Hi guys

Drive is clicking continuosly and then safemode, pcb ok. I tried head exchange so far i have no luck, may be due to alignment or incompatible preamp. I put all the donor's head back to the original HDD and it works, so i guess alignment issue is ruled out. Single platter drive, surface ok.

So far i have tried 4 donors without any luck. Any help much appreciated.

So drive has 2 heads and you can't get SA with either of them?

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

no, the drive not even calibrated.

Are you waiting for the drive to allow SA access, or are you gently persuading it to do so?

Have you got another working drive of the same family?

Did you do a good test of the pcb? This should always be done first before opening.

_________________
Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

Indeed, What have you done to insure the PCB is "ok"

I have seen plenty of WD where the PCB may seem ok at first, but maybe R/W Channel or MCU is having problems, corrupting data being read by the heads, causing the same clicking effect.