I have a hard drive which I believe to have a bearing problem, and it can't get up to speed.

I'm considering a platter swap and replace the motor, but I'm also thinking I may try to separate the spindle out of the motor with the platters attached, and then swap the half of the motor with the bearings in it. The second method will prevent any loss of platter alignment, but is more risky to the platters themselves. Either method involves removal of the heads off and on the platter.

Suggestions or comments?

Is this your personal drive or customer's? Both cases no DIY my friend send it to a pro.

What equipmemt and CR are you using?

you considered the pcb could be at fault? I had a drive the other day, a Fujitsu. Some PC Guru decided to swap the platters (2 platters) because it was not spinning. After his recovery failed he told his client to send it to a pro company, they will easily recover the data. You should have seen the state of this disk! The smudges and finger prints on the platter was a bit of a giveaway that some fool had tried something, also the screw which holds the platters wasn't in straight. Anyways, to cut a long story short, this data was not recovered (plus the client didn't want to pay the fees quoted even though they were phoning every half hour for an update) but it turns out the pcb was at fault. A very simple (cheap) recovery.

Correct diagnosis is critical. Don't mess with the disk if you have no experience.

This is my personal drive.

I don't have the money to have it done professionally, so I'm going to attempt to repair it myself.
If it fails, then that is that, but if it works, I will be more than happy.
I consider the drive lost right now, so getting the files back would just be a bonus.

I don't have any tools at the moment. I'm looking to get a multi platter removal tool. (2 platters)
If I can't get one for cheap, I am going to attempt to use a drill press with a blunt tipped metal rob to pop out the spindle from the motor from the bottom of the drive, platters and all.
The platters will remain on the portion that pops out from the body, and in alignment.

Still trying to figure out how protect the heads. Looking at that pill foil method, or removing a ramp from another hard drive to offload the heads onto.

I have a donor drive coming, and the first thing I'm going to try is swap the PCB, but I need to prepare for the worst. The noise points to bearings.

I think it is the PCB. I have not encountered a WD200, 400, 600, 800 EB or BB with a seized motor. I have on the other hand encountered a pcb which is malfunctioning which causes the drive to make a noise which sounds like the spindle is jammed.

If you swap the platters you will fail.

Good luck.

There is no point in trying move the entire spindle, it will not work. However, moving the platters might, assuming that you have the right tools.

But, just the same, I agree with the diagnosis that the PCB is at fault. The chip which controls the motor is likely failing. This can be verified by swapping the PCB. Of course, a replacement board will allow the motor to spin, but the adaptives will be wrong and you will get a drive that just clicks and loads into Kernel mode. But, it should help verify that the PCB is the point of failure. The next step is to transfer the ROM from the original PCB to the donor PCB.

Good luck!

_________________
Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

I've seen exactly one WD400 series with a seized motor . . .

_________________
http://www.datasaversllc.com

You should be able to hear if the platters are free to spin by manually rotating the drive in a quiet room. Try it with a good drive that does not park it's heads on a ramp to know what you are listening for.

Only 1?

It *Can* happen, usually if dropped while spinning, but then usually your problem is much worse the just a stuck spindle.



OP: Think like a doctor. If someone comes in with a 101 fever and upset stomach you wouldn't send them in for surgery would you? You would check their throat, ears, eyes, listen to their lungs, etc. Then you would likely perscribe some basic anti-biotics or anti-inflammitory.


With this case you are jumping straight to surgery. Don't. Perform proper diagnosis ruling out the simple things first. Look online and get a matching PCB for like $30, and put it on there. If it spins then you know that was your problem, and all you need to do is tranfer the ROM.


I think many people screw up because they overthink the problem. Work your way up not top to bottom. Start with the simple, low risk tests and possibilities and if they do not work then think about more risky procedures.

Well of course I'm going to go step by step through the diagnostics and try different things, but I am just preparing for the worst. I won't have the donor drive till just under 2 weeks from now. Once I get it, I can start trying things. Just brainstorming solutions in the meantime.

Got the donor drive.
PCB swap did nothing.
The noise I hear from the drive doesn't change so it's not the motor driving circuit.
Pretty sure it's the motor. Not seized but bad bearings.
Comments?