IDE Harddrive Logic Board Replacement - Easy?

[Paul Clay]

I was connecting the power plug to my Seagate Barracuda IV (model
ST340016A) with the power on (I know, I know - dumb). Doing that
I heard a loud pop - something got shorted - and now the drive will not
work; it spins up, makes a short-period clicking or ticking noise (as if
it's looking for something and can't find it) and then it spins down.
I'm pretty sure that the problem is that I fried one or more chips on
the drive's logic board.

I'm wondering whether it's that hard to: a) swap out the logic board on
the non-functioning drive with one taken from a new drive of the same
model number; and (much more ambitiously) b) to replace any burnt-out
chips (all surface mounted ic's, I expect) on the non-functioning
drive's logic board (assuming I can read the fine print, I think I can
find any chips I need at Fry's Electronics or via mail order over the
web).

The bright side of this is that I had no critical data on the fried
drive, only Windows 98 and a bunch of games (my "productivity" stuff is
done on another drive on which Linux is installed). But, I don't really
look forward to spending 4 to 6 hours reinstalling all that software
after I put in a new drive (no backup - I know, I know, I know). Hence,
I thought I might get ambitious and try to salvage the old drive.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Rod Speed]

I was connecting the power plug to my Seagate Barracuda IV
(model ST340016A) with the power on (I know, I know - dumb).

Doing that I heard a loud pop - something got shorted - and now
the drive will not work; it spins up, makes a short-period clicking
or ticking noise (as if it's looking for something and can't find it)

Yep, the data from the platters usually.

and then it spins down. I'm pretty sure that the problem
is that I fried one or more chips on the drive's logic board.

Yep, very likely.

I'm wondering whether it's that hard to: a) swap out
the logic board on the non-functioning drive with one
taken from a new drive of the same model number;

That does work quite often and is easy to do with most drives.

and (much more ambitiously) b) to replace any burnt-out chips
(all surface mounted ic's, I expect) on the non-functioning drive's
logic board (assuming I can read the fine print, I think I can find
any chips I need at Fry's Electronics or via mail order over the web).

You will certainly be able to find those
that are most likely to have been killed.

You wont be able to find them all that way tho.

The bright side of this is that I had no critical data on the fried
drive, only Windows 98 and a bunch of games (my "productivity"
stuff is done on another drive on which Linux is installed).

Do you have that stuff backed up properly ?

But, I don't really look forward to spending 4 to 6 hours
reinstalling all that software after I put in a new drive
(no backup - I know, I know, I know). Hence, I thought
I might get ambitious and try to salvage the old drive.

Certainly worth a try with the logic card swap.

If that doesnt work, you can also swap dead ics etc
between the spare logic card and the dead one if you
know what you are doing diagnosis wise. It isnt that hard
to work out with a cro if say the drive isnt spinning up now.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

That does work quite often and is easy to do with most drives.

We may have seen a few reports in this group that it worked, but did
we see a single case where a user asked, and afterwards reported about
success?

On question could be where the used sectors map is, on a chip or on
the platters.

 

[Rod Speed]

We may have seen a few reports in this group that
it worked, but did we see a single case where a user
asked, and afterwards reported about success?

Yep, there have been a few.

And many/most just ask and dont report success even
when thats what happened too, with most questions asked.

I've also done it successfully myself too.

On question could be where the used
sectors map is, on a chip or on the platters.

Sure, and its clearly often on the platters.

 

[Paul Clay]

If that doesnt work, you can also swap dead ics etc
between the spare logic card and the dead one if you
know what you are doing diagnosis wise. It isnt that hard
to work out with a cro if say the drive isnt spinning up now.

Well, I hope this works. I called a "data recovery" firm here in town
today and asked them if they fixed disk drives with blown logic boards.
"No, nobody repairs disk drives these days; its cheaper just to buy a new
drive". So I said, "Well, that's true but then there's the hassle of lost
data and having to reinstall all my programs .... soooo I guess you only
recover data from drives that are functioning, but the file systems gotten
corrupted, etc.?" Answer, "No, we can recover data from drives with blown
logic boards." "So, how much is that?" Answer, "$495 to $595 to start."

I'm kind of curious what the firm would do to get my data back. Is there
some kind of a logic board "test bed" they'd plug my drive into to get the
data off? Or would they do what I hope to do, get a another drive ($51 is
what I'm paying for a replacement for my blown Seagate Barracuda IV), use
its logic board, and get the data off that way?

 

[Rod Speed]

Well, I hope this works. I called a "data recovery" firm here in town
today and asked them if they fixed disk drives with blown logic boards.
"No, nobody repairs disk drives these days; its cheaper just to buy a new
drive". So I said, "Well, that's true but then there's the hassle of lost
data and having to reinstall all my programs .... soooo I guess you only
recover data from drives that are functioning, but the file systems gotten
corrupted, etc.?" Answer, "No, we can recover data from drives with blown
logic boards." "So, how much is that?" Answer, "$495 to $595 to start."

I'm kind of curious what the firm would do to get my data back.

Normally just a logic card swap and being able to do
something about the drives that cant just have their logic
cards swapped and work fine with the new logic card.

Is there some kind of a logic board "test bed"
they'd plug my drive into to get the data off?

Nope, the drives differ far too much for that to be viable.

Or would they do what I hope to do, get a another drive ($51 is what
I'm paying for a replacement for my blown Seagate Barracuda IV),
use its logic board, and get the data off that way?

If they do much of that recovery, they'd likely have spare logic cards
obtained that way, but by buying the drives while they are current.

Not all drives will work after a logic card swap tho.

 

[chrisv]

I was connecting the power plug to my Seagate Barracuda IV (model

Ever consider searching google? Do you think you're the first person
to ask this?

 

[Paul Clay]

Ever consider searching google? Do you think you're the first person
to ask this?

Yes. Did that. That's where I came across a post that suggested (no
details were given) the solution I'm pursuing.

No.

Why do you waste time posting such a response (at least the second,
smart-ass rhetorical question)? Crawl back under your
"Angry-Geek-Rock".

To the rest of you who provided helpful and informative responses,
thanks!

 

[chrisv]

Yes. Did that. That's where I came across a post that suggested (no
details were given) the solution I'm pursuing.

No.

Why do you waste time posting such a response (at least the second,
smart-ass rhetorical question)?

Because you're an idiot.

Crawl back under your
"Angry-Geek-Rock".

Who's angry? I can see your forehead veins bulging from here!

To the rest of you who provided helpful and informative responses,
thanks!

They've done it, for the exact same question, many times before, as
google would show.