Today I rebuilt my desktop using a new motherboard I got for Christmas. After putting everything back together and making sure all cables were properly attached, I turned on the computer. When I got into the BIOS, I saw that only my Blu Ray burner and HD103SJ were being detected. I turned off the computer and tried swapping cables around, thinking that I may just had a bad SATA port or bad cable. After trying various combinations, I discovered that my drive is not even spinning up. When the computer is first turned on, it makes a faint hum like it is about to spin up, but then does nothing. I took the drive out and inspected the PCB for damage. There was no visible damage. I also tried it in an external enclosure on my brothers computer and got the same results. Is there anything I can do to possibly recover the data on my own? If not, can anyone recommend a reputable data recovery service local to the Stockton-Sacramento area?

Based on what you've said, it might be spindle issues, but someone has to check it better of course.
I know Jono and Quasimodo, and they are very good, but I don't think they are located near you. But anyway, with shipping at low prices, distance is not a big problem.

If it helps any, here are some pictures of my PCB. I didn't see anything wrong, but I may have missed something. Based on the information I have, is it possible that my drive could be a candidate for a PCB swap? Obviously a pro job would be preferable to any DIY fix, but I really don't have $800 to spend on one right now.

Hi,

Based on the PCB picture, I can't see anything wrong directly, but that does not mean it doesn't have in reality.
Someone needs to make some measurements, and probably also open the drive to check if spindle is rotating fine or not.

Just thought I should post an update on my issue. As it turns out, my hard drive is fine. It didn't work in my brothers enclosure because it didn't supply enough power. On a whim, we decided to hook it up to one of his internal ports, and it booted up just fine. After doing a little more research on the issue, it appears to have been an incompatibility with the Samsung firmware and the SB950 southbridge on my new motherboard. Since the Samsung support website no longer exists, it was a little difficult to track down a working link to the firmware (I couldn't find it on the Seagate site). For anyone that is interested, here is the download that I used: (http://www.jack-brennan.com/?p=1302). After flashing the updated firmware and putting everything in my computer back together, everything is working as it should. Now to put my new blu ray burner to work making backups. Hope this helps anyone who may be encountering the same issue.

HDD(F3+F3EG) F/W update for SB850 chipset:
http://web.archive.org/web/201008210922 ... msg_id=308

Update files:
http://www.samsung.com/global/system/bu ... 4638F3.zip
http://www.samsung.com/global/system/bu ... 58F3EG.zip

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A backup a day keeps DR away.