I am in desperate need of some expert advise. I have a hard drive with some not too important data as I have an old backup.... but here is my question I opened this hard drive to see if I had platter damage and I do... The question is can i recover some of the data at all.. The pcb looks fine no burntness or anything weird but as all computer components....... Looks can be deceiving. So I was wondering if there is a possibility to get some data is there a program that can check the pcb and tell me if all is ok.. and if not where would one go from there (get another board with same data and rev#'s somehow) or load some firmware to it... and is there a way to do all this without a pc3000??? also this is a western digital drive WD400 with clicking sound then drives spins down thanks for all your help

Steven.

P.S. I did clean the platters off with clean air and then sealed up right after opening it...
Also if you look closly at the image you can see 3 small like scratches kinda hard to see sorry

Hello,

I suggest, to forget these data in this drive......
You had a really little chance, before opened it, but after you removed the top lid, you have destroyed the alignment of the mha, so, your chance is gone.

Only perfectly skilled pros can recover your data, with expensive tools, and this will cost you a lot of $.

If your data is not critical, simply drop this drive, and step forward........

Regards,
Janos

I have to agree. There's no freeware that can help you here. PC3000 won't help. One really needs to know what they're doing before removing the lid. A Pro can probably get your data still, but I get the impression a pro is out of the question. You could spend years worth of effort, and many tens of thousands of dollars figuring out how to do this yourself, but then you'd have been better off just sending it to someone. Garbage, target practice, salvaging magnets, staging fake UFO pics with the platters, destroy with thermite on youtube, etc....

If only you had not opened it... There were chances, now the fee is in the thousands $ order. Sorry.

Just put it in the freezer, I hear thats a good method

Jokes apart, eggs are scrambled for sure. Data was not important, so this thread maybe can be closed. Anyway, this is a good lesson : HDDs are hi-tech equipment and diagnostic equipment is VERY expensive and require skilled, motivated and minded people, is definitely for few. Hope I hadn't to discuss this issue anymore, but you have got the proof. Maybe there's still a solution, but according to your behaviuor I think you have no intention spending money neither you hadn't when the drive was probably still recoverable. Forget internet bullshit and recommendations and homegrown solutions... Better luck next time. Rgds.

The only thing that really concerns me is the three scratches . . . but they are on the top of the drive where there is no head. Do they correspond to similar damage on the bottom side of the platter, and is the head bad also?

Assuming that you are lucky and there is no head / platter damage:

The PCB can fail on this model. You don't need the PC3000 to fix the board, if it is broken. Just swap the ROM chip with another PCB with the same sticker # on the bottom. Probably something like 2061-701292-000.

Recovery from this model is fairly easy. I did two of them this week, swapping heads in both and fixing one PCB. I don't think the fellow has ruined his chances of recovery simply by opening it. Getting the head stack re-aligned on a drive with one platter isn't too hard. In fact, one of the two drives that I swapped heads on needed no alignment after replacing the top platter.

Of course, it would help if the OP had a few drives to practice on. But I don't think it's anywhere near the big deal that others do. A WD2500 is another story entirely, for the same concerns that have been already voiced.

True, we don't know if the head is bad. But on a single platter WD400 ... head swaps couldn't be any easier. Or am I missing something?



Jon

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Jon, you were lucky with your drives. I ALWAYS had to manually align (re-align) MHA on WDs, the first times it was a real pain in the ass. Now it's a bit easier, but still a pain... on the same location

+1 what Jon says, these lower density drives are easy to align. Sometimes when I'm bored I do it for fun. But larger drives w/ multiple platters, don't get me started.

No, i have missed something, sorry.

I have read WD4000 instead of WD400.

This is a little easyer.

Janos

Perhaps, but for the OP, who so quickly opened the drive without a plan, direction, or diagnosis, I suspect the chances are close to zero. Alignment is a factor, but only one of many. Personally, I hate diagnosing a problem when a second, artificial problem is present.

Ok, you assume I don’t have a plan and you also assume I have never opened a hard drive before.... First off nothing was touched... Heads were not even slightly bumped....(So They Still Are Aligned) (Not even a fingerprint) just some fine dust you can see with my good digital canon camera.. I have opened several other hard drives one of which I did a test where I opened it let it sit open for several hours cleaned it off with air assembled and had that drive work for several weeks before any problems.(As An Experiment) (LIKE I SAID) since the data was not that important I wanted to make sure the platters weren’t badly damaged before I even attempted anything else.... And since there is a few scratches I wanted some advise not well since you opened it you’re screwed........ Now I may not be an expert here but I am sure that the data is still there.... Now weather I can get to it or not that's a different story... It's just some music and some pdf's and several documents.... all of which I have backups just a few of those doc's are several weeks old... So I was using this HD As a learning experiment.... (Next Time I won’t open it and will ask first) So now that's out of the way I see I should try a ROM chip from a matching pcb... so that leads me to is there a good source for pcb parts or just look for same hard drive on an auction???? Oh ya i almost forgot is there an easy way to see if the heads are messed up???? like a utility to run on the pcb or something??? Also how can you ruin the mha allignment just by opening the lid and not moving a single part??????

Sorry not trying to be rude... But am just trying to learn

Maybe next time we can help more....

If you removed only the MHA's top screw, the alignment is gone.

Janos

ok so if alignment is gone.... how do you get the alignment back ???? lol and thats assuming i get a working pcb board

With a lot of hour practice to get the skill, and some more hours and patience.

If you let the drive in the cleanroom for clicking some minute the platter can be damaged. (the head bounced back from the limiters)
If you let the drive without cleanroom for clicking a less minute, the platter will be damaged!

Janos

ok so i have pretty much given up in recovering my data as i said it was not that important but for future what if i want to practice on a spare hard drive and purporse open it in a clean room and mis allign it then re allign it? or do you have a recommendataion for gaining hard drive repair skills?

You can affix the cover with spindle screw only, and move the cover (ever so slightly) until you find the proper alignment.

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ok so this leads to another question... i know this drive is screwed but what would one have to do, in the case of a platter swap when you have multiple platters. i know you have to move them in sync (aka platter puller) but then once you get them to the new drive according to what i have learned you still have to allign the HD????? So taking that moving platters is like a complete last resort? so if i do manage to get this pcb board working and got a new head i would still have to allign no matter what??? i did not know that.... so next time go with pcb board bad first (even if you think platters are damaged???) then move on to opening drive as a last resort? Just trying to figure this out so next time i dont do something so stupid...

If you don't want to do anything stupid next time, I recommend backups, and sending it to a professional. There is no other simple 'Do this the next time you have a problem" advice. Perhaps some cases are easy, but overall data recovery is incredibly complicated and difficult. The best advice is what not to do. Don't open the drive. Don't do anything yourself if the data is really important.

BTW, Where did you hear about platter swapping? I'm curious to see if there's some website out there giving junk advice...

Did you try hard drive spray?

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