WD2500AAJS strange problem...

[giannis267]

Hello everyone..

I have a Western Digital 2500aajs and in bios appears with noname:


At the boot sequence the SMART attribute is none:


No strange sounds at all. Windows cant see the drive, disk management too! I bought a new 2500aajs but the rest of the numbers are not the same, can i try pcb swap or i make things worst?

My old drive is:
WDC WD2500AAJS (old disk with the problem)
Western Digital 250GB SATA II [WD2500AAJS]
WD CAVIAR - SE
S/N : WCASE0125866
MODEL NUMBER: WD2500AAJS
FIRMWARE: 00YFA0
DATE: 25 DEC 2007
DCM: HBNCHT2AHN
COUNTRY: THAILAND
PCB (stick): 2061-701477-100 AD XC 4U10 11HF M 0007250 8257
PCB (embed): 2060-701477-002 rev.A


My new drive:
WDC WD2500AAJS (new disk for replacements)
Western Digital 250GB SATA II [WD2500AAJS]
WD CAVIAR - SE
S/N : WMAT14946841
MODEL NUMBER: WD2500AAJS
FIRMWARE: 00B4A0
DATE: 24 AUG 2008
DCM: HGNNHT2CA
COUNTRY: MALAYSIA
PCB (stick): 2061-701537-G00 AE XW 6D06 LYWG 6 0004080 9084
PCB (embed): 2060-701537-003 rev.A


What do you think with your experience, what goes wrong and how can i fix it?

Thanks very much for your time!!

[harddrivespecialist]

First step is to see if your drive spins up or not.

You can remove it and plug it into power.
If it does/ or not... does it make any noise?

[giannis267]

Thanks for fast reply..

Yes, when plug in the power, the motor starts like any normal disk...sounds ok!

[rameez]

Check Hdd in MHDD or Victoria .

[unknown]

You can not make PCB SWAP

[giannis267]

Check Hdd in MHDD or Victoria .

Ok rameez, after the checking with MHDD (i was change the drive to master first)
looks that MHDD see the drive like BIOS, noname..:

When i try to give a command says:
ERROR: Drive not responding or operation canceled
Broken drive

You can not make PCB SWAP

I imagine that, all things are different between them, expect the model...not even firmware..but i found a drive with same firmware(i dont know for other specifications) but the price is 5 times more expensive from the price in Greece. With your experience, if i'll buy this drive the pcb swap will work for this problem?

[mediaman]

can you post a recording of what it sounds like spinning up? first 20 seconds from power on fine. don't boot to windows again. good accompanying info BTW!

[Russwinters]

If the drive spins up; it is not likely that the problem is the PCB (there is still a chance though). It seems more likely that there is firmware damage, or that the headstack has failed. Just changing the PCB is probably not going to yield any notable information in this case unless you swap the EEPROM.

I would get it to someone who has, and is familiar with reading oscilloscope readings for hard drives. These readings will give you a good idea on if the headstack is the culprit.

[giannis267]

can you post a recording of what it sounds like spinning up? first 20 seconds from power on fine. don't boot to windows again. good accompanying info BTW!

Here you are, i put my mobile inside a glass and above hard disk to record it...

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/151854175/Disk_boot.mp3

Disk boot.rar

(747.35 KiB) Downloaded 1238 times

If the drive spins up; it is not likely that the problem is the PCB (there is still a chance though). It seems more likely that there is firmware damage, or that the headstack has failed. Just changing the PCB is probably not going to yield any notable information in this case unless you swap the EEPROM.

I would get it to someone who has, and is familiar with reading oscilloscope readings for hard drives. These readings will give you a good idea on if the headstack is the culprit.

Listen the recorded sound above, i dont know if this noise is the noise of problem...

Guys i really appreciate your help, thanks again!

[mediaman]

bad heads or alignment gone out, it tries twice and dies on you. you need a pro

[giannis267]

bad heads or alignment gone out, it tries twice and dies on you. you need a pro

So bad?? If i found a same disk and change the heads? Have any possible chance?

[harddrivespecialist]

If you have not successfuly done 20+ head swaps, don't even try it, unless data is not important to you.

[mediaman]

bad heads or alignment gone out, it tries twice and dies on you. you need a pro

So bad?? If i found a same disk and change the heads? Have any possible chance?

dude (sooo american!) I have received hands on training from some of the worlds best DR pro's, and have spent 30K US$ in the past 3 months alone on DR gear related expenses, and I would probably, no wait, certainly, mess that disk up. But hey, go for it! Or send it to me. I'll TRY for free. No guarantees. PM me if you want to give it a shot...........

Last edited by mediaman on October 7th, 2008, 17:54, edited 1 time in total.

[Russwinters]

I agree with Harddrivespecialist; it all depends on how important the data is to you.


If it is, send it to a pro. Headstack replacement on WD drives is not for beginners. You need to practice on many, many WD drives before you are ready to actually recover data from a failed WD.

If the data is of no consequence, but you would like to make the drive work again....warranty.

If the data is of no consequence, and you don't care if you void the warranty, then feel free to mess around and try. The drive's density is low enough that you may get lucky and be able to align it, but I wouldn't count on it.

[giannis267]

If you have not successfuly done 20+ head swaps, don't even try it, unless data is not important to you.

20+...dont even 1....
If i found model with same DCM, i'll give it a try, most of the times i'm good with "experiments"

dude (sooo american!) I have received hands on training from some of the worlds best DR pro's, and have spent 30K US$ in the past 3 months alone on DR gear related expenses, and I would probably, no wait, certainly, mess that disk up. But hey, go for it! Or send it to me. I'll TRY for free. No guarantees. PM me if you want to give it a shot...........

Thanks very much for your offer, i think the time is come to learn more things about hard disk technology..i'm ready to start the surgery!!

I agree with Harddrivespecialist; it all depends on how important the data is to you.


If it is, send it to a pro. Headstack replacement on WD drives is not for beginners. You need to practice on many, many WD drives before you are ready to actually recover data from a failed WD.

If the data is of no consequence, but you would like to make the drive work again....warranty.

If the data is of no consequence, and you don't care if you void the warranty, then feel free to mess around and try. The drive's density is low enough that you may get lucky and be able to align it, but I wouldn't count on it.

Russwinters i'm already feel free to mess around and only God knows the final result...


A big THANKS again for your time and the sharing of your knowledge!! Wish me good luck..(im sure that i need it.. )

[giannis267]

I forgot, one more question...

If i change both the heads and pcb from new drive to old? The old platters-motor will be compatible with new heads-pcb? I need a lot of study before the beggining of the "experiment"

[Russwinters]

As long as you match the proper numbers; there will be no problem. No need to change the PCB if the one you have already works. If you change PCB then you must either: flash the eeprom from the old pcb to the new, or solder the eeprom chip from the old pcb to the new. Either way it adds another step. So you would want to avoid this unless it has to be done.

I am warning you one more time that going through with this "experiment" will likely end with your data unrecoverable; just so you can't say i didnt warn you =)


So, if you are going through with this, your first step is to locate a "donor" drive. You will need to match certain things for a successful head match

Model number
Firmware
DCM (6th, and if possible 5th characters)


if you need to match the pcb you will need to first two sets of characters on the pcb code to match (its a long string usually located on a white sticker on the pcb/ connector area)

[giannis267]

As long as you match the proper numbers; there will be no problem. No need to change the PCB if the one you have already works. If you change PCB then you must either: flash the eeprom from the old pcb to the new, or solder the eeprom chip from the old pcb to the new. Either way it adds another step. So you would want to avoid this unless it has to be done.

I wondering if pcb cause head's mailfuction...can this happen?
This pic from my pcb, looks some areas is burned or i'm wrong?

I am warning you one more time that going through with this "experiment" will likely end with your data unrecoverable; just so you can't say i didnt warn you =)

Lol, thanks for the warning dear Russwinters, but the data in the drive have not to do with my work so i can take the risk..i want the data ofcource because this data is videos and photos from holidays, exercises with army when i was soldier etc.

So, if you are going through with this, your first step is to locate a "donor" drive. You will need to match certain things for a successful head match

Model number
Firmware
DCM (6th, and if possible 5th characters)


if you need to match the pcb you will need to first two sets of characters on the pcb code to match (its a long string usually located on a white sticker on the pcb/ connector area)

This is my biggest problem..to found a donor drive with same "specifications"
I found only one drive, the seller cant tell me about dcm,pcb code etc, i know only that the firmware is the same, i'm thinking to buy it (price is 250€ with shipping included )
When i bought this drive price was 70€!!!

So i'm wondering what to do, are you sure that the heads is the problem or the pcb causes heads sounds like this?

[pcimage]

99% sure it's bad heads, judging from the sounds.

Sean

[mediaman]

try a bit harder with the picture, better light and or macro mode