Dear Experts,

I was using Western Digital WD10TMVV-11TK7S1 My Passport Essential External Hard Disk Drive from last 2 years with no issues.
Yesterday, the USB Hub to which it was connected was multifunctional and left my drive in non-usable state. Now, whenever I try to plug the drive in any of my computer's port (both MAC and Windows), it says that the device is disabled as it's drawing too much power from it's allowed limit.

In Windows 7, it blinks the light even after the error message but disk is not spinning at all. I feel it's a circuit board issue. Not very sure but circuit board smells as if it has been burnt. Though, I can not see any burnt mark on the board.

Anyone, please help me in recovering the data of my drive.

Please note that the computer is not even recognizing the drive. Please guide me to possible solutions for this problem.


Thanks in advance,
Ashish Sharma

Hi

If the drive does NOT spin up when you connect the USB cable, then most likely the PCB is burnt and needs to be replaced/repaired.
But if drive shows any signs of life (like attempts to spin up with buzzing) then most likely your facing other problems.

You can plug in the USB cable again and put your ear onto the drive. Is there any signs of life? Or?

PS. The usual declarations of risks involved into DIY should be mentioned, if you care about your data, consult a professional in your area. If you drive suffers from stiction or other mechanical damage, powering it up can result in permanent data loss. You've been warned.

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Thank you for your reply.

It does not spins at all. I tried changing the wires but still same result.
No spin at all...

possible connector is broken and there is no connection from overuse (plug in plug out to many times) and needs to be soldered or fixed

Hi Sharma,

i need u to try this way pls to know something.hdd keep very close to your ear.then only you plugin USB port and wait for response few seconds.you should heard something either spinning and going off or just one second you heard humming noise then its keep silent.this probably meaning you have some electro Mechanical problem.pls very fy first then treatment will be after.

agreed,

important is to rule out whether drive spins or not and is there any abnormal noise at all ??

assuming there is no warranty left for disk, you can get the disk out of the box to see any visible burn or damage on pcb (circuit board), if you feel this could be the problem.

after correct diagnose you can proceed to either DIY or a Pro.

good luck

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That's correct. Virtually all USB WD's have an external ROM (U12) which would need to be transferred to a new PCB.

Given that your USB hub failed then it's likely a PCB issue with the drive,so a DIY fix is plausible if you have good soldering skills (or someone you know).

Usual DIY caveats apply...

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Why recommend a SATA PCB? Unless it's an Elements model, he would still need a USB PCB and to swap the ROM to it in order to access his (unencrypted) data? If he got a compatible USB PCB instead, once he did the ROM transfer to it, he would be finished (assuming the drive doesn't have internal issues).

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Thank you for your reply.

I have tried the steps you have listed but the drive did not spin at all. As I specified previously, the drive stopped working after the external powered USB hub to which it was connected has malfunctioned.
Now whenever I connect the drive to the computer, the light start blinking and Windows says "Unknown USB Device".
I also noticed that when I connect my drive to the computer one of it's IC starts heating. The temperature is so high that you can not even touch it with bare hands.
I am not an expert in Hardware and would like to know if this overheating has something to do with my drive malfunction??

Though, the drive was never dropped, my strong feeling is that it has no internal issues.
One of the IC on my PCB is getting overheated, does this has to do anything with the malfunction of the device?

I am sure it's not the BIOS chip (U12 or U14). I think it's the U5 IC.

Anybody knows what's the use of this U5 IC??

U5 is the MCU. It gets its power from the Vcore and Vio supplies.

Measure the resistance between pins 4 (Ground) and 8 (Vcc) of U12. Hopefully it is not shorted. Do this with power off.

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This is the one that is getting over heated.
Please check the picture at http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-14437584971410/2060-771754-000-p1-9.gif
IC Number: 88I9146 - TF J2 P3S3100A.2 1050 B2Y CN

Could you please guide me on it's overheating? Where could I find the TVM diodes on this PCB, I do not find any D4 or D3 chip as I read somewhere else.

This is the one that is getting over heated.
Please check the picture at
IC Number: 88I9146 - TF J2 P3S3100A.2 1050 B2Y CN

Could you please guide me on it's overheating? Where could I find the TVM diodes on this PCB, I do not find any D4 or D3 chip as I read somewhere else.

Repairing the PCB (assuming that is the failure) is difficult and unlikely to succeed. You're better off getting a comparable one and transferring the U12 chip to make it compatible.

Though I wouldn't necessarily rule out failed and/or stuck heads. Even if it wasn't dropped or bumped this can be caused by sudden power interruption. Many models won't even spin up if the heads are shorted. Or they could be stuck to the platters (listen for subtle repeated hum) which would also account for the motor control chip heating up.

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Hi,

Please let me know that, did you fixed that harddrive issue or, if it not please send your hard drive pictures.?
i can help you.

Replay me on (Rohithkr (a) hotmail.com)

Thank you
Rohith