ST31000340AS head stack replacement

[Repair123]

I have the following Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB drive:

Model: ST31000340AS
P/N: 9BX158-302
Firmware: SD04

It spins up, clicks 11 times, and then spins down. It is not recognized in the BIOS.

I tried a new identical PCB (with BIOS swap) but the problem didn't change. My next step is to try a head stack replacement using a donor drive. I have a clean air enclosure and a head replacement tool for this model. Now I need a donor drive but I haven't found a very close match on eBay. There's plenty matching the model number but finding matching P/N, Firmware, etc. seems quite rare. Which of these drive properties are actually required to match exactly (or closely) in order to donate a head stack?

S/N
Model
P/N
Firmware
Date Code
Site Code
Product of [Country]
PCB Sticker
PCB Silkscreen

[northwind]

Is this a client's drive?

[Repair123]

No, this is my drive.

[pclab]

Do you have experience on head swaps?
Or are you willing to throw away several hundreds $$$ and after send it to a lab?

[Repair123]

No, this will be my first head swap. I'm willing to spend several hundred on attempting a repair but not $1000 on professional recovery.

[MindMergepk]

No offense, but if this is your first head swap chances of success are very low, further these Seagate drives quickly damage the surface in case of head failure. have seen this model with media damage many times.

I highly suspect media damage on these models.

[Repair123]

That's sad news. But I'm not dissuaded by this and am hoping someone can provide an answer.

[jermy]

That's sad news. But I'm not dissuaded by this and am hoping someone can provide an answer.

if "MindMergepk's" comment:

No offense, but if this is your first head swap chances of success are very low, further these Seagate drives quickly damage the surface in case of head failure. have seen this model with media damage many times.

I highly suspect media damage on these models.

is not what you wanna hear
then I am willing to volunteer and provide you what you wanna hear, but I need to tell you it's not gonna be the truth, the truth has been told you by "MindMergepk" already

[Repair123]

I understand. Yes please.

[alexpeter]

Hello Repair123 ,

For Head Swap Seagate , you need to match patient's model no , First 3 letter of Serial no & site code .

let us know the result. if you have clean chamber make sure that hepa filter should be 0.3 mn

good luck.

Peter

[jermy]

hepa filter should be 0.3 mn

?
or you meant filtering 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 µm ?!

[Repair123]

match patient's model no , First 3 letter of Serial no & site code .

Thank you very much alexpeter. I'll let you know how it turns out once I receive the donor in a few weeks.

[northwind]

Hello Repair123 ,

For Head Swap Seagate , you need to match patient's model no , First 3 letter of Serial no & site code .

let us know the result. if you have clean chamber make sure that hepa filter should be 0.3 mn

good luck.

Peter

The first letter of the s/n is already the Site Code. And it is not important.

[drHDD]

No, this will be my first head swap. I'm willing to spend several hundred on attempting a repair but not $1000 on professional recovery.

Professional recovery could be cheaper than you think. But only if you didn't try yet.

[day1data]

The problem is even if the head swap is successful you will run into read errors, firmware problems etc.

Do you have the tools that can handle this after the head swap?

[Repair123]

The problem is even if the head swap is successful you will run into read errors, firmware problems etc.

Do you have the tools that can handle this after the head swap?

No I don't. As I understand it, the tools (such as PC-3000 and DFL) are prohibitively expensive for an end user so if these issues do arise then I will consider the data lost.

[pcimage]

The problem is even if the head swap is successful you will run into read errors, firmware problems etc.

Do you have the tools that can handle this after the head swap?

No I don't. As I understand it, the tools (such as PC-3000 and DFL) are prohibitively expensive for an end user so if these issues do arise then I will consider the data lost.

Sorry to say that, especially with this model, that it's a 99.999999% certainty that this WILL fail given the lack of experience and tools...

[Repair123]

I received the donor drive and performed the head swap but it it didn't work. Although the head swap itself went well, it was probably pointless because when I opened the patient drive I noticed that the top platter had 2 circles of debris on it (one at the center and one near the outer edge). The filters were blackened. So, I consider the data probably lost forever but I'll keep the drive in case many years down the road professional data recovery becomes affordable. In the meantime, is there anything that I can do aside from bringing the drive to a professional or buying very expensive equipment? Compressed air on the debris?

[MindMergepk]

No offense, but if this is your first head swap chances of success are very low, further these Seagate drives quickly damage the surface in case of head failure. have seen this model with media damage many times.
I highly suspect media damage on these models.

again no offense.