A Spot Of "BOVVER"!! - Hard Drive Problem

[ameerat42]

Yes, it involves NOT being able to retrieve data

A goodly slab of my latest pics BEFORE they were backed up

The "first drive I use to download pics" was fine when I shut down 2 nights ago.
The next morning IT wouldn't show up on my computer. The light flashes and the
drive spins... - That's about all.

It's a WD 1TB Passport USB3 exrternal drive. So I pulled it apart (ie, out of its case) and had a
good squiz at the PCB. There are pics below, but I want to ask a specific question first:

Would it work (like it used to years ago) to swap the CB from an identical drive so that I
could get the data off this one? Has anyone tried it for these (modern) drives?

For electronics experts, do you think the part of the PCB that looks like little barcodes is
crook? There seem to be "breaks in the metal".

Any other advice would be welcome too. (But spare me the castigation, as I've already done that quite well)

Here are the pics...
1) the whole PCB

SDIM8412aclr.jpg


2) The "barcode-lookig bit"
SDIM8412ac2.jpg

[ricktas]

If it was me. I would put it back together and take it to a data recovery place.. and hand over my first born and credit card..

[Poppyrob]

If you're not familiar with dismantling HDDs, good luck! I agree with Rick .... put it back together and get a tech to check for the problem.

A few things you can do though...

* When the HDD light flashes when plugged in, does it flash in a constant pulse, or flicker randomly? Pulse is a problem, unless it's been on for a while. The random flicker (may) indicates attempting access.
* Does the computer recognise the drive in your hardware listing?
* Was it the only external HDD being used at the time? Sometimes a pair may conflict.
* If using a desktop computer, try shutting down, totally disconnecting from the power supply for 5 minutes, and rebooting. Then plug in the HDD and see if there is a result.
*** And finally, but most importantly, if the HDD seems "dead", don't attempt to boot it up too many times. Constant attempts MAY kill data.

Quite often a technician can retrieve practically all your data with a little coaxing and not too much injury to the wallet. On the other hand, if it's cactus and requires a "forensic examination", you could need a money tree.

Good luck, and let us know how you go.

[ameerat42]

Ta Guys. The amputation of an upper and lower limb is my first option. or

PR, the light is random when first plugged in, then a regular flicker, ie, on-off.

I have done [what I said] before, but in the early 2000s last time

The problem would be to get an IDentical PCB... ---

So, yes, back to square one. I have lined up a reasonable sounding tech at Dee Why.

Ta.

[ameerat42]

Well, just to say, I'd like to get the opinion of some electronics experts who must surely be on AP.

How do those "gold bar connections" look? Do you think they are intact, or not?

Ta.

[wayn0i]

I have a hard drive that sometimes just doesnt mount though it spins happily, ive found it i have the mac on with usb connected and remove power from back of hard drive momentarily before returning power it suddenly mounts. I tried leaving power on and removing / returning usb connection no result, no result with turning hd power off at the wall and no joy with rebooting mac.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tandeejay]

question... have you attempted to mount the drive on another computer? or mount a different usb device on the port your HD was plugged into... just to confirm the problem is not your computer's USB hub...

[ameerat42]

Yes and yes, and yes to something else as well. 4 other computers and all usb ports

That "harness connector looking thing" is pretty (ugly) worn. It looks suspiciously like data
paths to me

[arthurking83]

....

Any other advice would be welcome too. ....

No castigation from me.
Additional advice:

my experience with failing/failed HDDs have always been stuck heads.
(well apart from one dead Maxtor 40Meg last millennia.
Mother in law had a dead computer, tracked it down to a dead maxtor, I had a similar one, used my PCB, got some data off it as quick as I could and got her a new HDD etc.

All my other dead drives have all had stuck heads.
Pull the tin steel cover off. There is a 99.9999999*% chance that there is one hidden screw on the cover that you can't see, will be under a small sticker of some type(could be round).
Most likely on WDs tho, it may be under the main label. you may need to feel it by finger. as a guide, it'll be approximately on the opposing side of where that small square QR code sticker is.
You will feel a slight depression bump on that section of the sticker paper, and you punch through it with a tool of some type(usually a torx screw driver that may need to be used to remove the other screws.

What I've done with many dead drives(and I think I still have most of them from about the last 10 years) is to open the top cover and if the head is stuck move it back to the rest spot.
Note that this will kill the drive, except for one last hoorah! This is where you save all the data in one go.
Folks advise that moving the head(like that) is dangerous, and I generally agree, but for my own sake of curiosity I had to give one a go to see what will happen.
basically it works.
My last 'fraught' attempt was on on a dead 3Tb drive that I wanted to triple check for syncronicity with the other drive that was supposed to mirror the data on that dead one.
Head moved, drive connected bare(ie. not via USB) to an internal SATA connector, and sync software applied.
There were one or two out of sync files but could have easily been ignored too.
Synced for the sake of having done all of the initial physically frightening stuff with the drive.
Drive is still here with me, even tho it's now totally useless.

So that above method may only work once and that's it!

ps. 2.5" HDD are weaker than a wet tissue! I have about 3 or 4(I'm quickly losing count!!!) that have all had a head job in the above manner.

So next piece of advice is to avoid those passport type HDDs unless it's an SSD. That means you need about 1K per terabyte of storage tho!

Third piece of advice(if you really really care for your data) is to have triplicate mirroring of it.
I have one on my PC now(via a USB HDD), and two on my recently acquired NAS.

4th advice comment.
If you really really really care for your data, get WD Red drives. Those passport(or any ready made) USB storage solutions generally use cheaper hardware.
Get specific types of drives(such as the WD Reds) and half decent quality cases for those HDDs.
1/ it usually turns out to be cheaper, taking into consideration the quality of the drive you've just created.
2/ there is a higher probability that data transfers will be quicker if the correct gear is sought!

5th advice entry:
screws securing both PCB and top cover are T6 torx. Don't be tempted to use any equivalent allen/hex tool, you may round the screws and make it harder to install
screws are a high grade stainless steel, and thus non magnetic. They are easier to lose than to remove
Be alert. (even tho our country doesn't need any more lerts! )

There is a chip that I have no idea on what it does on those dodgy looking connectors.
The main memory module is located near the connector ends of the board. RHS of the board where the mess of tracks are located.

If I discover any more info, I'll let 'ya know.

[ameerat42]

Ta lotly, AK.

I'm next taking it to an electronics expert/repairer to ask his advice.

It is my suspicion that if I can restore those tracks [unsaid: somehow that he should know]
then I might be able to read the data. All other "noises" are OK in the unit.

If not, to the data recoverer's in the NY.

[arthurking83]

..... All other "noises" are OK in the unit.

....

Really should only be two noises of any note:
1. hard drive spinning up down .. round and a'round even!
2. slight chattering from the head. Can you hear the slight chattering?
Most drives nowadays are quite quiet .. so chattering noises are usually minimal.
(Samsung HDDs are exceptionally quiet, considering their vintage)

WDs are pretty chatty, less so the 5400RPM models than the 7200RPM types (that I have/had).

If you can't hear chattery-ness at all but hear spinning noises, could be head stuck.

[ameerat42]

No. 2 reasons, I suspect:
1) It's so quiet.
2) A ° of "Industrial deafness" I suspect.

[arthurking83]

Y'know those times when you forget to remember something that was important ...

Yes and yes, and yes to something else as well. 4 other computers and all usb ports

....

my old timer moment just came to me:

you said(that above) and I'm assuming that you connected the drive via the case it comes in(going by the USB comment).

But

6/. have you tried connecting the (bare)drive directly via a SATA connection?
If you do this, on the original PC and it works, it'll just come up as the same drive letter as it was set as a passport drive.
ie. the connection type is irrelevant with respect to the HDD's drive assignment in Windows.

Connection via a SATA port will eliminate the passport case as a likely culprit of recalcitrance!
(this is coming from many experiences with cases that are simply hopeless in their durability).

I currently have my 4Tb WD black sitting in a docking station because the case I've had it in(for a number of years now) died.
Of course the immediate reaction was a dead/dying drive. Little blue light on the case turns on, HDD spins up(by audio level and feel) .. I think I can hear chattering, but maybe not .. but no drive listed in Explorer!
USB connections tested and checked for the normal Windows 'dadoom' confirmation that never comes.

(I finally got myself a docking station worth paying money for) pop in the seemingly dead drive and bingo! .. WD_4T_Black is up and running again

7/. I wouldn't expect that you have a docking station, but if you want to spend a small amount of $(50-ish should do it) on something useful, these things can be more useful than you initially thought.
A decent quality 2 bay docking station is ideal for converting any of those spare $s into meaningful data security.

So add those two comments to the advice addendum list

- - - Updated - - -

Did a bit of searching on it for 'ya.
Those connectors seem to link to an IC from Marvell, which appears to have something to do with SATA-USB adaptation .. or something like that.

Anyhow: What I found in some of the searching was that you can (quite cheaply) get yerself one of those boards off ebay that are quoted as "working".

Here's just one listing from the US.

Of course I have no feedback to offer on the seller and their quality of products, but for about $30-ish it's worth a chance.
(if it doesn't work, then amalgamate that cost into the price of data recovery if you have to take that path).

Note that "if it doesn't work" means that if you do swap out the PCB and you still have no luck, then the most likely answer is that the PCB was fine anyhow .. and that other parts need to be checked.
You can't lose the data if you replace the board with another of the same type.

The only way you can lose data is if you do the 'head trick'. I've been lucky enough not to have gone through that.
The 2.5" drives I have in my drawer I've never really tried hard to recover(they're dead from kids laptops, and their data wasn't important).

More info I found:

Apparently the drive model designation you have there is a WD10JMVW. You can search for stuff by that model number.

And according to a site that sells PCBs for HDDs, that board can be interchanged with a few other PCBs of various designations(which is a great thing!!)

Q. REV A, REV B, REV C, REV D, REV E, REV P1, REV P2, 00, 01, 02 are they compatible with each other?
A: Yes! They are different board versions, but they are compatible! .......

[ameerat42]

Ahh! The old days, when we used to do the same routinely.
But off E-Bray. - I wouldn't want to be an ass and find it didn't wrk.
Ta for the info.

[arthurking83]

....
But off E-Bray. - I wouldn't want to be an ass and find it didn't wrk.
....

I'm the type to take a bit of a punt on such matters.

Data recovery is likely to cost about $100 .. maybe $200 or so.

Spending (say) $30 to try fix it myself is something I could justify to myself.
if it doesn't work, then data recovery will cost between 30-15% more(not really going to break the bank).

Data recovery isn't a sure thing, and any reputable place will tell 'ya so.
Some won't charge for the attempt .. but then charge like wounded bulls if they do recover the data, others can charge a nominal fee for trying/looking.