Hi all

I have a case with a ST3640323AS (Barracuda .11 640GB).
This came with a seized motor.
I unjammed the motor (using Nikola's Brute Force tool) and then when I mount disk on pc3k it clicks.

So far so good, I thought heads are bad too, but after a while I noticed that despite the persistant clicks, disk detects with zero capacity (Model, Serial, FW are displayed correctly) and gives on terminal LED CC errors (!).

I'm thinking this is definitely bad heads but i just wanted to check / share if anyone else has seen this.

EDIT: LED CC is:

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Hi,

It could be bad heads, what would be normal in a case like this.

But are you sure the spindle is rotating totally free now?

Yes. Spindle is free now.

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But rotating at the correct speed? Have you measured it?

I'm asking this because using brute force on those ones, normally they take some time to get to it's regular speed.

have you try the solution to unlock the led000C case?

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I would imagine you have some bad heads here too, which wouldn't be surprising since the motor spindle was probably due to a fall? Do you have Nikola's headswap tool for this series? Mine will be arriving tomorrow

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The LED error is a symptom of a problem, not actually a failure as such. If for some reason SA cannot load and HDD cannot reach a ready state, LED error will display. That is what happens here.

Problem is, as dmarques pointed out, that spindle probably is not rotating at correct speed.

Other problem could be that bearing/bearings are damaged and platter does not rotate perfectly. In this situation there is chance of damage to media surface.

Assuming platter rotates evenly with no risk of damage to media, then be patient with it and correct RPM can (sometimes) be reached.

But you should also consider the possibility of heads damage.

But ultimately, the choice is yours to make...

How would you measure the rpm out of curiosity?

Loki

With a stroboscope.

I haven't measured rpm but it sounds good and ATA register comes RDY on PC3K (if that means anything).
I could open hdd in clean room and see if it rotates erratically or behaves strangely, or check if it loses speed or so...


Yes. With UDMA auto feature it fails on spin up with 'Disk not ready' error.
I tried to enter commands manually, it went well until i attempted to clear SMART, where process failed (with another LED CC error).


Yes, I have the tools (they work pretty well too!) but I don't have a donor currently.

Since disk clicks I will go ahead and order spare parts for this and try a head change to see if this fixes the problem.

Thanks everyone for the feedback

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Would this be any good? ( something else for me tool kit )

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ink:top:en


Loki

Yes, something like it.
Now check the differences between different models.

@northwind: let's wait and see