Hi Guys,

My HDD stopped getting recognized in BIOS. It doesn't spin up so I removed PCB to check for burns. The inside of PCB looks very dirty and it seems as if some sort of fungus (mold) is growing there. After closer examination I concluded that there is no sign of burn on the PCB. I have included the images. What should I do next? Should I try cleaning it up?

Details (when this HDD worked for the last time)-
I was defragging this HDD and put my computer to shutdown automatically before going to bed. There was a power cut that night and I suspect that my PC didn't shut down properly (thought I'm not sure as defragmentation might have finished before the power cut). I didn't bother to check it the next morning. This HDD was installed in my secondary PC and was used rarely. After a month from this incident I needed to copy some old data from the machine and it didn't boot up. BIOS didn't recognize my HDD. I think that some sort of fungus grew on the PCB in this one month time when this machine wasn't being used.

Can abruptly cutting out power damage a PCB?

PS : I live in a small town in India and currently have very limited resources.

More images - http://imgur.com/a/OUin9

I missed out some HDD information in the first post.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
Model - ST3500418AS
P/N - 9SL142-300
F/W - CC34

Thank you.


PS - Guys, its kinda urgent as I'll be leaving tomorrow.

I would clean up the PCB with a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol (audio/video head cleanre). Then gently clean any oxidisation from the HDA contacts (near the 8-pin Winbond IC) using a soft pencil eraser.

If the drive doesn't power up, then you will need to check the TVS diodes. If you have a multimeter, I could walk you through a few voltage test points.

If all else fails, and you need to replace your PCB, then you will need to transfer the Winbond "ROM", or its contents, from patient to donor. You must not damage this chip, as recovery will become very difficult, if not impossible.

Edit: Sorry Spildit. Your reply came through as I was typing mine.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

I'm thinking of cleaning it with isopropyl alcohol. I guess anything above 90% should do. I'm not sure if it will be available in my town's shops. Living in rural India is hard

Anyways, I have located an identical PCB with same firmware on donordriver.com but it'll take anything from two to three months to reach me.

Thanks guys for your help. I really appreciate it.

Completely immersing the board in Isopropyl alcohol won't damage the chips?
What concentration should I use?