Hello Sirs and Mams,

I bought a replacement parts drive for this damaged Maxtor (52049H3) drive, but nothing I have tried so far has fixed the ID

missing in the BIOS. when the drive is powered up, the drive spins, and that is all (no clicking). HOWEVER! I noticed that

the PCB looks to have a fried chip on it. Can someone look at that chip and tell me if it is an important one?
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http://visualartistic.zenfolio.com/img/ ... 266541.jpg

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= MAXTOR HDD INFO =

MDL: 52049H3
HDA: 13A
PCBA: 03A
Unique: 11A
Code: JAC61HU0
S/N: F3HDCRAC
DATE: 30DEC2000
DISKS = 2
HEADS = 3

GEOGRAPHY: 2 partitions (ie: [C] [D]) slave.

FILE SYSTEM: FAT32

CAUSE OF PROBLEM: The Owner said that the CMOS S.M.A.R.T stated that the drive was failing then the drive became unbootable

finally.

SOUNDS: No sounds, no clicking.

STEPS TAKEN:


a. I bought a parts replacement drive to replace the PCB board for this damaged Maxtor drive, but the replacement PCB was

different. The chips are layed out differently, and the replacement is a "Fish 'N M16 , /MEM EMI 301368100". The original

drive is a "NEBULA 301334101".


b. I did not bother usinkg the replacement PCB to the bad drive.


HERE IS WHAT I NEED TO KNOW:


1. Is the replacement drive truely differtent??? Although I did not try it, the chips look arranged differently. The model

and serial numbers are close.

2. Could I possibly try using the 30GB version of this drive (53073H4), and using it's PCB???

3. What is an exact match for this Maxtor 52049H3 drive. What do I need to match exactly to replace the PCB board...Serial#,

PCBA#, PCB Board family???

4. Is this a very rare board?


Please get back to me on this.

Thank you very much,

balchund

Post a clear pic from the front of the drives as well. I looked but can't identify any blown chips in your picture. Those boards come from two different PCBA or model numbers.

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

Sounds like standard Maxtor firmware corruption. Probably overflowed g-list or similar. Fixing that would require professional hardware.

There's nothing specific about your case that makes me think the PCB is dead.

I agree about not seeing a "fried chip".

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Thank you for the response,

Here is a better picture of the Chip I feel looks burnt...

http://visualartistic.zenfolio.com/img/ ... 494050.jpg

Does anyone know how to match the PCB boards for these drive types? Please get back to me if possible.


Thank you very much,

balchund

if you take care your data you can not do it by yourseld, Changing PCB will not help you anymore.
You need profesional tool and of course need investment and will cost you a lot.
I suggest you to send to pro nearby you... this is not your first project and you will make thing worse.

Thanks

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Спасибо
СУТИОНО / АПИНГ

That looks like dust.

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

Agreed, that looks like dirt.

If you really want a good answer to your problem, download and use MHDD to further examine your drive. I bet it shows up as Maxtor PROXIMA or similar.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Actually,

At this time, the drive is not recognized by MHDD. The BIOS sees the drive as a "Maxtor Nebula", that is all. The reason I feel that there is something wrong with the chip I have pointed out to everyone is because I have brushed the surface area, and the substance does not come off.

Thank you very much,

balchund

It's not the pcb. How much are you willing to spend to get the data?

Dear everyone,

I trust the forum, and will concede to the fact that the PCB is fine. As for the price of the data...It is not my drive, but I would guess the owner would not pay much for recovering the data. I am sorry for if I got out of line. You guys are really great!

Thank you all very much,

balchund

Yep, firmware problem. You'll need PC3000 or equivalent to fix it. Or you could send it to someone who does.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

firmware corrupted in the sa area well known problem with maxtors

yes but how much is the budget for recovering the data ? 10$ , 100$, 200$, want it for free ? This is only for making offer and demand meet.

If the hdd show u the " Factory Code" Surely its a SA problem, if u check with MHDD u will be found ABRT at all sectors, that its because the HDD cannot access to the FW over platters "Engineering Cylinders,Diskware,System Area, Track Engineering called etc" , "this FW its not like a bin file like Flash ROM " to solve this need specialist DR people with experience over SA problems" and only was sucess to read microcode from PCB

Regards