WD4000 Mybook hard drive repair.. please help

[midnight1111]

The mybook we bought a while ago is clicking about once a second. It has some vacation pictures I want to recover. I am a newbie to hard drive repair but pretty good with tools and my hands, and I don't want pay 100's of $s to fix this. I would really appreciate any pointers anyone can give me about attempting or implementing a fix. I hear the PCB goes out on these but another article said that clicking means I need new "heads"... sounds complicated but I am game to try.

Thx ahead of time,
M-

[craig6928]

it can be a headstack problem or pcb problems

mybooks have a fault where it pumps out to much voltage it goes open circuit

so it fries the board somtimes
but allso the case can be at fault


first option would be open the mybook up and connect the hard drive to the pc direct.
then see if it works.
if the hard drive is seen in the bios it can be recovered.

but you need special hardware to change headstack etc

[Zero Alpha]

Hi, If you don't want to spend $$$ then you are definitely not going to get any data back.

So if you want to learn your lesson the hard way you can buy an identical hard drive and swap the heads. Just get a screw driver unscrew everything and swap them over. Once done power it up and write your how your attempts were unsuccessful back on this forum.

Please note it will cost at least $$$ just to get a spare drive.

PS. Don't forget to stick it in the freezer for the day and swap the pcb over.

[networkpc3000]

perhaps got crash head. you had to pay for it if you want data back. very less chance that got success by your self. thanks.

[midnight1111]

I ttok it put of the mybook case and tried it on my pc. .. still got the clicking sound. I am looking around on the internet for another wd4000. Mine has a date of 17 Aug 2006... can I replace my pcb with a one from any other wd4000...? thx for the previous advice and info.
M

[BlackST]

Are you hearing the clicking sound from the PCB or from the drive ?
PCB has nothing to do with broken heads or firmware problems.
Simple PCB replacing won't work , and also there's the probability to corrupt the new PCB too... Face reality.

[midnight1111]

Well the articles online say that the "clicking" can be caused by a bad PCB.. and that one should try replacing the PCB first... turns out the WD4000KS has 4 platters which means replacing the heads would be tough.

K-

[drc]

I'd give you 1-2% chance that the PCB is bad, but just swapping it won't work.

Replacing the heads on these is not "tough", it is difficult even for real pros.

[pepe]

to summarize: if u do not want to pay, u have one possibility: reshoot your pics.
U can decide which one can be done more probably.
Sorry if this sounds a bit rude, but the 'don't want to pay 100s' kind of attitude is kinda' aggravating when your drive is in such a condition that many 'professional' DR firms would fail to recover either.

pepe

[ppumkin]

Reshoot your pics.. thats brilliant advice.. hahaha

[hddguy]

turns out the WD4000KS has 4 platters which means replacing the heads would be tough.

you know this because you opened the Disk??

[BlackST]

It has some vacation pictures I want to recover. I am a newbie to hard drive repair but pretty good with tools and my hands, and I don't want pay 100's of $s to fix this.

A-ha... I have the best solution for that price : use Google Earth and Google Street view then Photoshop.... oops, you don't want to pay ... GIMP, then - it's free.

Until you don't do something on this disk, your pics are safe and sound.

[midnight1111]

So having spent a good part of my life in the software industry, and built/repaired computers myself (including Macs). I am tempted to try and repair the hard drive myself ... at least try a new PCB on it. So far I have done nothing to fix the drive, except removed the PCB and replaced it to get the serial numbers off of it. I appreciate the forums responses but they appear more geared toward terrorizing me into paying somebody an arbitrary amount of money because this job is just too hard and technically complicated for you (meaning me the poster). If there is someone who has done this before (to this type or make of drive) I would pay them to walk me through the process since I want to learn it.

[msurgeon]

. I appreciate the forums responses but they appear more geared toward terrorizing me into paying somebody an arbitrary amount of money because this job is just too hard and technically complicated for you (meaning me the poster). If there is someone who has done this before (to this type or make of drive) I would pay them to walk me through the process since I want to learn it.

Well, you're right about trying to scare you out of doing this yourself. And for good reason: if it is the PCB - for which chances are very slight- then a simple swap will not work because there is information in ROM which has to be transferred as well. If it's not PCB -for which chances are very high- there's no way anyone can walk you through the procedure for head swap any more than someone can walk you through the procedure for a colonoscopy is you haven't done one before. This is not a particularly foolproof job even for a professional. Having said all this, I'm sure you're going to want to try it anyway so good luck.

[Alexii]

http://hddguru.com/articles/2006.02.17- ... k-Q-and-A/ read this Midnight. And check ur PM.
Just keep in mind that this can go very wrong and ull end up losing all. And its a very good chance for it to go very wrong if u are not planing to train uself on at least a couple drives to "set ur hand" so to speak.

[lcoughey]

Plain and short, this is not a DIY recovery. It will likely require tens of thousands of dollars in data recovery equipment plus skills and training in order to get the data off this drive. A simple PCB swap won't hurt, unless the heads are already crashing, in which case, you will only cause further damage. My suggestion is to get a free assessment before you try anything. If the price is too high, you can turn it down and try it yourself.

In my experience, we generally charge between $500 and $750 for common issues with this series of drive before anything has been attempted. I'm not sure what others would charge, but I'm sure that most labs wouldn't be too far off that mark.

[drc]

So having spent a good part of my life in the software industry, and built/repaired computers myself (including Macs). I am tempted to try and repair the hard drive myself ... at least try a new PCB on it. So far I have done nothing to fix the drive, except removed the PCB and replaced it to get the serial numbers off of it. I appreciate the forums responses but they appear more geared toward terrorizing me into paying somebody an arbitrary amount of money because this job is just too hard and technically complicated for you (meaning me the poster). If there is someone who has done this before (to this type or make of drive) I would pay them to walk me through the process since I want to learn it.

Agree with msurgeon, it's not that we don't think you're capable, it's that it's really not going to be possible.

[midnight1111]

I would pay $500 to have the drive restored, however every site I have been too says "we will tell you how much after the fact" which means my data is held for ransom and the price is TBD. It seems an interesting business that can proceed this way. This is not the first WD4000KS to fail with a slow click, and I think I have a pretty standard problem (thanks to Western Digital), however the price quotes are not fixed.

I would really like to pay an expert to "hold my hand" through this. But if I could get a fixed quote, I would consider that also.

I appreciate the pointers.

M-

[pepe]

Hi,

why do u think your drive would be held for a ransom? There are many companies offering free evaluation (like we do, we only charge if the drive was opened before it got to us), so u only pay shipping costs.
The quotes mostly depend on the condition of the drive which cannot be predicted based uppon the client's ears.
Lets take an example:
your recovery would cost X if there is no significant platter damage. This would rise with about 30% if there are rings on some surfaces.
Now which price should I tell you prior to shipment?
If I tell you X and the condition is bad I have 2 choices: swallow the frog and do the job for X having loosing some time/parts/income.
Or I may tell you that sorry I cannot do it at X but 1.3X, in this case I am a greedy bastard changing my word once the drive is here.
Neither of these is good for none of us.

Another possibility is that I tell you prior the shipment it will cost 1.3X and you pay the higher price even if the difficulty wasn't that high.

There's no good scenario.
As the drive is from a MyBook, I am almost sure there are surface problems but their extent is not irrelevant.

There are reputable members here you may ask an estimated quotation, but I am sure it will be over the $500 you wrote.
U may ask me also.

regards,
pepe

[BlackST]

I still wonder why people who have 3 degrees in IT, engineering and drive repair, running IT business for 70 years plus 120 years of experience on repairing everything from washing machines to space shuttles etc. still ask what to do if they already know the answer to their questions... and they don't like the answers at all....

Maybe it's summer / winter coming (depending on the side of the world)