I have a 4TB WD My Book and I accidentally plugged the wrong power adapter and now the HDD (and Enclosure) is dead. After a half-baked research and making a brand new 1TB WD Green useless now... I found out that i could still revive the HDD and backup the files if I could get a new PCB or somehow make the broken one work again. Can someone please guide me on what to do? I did some research about Buying and identical PCB and something about the TVS diode but with all the info in the web and inside this site is really confusing me. I just need some solid directions from people who have actually revived an HDD so I could find the right info and hopefully save my wallet form spending on things that will not work in the end. Thanks.

PS: Pardon me if the images are in the wrong orientation...

If you are lucky only the TVS Diodes are blown. Just check them as in the picture below. The "big ones"

But beware!! If you unsolder them if you found out that they are faulty (please don't cut them) and there will be again an oversurge your data could be unrecoverable!!!

The oversurge could have blown other vital parts.

If your Data is important and I bet it is. I would not recommend a DIY solution.

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Fachwerkstatt für Data Recovery / Datenrettung in Stuttgart - Riedel IT - Ameisenbergstraße 30 - 70188 Stuttgart

Some further useful information about TVS Diodes and how to check them:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

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Fachwerkstatt für Data Recovery / Datenrettung in Stuttgart - Riedel IT - Ameisenbergstraße 30 - 70188 Stuttgart

I do hope it's just the TVS Diodes... I will check on your suggestions. Thanks.

also check the 000 resistors and make sure they have continuity.

I don't know if these encrypt, so whatever you do don't throw out anything, including enclosure, and if you start swapping things, clearly mark the originals and donors.

Please let us know about your progress and keep us informed here in the forum.

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Fachwerkstatt für Data Recovery / Datenrettung in Stuttgart - Riedel IT - Ameisenbergstraße 30 - 70188 Stuttgart

I read the TVS Diode faq and this is what I discovered:

4/ What are the symptoms of a shorted TVS diode?

A shorted TVS diode that is connected directly across a +12V or +5V supply rail, without any series connected protection devices (eg fuse, polyswitch, inductor, zero-ohm resistor), will cause the external power supply (PSU) to go into overcurrent protection mode and shut down.

The usual symptom for a PC PSU is a single kick of the fan after pressing the on/off button, followed by immediate shutdown.

A typical symptom for an external hard drive may be a rapidly flashing LED.

So from that I guess I could tell that I have a faulty TVS Diode(s) on the PCB... I'll keep reading as to find out how to find all the TVS diodes on my PCB, how to check if they are working or not and what to do about the dead Diodes.

I do hope its not encrypted... because the PCB in the enclosure is burned and I kind of threw it away...

Was it a WD My Book essentials then th HDD is encrypted as far as I know...

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Fachwerkstatt für Data Recovery / Datenrettung in Stuttgart - Riedel IT - Ameisenbergstraße 30 - 70188 Stuttgart

I made a quick search of the essentials and the answer is no... the WD My Book I got was in a Blue Box.

I went to the nearest hypermart at my place and they have an analog multimeter.

The FAQ help me get the gist of what I have to do but I still don't know what exactly I need to do next.

1. Where are the TVS diodes on the PCB?

BenDataRecovery was kind enough to point out the TVS diodes but are there more in the PCB that I should find and test?

2. How to test resistance?

I'm an EMT by profession so this is really out of my forte... can someone guide me how to actually do that with the multimeter I purchased? I watched some vids on how to do it and I kind of figured out that I should use the Ohms (yellow top left side) but I don't know if I'm going to use x10/x100/x1k. And I don't know what's the purpose of that small dial on the left of the multimeter. And one last thing... how will I read the results of resistance when I place the probes on said TVS diodes?

I apologize if I'm asking a lot out of the members here... I want to do this mostly on my own but for every google search article I read and youtube vid I watch... I just get more and more confused. I really appreciate your patience and help guys.

Okay I watched some more videos and learned a few more stuff... I used the X1K setting and adjusted the dial so that when I connect the red and black probe the multimeter will point to 0ohms.

And what I did next was to test the 2 TVS diodes that BenDataRecovery pointed out.

Please refer to BenDataRecovery's screenshot attachment (the 2nd topic post)

Left TVS diode = 0 ohms
Right diode = 1.8 ohms / 50 ohms - different result when you reverse the probes

Based on the FAQ the TVS diode on the left is dead and the one on the right is alright. Am I correct?

OK, so now just heat up and remove the left TVS diode that is shorted and see if the drive works.

Sounds too simple to be true, but very often it works. Just be sure you're on a good power supply preferably connected to a UPS battery as the drive now lacks the TVS protection that keeps the other components safe from surges.

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Data Medics - Hard Drive, SSD, and RAID Data Recovery Service Company

I would confirm that zero-ohm resistors R88, R60 and R64 measure 0.0 ohms. The motor controller IC has not suffered visible damage, so the chances are good that the 12V TVS diode will be the only casualty.

ISTM that this design allows for electronic fuses (U4 and U3), but WD has chosen to retain their stupid D4/R64 combination.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

let me correct your version... I hope I was right!? Not 100 percent sure...:
Right TVS Diode 5 Volt TVS-Diode which seems to working fine = 1.8 x 1000 ohms (x1K = x 1 Kilo = x 1000) / 50 ohms x 1 k= 1,8 kohms / 50 kohms

Thanks for that big contribution by the others... I'm still learning. And won't stop learning in that field.

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Fachwerkstatt für Data Recovery / Datenrettung in Stuttgart - Riedel IT - Ameisenbergstraße 30 - 70188 Stuttgart

Just FYI, the pinouts for U3 and U4 appear to match those for the STEF05 and STEF12 electronic fuses.

http://www.st.com/web/en/resource/techn ... 034383.pdf
http://www.st.com/web/en/resource/techn ... 034392.pdf

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Just one more point about the enclosure ...

WD's 2TB+ external drives are configured with 4KB sectors. When you remove such a drive from its enclosure and attach it to the SATA port on your motherboard, you expose the drive's native 512e sectors and render the file system inaccessible. Essentially you will have a 4Kn file system on a 512e physical drive.

The solution is to recover your data using software that understands the 4Kn file system, or purchase a non-encrypting external enclosure that is configured with a 4KB sector size.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

ok I will try this as soon as I cover my bases, all I have with me right now is a soldering iron and I don't have a hot air gun available... can I remove the TVS diode with a soldering iron? I just don't want to end up damaging the surrounding components (IE R64) while I do it. And as an alternative... can I just use a nail clipper to remove the diode but destroying it in the process?



I tested them and yes they mesure 0.0 ohms

I tried to desolder the Left TVS diode with my soldering iron but it was too difficult and I didn't wanted to risk destroying other components so I had no choice but to use a nail clipper to remove the diode.

The HDD is now working but the data is not read properly.

I used a generic enclosure to test the HDD... So I guess the HDD was encrypted... Is there a way for me to be able to make the date in the HDD readable?

Connect to an identical USB board from another WD enclosure.

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PC Image Data Recovery
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