Hey, I'm pretty much a noob at circutry and the like, but i'll describe to be best of my knowledge and hope someone can help.
I tried to plug my seagate 80gig barracuda into a 4 pin power connecter while the computer was running (dumb, I know) and was met with a spark and I'm guessing a short as the psu will not turn on unless the hdd is not in the circuit. after some research, I deduced that the problem was probably a blown protection diode and I need to remove it. But, my warrenty is void if I rip it apart so I need to know for sure that I can fix this thing before I do so.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanx.
Andy

Hi,

A model number (ST380xxxA) and a FW rev. would be helpful, also a picture of the PCB

regards,
pepe

The screws are star-shaped...I might need to get a special screw driver to take it apart... the model is st280811as

http://one.fsphost.com/nixx/IMG_0244.psd

Thanks for the reply

T-8 torx bit is needed

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I think ST is a sub company of Lucas

Or T9

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DataRecovery.bg

Ok, so I get that to open the drive, and I assume I'll need to open it to fix it since all the meat on the pcb is internal, what will I need to do to it?

Hi no you need the torx to remove the PCB and replace it with a suitable donor PCB. Do not open the drive. (Unless you blew the pre-amp but ther's no way to tell untill you have another donor PCB. If you don't need the data you are best off to warranty the drive. Any tampering will void your warranty.

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I think ST is a sub company of Lucas

Ok, so find a doner, I'll have to buy one then right? and the replacing of the pcb is pretty strait foreward yes?

Hi yes you need same model drive, same pcb layout & identical firmware revision. Take out screws & swap good board for damaged one.

Be prepared though if you killed the preamp when you shorted the drive there is a good chance you may kill your new PCB when you connect it.

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I think ST is a sub company of Lucas

and what will that mean? should I be replacing both the pcb and preamp? can you tell from the information I've givin so far what the problem probably is?
Thank you by the way for all the help, I'm just inexperienced so I need all the info I can get

u cannot change both preamp and the pcb first u got to know whats the problem that could be found by replacing the bad pcb with the good one .
Do that and post results here .

Yes Rameez is right,all I was trying to tell you is that if you damaged your pre-amp when you shorted your power connector, there is a possibility that you might damage your new PCB in the process of trying it on your damaged hard drive. But there is no real way to tell beforehand. It might be an idea to buy a pair of working donors if you are prepared to do some very intricate soldering or a head change if the pre-amp is actually damaged on your drive.

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I think ST is a sub company of Lucas

Ok, I have a donor drive on its way with matching firmware and model number. So for future reference, do you have any links to tutorials for pcb changes like the head change link you posted?
I think if the pcb change doesnt work, I'll probably end up having a professional fix it, but from what I've researched, its most likely a diode...which is on the pcb.
Thank you all again for the support

All you have to do is remove the cover or Seashield (if there is one) remove all screws and move the good PCB to the damaged drive, replace the screws plug it in and you will know. It may sound silly but mark the drives & PCB's beforehand with a marker so you know which is which. All it takes is a distraction and they can get mixed up

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I think ST is a sub company of Lucas

Ok, I hear its pretty self explanitory
Thanx all, I'll post the results soon

Ok, so I got the donor, a torx-8, made the swich, and turned it on. success...up to the point where POST tries to read the drive itself.
It froze up unless I had the drive disconnected. any ideas?
and this is the internal side of the frankenstein pcb...where is the diode I want to remove?

Ok, I got a PM with the location of the bad diode and I removed it...worked lika a charm, so thank you all for the support, you make my life much easier (and cheaper!)
for those who are watching with the same problem, carefully remove the piece circled in red, there will be some sticky stuff under it, make sure to wipe that of, but be careful not to scratch the board.



and fyi, craftsman makes torx screw drivers, they're not hard to find, i got one from a friend who works at HP