Hi!

Im having trouble with the following device:

WD5000AAKS-00YGA0
DCM: DARCHT2ABB
PCB: 2061-701477-900 04P

It is spinning up, and the heads are working, but the initialisation seems to fail, so it is no more recognized by the BIOS. I guess it's trying to read the system block but it fails. The HDD was being used within an external USB drive of WD, which as well seems to be defective, I tested it with a working HDD.

At first I thought I could easily replace the PCB, but then I've read that a lot of pros here advised against doing so for this type of HDD.

Is there any chance to check/repair the pcb by searching for specific potentially burned electronic parts? There are a few postings here that describe which resistor and transistor to check , but of course for a different pcb.

Any help would be appreciated, even if it's just a short "forget it"


/andy

If this is your PCB ...

http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/7428 ... 00AAKS.jpg

... then it may have a "head mimic" fault, in which case a PCB swap may work. Unfortunately the board doesn't have a chip at U12, so you will need a "PCB adaptation service". At least one PCB supplier provides this service for free.

One thing you could try is to clean up any oxidisation from the 20-pin preamp contacts by gently scrubbing them with a soft white pencil eraser.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

AAAAHHHHH Here we go again !

1) This "mimic" story happens 2-3 times in 1000 , and IS actually a firmware fault, WHEN IT HAPPENS. 97-98 times out of 100 , on these WDs, the problem IS actually head(s) and there is nothing to do unless either you own something like PC3000 UDMA or so (5000 to about 10'000 $ depending on where you are) to do it safely and diagnose it properly - FW fault - OR do a headswap with all the related problems in clean room.

2) Let's assume it is the "mimic" : buying a PCB is useless as you have to send the entire drive back and forth to them at your expenses and at your own risk to have (if possible, because there can be other issues as well) the PCB "adapted". Yet unknown if it still will be free, but I'm afraid it is NOT.

There is a big difference between expectations and reality.

McReilly

If you think that the problem is the Drive failing to read the System Area, why do you want to change the PCB instead of fixing the SA ?