Had a USB drive using a WD1200 (120GB) that was periodically unmounting in XP. Flipped it upside down was running fine for the last 2 days and was going to back things up at the end of this week (timing!) when I planned to get a spare drive. Today, just tilted it 20deg. from horizontal to move it and a got a nice loud clunk (felt it), clicked a bit, power it off immediately and now on power, it does not spin up, no sounds, etc... completely dead.

Investigating, I powered it up on a USB adapter, the PCB does get hot in the center (Smooth IC is cold), & no drive sounds. All I could dig up quickly for a donor was a WD2500 with different PCB ID (2060-001265 (bad) vs. 2060-001173 (good)). powered up and get a couple buzzes then a loud clunk. Repeat twice, same result, do the light spin/shake, repeat, same result. Powered down. I do hear a faint knock on the light shake, but not a sweeping sounds as on the good WD2500. Reassembled donor PCB on good drive and it runs fine. PCB must be toast (no burn signs though)...

What do you guys think: Seized spindle (as indicated from buzzes) or burnt PCB/Motor IC (clunk, firmware mismatch)? It sounds like the example on datacent.com (stuck spindle trying to spin up with siren), but "the siren" is more like a buzz & the clunk is louder. I did find an exact PCB match online not sure if the firmware mismatch of the donor board is a red herring [or not] for why the motor will not spin up...