Seagate ST3500630AS Bricked. Info?

[SXRguyinMA]

This drive bricked itself a few years back. No warning or anything. Turned the PC on and it wasn't recognized. It's been sitting around since then because I've got a crapton of pics, videos and music on it that I still want/need. I've seen a few things about new boards and even hacking into the firmware (seems to be mostly for 7200.11 models though) and resetting it. Any ideas of where I should go? I don't want to shell out huge $$ for data recovery. If I can buy a new PCB or get into the firmware like others have I'd rather go that way. Thanks in advance!

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

This drive bricked itself a few years back. No warning or anything. Turned the PC on and it wasn't recognized. It's been sitting around since then because I've got a crapton of pics, videos and music on it that I still want/need. I've seen a few things about new boards and even hacking into the firmware (seems to be mostly for 7200.11 models though) and resetting it. Any ideas of where I should go? I don't want to shell out huge $$ for data recovery. If I can buy a new PCB or get into the firmware like others have I'd rather go that way. Thanks in advance!

Well,
Plug It in a PC And Tell Us what Happens Now a Days .

[pcimage]

This drive bricked itself a few years back. No warning or anything. Turned the PC on and it wasn't recognized. It's been sitting around since then because I've got a crapton of pics, videos and music on it that I still want/need. I've seen a few things about new boards and even hacking into the firmware (seems to be mostly for 7200.11 models though) and resetting it. Any ideas of where I should go? I don't want to shell out huge $$ for data recovery. If I can buy a new PCB or get into the firmware like others have I'd rather go that way. Thanks in advance!

Well,
Plug It in a PC And Tell Us what Happens Now a Days .

Yes, do that and advise what the symptoms are.

Clicking?

Buzzing?

Chirping?

Sounds perfectly normal?

This series do not have the same FW "BSY" issue as 7200.11 that famously "bricks" drives.

[SXRguyinMA]

Well if I plug it into my external USB 3.0 docking station I use this with a WD 400GB for backups) and turn it on it sounds normal. It spins right up, but doesn't show up in the system. It doesn't show up in My Computer or in device manager (even with a "scan for new hardware" check). It makes a single chirp about a minute after spin-up then chirps every 30-60 seconds or so thereafter. I don't recall it ever chirping before though...but I could be wrong

[pcimage]

Well if I plug it into my external USB 3.0 docking station I use this with a WD 400GB for backups) and turn it on it sounds normal. It spins right up, but doesn't show up in the system. It doesn't show up in My Computer or in device manager (even with a "scan for new hardware" check). It makes a single chirp about a minute after spin-up then chirps every 30-60 seconds or so thereafter. I don't recall it ever chirping before though...but I could be wrong

Could be a "pending" bug, or a suspect head.

Either way it's not DIY, but shouldn't be mega bucks as long as it's not made worse by tinkering.

[harddrivespecialist]

I can offer to diagnose this drive for you. Just cover shipping cost back and forth.

[pcimage]

I can offer to diagnose this drive for you. Just cover shipping cost back and forth.

@OP....

That's a generous offer, take him up on it!!!