Hi all,

I have a WD5000KS-00MNB0 that just failed me, on it I have a bunch of disposable data but also 44GB of personal photos and few videos too. I know i have to do backups and I even prepared a raid5 NAS ... but its still sleeping in the basement.

I have the slow click-click-click then shutdown problem I've read a lot here. It had no shock, no power surge, good ventilation, it was temperature monitored and rarely went over 45°. It was running 24/24 since 18 months, then windows started to be very slow and i had MFT errors, I think you know the story.

I tried to hook it to another computer, it's a data disk with no system. I was able to see the two partitions, but first one was corrupted and slowed the computer a lot, i managed to disable it and was able to start backuping my important files, but few minutes later the disk shutdown definitively. I tried hooking it with USB to sata cable but it's powering, click, click, click and shutdown. I tried to froze it as it allowed me to backup a failing drive once but no luck this time.

I followed this very interesting article :
noise-related-pcb-hdds-final-edition-t7986.html

I don't have th L shaped PCB but the rectangular one, here are anyway my measurements.

Check the Resistor (R120)
- The right value of this Resistor is (0.12 Ohm)
- I had 0.06 Ohm

Check Transistor Q3 (no mark on my PCB)
- The right value of first two pins = 0.000 , second two pins =0.000 , Third two pins = nearly over 600
- I had 0, 0, 230

Check Transistor Q6 (Q11 on my PCB)
- The right value of first two pins = 0.000 , second two pins =0.000 , Third two pins = nearly over 600
- I had 0, 0, 513

All my coils are good.

So i went to the conclusion that my problem is the head stack. So i have two solutions, either i try to change it myself or I send my drive for recovery. It seems nobody here ever managed to change a stack on a recent WD drive, so how could I manage to do it ? I saw that the best way is to use head load/unload system but it seems impossible to find them on sale. Too bad its not a burnt IC, i could have changed it easily ...

Anyway, i asked for a quotation for DR, it's about 1100€ plus destination drive ... for that price I can buy 15 drives and practice head stack replacement until i'm sure to do it !

So here are (finally) my questions, do any of you know cheaper DR service in europe ?
Is it possible to buy these head load/unload system ?
I know that the article I'm referring to has been translated from russian, maybe "head load/unload system" is not the right name for this piece ?
( http://hddguru.com/content/en/articles/ ... k-Q-and-A/ )

Thank you for you very interesting site and forum !

I hope your joking about changing the head stack with no experience. This drive has eight heads and four platters. There is a reason why these drives cost so much to recover.

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Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

That price is a bargain for four platters and eight heads. You have no idea how problematic those drives are. In fact, I'm better 50-50 that the outfit that quoted the 1100 comes back and is unable to do it.

But I'm pretty down on WD drives right now, so maybe that is just me.

1. I beleive there are cheaper DR companies in Europe and you can use their service of course if you just want to pay less, not your data back. If you want your data back there are quite a few companies which can do the job with this drive and they all (the companies) expensive
2. There is no service to buy just one Head Stack Assembly. If you want to get HSA you should buy a new drive and disassemble it (which will obviously make that drive unusable). It might be necessary to use several HSAs for DR

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SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

Do you think there is something wrong with values I measured ? SMD rework is no problem for me so changing anything on this PCB would be a piece of cake.

To get my quotation I used the DR link on western digital site, I picked a random partner there, Datex if I'm allowed to name them. Do you think there is still a risk, not to get my data back with one of WD partner ?
Which company could do the job ? I've just asked a quotation to Ontrack, I think they are serious.

Regarding HSA replacement, I was not talking about HSA, I was talking about this plastic "thing" :


It seems to make easier the HSA replacement.

Thank for your advices.

That "thing" is the head parking ramp that is built into many drives. Not a tool you could install.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

You're right, I've read the article too fast. I don't think there is this ramp in the WD5000KS-00MNB0, it would make changing HSA easier.

1. The problem is not the PCB and hoping so will not change anything.

2. Forget about changing the HSA stack. Period.

3. As the prospective DR company what their ACTUAL batting average is with this particular
model before you send it in.

I swap heads and I wouldn't even think of doing this one myself.

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

I beleive Ontrack could do the job
You can ask our company - Seagate Recovery Services too, we have facility in Amsterdam in The Netherlands and some receiving points in other Europe countries

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SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

Most of the companies I asked wanted that I send this disk to them before giving an estimate. But I know the trick, even if they say "no data, no fee" they will charge me for handling or anything else ... 3Com asked me 150€ for giving me back a Superstack switch, estimate was free but not handling !

One thing is sure, if i don't send the drive to DR, I will try something before trashing it, even if it's still under warranty ... I really don't care about the drive itself.

Well, you can put some blue LEDs there and make plexiglass lid for the drive it will be nice looking hi-tech mode
Or you can drop it from a very high building that would be fun
Once I saw a picture of a drive which was shot through with a rifle that would be fun too
Don't forget to make pictures

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SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

Hdd shot by Rifle thats good .

I'm thinking of buying two WD5000KS, I'll try removing HS on one and putting it back. If i can do it and that i feel confident I'll try HS transfer from the remaining good drive to the bad one. I have "nothing" to loose this way.

I don't see the point of killing a drive with a rifle while I could do it playing the surgeons ...

Sure
Good luck

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SAN, NAS, RAID, Server, and HDD Data Recovery.

I just received an interesting proposal from datacent, do you know them ? Are they good ?

Thank you, for all your interesting responses, this forum is really helpful !

This problem with ur drive is easily fixable. I know a company in USA , will do it for 1800usd 100% . plaese visit their site at http://www.diskdoctors.com i have a good experience with them. ontrack will do it too... rest may not be possible yet.
good luck

Thank you for your advice HDDTECH, but if i spend as much as 1800usd I prefer to work with an European company, I don't want to add oversea troubles

Thank you !

those disks are very hard, I have all the tools and training (although I need more experience) and failed on a 750 version of same despite a good headstack change there were (are) alignment problems. I wasted 150US$ on a donor too.

not given up yet though...

I saw the (Russian translated) article where the guy stick a screwdriver into the "column" that hold the HSA. This way he was able to play with the angle of the HSA, thus find the correct alignment. Is this the problem of the WD5000KS drives ?

I was wondering, wouldn't it be easier to screw back the covers of the HDD and using only the both screws that holds the column. This way it would be possible to the move the upper cover and change alignment slightly.

I don't get (yet ) the alignment problem is it a vertical alignment problem (heads are not parallel to the disks) of is it a "horizontal" (head movement is not concentric to disks tracks) ?

What happen when alignment id bad ? (same clicking noise ?)

I'm sorry if you don't get what I mean, my English is not good enough to express complex things like that.

This refers to a WD with lower density platters. Your disk does not have low density and this is unlikely to work for you.