Hello guys!

You were so helpful a few months ago (especially thanks to mr_spokk who took care of the issues at a reasonable price), so I thought I'd check in to see what you think about how I should fix my old WD Elements.

Basically, it's fried somehow.

I've attached a couple of pics. You can clearly see the D4 fried (if I recall correctly this is one of the TVS, 12V I believe?). I don't have a multimeter but will go to a workshop and check there.

My question is simple really, is it better for me to just cut/replace the diode or should I pay for a ROM chip swap? The problem with the latter isn't really the cost since hdd-parts.com does it for 60-70 bucks, but the time it takes to ship the board to the US and back.

Oh, and if the answer is to try to replace D4 first, can I just take one from another PCB? Are all D4 on all kinds of HDD PCBs the same?

Thanks in advance

Your first option could be replacing the diode to check if solves the problem.
If not, you can consider other options.

In your case, I don't see any external ROM, so can't simply put ROM chip in another PCB.

just desolder the chip and then try and spin up the drive. It should work, pending there are n o other issues. Get your data off then replace the drive.

Ok, I just ordered 12V diodes to try that fix. Don't wanna run it without overvoltage protection.

If it doesn't work, what options do I have? Isn't the ROM inside the Marvell-chip and can't the people over at hdd-parts for example do a transfer to a new PCB?

Yes, the ROM is contained inside the CPU.
I really don't if people at hddparts have the tools to do it, as I never used their services or even speak with them.

Probably you'll get someone in Europe that can do it for a good price.

Besides that remember that even after fixing the PCB problem, the drive can have other problems, like pre-amp burned, etc.

Do you know anyone based in Europe who offers PCB + transfer?

Contact mr_spokk on this forum, he's in Sweden and is highly recommended!

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It's true.

You can run w/o the diode, no harm provided you are sure about the source of power supply

If the drive still doesn't spin after removing D4, then check the zero-ohm resistors (R64 / R67).

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Just wanted to say thanks for all the help to everyone. Removed D4 and booted the disk successfully.