WD800JD Recovery

[dmprantz]

First time posting here, so I hope I don't say the wrong thing...

I have a WD800JD (WD Caviar SE). Sticker Reads 2061-701335-T00 AA. The drive is SATA.

The drive is fairly new and worked fine for a while and then stopped soon after a power outtage. As of now, it is not visible by BIOS nor any OS. When it is plugged in I can constantly hear the drive spin up and then down, up and then down, but no clicking. I actually work for a drive recovery company, but believe it or not, it seems to be impossible to get them to recover the data for me under my employee program. I asked some one at work who knows more about drive recovery than I do, but is not in the drive recovery division either, and he said that he thinks the fuse is bad on the pcb and the easiest way to fix this is to some how remove/bridge the fuse on the pcb and immediately copy all of the data off. My first question I guess is does this seem reasonable, or does it sound to y'all that this guy is giving me bad advice? If this is a feasible way to attack the problem, can some one help me identify the fuses? Unfortunately, this guy gave me advice and has been slow with the followup.

If the fuse idea is wrong and it is the pcb, what's the easiest, fastest way for me to resolve the issue. I can solder some, but stay far away from sm, and would rather pay a few dollars for a pre-programmed pcb than try to pull out my soldering gun on it. So...is the best approach to find a donor drive with the same pcb, or is there something I can do with this one? If it it's the donor board route, should I just take this pcb off and identify it to do a search?

Thanks in advance,

dmp

Oh yeah, stupid question, but since the drive is only a few months old, even if it is a pcb problem, is there any hope that WD would replace the part and copy the data off? They're on my list to call tomorrow if I have time.

[BlackST]

The disk is under warranty, not the data. Forget it. They may give you back a working drive, but empty.

Put your ear on drive, you'll hear it spinup, a faint click some time, then spindown, and restart. It's NOT a DIY thing , no fuse, no soldering can revive it. Need pro help. Face reality. Or RMA it and forget data but get a new drive as it seems under warranty.

[pcimage]

It "could" be a PCB problem with the symptoms you describe (spinning up and down constantly with no clicking).

You WILL need to change the ROM chip to get a working PCB from any xxxx-701335-xxx board.

"Only a few months old"? Are you sure? These drives haven't been made for years AFAIK. Whats the Man. date on it?

You have absolutely zero chance of parts from WD btw!!!

Last edited by pcimage on April 13th, 2010, 3:07, edited 1 time in total.

[dmprantz]

Thanks for the informative response. Not sure if this was a typo or a mis-read, but the drive I have is 2061-701335-T00 AA, not a 701355. The man. date is feb 14, 2009 (sweet) and I bought it November of 09 from NewEgg. Please let me know if switching a ROM chip is still not an option.

You said no clicking. If there is a single click, is that drive recovery only?

dmp

[BlackST]

Hmmm...

"The drive is fairly new and worked fine for a while and then stopped soon after a power outtage."

Deja vu. The PCB didn't stop it

"It "could" be a PCB problem" ... let's hope.

For me, also, it is a refurb drive.

[dmprantz]

The drive I was holding in my hand was not the failed drive. I need to get the failed drive and write back. Sorry!

dmp

[pcimage]

Ah, so now there's a click? Different story I would say, but PCB "might" be worth a shot but now less likely

Agree with BlackST on the refurb, does it say "recertified" on it anywhere? Or have an "R" in the s/n?

[BlackST]

MUCH LESS likely ...

[dmprantz]

Okay...just to be clear, I was reporting the error on the wrong drive. I am not aware as of right now if there is a click, but I just wanted to ask. I am going to be testing shortly, which is how I figured out that I had the wrong drive.

The correct drive with the spin up/down is a WD1600AAJS 2061-701640-202 03PD8. Certainly do not expect it to be a refurb, and it isn't printed with that or an R in the s/n.

[dmprantz]

For the record, I never said I heard a click. Some one else told me I did. I just tested, and I don't hear a "click" that I would normally associate with a failed drive, but I do here a noise right before spin down...but more of a head read sound.

Same questions still reply, and since i hosed this up so bad, I'd be glad to start a new thread.

dmp

[pcimage]

Different kettle of fish this drive.

It could either be PCB, firmware or heads on this model.

All 3 are beyond DIY as there's no external ROM on this drive I'm sorry to say

[dmprantz]

Thanks for the feedback. I'd like to know what my options are, but because of my error with the drive, I've created a new thread for it here. Please answer there, and mods, if you're out there, feel free to close off this one or something.

dmp