WD3200BEVT Blue Scorpio is not powering up and making wierd noise. I have another HDD, same model and PCB number matches, swapped the PCB's, faulty drive still the same, working drive powers up with the faulty drives PCB, so I'm thinking it's not a PCB issue. Any ideas?

MDL: WD3200BPVT-22ZESTO
DCM: HEMTJHB

PCB: 2060-771672-004 REV A

Video with noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtIxyGP9GI

Drive is not spinning up due to either...

1. Stiction (heads stick to platter) - most likely
2. Heads are broken and mashed into landing ramp, preventing spinup - less likely
3. Motor seized - least likely, but still possible.

If data is important then seek pro advice (case 1 should be fairly straightforward and therefore relatively inexpensive)

If data is not important then type 1 failure may be DIY'able (but risky to data and could easily lead to permanent data loss) ENTIRELY AT YOUR RISK.

Failure types 2&3 and not DIY'able at all.

DO NOT try Internet fixes like "percussive maintenance" !!

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I measured motor resistance on both drives, same values, so I think the motor is OK.
I know one pro here (Estonia) asks 300€, which is too much. I'm gonna search local forums, maybe I can find some info on DR services.

€300 is very cheap I think.

But then again I don't know how that equates to income etc. in Estonia

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Average net pay in Estonia is 690€ per month.

Then, comparatively it may be a little expensive if it is "only" stiction.

Probably €200 would be a more reasonable price I guess?

But this could well be considerably higher is parts are required.

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PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Stiction can happen in a moment? Drive was working fine, and 5 min. later it did this.

Yes, rare but can be.

Cheapest offer was 350€.

I connected the usb sata cable, slightly tapped the drive on the table, and it powered up. Copied all the files, had some read errors but got almost everything.

The computer still has warranty so I can a replacement drive.

Backups from now on.. ok?

This way you'll never have to fret over data loss again.

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On a clear disk you can seek forever.

Friends drive. Told'em before but nobody does until their drive fails
I have always backed up my important data.