I have a 750GB WD Scorpio Blue 2.5" model # WD7500-BPVT that seems to have gone dead on me. I have already tried the freezer trick, which was a no-go (left in freezer from Friday all the way until today). It's not an internal HD in a laptop but an external that I use in an enclosure (Best Buy Rocketfish). I should mention that this drive was accidentally dropped 3x over the past 2 weeks. When I plug it in, using the USB cord (the two-plugged one), the hard drive does spin up, i.e. it sounds almost like it's "breathing" (a dull hum), but neither Windows (7 Professional x64), nor LiveCDs such as various Linux distros and Hiren's, are able to recognize the drive as being plugged in. Which leads me to believe this is a physical issue with the drive rather than a system issue or even a faulty cord. (It just suddenly stopped working -- i.e. being recognized -- shortly after I used Robocopy in Safe Mode to transfer about 100G off the disk. I did so, obviously, because some bad sector errors and transfer problems caused me to believe -- correctly -- that the drive was failing.)

I have tried installing GRC SpinRite to a USB (my laptop does not have a disc drive), and for some reason, it doesn't boot properly. AFAIK when selecting "install SpinRite to Drive" (i.e. an external ZIP or USB), it's supposed to install a FreeDOS live system for the USB to boot from, but doesn't, and the SpinRite .exe itself is the only thing on my USB. Trying to boot from the USB with SpinRite on it gives a "missing operating system" error; however Windows itself, when booted from internal HD, works fine. (Also, I believe SR only works if the drive is in fact recognizable, can anyone confirm or correct?)

I have read online about replacing the logic board on the hard drive; however, the general consensus is that the board must be from a nearly identical model, and before I go buy another drive, or even an individual board, I want to be sure I'm getting the right thing.

This article at http://www.hddzone.com/conditions.html describes where to find the model of the board itself, versus the drive. On the bottom of the bare drive, on the green circuit board itself, in fact, is a barcode sticker, where a number similar to what's described is printed (I have not opened the drive yet). The barcode reads (in full, including dashes and spaces):

2061-771672-E04 03PD1 XC AM17 0135 7 0004360 0364

However, nothing I search for using any of those sequences is available on their site. Also, at the bottom of the article is a note, saying:


The site itself is written in poor English, which gives me the impression I should stay away. The one they referenced to fix this problem (among others in that list), http://www.firmwarebase.com/ does not contain anything related to this drive either.

The information at http://www.deadharddrive.com/ says that when replacing the board, one needs to buy a set of Torx screwdrivers, which I had never heard of before but looked up -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx -- and found a 5pc set at Home Depot for about $6.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... ogId=10053

However, it appears that the drive he is replacing is a 3.5", which I would think has bigger screws than a smaller 2.5"? The information there seems a bit dated, too (2002), and from what I've heard it's more difficult nowadays to do the swap of boards on newer model drives at higher capacities. I want to be sure that the screwdrivers I'm buying fit the screws on this drive, and as I am unfamiliar with the Torx I wouldn't know off the bat which size head to buy.

WD does not offer any firmware or downloads for the Scorpio Blue besides some diagnostic utilities and a demo backup program. The step-by-step guide at eHow.com -- http://www.ehow.com/how_7325911_replace ... board.html -- lists a T8 head, but I'm unsure as to whether the drive in their article is a 3.5" too, and how to identify what size I'd need for a 2.5" drive. Obviously I am leaning towards replacing the board, as I do not have the money at all for data recovery; in fact, I'm opting for the smallest of the screwdriver sets because the ones running in even the $30-$60 price range are going to be a major hit to the wallet.

I am not in a business environment; rather, a home user with about 250G of DVD backups on this drive, all of which I need to rescue to my working Desktop (which has a disc burner) and burn the .iso files quickly before I junk the drive itself. I do not have much in the way of technical (hardware) expertise, but can follow a step-by-step guide (such as the one on eHow) without having to personally understand why X does Y and why you shouldn't do Z, just a simple how-to that says "do this, don't do that". I purchased this drive from NewEgg approximately a year ago -- actually, it was bought as a gift from my (not at all technically inclined) parents, who (sadly) have lost the receipt, so I don't know whether the drive is still in warranty or not. It's not so much that I need a replacement as I need to recover the videos on the drive. More info from the front of the label is below, and advice on what else to do is greatly appreciated. (Apologies if this is a little lengthy for a first-ever posting, but I wanted to be as clear and detailed as possible, which I know from experience is always helpful when troubleshooting. IMHO in the world of tech support there's not really such a thing as "TMI.")

750GB WD7500BPVT
S/N: WXC1A2051126
MDL: WD7500BPVT-00HXZT0
WWN: 50014EE259805E91
DATE: 24 MAR 2010
LBA: 1465149168
DCM: HHCVJHNB
DCX: 5H02X2RZ1
5VDC: 0.55A
R/N: 771672

(Someone else posted to another section of this forum -- firmware-for-wd7500bpvt-00hxzt1-t20648.html -- about a similar model WD7500BPVT-00HXZT1, rather than WD7500BPVT-00HXZT0. I don't know if there's any real difference with just one number, but I'd prefer not to chance it.) But before I try anything "surgical," I would also like to know how to get SR to work -- I tried enabling compatibility mode for the .exe file, but no go -- does it not work with Windows 7? What else can I do?

Thanks in advance

@jdoe90210:

You need to change your expectations for the cost of fixing this drive, if $30-$60 seems like a "major hit to the wallet".

A new PCB is very unlikely to help you, based on the symptoms you have listed, and the fact that the drive has been dropped several times.

I'm glad that SpinRite didn't seem to install - it's mostly useless on modern drives anyway and makes outrageous & impossible claims IMHO, but is especially useless where the drive itself is not detected by the OS. Forget that. Same with the "freezer trick" that you tried

IMHO your only sensible option is a professional diagnosis from a company who have the drive in front of them, but no professional repair is going to be close to $30-$60, especially if the problem is due to the drive having been dropped.

One member who is WD authorized is "jono-ats" in Atlanta:

member5276.html