Samsung dead HELP!

[bluekalel]

Hi all again.

I received some great help from this forum on another drive that wasn't spinning up. So I hope someone can help again.

First off moving/relocating sucks!!

I have a 400GB Samsung Hard Drive HD400LD. That was in an enclosure and transported with me in my car to my new home. I haven't plugged it in or used it in the last month. So I plugged the enclosure in and attached the USB and nothing. I checked to see if it was spinning up and it wasn't. I removed it from the enclosure and attached it to a another usb enclosure still nothing. I attached it again to a usb kit where its not an enclosure but it has separate power and connectors. When I turned the power on the led on the power plug blinked but the drive never spun up. Not even a whine nothing. Lastly I attached it to an ide motherboard again nothing.

From the last problem I had with a hard drive it was using PUIS so I checked it on this drive still wouldn't spin up.

The drive was working fine with no signs of any problems just a month of no use and traveling. This hard drive contains huge amount of family pics and documents including tax records and what not. I did backup the pics a while ago then used the hard drive for something else, dope! I recovered may of the pics with recovery software on the other drive.

My question is, is it possible that all the data is intact and its a pcb board thats bad? If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. Also If its not possible for DIY does anyone know a good data recovery in the San Antonio area?

Thanks,
BlueKalel

[pcimage]

Could well be the PCB.

Search "TVS" on this forum

[fzabkar]

If you don't have one already, invest in a digital multimeter (approx. US$5 - $10).

Then measure the resistances between ground and each of the +5V and +12V terminals at the SATA power connector.

http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

Assuming that there is no short circuit on either of the +5V or +12V supplies, then there are a few voltage tests you could do. We'll need to see a photo, though.

BTW, I'm assuming that the drive makes no noises at all, however soft. If it is trying to spin up, but can't get started, then you may have a stiction fault or spindle seizure. This is possible if the drive has been dropped.

[bluekalel]

Thanks for the good info. I'm looking back and my kids may have plugged the laptop power cord into the enclosure. I looked at the drive but see no physical damage. When I search online most show physical damage (Burn marks), Is it possible that the TVS tripped with no visual sign of it tripping? I'm attaching images of the disk.

Thanks,
BlueKalel

Attachments

TVS location

Picture of full drive

[jono-ats]

Yes, it's certainly possible.

[poehere]

Yes, it's certainly possible.

check with volt meter and if it is bad remove it and see if it can spin up again if not the motor controller could be bad or even the preamp. Try the volt meter first to see what your readings are

[fzabkar]

The 125F devices are polyswitches. They behave like resettable fuses. If either TVS is shorted, then the associated polyswitch goes open when power is applied.

miniSMDC125F/16, 1.25Amp, PolySwitch, Raychem Circuit Protection:
http://www1.futureelectronics.com/doc/R ... __16-2.pdf
http://www.anglia.com/raychem/datasheets/187_216.pdf

[bluekalel]

Fzabkar,
Thanks for the info but I'm not sure I understand. If the TVS is tripped the 125F will still allow power to the HD? Or is it a safety mechanism which doesn't allow power to the HD? If it is a safety mechanism what do I do, remove it? How do I test it?

Thanks for everyones patience, I'm learning alot.
BlueKalel

[fzabkar]

The polyswitch is a safety device. It should measure zero ohms. If it is tripped, then power will not get to the HDD.

The way it works is that, if the TVS diode is shorted, then a large current flows through the polyswitch, causing it to heat up. This in turn causes the polyswitch to go high resistance, thereby interrupting the fault current.

[bluekalel]

OK so I went to the store today and got a digital multimeter. I attached 2 pics that show what I measured.

First I measured the bigger TVS black on + and got 3.5 back. I reversed and (red on +) and got 3.5.

Next I measured the smaller TVS black on + and got 1 (not .1 or 1.0). I reversed and got 1 again.

I went ahead and did the same for the X125F both are reading .5 both directions.

I followed the directions in the TVS FAQ. Set the OHM to 200 and these are the numbers I got.

So what do you guys think. Does the 1 mean its open, no continuity?

Thanks,
BlueKalel

Attachments

Smaller TVS

Larger TVS

[fzabkar]

The large TVS is shorted. Remove it and you should be OK, provided that there is no other damage. Just be absolutely certain your PSU is OK, as you will no longer have any overvoltage protection on the +12V supply.

[bluekalel]

Ok great thanks. Can I pull the large TVS off with a pair of needle nose pliers? If not how should I remove it?

Thanks,
BlueKalel

[Vulcan]

If you're going to follow the earlier suggestion of removing the TVS, and are accepting the risks of DIY, then...

Can I pull the large TVS off with a pair of needle nose pliers?

Noooooo! You risk causing substantial damage to the PCB tracks by doing that

If not how should I remove it?

Either use the right equipment (e.g. hot air soldering station), or a good pair of side-cutters (a wide range of different types are available) to "snip" the metal leads of the TVS and remove the black middle part.

Remember to take ESD (anti-static) precautions when you're handling the PCB, otherwise you could cause more damage without realising it...

[bluekalel]

Ok guys I'm almost there. I was able to remove the large TVS and the DRIVE SPUN UP !!! Awesome! I attached it to the computer and can see everything. I started backing it up and after a few minutes it started clicking. In windows it timed out after 3min or so. I rebooted into Hirens cd and ran a Disc surface scan. for the first 220GB everything went smooth but after that the clicking started but no errors showed up in the scan and the size continued to increase but very slowly. The read kbps at one point was 368 vs the 65000 kbps during the good part. I left it over night and when I woke it completed the whole drive. The question is if its still reading the drive no matter how slow I should be able to get the data eventually what software can I use to copy that data so that it doesn't timeout?

Also what imaging software do you recommend that can "push through" this clicking.


Thanks,
Bluekalel

[labtech]

A hardware-software expensive solution would be best in terms of quality and risk . A reputable DR company can do this.

If you refuse to use professinal service, then u can use media tools. This is on Hiren's boot cd. Ensure not to mix up the source drive with the destination drive.

Also, you can look into ddrescue, but it is more complicated.

[Vulcan]

@bluekalel:

ran a Disc surface scan

If you had asked, I doubt anyone would have suggested doing this here. That might have been the only successful read you'll do of part/all of the disk. If you're continuing to take the risks of DIY, let's hope you are successful in reading the disk one more time...

As someone who doesn't work for a DR company (I'm in another part of the data storage industry) I usually use ddrescue under *nix, but as labtech said, it can be tricky to use effectively. If you search the forum for the terms clone or cloning, you'll find previous discussions & recommendations for software. Ideally, you'll need to have an empty disk, the same size or larger than your failing disk (400GB?), to hold the target of the clone. Other techniques are possible (e.g. using space on a filesystem to hold the target of the clone, or using compression on the clone target to reduce its size etc.), but using an empty disk is typically simpler overall.

You may want to reconsider using a DR company, especially if you are unsure of what to do, or if the situation deteriorates further... It all depends on your decision about the value of the data to you.

FYI, depending on exactly how you attached the drive to your computer for your last comments and how confident you are about the correct functioning of that power supply to the drive (I didn't see that explained), the overvoltage caused by using the previous incorrect PSU may have damaged something else, not only the 12V TVS, or the drive has suffered damage in transit during your move etc.

[bluekalel]

Hello all again,

To update you all I was able to recover all my data with your help, thanks everyone.

Now I have a new problem that's related to this, and I hope someone can help. Last night we had a major storm and knocked out the power 2 times back to back. This morning I checked one of my hard drives, a My Book Essential 3TB drive. It just continues to blink and never spins up, no noise nothing. I checked what I believe is the 5V TVS on the PCB and my meter shows a "1". I can't find the 12V though. Also I have 2 identical drives bought at the same time, pics below. Can I swap the PCB? If so what should I look for?


Thanks,
BlueKalel

Attachments

Right Drive is the not responding

Right Drive is the not responding

[labtech]

Would try to clean the oxidized HDA contacts. Search on the forum to see how.

[fzabkar]

The 12V TVS diode is at the bottom left corner of the last photo, adjacent to resistor R64.

In the worst case, if you need to replace the board, then transfer the chip at U12 from patient to donor.

[bluekalel]

If both 12V and 5V show "1" on the multimeter does that mean its not a blown TVS?

BlueKalel