I've got a WD5000AAVS-00ZTB0 that had originally had a seized motor. I was able to free the motor enough to allow the drive to spin up, and then found that the PCB was bad. I reprogrammed the ROM (as well as backed up all FW modules), and the drive now IDs but I get all ABRT errors in DDI. Has anyone else experienced this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I take it that, given what you have carried out so far, you are not unfamiliar with data recovery tools? Identifying the problem may be a bit easier if you tell us what happens when you interrogate the drive with said tools?

All manner of problems can cause a WD to ABRT, these could be SA (translator for example), incompatible PCB, physical (the act of freeing the platter caused alignment and/or physical problems), there may be failed head(s)....

How have you tried to access the drive since the failure?

If PCB has been programmed with correct ROM, and spindle spins freely with no obvious problems, ID is reached, and SA looks ok then problem is likely a weak or bad head which stops complete loading of translator system.

This is my opinion, but more info such as SA test could help.

Could possible be that after you "free'd" the spindle there is enough vibrations for the drive not to operate good enough?
And could also be out of alignment, how did you free the siezed spindle?

Regards/ Bosse

_________________
Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

Thanks for the input guys. I don't think alignment should be an issue here, but I used a tool developed by jono-ats to free the motor.

My first thought was a weak head, but I figured I'd see what you guys thought too. The PCB is compatible, and the ROM should be correct. I just ran a SA test and I cannot read Track 0. All other tracks read fine.

There could be millions things about this issue. That is what makes this type of situation tough.


*The platters may have shifted after the jam. How do you know? You can't!

*The read/write head of the hard disk may have gotten damage on impact. How do you know if it is not visible?

There are many things you can do after you freed the motor, but it is difficult to know what the behavior of the drive means.

Try everything on the book and let us know what happens.

_________________
The last word from the dying patient, data.
www.datamediarecovery.com