Greetings,

This drive has everything and while I can say oh-well... I rather not. So here is what I do know;

On start up drive is not seen by computer. Power is good. Was in a Fantom external housing and is about 2 years old. Moved to a HP workstation and drive started to act-up. Should have known then huh? Oddly moving it back to the original computer I had it on it worked fine with no problems. So, I killed it by putting it back on the HP workstation where it seems to have taken a big hit. Yes, I powered down the drive before moving it. Makes my spleen ache to consider this. Oh well....

PCB; Check voltages they (voltages at components I have known data to check against) test okay. Checking resistance: 5V TVS; infinite resistance both ways. Checking 12v TVS; 135 Ohms one way, infinite resistance the other. Used 200 scale testing the 12v TVS, and 2K scale checking the 5V TVS.

Power at motor; .48v at every lead. The drive spins up though seems quiet or slow? Probably my imagination... Can hear heads clicking about. They click more than a couple times and do not seem to have a pattern on start-up.

Once I had removed the drive from the enclosure I put it into a couple machines to see if I was able to get something. Drive is not recognized, not seen by Linux, or Windows.

Any thoughts? The data was from our old business, we shut it down after accident and illness so I will not miss any of it since I am now disabled, but there are many people who are asking for old files that are on this disc. So, I would like to help them out... with this in my mind I want to ask; Is it possible to r&r platters and put them into a working drive to get the data out? Or is this as insane as it sounds to me?

Thanks! I really appreciate the thoughts.

Hi,

I would say it's insane for anyone without a good experience.
It's a complete failure for sure. And those are not even the easiest ones.
But anyway, before thinking about what to do, you need a proper diagnosis on the drive to be sure what's going on.

You should consider go to a pro and get at least a free quote for your drive.

Where are you located?

Hi,

PM sent.

I am in St Pete, FL I checked specs and see the drive is not getting the power it needs. ie; getting .45v not 5 v or so. Since the power is correct at the TVS and other key areas on the board it seems to be related to the motor driver.

Thanks for the earlier thoughts... Anyone see anything wrong with my assessment? Looks like a PCB and then swapping out the NVRAM at this point. Being both disabled, and since shutting down my business opened a spiritual center and community center I am not going to be able to throw a bunch of money at this. My money goes to giving free classes and other activities that benefit the community and world around me. The greater good is more important than the data on this drive.

I am willing to try what I can to get it working, but there is where it ends I guess. Thanks for your understanding, if it makes no sense to you... don't let it bother you. Life is too short.

Thank you for your time and interest.

I either am too new to get private messages or it did not get to me via the PM feature of this site. I can check my email to see if it came to me through that venue. Thanks for the effort in any case.

Hi,

You can speak with Quasimodo (almost the same nick) as he's near you I think.

Heh... I chose it (quazimoto) because I have a old bell tower.

quasimodo,

I am next to Gulfport in St Pete, FL. on 15th ave south. Exactly how much info did you want about where I am... heh...

I can go on to say I am in a old Russian Orthodox Church.... I give free basic electronics classes, Linux, and more. We, I am a non-profit entity that spends time doing what I can to get the community back together in a more powerful manner. Too much divisiveness in our country is causing a lot of problems, weakening us as a community. I am going to do what I can to get the disaffected to see that wealth... true wealth is community.

Anyway, thanks for your interest. If you are nearby do you have any interest to do seminars for the community? I understand if not... it is a bit to take on.

A quick note I should have included in my message to quasimoto and is for any interested party; I did not and do not mean does anyone want to do a seminar on how to fix HDD... No, not at all... I meant a seminar or classes on what anyone would find interesting to do... we are inviting everyone in the area to use the space we have and our goal is to get more money spent in the community for goods and services. While we may be non-profit I do not expect or feel anyone else should unless they feel like they want to and can afford to.

It is a large hall... 26 ft by 40 or 42 ft... Air conditioned, good light, lots of equipment... all ready to go.

In the meantime; what to do about this drive... No response about the viability of my so-called trouble shooting.

My final tests show correct voltages except at the drive motor. I get .48v not the 5v I should get. This would seem to indicate the motor driver... Replacing the PCB swapping the NVRAM... or not? Any other tests I should run before getting on with this?

Thanks!

Unfortunately your description is too unclear for me to have time at the moment to unravel it all. Also there are some ambiguities which add to the confusion. All I can do in the time I have available right now, is to correct one specific mistake, and highlight where more info is needed. I don't promise when/if I will have time for further replies:


Your expectation is wrong. You should not measure 5V with a multimeter at the motor connections - it's not a simple DC motor. Typically an oscilloscope would be used for this check, and then you could see the multi-phase signals which are used to drive that motor. Since I think you're saying that the drive spins and the heads load, then a PCB problem is relatively unlikely.

If you accept the risks of DIY, which have been described on this forum many times (e.g. you could change a recoverable drive into an unrecoverable one!), then IMHO you need to clarify exactly what you mean by the drive not being recognised in Linux or Windows (there are multiple places where you could be checking for "recognition" in both OSs); also check for correct reporting of make, model & capacity of this drive in the BIOS disk setup screen, as this result may help with understanding your possible options.

However, as a minimum, even with the best of luck with the above answers (and your answers may suggest no further DIY progress, if you are unlucky), then usual best practices for DIY recovery would require you to have a spare empty 1TB or larger drive (or, less recommended for typical DIY IMHO, 1TB (or more) of unused filesystem space on an existing drive) - but your earlier comments suggested that you didn't want to spend money on this recovery. That may be why readers have thought that your situation was not realistic for DIY recovery attempts.

P.S. I'd add another vote for quasimodo, as a respected pro in your area, if you do decide to get some assistance.

Hi,

I applaud your community efforts! it's always good to see someone perform some selfless services
However, as I am not in your city and struggle as it is trying to squeeze 30 hours of work into a 24 hour day, I unfortunately will have to decline the invitation.

P.S. i will send you a pm in case you would like for us to inspect your drive.

Thanks guys

To Vulcan; This is why I have posted what I did see with my limited electronics equipment (I had sold my oscilloscope some time ago with most of my tools). I also understood that while I have a great deal of experience in OTHER areas of electronics I was really pushing the envelope here with a little sperry mufti-meter.

Yes, I am not really emotionally invested in the expense of getting the data when I rather buy a MIG welder and teach welding skills in my area since it seems to my way of thinking more people will benefit from free welding classes than getting data for a couple old clients. Especially when I know that the data they want is not going to help them... The old clients that is, at least not in the way they think it could.

Be that as it may, if I had been able to get some clear sign that the problem would be the cost of a PCB and the nvram swap I would then have looked for someone with the tools to do that a I do not have the little hot iron and would not try it with my komec soldering station... heh, now THAT would be really foolish huh?

I did not want to waste a pros time and yet here I have done just that. Now I am going to let the old client know what the risks and costs may be before doing anything else. If they say no then I am going to take the drive apart to show interested community and make a wind chime from the platters... I have quite a few platters from old drives laying about and a few more would make a really nice chime...

And all those magnets make interesting sculpture. Thanks everyone for the time, I will get back once I do have a commitment from that client since that really is what is at the bottom of this.