Hello Gurus,

i have a big problem and it al started about a week ago.
I got sudden reboots of my PC and didn't know what the problem was.
After a reboot (soft reboot) my BIOS hanged after checking VRAM. When i did an hard reboot, power off and on, my PC booted well.
After this happened a couple of times i opened my PC and tried to simulate hard and soft resets. I did hear a strange noise from my HDD when it didn't get passed my BIOS.
So it was suspect #1. I bought a new HDD and installed Windows 7 on it, so i could place my faulty HDD as second one, so i didn't get reboots and i could backup my drive.
After i put my faulty drive in my PC, it didn't work any more, no power led on HDD, no spin up, just nothing.
But all my data is still on it, i really must have my data back.
Can someone help me accomplish this.
Have read about TVS diode and PCB replacing, but don't know if it will work.
i can't see anything strange on my PCB, i've measured my TVS diodes, 5V TVS is about 500ohms, and 12V TVS is 0 ohms.
Can someone help me further, i need the HDD run for about 10 minutes so i can backup my data.

Specs
Samsung spinpoint F3 500GB SATA II
HD502HJ(B)
Pr date 2010.1

PLease Help me!!!!!

Hi,

From your description, I don't think your issue is related to the PCB, according to the noises.
I think your drive must have damaged heads. Some of them may be damaged at least.
That is a job for a pro to analyze it and swap heads if necessary.

The noise from my hdd was only when the pc didn't start and was just for a second or so.
When i did a power off reset, the drive did start and got into windows, this worked for about three days.
But after dissasembling my drive from my pc and installing a second one, the drive didn't get any power.
Tried two computers different cables, but nothing, not even the LED on the PCB of the drive.
How about platter swapping? I think the data is still in perfect shape, but i can't reach it, i really need my wedding, holiday videos and pictures back.
Someone please help me so that i can try some things.
Data recovery is very expensive in The Netherlands.

Greetz Bert

i have found a donor drive from 2010.03 mine is 2010.1 will it work???
or can i at least try it,without further damage??

Hi,

You can swap whatever you want, but of course there are risks in every step you take.
You need to consider the value of your data compared to the value of a recovery company.

yes i understand, but 1000euros for 50gb is too much for me.
I also read a forum post about someone who contacted samsung under warranty and got two new PCB's to test, without sending the drive to samsung.

i guess my drive has a single 500gb platter so maybe platter swap is an option??

One thing is to try a DIY job of swapping a PCB and try it.
Other completely thing is try a DIY head or platter swap. That will be impossible for you. HD502LJ has more than one platter, if I'm not wrong, I think it's 3 platters.

That option of the Samsung warranty might be an option. Don't know as I've never used it.

The 12V TVS diode is shorted. This suggests that one of your "resets" may have been a little too "hard".

Snip the 12V diode with flush cutters, confirm that your PSU is OK, and then hopefully you will be back to the original problem. If not, then look for an open fuse or polyswitch in series with the supply to the diode.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

if i remove the 12v TVS do i have to bridge it then?
Or do i only have to remove it?

Just remove it.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Are there any other components that i can test before i cut the TVS???
Here's the PCB

removed PCB to see the other side got some pictures too.
is this normal???

hmm TVS cut did not work.
Damn, is there also an 000 ohm resistor on my PCB i can't see it. Or is it the small thing next to the 12V TVS?

No, the diode appears to be connected directly to the +12V supply. The small component is a filter capacitor.

That said, if the diode were really shorted, then your PC's PSU would not have been able to power up. You would have seen the fans kick once, then the PSU would have shut down.

Which component did you actually remove? The 12V diode is the one nearest the mounting screw. The 5V TVS diode to the right of it has a small protection device in series with it. That could be a fuse. Measure its resistance.

If you wish to replace the board, then you will need to move the 8-pin Atmel serial flash chip (between SDRAM and Marvell MCU) from patient to donor. This chip stores unique, drive specific information.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

the one near the mounting screw measured 0 so it was failing, that's the one i removed.
Which fuse did you mean, under the 5v TVS, the teenie weenie part or the bigger one under the 12v TVS???

Will a PCB swap work when it's hardware related??
Or do i need to swap platter?

It has data that i want back, but not that important that i'm willing to pay big bucks for it. So i want to DIY, if it works.

The fuse (?) is the tiny part to the right of the 5V diode, under pin 8 of the SATA power connector, oriented vertically.

You need to fix or replace your PCB to get back to the original state, which was most likely a HDA fault, not a PCB fault.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

going to measure tommorow, thanks for the help, hope you will guide me through it.
i'm waiting for an email from an guy for an donor pcb, hoping if it's compatible, he's going to look at the pcb parts for the correct numbers.

how about the backside of the pcb, is that heat marking????
Or is it normal?

so the fuse measured 0 resistance, and with diode check no beep. I suppose the fuse did his job.
Can i replace the fuse or do i have to bridge(short) it??
Hope that this was the last component failing.

Does the Atmel chip also has the firmware in it, or is this in the Marvell chip?

You are confusing me. If there is no continuity (beep) on the didode check, then the fuse is open, ie infinite resistance, not 0 ohms. An open fuse registers on the meter with an overrange indication, ie the same display as when you hold the probes apart.

If the 5V TVS diode tests good, meaning that there is no short on the load side of the fuse, then try flowing a blob of solder over the fuse.

The reverse side of the PCB looks OK to me.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.