My PCB shorted on my 500 GB KS hard drive and need to at least retrieve the data from it. I believe the PCB fried because of faulty molex connectors. everything else in the drive works but the pcb, it does not power up.

Here is my hard drive info:
WD5000KS-00MNB0, Date: 30 Nov, 2007 M, DCM: HCACAJAA.PCB board number:
2060-701383-001 rev A

I bought a similar disk drive to use it for parts and recover my old disk drive's data. I do not want to open it just yet as I need some advice from you folks. First off, the new hdd I bought is a WD5000KSRTL, that is what it says on the box, but when I opened the package the drive sticker read WD5000AAKS-00A7B0, Date: June 2008, DCM: HANNHT2MBHB, PCB: 2060-701537-003 REV A.

The PCB does not match the old one and looks like it wont fit my old hdd either. The Box's serial number is the same as on the drive itself. I'm keeping that info private for obvious reasons. But the S/N #'s are identical. So what I'm trying to figure out my next step.

I was thinking of swapping the disk plates but I don't know if the new drive has the same amount of platters and same density as my old hdd plate. Is there any other way to recover my data without going to some hdd recovery agency? I know I could wait for a PCB board on ebay, but that'll take forever. I mean I'm pretty tech savy and I've done plate swaps b4 but not on multiple platter and different density plates.

Can someone inform me of the differences in density and platter number of these 2 drives?
These 2 drives again are:
1) WD5000KS-00MNB0
2) WD5000AAKS-00A7B0

Hope to hear from some1 soon, I really need to recover this data, even if it means it'll void my warranty.

I think the new drive might be too new, do you guys think I'm better off swapping plates with an old hdd from ebay that matches my model number exactly or close to WD5000KS-00MNB0?

Stop what you are doing.Take a deep breath.
There is a reason the donor doesn't fit patient drive.. They are
not compatible. Changing the platters WON'T solve your problem.
And would just make matters worse.
You have 2 choices : the first is obvious .Get a matching pcb,
and you Might get lucky.
DON'T open the drive .
The second choice is to send it to a pro.

I do see an error in your statement :"everything else in the drive works but the pcb, it does not power up."
Don't take this the wrong way, but that is only an assumption, if it doesn't power up you can't be sure nothing else is damaged.

When I say send it to a pro, I mean a reputable DR firm.
But expect to pay big bucks.
This particular drive can be a bear to repair.

you MIGHT get lucky with a pcb swap,but everything needs to match.
You just have to decide what your data is worth

PS.. you will most likely have to transplant the rom chip also.
so..how are you soldering skills?

I took very good care of this drive since it was my primary drive, made sure it was completely defragmented every 2 weeks so the needle wont move around as much, partitioned it to 100gb each. i did everything right, my power supply cables were the culprits. I have a feeling the drive wasnt properly grounded so the pcb board fried. The fried pcb gets very warm when i power it up, but no power goes to the motor. I tried another WD pcb to connect only the motor to the power and the drive spins up just fine. I got good reason to believe nothing else is wrong with the drive, I took care of it so much.

I had a question for you Steve and everyone else. if I power the motor by soldering them to a WD pcb not made for the drive and using the attached old fried PCB as a data sata connector, will that work for recovery purposes? Or does the fried pcb need power of its own to activate data transfer? What if i also power up the old pcb without attaching it to the motor's power and using an auxilary power to the motor (as mentioned before)? Will that work in recovery?

WD phone help wasnt helpful at all. I asked if I cud RMA the PCB for the same PCB replacement lol. They don't do that. I forgot to ask WD phone line if I could just buy a hdd from WD that is the same make and model and PCB, it might cost alot but worth it. That's a custom made order, I doubt they'll do that for me. My data is very important to me, I've been working on a video project for the past 1 year and didnt feel the need to back it up anywhere else since I was so certain that my hard drives would not get damaged in my hands.

First, I need to repeat this, because it's just good advice... Don't even think of exchanging platters. That's done as a last resort by professionals, not as a first try, especially on this drive. Don't even open it, as you will throw the head axis off, and you either won't get anything ever, or the place you eventually send it to will charge you more for opening it. Especially since you probably won't need to open the drive to recover the data anyway.

Second, it's good advice during troubleshooting to not make any assumptions.

Third, get the right board. It's like buying a Ford car, and trying to put a Toyota engine in it. You may have better luck on Ebay, as you can ask the seller for label info, and a used drive will be cheaper anyway.

Also, it doesn't matter how well you took care of it. Just like people... There are those that eat Vegan, exercise every day, and spend most of their waking hours figuring out how to be healthier, and they might die at 28 from cancer. Then, there's the guy who ate everything he wanted, drank and smoked heavily, had lots of unprotected sex, and finally conked out at 98. Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea to take care of a drive (Protect from static during install, make sure it's installed firmly, keep it cool, and don't drop it), but that only increases your odds. The only thing guaranteed is the end.

As an obvious final point, back up everything. Assume your drive WILL fail at some point.

One last issue. If your data is truly important to you, consider sending it to a professional. If you make a mistake, take bad advice, or don't do something just right, you can ruin someone else's chances of recovering your data. Some people think they can try anything, and just send it out if they fail. NOBODY who has recovered more than 50 drives has a 100% recovery rate. That success rate drops steeply when someone meddles with the drive. At the best, meddling will only make the recovery more expensive.

Short answer : NO it won't work
I know you want to do this as easily as possible, but don't screw it
up in the process.
I would keep the drive you bought as as the drive to put your data
on. And find a proper donor to try a pcb swap.

If I buy a similar WD5000KS from ebay without the exact firmware of the PCB, is there a way to flash the specific firmware of my old pcb onto the new PCB? How do I find out what version firmware my old pcb was?

You best chance is to match ALL the numbers :

WD5000KS-00MNB0
Date: 30 Nov, 2007
DCM: HCACAJAA
PCB board number:2060-701383-001 rev A


The date doesn't have be exact, but the closer the better.

You will most likely have to swap the rom also.

You can also post in the wanted section on this board to
see if anyone here has it.

I actually have this exact drive, but unfortunatly I can't part
with it, as it is a customers in for recovery.

I have this exact drive too. It's a customer's as well. Maybe you'll have problems finding a working donor

Applepie eater, The molex connectors mostly suck except for the gold plated ones on the high end power supplies. I just went thru a few weeks ago and squished the female pins on my PCs to tighten them up. They get loose and the connection goes poor corrupting data. I once accidently connected one backwards and blew all 5 drives up. They didnt really connect, but the pins touched and the power was on. Lesson learned.

Its clear your data is very important and timely, but you will have to decide if its worth thousands of dollars. If it is, dont bother messing with the drive. Not only are you a novice at drives and need practice, but you picked a very difficult drive to deal with. Its clear you are not aware that the 12 oclock position on multiple platters must precicely line up when moving them from one case to another. And the data on 500gig drives is especially tinny so there cant even be a micron shift in any of the platters. So you need expensive tools and practice using them. Maybe this gives you a better idea about the difficulty of what you mentioned.

There is no telling what damage is on the PCB and it could have also blown the head preamp inside the case. So you cant really say with much hope that working on the PCB will be much use either. Again, a late model drive with a lot of secrets that people dont talk about.

If people were posting tons of technical details about all these drives, then there might be justification to try a few things. But people arnt posting details so you have to decide if the data is worth it, or call this drive a learning oportunity only. You may find all this frustrating, but drives are a very protected industry and technical details are constantly changing. Those that figure out the vital details are doing DR and consider it trade secrets and dont post. So play with your drive as a hobby, or send it to a DR firm to get your data back. Its ultimately your call.

Oh, and welcome to the Hardrive HOBBY forum.

Steve and rchadwick,

do I dare to ask how much you charge for that hd's recovery? you cud estimate if u like. i might wait for the pcb for now, but ironically enough the 1 project file that i want back and have been working on for a year cudve fit on a 1.44mb floppy that's the only file i really need.

Stts, I never knew that these platter drives had to be so precisely fitted. Now I dont dare to open or swap plates. Im just gona put the drive in a zip lock, anti-static bag with silica pads for now until i find the right pcb.

I don't know what a rom swap is.

thanks for the welcome, glad to be on this forum.

And platter alignment is not the best part on these drives, there's the headstack too... A little error and data is gone forever beyond repair. Your data, your time, your choice.

Not to mention that platter swap is the very last operation to do on a drive when its spindle motor has severe problems.
In case of a burnt preamp no DR expert would think of it even if it was an easy thing.
As far as I remember recently there were some threads concerning such problems with WD drives where it was negotiated in details how to identify PCB and preamp problems and what can be done in these cases, so I suggest some searching on the forum.

regards,
pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Just a side bar :
I was looking over prior posts , and it seems this particular drive
model is failing quite frequently lately

Where are you based? PM me in you are in UK. I can also recommend companies local to you.

We have matching drive in stock (present customer - PCB is good).

You want prices - If only PCB has failed - £500. If pre amp failed - £1500. If you have opened it £2000 - £ 4000. You can probably get it done cheaper but I've got a holiday home in Turkey to pay for.

I maybe could be cheaper if I hadn't TWO holiday homes in Hawaii and Rocky Mountains to pay for... LOL !!

Realistically, people who have the tools necessary to fix this drive will charge quite a bit. If the drive isn't recognized by BIOS? 4 digits + parts.

I'd spend time looking for firmware, time looking for donors, time figuring out why my firmware is not installing properly and again have to spend time on finding the parts to fix the drive. That is what complicates the process. Consider a hard drive a classic car for which parts are no longer made. You can't go to a local parts store to find them. Locating suitable parts is a big part of our workflow.

However, the people in this forum would probably be a better option than the big 3 firms, if pricing is of concern.

Don't worry, when there's a price, usually data is no longer important.

STTS, I don't understand your obsession with "secrets". The O.P. has received good advice here relative to the problem and in line with his likely capabilities.

I wish a client that came to me this week had received the same advice. A very personable fellow dropped off a WD400EB, a single platter 16 bit drive with two heads and a bad motor. He figured he could just swap the platter into the same model, right?

When he was done, the drive also had a bad ROM and a blown PCB. The donor he selected was a Marvel WD400EB - a totally different family with only one head. He didn't seem to be concerned about the different number of heads when he swapped the platter. There were fingerprints and scratches on the platter. He couldn't recall if he had flipped the platter over or not.

A few minutes of careless work by someone translates to hours of repair time.

There is a very good reason to keep advice simple and to the point!

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http://www.datasaversllc.com