Hard drive circuit board - Sata II

[David D]

Ok, I have a major dilemma here. My seagate SATA hard drive's circuit
board is toast. There is a black burn mark on it.
So, I did what anyone would do when they panic, I called DATA RECOVERY
and of course, it is going to be $450.00+ to recover, plus the cost of
a hard drive.
So, now being a person that doesn't have that kind of money lying
around and very much needing the data on the drive, I unscrewed the
circuit board and found that it is only burned on the top part - not
underneath and it looks like it is ok on the actual hard drive part -
no burn or blemishes. So, would I be right in assuming that if I got
an identical hard drive and switched circuit boards, I might be able
to recover this data?
The hard drive is not even recognized by the computer, so I know it is
not just a surface blemish, but I am unaware of the technical part of
the drive except to say that it is something that I would be able to
do with a screwdriver - just replacing one with the other. Now, it
sucks because I will be out $100.00, but not out $450.00+.
Has anyone attempted this? Any success stories or caveats?

 

[Pop Larkin]

Ok, I have a major dilemma here. My seagate SATA hard drive's circuit
board is toast. There is a black burn mark on it.
So, I did what anyone would do when they panic, I called DATA RECOVERY
and of course, it is going to be $450.00+ to recover, plus the cost of
a hard drive.
So, now being a person that doesn't have that kind of money lying
around and very much needing the data on the drive, I unscrewed the
circuit board and found that it is only burned on the top part - not
underneath and it looks like it is ok on the actual hard drive part -
no burn or blemishes. So, would I be right in assuming that if I got
an identical hard drive and switched circuit boards, I might be able
to recover this data?
The hard drive is not even recognized by the computer, so I know it is
not just a surface blemish, but I am unaware of the technical part of
the drive except to say that it is something that I would be able to
do with a screwdriver - just replacing one with the other. Now, it
sucks because I will be out $100.00, but not out $450.00+.
Has anyone attempted this? Any success stories or caveats?

I've done it with IDE and it worked fine. I obtained an identical drive to
the old one.

Not sure on SATA but its gotta be worth a try + you still have a useable
piece of hardware if it does not..............though I suspect it will.

dj

 

[Pecos]

Ok, I have a major dilemma here. My seagate SATA hard drive's circuit
board is toast. There is a black burn mark on it.
So, I did what anyone would do when they panic, I called DATA RECOVERY
and of course, it is going to be $450.00+ to recover, plus the cost of
a hard drive.
So, now being a person that doesn't have that kind of money lying
around and very much needing the data on the drive, I unscrewed the
circuit board and found that it is only burned on the top part - not
underneath and it looks like it is ok on the actual hard drive part -
no burn or blemishes. So, would I be right in assuming that if I got
an identical hard drive and switched circuit boards, I might be able
to recover this data?
The hard drive is not even recognized by the computer, so I know it is
not just a surface blemish, but I am unaware of the technical part of
the drive except to say that it is something that I would be able to
do with a screwdriver - just replacing one with the other. Now, it
sucks because I will be out $100.00, but not out $450.00+.
Has anyone attempted this? Any success stories or caveats?

Hi David.

There are a number of stories at the website below of people trying exactly
what you are proposing, with mixed reaults. Search for 'circuit' (without
the single quotes of course).

There are some other tips on the site to recover data from a dead drive,
but likely not very helpful for your situation.

http://www.handcraftedwebsites.com/newsletter/pctips/20040314.html

 

[David D]

I just need to find the same firmware right? I am going to the exact
same place to where I bought it originally - hopefully, they will have
some left over - if not, I saw some on ebay, but the firmware from
Ebay was 3.AAk (mine is 3.AAC).
I guess I am out nothing if it doesn;t work. I have read some people
had great results and others tried it and it didn't work.
Pecos, did you buy the new drive at the same time? Was all the
information on the drive sleeve the same from one drive to another?

 

[GHalleck]

I just need to find the same firmware right? I am going to the exact
same place to where I bought it originally - hopefully, they will have
some left over - if not, I saw some on ebay, but the firmware from
Ebay was 3.AAk (mine is 3.AAC).
I guess I am out nothing if it doesn;t work. I have read some people
had great results and others tried it and it didn't work.
Pecos, did you buy the new drive at the same time? Was all the
information on the drive sleeve the same from one drive to another?

Of course, you would not be sweating this if you had made regular
backups, including disk images, of the hard drive. All you would
have to do is to return the HD to Seagate for a warranty replacement
and you would eventually have 2 HD's.

 

[David D]

Absolutely, but I am past that point and there is no sense in worrying
about what I could have done. In the future I will do that, of course
- lesson learned. But for now, I need to try and repair this drive.

 

[Pecos]

I just need to find the same firmware right? I am going to the exact
same place to where I bought it originally - hopefully, they will have
some left over - if not, I saw some on ebay, but the firmware from
Ebay was 3.AAk (mine is 3.AAC).
I guess I am out nothing if it doesn;t work. I have read some people
had great results and others tried it and it didn't work.
Pecos, did you buy the new drive at the same time? Was all the
information on the drive sleeve the same from one drive to another?

<snip>

I don't have experience with this myself. I just remember reading about
it the other day when I was researching 'stiction' (I called it striction
incorrectly in alt.comp.hardware). :-(

According to Mike at this website (fourth story down),he says that even
with the same model and firmware, you would be lucky to get the swap to
work.

http://www.deadharddrive.com/stories.html

You can read the details, but he used to work for Western Digital and
seems credible.

There is a Seagate drive story in there too you might want to take a peek
at (Title is 'Blew two drives.....').

More info (Title is 'Older boards/drives more interchangeable') that this
will be almost impossible with a newer drive.

How old is the drive? From what I have read, any success you might have
by trying to swap the controller card would be higher with an older
drive, but even that could still be a big gamble.

 

[Frank McCoy]

I just need to find the same firmware right? I am going to the exact
same place to where I bought it originally - hopefully, they will have
some left over - if not, I saw some on ebay, but the firmware from
Ebay was 3.AAk (mine is 3.AAC).
I guess I am out nothing if it doesn;t work. I have read some people
had great results and others tried it and it didn't work.
Pecos, did you buy the new drive at the same time? Was all the
information on the drive sleeve the same from one drive to another?

Actually not necessarily the same firmware.
What's important is that it's the same *drive*.
The firmware could be older or newer for the same drive, and still work.
Newer firmware would probably be better.

 

[David D]

Frank,
Oh man, that is what I wanted to here. I will be buying the drive at
the same place, same serial number and everything. The P/N is the
problem now, it is 9BJ14G-300 and the newest drives are 9BJ14G-308. I
am hoping this won't make a difference either - but I really need to
save the data on the drive, witout spending the $450.00 on a
recovery...sucks to be me, everything is closed this weekend and
holiday monday...won't know until Tuesday!!
Have you tried it Frank and found it worked? Experience or just
educated guess?

 

[Frank McCoy]

Frank,
Oh man, that is what I wanted to here. I will be buying the drive at
the same place, same serial number and everything. The P/N is the
problem now, it is 9BJ14G-300 and the newest drives are 9BJ14G-308. I

Um ... the serial numbers are *never* the same.
That's how the company tells *which* drive of millions of identical
drives *you* have. Serial-numbers are issued ... serially.
Starting with S/N 000001, the next 000002, etc., or something similar.
You preferably want one with the same *part number*.
Are you sure you didn't get the two mixed up?

The "300", versus "308" sounds like it might be a very minor model
change; but likely will still work. OTOH, if it actually *is* the
serial-number, then that means they were only 7 units apart on the
assembly-line.

am hoping this won't make a difference either - but I really need to
save the data on the drive, witout spending the $450.00 on a
recovery...sucks to be me, everything is closed this weekend and
holiday monday...won't know until Tuesday!!
Have you tried it Frank and found it worked? Experience or just
educated guess?

I used to work for Seagate in the Product Assurance Department.
I wrote the software to test disk-drives to see if they would meet the
desired specifications *before* they ever got put on the market.
Been a technician for longer than most people have been alive.
It's a *very* educated guess.

Ideally, you'd get another drive with the same part-number.
Failing that, a drive later in the same series; but with the same
internal works: Platters, heads, mechanism, and hardware.

Look both over before buying to make sure they have the same form-factor
for the board ... plugs, mounting, cables, connectors, and jumpers. If
the two PC boards *look* the same, the number of
heads/cylinders/sectors/overall-size is the same, and the model-numbers
are close, then it will probably work. If any don't match; then your
chances go WAY down in a gosh-awful rush.

*ASK* the people you're buying it from if you can look at the two drives
side-by-side; explaining exactly *what* you're going to do; and that you
don't expect to be able to return the drive afterwards. But, because of
that (not returning a drive you've mucked-with) you need to be as
certain as possible that you're getting the right one.

Most people, if you *explain* that to them, will understand the
situation. I've done similar things with other devices.

Just remember: Once you start pulling that board off the new drive,
*IT'S YOURS*. No refunds, no warranty. Let the people you're buying it
from know you realize this; and that's why you want to see the two
side-by-side first.

 

[Pecos]

Frank,
Oh man, that is what I wanted to here. I will be buying the drive at
the same place, same serial number and everything. The P/N is the
problem now, it is 9BJ14G-300 and the newest drives are 9BJ14G-308. I
am hoping this won't make a difference either - but I really need to
save the data on the drive, witout spending the $450.00 on a
recovery...sucks to be me, everything is closed this weekend and
holiday monday...won't know until Tuesday!!
Have you tried it Frank and found it worked? Experience or just
educated guess?

The only way that you are going to know *for sure* that the swap is going
to work without actually trying it yourself of course is to post the
make, model and firmware revision for both drives and see if anyone who
has done a controller card swap with that drive will reply. Not likely,
but you never know.

You could try Googling for it with the same information and see if anyone
else has posted their experiences.

You could also call/email Seagate technical support with the drive
information and tell them what you are trying to do and see what they
have to tell you.

 

[David D]

Frank :
Yes, I am going to be honest upfront. The $100.00 is a small price to
pay if it works, considering the alternative.
I am not sure about P/N except the ones I saw on Ebay. The serial
number is exactly the same, it is just the part-no.8 and the Firmware
seem to be different. I am optimistic that I will be able to find one
that is right, but if not, the newer one should give me some joy, or
at least enough to take the info off the drive and back it up. I will
have to get the same setup on the circuit board, so I will be bringing
it in with me to be sure. I hope I didn't offend you with the
educated guess, I am glad for your responses and the fact that you
know what you are talking about help a lot!

Alan :
I did try to email Seagate, but they have a HDD recovery unit that
they charge for, so I am not sure how much help they are going to be
willing to shell out for free.

The hard drive is :
Seagate 320 SATA
ST3320620AS
P/N 9BJ14G-300
Firmware - 3.AAC

That is what I am hoping to find in my physical search that will start
once the weekend is over.
I did try googling the exact model and p/n number and couldn't find an
exact match. I also googled the swap of circuit boards and found
frustrating results - mixed at best with no real definitive answers,
with exceptions like:
http://forums.actionfront.com/showthread.php?p=3612#post3612

He says it worked and I am trying to get a hold of him. Some people
have said yes, it worked great and others have said they were going to
try and never posted the results, so I guess I will never know.

 

[Pecos]

Alan :
I did try to email Seagate, but they have a HDD recovery unit that
they charge for, so I am not sure how much help they are going to be
willing to shell out for free.

I have talked to three Seagate customer support techs in the past few
days and they were very friendly and helpful. If you don't get a reply
to your email after a few days, try giving them a call. I understand
your thinking here, but you should be able to get some help if you think
you still need it after Frank's very good reply to you.

The hard drive is :
Seagate 320 SATA
ST3320620AS
P/N 9BJ14G-300
Firmware - 3.AAC

That is what I am hoping to find in my physical search that will start
once the weekend is over.
I did try googling the exact model and p/n number and couldn't find an
exact match. I also googled the swap of circuit boards and found
frustrating results - mixed at best with no real definitive answers,
with exceptions like:
http://forums.actionfront.com/showthread.php?p=3612#post3612

He says it worked and I am trying to get a hold of him. Some people
have said yes, it worked great and others have said they were going to
try and never posted the results, so I guess I will never know.

Good for you! I would say that between the two of us we have pretty much
exhausted the Google route then.

I would have Googled for the model name, model number and firmware
revision to help you, but I didn't ask you for that information up-front
and I should have.

I hope it all works out well for you. You are certainly doing everything
you can to be sure it does.

Please do me a favor and those who could benefit from your information.
Come back when you get this resolved and tell us how it all worked out.

 

[David D]

Thanks for the effort Alan,

Now, should I format the new drive before I take the circuit board
from it and swap it?

 

[Frank McCoy]

Thanks for the effort Alan,

Now, should I format the new drive before I take the circuit board
from it and swap it?

Makes no difference.
I personally wouldn't bother.
The formatting information is stored on the disk platters, not on the
board.

 

[Pecos]

Makes no difference.
I personally wouldn't bother.
The formatting information is stored on the disk platters, not on the
board.

<snip>

Exactly, you can always format it later.

Are you planning on leaving the controller card on the old drive or do you
want to retrieve your data (assuming this works) and then put it back on
the new drive? You understand that there is a small risk that when you put
it back onto the new drive, if that's what you want or have to do, that the
new drive might not work? The more times you move the card the greater the
chances are that you might damage it, but that is a relatively small risk
and depends on how careful you are of course.

Unless there is a good reason not to (like the fact that there is something
internal to the hard drive that caused the controller card to fail in the
first place), I think I would just leave the card on the old drive, if it
works, and use it until it shows signs of failure. At that point you could
move it back to the new drive and use that. It depends on how old the
drive is and whether or not you just want to be done with it. But I would
follow some very strict backup plans for sure if I chose that option. ;-)
I don't have enough experience to be able to give you good advice on this,
but maybe someone else here can.

 

[David D]

Ok, thanks - I will format it later. I am planning on taking the INFO
and putting it on another drive (backing it all up as well) as soon as
I get it working (fingers crossed). I will then format the drive and
probably take the circuit off and put it on the new drive just to be
safe. If I can get that far, I will be short +120.00, but at least
happy.
I have found another drive on Ebay, same firmware that I listed before
3.AAK (mine is 3.AAC) and the P/N is P/N 9BJ14G-308 (mine is
9BJ14G-300), the serial is the same : ST3320620AS - so if I don't have
any joy tomorrow at the vendor, I will bid on it. I am also looking
to see if someone has the same make will be willing to sell me the
controller card or the whole drive, new or used for a good price.

 

[Pecos]

Ok, thanks - I will format it later. I am planning on taking the INFO
and putting it on another drive (backing it all up as well) as soon as
I get it working (fingers crossed). I will then format the drive and
probably take the circuit off and put it on the new drive just to be
safe. If I can get that far, I will be short +120.00, but at least
happy.
I have found another drive on Ebay, same firmware that I listed before
3.AAK (mine is 3.AAC) and the P/N is P/N 9BJ14G-308 (mine is
9BJ14G-300), the serial is the same : ST3320620AS - so if I don't have
any joy tomorrow at the vendor, I will bid on it. I am also looking
to see if someone has the same make will be willing to sell me the
controller card or the whole drive, new or used for a good price.

Great! Good luck getting the drive and I can't blame you for not wanting
to use the old drive. That's probably a smart move.

I wanted to add that once the controller card is removed from the hard
drive, it *may be* more vulnerable to ESD, so make sure that you are
properly grounded. You don't want to end up with two dead controller
cards!

 

[Franc Zabkar]

Ok, I have a major dilemma here. My seagate SATA hard drive's circuit
board is toast. There is a black burn mark on it.
So, I did what anyone would do when they panic, I called DATA RECOVERY
and of course, it is going to be $450.00+ to recover, plus the cost of
a hard drive.
So, now being a person that doesn't have that kind of money lying
around and very much needing the data on the drive, I unscrewed the
circuit board and found that it is only burned on the top part - not
underneath and it looks like it is ok on the actual hard drive part -
no burn or blemishes. So, would I be right in assuming that if I got
an identical hard drive and switched circuit boards, I might be able
to recover this data?
The hard drive is not even recognized by the computer, so I know it is
not just a surface blemish, but I am unaware of the technical part of
the drive except to say that it is something that I would be able to
do with a screwdriver - just replacing one with the other. Now, it
sucks because I will be out $100.00, but not out $450.00+.
Has anyone attempted this? Any success stories or caveats?

There is a thread at sci.electronics.repair on this subject. Some
people claim they have been successful, others not. One poster even
claims that he regularly swaps one PCB between a 40GB WD drive and a
similar 80GB model. This begs the question, where are the bad block
and SMART data stored? If the data are written to an EEPROM, then how
can a board swap ever succeed?

- Franc Zabkar

 

[David D]

I agree. I am not sure what the criteria for it working successfully
is.
As far as the search, I have found this on Ebay:

PN:9BJ13E-305
Firmwave:3.AAE

BUT I just don't want to spend $100.00 to find out that the wrong
firmware doesn't work and then have to spend more money to get the
another drive with the exact firmware etc anyways...

And in the computer stores - they have the 3.AAK and the 3.AAE model
as well. Now, someone told me it has to be the EXACT same firmware
etc, but I am not sure anymore. I have seen 200 gig and 80 gig
Seagates with the 3.AAC firmware, but I don't know want to take a
chance and buy it for nothing.(I wish I was made of money)

I am trying Seagate now, but they said, and get this 'any physical
damage to the drive is not under warranty' - isn't that a kicker?