 (which is a 3 pin transistor on my board) and it looked like it was fried. The solder on the pins had a brownish tinge and the black case looked like it had melted a little. Also, there was an IC that i did not recognize.

Other than that, the board appeared fine to me. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to proceed.

Here is a picture I took of the PCB board...

Small Imagehttp://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wd800bbsmallet1.jpg
High Res Imagehttp://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wd800bbwd8.jpg

Thank you for the help

[pcimage]

Get another PCB with the same P/N (e.g. 2060-xxxx-xx)

Swap 8-legged chip at U12 to the new PCB.

[crush3r]

Thank you for the help

So if i just get the same revision pcb board (2060-001130-012 REV A) and swap the U12 ICs...it will work? I'm assuming that the U12 IC contains the firmware...so i dont have to worry about flashing the ROM on the new board?

Also, any suggestions on how to go about finding a replacement pcb?

Again, thanks for your help...its much appreciated

[pcimage]

Thank you for the help

So if i just get the same revision pcb board (2060-001130-012 REV A) and swap the U12 ICs...it will work? I'm assuming that the U12 IC contains the firmware...so i dont have to worry about flashing the ROM on the new board?

Also, any suggestions on how to go about finding a replacement pcb?

Again, thanks for your help...its much appreciated

Assuming the fault IS with the PCB alone, then yes it should work.

No, the U12 IS the ROM. The firmware is on the drive platters themselves

I would suggest ebay for a replacement PCB (buy the whole drive)

Hope it helps

Sean

[harddrivespecialist]

Hi!

This sounds like a failure of the head.
Unfortunately, new PCB will not help in your case.

[pcimage]

harddrivespecialist....

In my experience, head failure symptoms "usually" involve a few clicks then spin down. I'm assuming he means it continues to click, which "usually" indicates PCB or firmware failure.

And I'm also assuming he does not have head swap experience, or PC3000/Salvation to check the f/w.

So, I'm just suggesting the only thing he can do for himself.

But of course, it could well be head failure.

[crush3r]

I'm assuming he means it continues to click, which "usually" indicates PCB or firmware failure.

Yes you assume correctly. As long as the hard drive has power, it will continuously do the "click, pause, click, pause".

I would suggest ebay for a replacement PCB (buy the whole drive)

Two more questions, if I buy the whole hard drive, is there a way to determine what pcb it has without looking at the actual revision thats etched in the board? Also, does it matter if the board is from a 40GB hard drive, or does it have to be an 80GB?

Thanks

[mr_spokk]

Hi, in my experince you need to match part of the etched code on the Pcb...If you got for example: 2060-001092-007, you can get a replacement board that has the same code: 2060-1092-xxx (x=does not matter).
And yes those boards are use on 40-80-100-120gb, as long as you has a match in the code you should be Ok, then don't forget to swap the U12....and you're done.

Bosse

[gsimon]

Hi, in my experince you need to match part of the etched code on the Pcb...If you got for example: 2060-001092-007, you can get a replacement board that has the same code: 2060-1092-xxx (x=does not matter).
And yes those boards are use on 40-80-100-120gb, as long as you has a match in the code you should be Ok, then don't forget to swap the U12....and you're done.

Bosse

I think you are NOT completely right ....

There Are for example : 2060-001092-007

pcb's with different Main processors and different firmware....

not compatible .....

[mr_spokk]

Hi, in my experince you need to match part of the etched code on the Pcb...If you got for example: 2060-001092-007, you can get a replacement board that has the same code: 2060-1092-xxx (x=does not matter).
And yes those boards are use on 40-80-100-120gb, as long as you has a match in the code you should be Ok, then don't forget to swap the U12....and you're done.

Bosse

I think you are NOT completely right ....

There Are for example : 2060-001092-007

pcb's with different Main processors and different firmware....

not compatible .....

Hi gsimon
I have always only used the etched numbers as guidence, and if I for ex has: a faulty bord 2060-001092-007, I replace it with 2060-001092-xxx, and of course also move the ROM contance, that has never faild for me!
But I might had been lucky

Regards/ Bosse

[crush3r]

IT WORKED!!! Got a hard drive for $30 off ebay, swapped the rom chips on the pcbs, and I am currently getting the data off it now.

Thank you guys so much for the help. I was very close to spending a lot of money to have the professionals recover the data off this drive until I found this forum.

Again...thanks for the help. And you can be sure that I will be doing regular backups so this doesnt happen again.

[mr_spokk]

Lovely
Glad to be at help.

Bosse

[bobino100]

I have PCB for WD
réf : 2060-001092-007 REV A
SEE on Ebay : Pseudo bobino100